By: Iranian-Shi'ite on: 12.04.2005
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</TD><TD vAlign=top>There are other Muslims in our group. For the most part, not many people are aware of the Native American contact with Islam that began over one thousand years ago by some of the early Muslim travelers who visited us. Some of these Muslim travelers ended up living among our people.
There is, however, evidence that Muslims or persons believed to be Muslims visited North America in the pre-Colombian past.1 In 1312 Mansa Abu Bakr of Mali is believed to have traveled from the Senegambian region of the African coast to the Gulf of Mexico. This account captured the attention of distinguished scholars such as Basil Davidson of Britain and others in Africa, America and Europe. It has come to us by way of the writings of al-Omari, a Muslim historian whose work has shed much light on medieval African kingdoms in the sub-Saharan regions of the African continent.
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Native American Muslims
The Message, July 1996
My name is Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq El and I am a Cherokee Blackfoot American Indian who is Muslim. I am known as Eagle Sun Walker. I serve as a Pipe Carrier Warrior for the Northeastern Band of Cherokee Indians in New York City. There are other Muslims in our group. For the most part, not many people are aware of the Native American contact with Islam that began over one thousand years ago by some of the early Muslim travelers who visited us. Some of these Muslim travelers ended up living among our people.
For most Muslims and non-Muslims of today, this type of information is unknown and has never been mentioned in any of the history books. There are many documents, treaties, legislation and resolutions that were passed between 1600s and 1800s that show that Muslims were in fact here and were very active in the comunities in which they lived. Treaties such as Peace and Friendship that was signed on the Delaware River in the year 1787 bear the signatures of Abdel-Khak and Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. This treaty detailes our continued right to exist as a community in the areas of commerce, maritime shipping, current form of government at that time which was in accordance with Islam. According to a federal court case from the Continental Congress, we help put the breath of life in to the newly framed constitution. All of the documents are presently in the National Archives as well as the Library of Congress.
If you have access to records in the state of South Carolina, read the Moors Sundry Act of 1790. In a future article, Inshallah, I will go in to more details about the various tribes, their languages; in which some are influenced by Arabic, Persian, Hebrew words. Almost all of the tribes vocabulary include the word Allah. The traditional dress code for Indian women includes the kimah and long dresses. For men, standard fare is turbans and long tops that come down to the knees. If you were to look at any of the old books on Cherokee clothing up until the time of 1832, you will see the men wearing turbans and the women wearing long head coverings. The last Cherokee chief who had a Muslim name was Ramadhan Ibn Wati of the Cherokees in 1866.
Cities across the United States and Canada bear names that are of Indian and Islamic derivation. Have you ever wondered what the name Tallahassee means? It means that He Allah will deliver you sometime in the future.
link (http://www.themodernreligion.com/convert/convert_namuslims.htm)
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Pre-Columbian Muslims in the Americas Excerpted and adapted from Islam in the United States of America, by Sulayman S.Nyang (Chicago: ABC International Group, Inc., 1999) pp. 12-13, 30.
Data on the early history of Islam in the Americas is fragmentary and ridden with controversy. Not all scholars accept the fragmentary evidence that exists. There is, however, evidence that Muslims or persons believed to be Muslims visited North America in the pre-Colombian past.1 In 1312 Mansa Abu Bakr of Mali is believed to have traveled from the Senegambian region of the African coast to the Gulf of Mexico. This account captured the attention of distinguished scholars such as Basil Davidson of Britain and others in Africa, America and Europe. It has come to us by way of the writings of al-Omari, a Muslim historian whose work has shed much light on medieval African kingdoms in the sub-Saharan regions of the African continent.2
This piece of historical evidence received support indirectly from the writings of Leo Wiener, the Harvard University professor who wrote a tome on Africa and the Discovery of America.3 His book provides data on ethno-linguistic connections between certain peoples of the West African coast and the native Americans living in the Gulf of Mexico region of the Americas. Though Leo Wiener's study was not accorded much attention by his contemporaries, towards the end of the nineteen seventies Ivan Van Sertima of Rutgers University in New Jersey reminded his colleagues that there were indeed other peoples who came to America before Columbus.4 His book capturing this argument was the topic of academic debates throughout the United States of America. The timeliness of his book was underscored by the fact that Alex Haley's successful book and television series on Roots had already planted in the popular American imagination that Kunta Kinte was a Muslim slave and that he came from the Senegambian coast.5 Until we come across new evidence in this field, the evidence for Muslims in the pre-Columbian Americas depends on a narrative passed to our generation by a fourteenth century Arab writer and on a Harvard University Professor's comparative linguistic analysis of African and native American languages.
1. Abdullah Hakim Quick, Deeper Roots: Muslims in the Americas and the Caribbean From Before Columbus To the Present (London, England:Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd.,1996), pp.l3-37.
