Muslims in American History

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The purpose of this thread is to compile information about famous Muslims in American history, with a special focus to the beautiful state we live in: Maryland!

I'll start with a brief biography of a famous Muslim American who was a slave by the name of Ayyoub ibn Sulayman, aka. Job Ben Solomon.

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (1701–1773), also known as Job ben Solomon, was a famous Muslim slave who was a victim of the Atlantic slave trade. Born in Bondu, West Africa, Ayuba's memoirs were published as one of the earliest first-person accounts of the slave trade in Thomas Bluett's Some Memories of the Life of Job, the Son of the Solomon High Priest of Boonda in Africa; Who was a Slave about two Years in Maryland; and afterwards being brought to England, was set free, and sent to his native Land in the Year 1734.

He came from a prosperous family, but at the age of 29, Ayuba was captured from his homeland. He was unable to defend himself from the group of Mandingoes who captured him. After being taken captive, Ayuba was brought to the coast some 300 miles away. Ayuba became a victim of the ever-growing slave exploitation of the Senegambia region. Before being boarded on his ship to the New World, Ayuba attempted to bribe the captain into giving him his freedom. However, the word never got to his father in time, and Ayuba was taken aboard. Ayuba was transported to Annapolis, Maryland and put to work. Unable to physically perform his work, he ran away. He was captured and imprisoned at the Kent County Courthouse. It was there that he was discovered by a lawyer, Thomas Bluett, travelling through on business.

The lawyer was impressed by Ayuba's ability to write in Arabic. When another African, who was able to speak Ayuba's native Wolof, was able to translate for him, it was then discovered that he was no ordinary slave. Bluett purchased his freedom, and the two went to England in 1733. He learned English, and when he got to England, he was in the company of many prominent people, including the royal family. In July 1734, Ayuba returned to Gambia and later returned to his homeland. His homeland was ravished by war, but being a prosperpous individual, he was able to regain his old lifestyle, which included owning his own household slaves. His memoirs were published by Bluett in English and French. Ayuba was an extremely rare exception in the slave trade. Due to his intelligence and monetary prowess, he was able to legally escape the hardships of slavery and return back home to Africa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_ben_Solomon

If anyone is interested in reading Ayuba's autobiography which was originally written in Arabic, its available online here:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/bluett/bluett.html

 

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Here is another American Muslim who was a former slave and resident of Georgetown!

The Man in the Knit Cap

All that is known of Yarrow Mamout, an enslaved African who died a free man at a very old age, comes from the diary of the man who painted his striking portrait.

Charles William Peale was an American portrait painter who established a museum in Philadelphia. Dedicated to American history and natural history, the museum's exhibits ranged from presidential portraits to the bones of a mastodon that Peale had unearthed. In 1819, Peale (whose son Raphaelle had painted Absalom Jones in 1810) went to Washington to record the likenesses of distinguished Americans; while there he heard about an old African man, Yarrow Mamout, who lived in Georgetown. Peale was most likely intrigued by Mamout's great age, reputedly 134 years at the time, and the fact that he was a practicing Muslim -- supposedly a rarity in 19th century America, though that question is still open to scholarly debate.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h16.html

 

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Here is a brief biography of a famous American Muslim who fought in the war of 1812. During the war of 1812, the British offered any slaves freedom if they revolted against their American slaveholders. Bilali (Ben Ali) Muhammad was a leading slave on his plantation who put down the revolt of traitorous slaves and then lead them to defend an Island in Georgia against the British invading forces. He wrote an autobiography in Arabic which is still in existence today at the Georgia State Law Library. Ben Ali Muhammad's descendants live in Georgia, although they no longer are Muslim.

For more information, click here:

 

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Muhammad Alexander Russell Webb:
Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb was born on November 9, 1846 in Hudson, New York to Mr. & Mrs. Alexander Nelson Webb. A.N. Webb was a leading journalist of his day and perhaps influenced his son's later journalistic exploits.

