An area of history, which still remains in the shadows of today's ingrained and accepted tale of Western dominance is the history of Muslim Africans. The tribulations and triumphs of Muslim Africans translates into a rich and vibrant history, a past of honour and a future of hope. From their explorative voyages in early centuries, their cultural assimilation under the scourge of slavery in the United States and the Caribbean, to their triumphs as re-defined citizens in today's world, Muslim Africans-today African Americans, African Canadians, and Caribbean's-have a past of which to speak.
Early Explorations
Christopher Columbus-the infamous Spanish explorer-is credited with "discovering" North America. Of course, 'discover' implies that the land Columbus landed on in 1492 had never been explored before, was devoid of any civilization and the people devoid of any sophistication. This is simply not true.
Before Columbus even stepped onto his boat, Native Americans had 2000 separate languages, a distinctive array of religions, a system of interaction with nature and other human beings and by 1492, the entire northern third of North America was already occupied, and hence already "discovered" by hunters.
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.
Slavery and Exploitation
It seems almost unbelievable that a culture and heritage full of such vibrancy and power remains hidden in the dust and shadows of other histories that are commendable, yet easily refutable. Perhaps, as the sixteenth century rolled in and brought the scourge of exploitation and the plague of slavery with it, the greatness of African empires was slowly forgotten-or perhaps just brushed aside.
When the Spanish crown granted the right to buy slaves in Africa early in the sixteenth century, the stage was set for centuries of exploitation. Millions of Africans were taken from the shores of West and Central Africa and transported to the Americas and the Caribbean where they were forced to spend their lives slaving for others. Early in the 17th Century there was a rapid growth of sugar plantations, which resulted in an increased demand for slaves, which in turn transformed Africa into what Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick calls the "chief victim of exploitation". What many Muslims, whether they have an African heritage or not, and what many African-Americans and African-Canadians-whether or not they're Muslim-fail to realize is that seven to thirty percent of slaves taken from Africa and brought to the Americas, were Muslim.