2. Basil Davidson, Lost Cities of Africa (Boston: Little Brown, 1959), pp. 74-75. This story of an African visit to the New World in pre-Columbian times is based on chapter ten of ibn Fadi Allah al-Omari's Masalik al-absar fi absar fi mamalik amsar (Cairo, C.1342 AH). The Arabic original was translated and published in Paris by Gaudefroy-Demombynes in 1927.
3. Leo Wiener, Africa and the Discovery of America (Philadelphia: Innes and Sons, 1922).
4. Ivan Van Sertima, They Came before Columbus (New York: RandomHouse,1976).
5. It should be pointed out here that, in addition to his own book on Roots' Alex -Haley was also the ghost writer for Malcolm X's Autobiography.
link (http://www.islamamerica.org/precolumbian.cfm)
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The notion that Columbus, if not the first person to discover America, was the first person to make contact with Native peoples, is another common myth. There is extensive and irrefutable evidence that points to the idea that ancient North American culture had been in contact with voyagers from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean before Columbus. They spread knowledge amongst each other, influenced each other and exchanged products. Although more research is needed, evidence such as sculptures, oral history, eye-witness accounts, Arabic documents, coins and inscriptions serve as undeniable claims to North African Muslim contact with Natives in the Americas as early as the 7th century CE. This remains a hidden and often neglected part of history that needs further research and clarification but definitely points at undeniable possibilities.
Mandinka voyages—Muslim explorers and merchants from the West African Islamic Empire of Mali—were significant and extravagant. In 1324 CE, the ruler of Mali, Mansa Musa was en route to Makkah when he informed the Governor of Cairo that his predecessor had taken two voyages into the Atlantic Ocean to discover what lay beyond. Shihab ad-Din al-‘Umari, an Arab geographer, reported from his informant that the Mandinka monarch’s voyages reached at least the North Equatorial or the Antilles current which from the West African coast would lead straight to the Americas. Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick in his book, Deeper Roots importantly relates that, “examination of inscriptions found in Brazil, Peru, and the United States, as well as linguistic, cultural and archaeological find offer documentary evidence of the presence of these Mandinka Muslims in the early Americas.” There is even extensive evidence of Mandinka cities of stone and mortar that were seen by early Spanish explorers and land pirates. A document written by a land pirate from Minas Gerais in 1754 relates the remains of a city near a river in Minas Gerais had remarkable buildings, obelisks and statues. Columbus, quite obviously arrived in the Americas a little late, but just in time to rake in the credit.
link (http://www.youngmuslims.ca/articles/display.asp?ID=92)
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American Muslim History: A Chronological Observation
Unquestionably, Muslims have made an impact on the evolution of American society. Historically Muslims have made major contributions, e.g., humanities, the sciences, and art. They explored North America 300 years before the so-called "discovery" of the New World by Christopher Columbus. They used the Mississippi River as their access route to and from the continent's interior Here are a few glimpses of Muslim life in American history:
1178 A Chinese document known as the Sung Document records the voyage of Muslim sailors to a land known as Mu-Lan-Pi (America). Mention of this document is contained in the publication, The Khotan Amirs, 1933.
1310 Abu Bakari (Abu Bakar), a Muslim king of the Malian Empire, spearheads a series of sea voyages to the New World.
1312 African Muslims (Mandinga) arrive in the Gulf of Mexico for exploration of the American interior using the Mississippi River as their access route. These Muslim explorers were from Mali and other parts of West Africa.
link (http://edf3.gallaudet.edu/diversity/BGG/!ISLAM/Islami~2.htm)
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Video:
link (http://islam.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=islam&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soundvision.com%2FShop%2Fpview .asp%3FItem%3D110-151)
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Pre-Columbian Islam
One of the most startling aspects of this research is looking at information that indicates that Mus-lims or people believed to be Muslims were present in the Americas before the European conquista-dores. According to scholars such as Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick, Sultan Abu Bakr II of Mali isbelieved to have traveled in 1312 CE from the Senegambian region of Western Africa to the Gulf ofMexico. This information comes to us from the work of ibn-Fadlallah al-Omari, a Muslim historianwhose work has provided us with a great deal of information on mediaeval African kingdoms in theSahelian region of Africa. Quick and other scholars have looked in-depth at inscriptions indicatingthe presence of Arabic elements in indigenous languages. They also point to artifacts and culturalpractices such as naming patterns, dress, etc., which, for them, would point to contact betweenMuslims from West Africa and indigenous peoples of the Americas.
link (http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:sq949yn5pRMJ:www.sksm.edu/research/speeches/islamhistory.pdf++africa+america+%22deeper+roots%2 2+hakim+Quick&hl=en)
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However, the studying of the universe brought forth more questions, and more curiosity. The Muslims in West Africa were so intrigued by what was on the other side of the Great Sea, that they began their expeditions into the great unknown. Early reports of these travels are sketchy, but we can be sure that they crossed the Atlantic by 889 C.E.