A.R. Webb received his early education at the Home School in Glendale, Massachusetts and later attended college at Claverack College near Hudson, New York. He excelled in college and upon finishing school purchased a weekly newspaper in Unionville, Missouri and became the publisher. The prowess as a journalist was soon apparent and he was offered city editorship of the St. Joseph, Missouri Daily Gazette. Next he became associate editor of the Missouri Morning Journal. Later he became one of the editors at the Missouri Republican in St. Louis. This newspaper was the second oldest and largest daily newspaper at that time.

While working for the Missouri Republican, he was appointed (in September, 1887) by President Cleveland to be Consular Representative to the Philippines at the U.S. office at Manila. According to the editor of his book The Three Lectures, he had given up any concept of religion at least fifteen years before that point. He started his life as a Presbyterian but found it dull and restraining. As early as 1881 he started a search for his true faith by reading in books from a well stocked library of over 13,000 volumes that he had access to. He started his study with Buddhism and finding it lacking , he began to study Islam. In 1888, he formally declared himself to be a Muslim.

At that time he had yet to meet a Muslim but was put in contact with several Muslims in India by a local Parsi businessman. A newspaper publisher, Budruddin Abdullah Kur of Bombay, published several of Webb's letters in his paper. A local businessman, Haji Abdullah Arab, saw these letters and went to Manila to see Webb.

After the visit, Webb began plans to tour India and then return to the U.S. to propagate Islam. Webb's wife, Ella G. Webb, and their three children had also accepted Islam. Hajee Abdullah returned to India and raised funds for Webb's tour. Webb visited Poona, Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad, and Madras and gave speeches in each town. All are published at least once separately and some are published in collection.

He resigned his post in 1892 and toured India then returned to the U.S.. His family stayed in San Francisco till he sent for them. Settling in New York, he established the Oriental Publishing Company at 1122 Upper Broadway. This company published his writings (including his magnum opus- Islam in America). Islam in America contained 70 pages divided into eight chapters namely: I) Why I Became a Muslim; II) An Outline of Islamic Faith; III) The Five Pillars of Practice; IV) Islam in Its Philosophic Aspect; V) Polygamy and the Purdah; VI) Popular Errors Refuted; VII) The Muslim Defensive Wars; and, VIII) The American Islamic Propaganda. Along with this venture he started the organ of the American Muslim Propagation Movement called Moslem World. The first issue appeared May 12, 1893 and was dedicated to "The Interests of the American Islamic Propaganda" and "To spread the light of Islam in America". It lasted for seven monthly issues (May to November 1893).

Webb was the main representative for Islam at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. On September 20th and 21st, 1893, he gave two speeches. His speeches were entitled: "The Influence of Islam Upon Social Conditions" and "The Spirit of Islam" and were published in the large two volume proceedings of the Parliament called "The First World's Parliament of Religions" (1894).

For the rest of his life he was the main spokesman for Islam in America. On Broadway, in Manhattan, he founded a short-lived masjid. The reasons for the termination of this Masjid are unknown, but it could be due to a lack of financial support from India.

He is also known for his writing a booklet about the Armenian and Turkish Wars from a Muslim point of view (The Armenian Troubles and Where the Responsibility Lies) and for being appointed the Honorary Turkish Consul in New York by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The Sultan had been shown plans by Webb for a Muslim cemetery and Masjid and complimented Webb on them. Unfortunately these plans never materialized.

From 1898 to the time of his death on October 1, 1916, he lived in Rutherford, New Jersey. He died at the age of seventy and was buried in Hillside Cemetery on the outskirts of Rutherford. After his death his efforts were largely forgotten. There continued to exist a vague coming to Islam in the African American community and there exists some lines in the writings of the first American Islamic Nationalist, Noble Drew Ali, showing that if he hadn't met Webb at least he had heard of his efforts.