That was 603 years before Columbus. And that is not counting the actual physical evidence in the United States today that dates back even further; however, we do know, as De Lacy O'Leary pointed out, that Muslims definitely had the scientific knowledge and skill to make journeys across the Atlantic ocean.
We were in the Americas, hundreds of years before Columbus, and of that we can be sure.
Clyde-Ahmad Winters. Barry Fell. Alexander Von Wuthenau. Ivan Van Sertima. What do they have in common? A lot. They all provided evidence to the above statement; and it is a statement of fact, not an opinion, although many have chosen to ignore it in the past.
Now, we are all aware of the grave tragedy that befell the various African people after the discovery of America. Many people from there were forcefully taken from their homes to America, to serve the people who had taken over that land. Black slavery. We also know, for a fact, that many of these people were indeed Muslims; that has never been in dispute, nor should it be. Clyde Ahmad Winters has given us details of how huge numbers of Muslims were brought to Latin America in a 1978 issue of Al-Ittihad: A Quarterly Journal of Islamic Studies, although later on in 1543, Muslims in Spanish colonies were ejected from them by the residing government.
Dr. Barry Fell, a noted New Zealand archaeologist and linguist of Harvard University showed detailed existing evidence in his work, "Saga America" that Muslims were not only in the Americas before Columbus arrived, but very active there as well. The language of the Pima people in the South West and the Algonquian language had many words in their vocabulary that were Arabic in origin, and Islamic petroglyphs were found in places such as California.
In the Inyo county of the State of California, according to Fell, there is another petroglyph that states, "Yasus bin Maria" which means in Arabic, "Jesus, son of Mary". This is not a Christian phrase; in fact, the phrase is to be found in the verses and ayahs of the Holy Quran. This glyph, as Fell believes, is centuries older than the US. In the Western states of the US he found texts, diagrams and charts engraved on rocks that were used for schooling that dated back to 700-800 C.E. The schooling was in subjects such as mathematics, history, geography, astronomy and sea navigation. The language of instruction was Kufic Arabic, from North Africa.
The German art historian, Alexander Von Wuthenau, also provides evidence that Islamic peoples were in America, in the time between 300 and 900 C.E. This was at least half a millennium before Columbus was born! Carved heads, that were described as "Moorish-looking" were dated between 300 and 900 C.E. and another group of heads dated between 900 and 1500 C.E. An artifact found in the earlier group was photographed, and when later examined was found to resemble an old man in a Fez, like the Egyptians.
Ivan Van Sertima is widely renowned for his work, "They Came Before Columbus" which showed that there was definitely contact between the ancient and early African people with the Native Americans. This and another of his works, "African Presence in Early America" both prove that there were African Muslim settlements in the Americas, before the expedition of Columbus was even conceived. His research has shown that Arab Muslim trade was active in America and one can only imagine that the marvellous culture that the Native Americans had that shared so much with Islamic teachings was of great attraction to the Muslims that came so far across the sea.
And for the record, Christopher Columbus, the man who so-called discovered America, himself declared that his impression of the Carib people (i.e., Caribbean people) were "Mohemmedans." He knew of the Mandinka presence in the New World (Muslims) and that Muslims from the West coast of Africa had settled down in the Carribean, Central, South and North America. Unlike Columbus, they had not come to enslave the populations or plunder the land; they had come to trade and they married among the Natives. Columbus further admitted that on October 21st, 1492, as he was sailing past Gibara on the coast of Cuba, he saw a mosque, and remnants of other masjids have been found in Cuba, Mexico, Texas and Nevada.
On the second voyage Columbus took to the West Indies, the people of Haiti told him that "black" people had been there before him. They showed him spears of these visitors, and further study of the metals involved in their construction showed that they could have been made only in one place: Guinea.
Another historian, P.V. Ramos, also showed in his essay in "African Presence in Early America" that the dietary regulations of the Carib were similar to Islamic teachings.
But let us say that we are wrong. Perhaps it is all just a coincidence; after all, there are no living survivors of the Native American Muslims, are they?
Wrong. And this last part is what originally drew me into this quest for knowledge: an exposé written by a Native Muslim.
Brother Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq El wrote in his account, recently posted on the Internet, about the Native Americans that were Muslims. He is of the Cherokee tribe; known as Eagle Sun Walker, and a Pipe Carrier Warrior of the Cherokees in New York. He tells of Muslim travellers that came to his land over one thousand years ago, and what is more important, existing evidence of legislation, treaties and resolutions that prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt that Muslims were in the Americas and very active. Although these documents have not been written after 1492, it is still interesting to note that Islam was in fact there. The Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1787 have the signatures of Abdel-Khak and Mohammed Bin Abdulla. According to a federal court case from the Continental Congress,
Native Muslims helped put life into the constitution.
These are a matter of record; they cannot be disputed. Go to the National Archives or the Library of Congress and see for yourself; the Treat of 1987 show that the Natives abided by an Islamic system in commerce, maritime shipping and government. The records of the State of Carolina has the Moors Sundry Act of 1790. The Cherokee Chief of 1866 was a man called Ramadhan Bin Wati. Native clothing up until 1832 was full Islamic wear. The name Tallahassee actually means," Allah will deliver you sometime in the future." In North America, there are no less than 565 names of tribes, villages, cities, mountains and other lands sites of Islamic or Arabic roots.
The truth of Islam and the truth of the Native American culture is one and the same; many people hundreds of years ago realised that. The protection of the land and of the animals; the non-wastage of resources and the non-pollution of nature are all Islamic concepts.
I finish this article with a few Native sayings. And then, I want you to tell me that Islam is not nurtured in the hearts of these people.
"Our belief is that the Great Spirit has created all things. Not just mankind but animals, all plants, all rocks, all on earth and amongst the stars with true soul. For us, all life is holy. All of nature is within us and we are part of all nature." Chief White Cloud
"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night." Crowfoot
"In the life of the Indian there was only one inevitable duty- the duty of prayer - the daily recognition of the Unseen and the Eternal." Ohiyesa
Allahu akbar. Salaam wa allaykum wa rakhmatullah wa barakatu.
When this article was written] Hisham Zoubeir is at the University of Sheffield undertaking a multi-disciplinary degree in law. He has lived in Abu Dhabi, Cairo and London. His main interests delves into peace, equality, righteousness and spirituality.
link (http://www.themodernreligion.com/ht/before-columbus.html)
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In addition to their gifts to civilization, Muslims have had a long history in the Americas, according to Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq, an American-Indian Muslim and the author of "Digging for the Red Roots" ( The Message, July 1996).
"There are many documents, treaties, legislation and resolutions that were passed between 1600s and 1800s that show that Muslims were in fact here and were very active in the communities in which they lived," he writes.
Among them was the Peace and Friendship Treaty, signed on the Delaware River in 1787, which "details our continued right to exist as a community in the areas of commerce, maritime shipping, current form of government at that time which was in accordance with Islam."
Islamic influence can be traced in language, dress and names. The last Cherokee chief (1866) was named Ramadan Ibne Wati. Mr. Abdal-Razzaaq says that Tallahassee means "Allah will deliver you sometime in the future."
Muslims made an impact on American society in the humanities, for example, and the sciences, and art. We believe that they even explored North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus, using the Mississippi River as their access route.
A Muslim historian and geographer, Abul-Hassan Ali Ibn Al-Hussain Al-Masudi (871-957), offers evidence in his book Muruj Adh-dhahab wa Maadin al-Jawhar (The Meadows of Gold and Quarries of Jewels).
He writes that during the rule of the Muslim Caliph of Spain Abdullah Ibn Muhammad (888-912), the Muslim navigator Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad of Cordoba sailed from Delba (Palos) in 889, crossed the Atlantic, reached an unknown territory (Ard Majhoola) and returned with fabulous treasures. On Al-Masudi's world map, there is a large area in the Atlantic of darkness and fog, which he called the unknown territory (the Americas).
The Muslim historian Abu Bakr Ibn Umar Al-Gutiyya says that during the reign of the Muslim Caliph of Spain Hisham II (976-1009), another Muslim navigator, Ibn Farrukh of Granada, sailed from Kadesh (February 999) into the Atlantic, landed in Gando (Great Canary Islands), visited King Guanariga, and continued westward where he saw and named two islands, Capraria and Pluitana. He returned to Spain in May 999.
Columbus sailed from Palos (Delba), bound for Gomera (Canary Islands). He fell in love with Beatriz Bobadilla, daughter of the islands' first captain general (the family name Bobadilla is derived from the Arab Islamic name Abouabdilla). The Bobadilla clan was not easy to ignore.
Another Bobadilla (Francisco), later as the royal commissioner, put Columbus in chains and transferred him from Santo Domingo back to Spain (November 1500). Queen Isabella asked Francisco to investigate corruption charges against Columbus. The explorer was later cleared, and visted the Americas again in 1502.
The Bobadilla family was related to the Abbasid dynasty of Seville (1031-1091). Leo Wiener of Harvard University, in his book Africa and the Discovery of America (1920), wrote that Columbus was well aware of the Mandinka presence in the New World and that the West African Muslims had spread throughout the Caribbean and Central, South and North American territories, including Canada, where they traded and intermarried with the Iroquois and Algonquin Indians.
link (http://hispanicmuslims.com/articles/other/abrfaiths.html)