For centuries, Islam has spread through the African diaspora. While many in the diaspora adhere to more traditional forms of the religion such as Shia and Sunni Islam, there are a number of Islamic organizations that are unique to the African diaspora.

Islamic heritage in Africa

An African soldier of the Ottoman Empire

In 615 the first Muslims came to Africa as refugees from persecution in Mecca. The Christian king of Abyssinia refused to return them to Mecca after being impressed by their respect for Jesus and the Virgin Mary.^[2]

By 732 all of North Africa was a part of the Islamic empire.^[3] Islam remained the dominant religion in North Africa through the colonial period.^[4]

Black Muslims

The term Black Muslim is widely credited to C. Eric Lincoln's 1961 book, The Black Muslims In America, which analyzed the growing influence of the Nation of Islam in the United States of America. The phrase is often used in the United States to denote members of Louis Farrakhan's separatist Black nationalist movement, the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam never appreciated being labeled "Black Muslims" and years afterward publicly denounced the title but as Malcolm X (the head preacher of the New York mosque) stated, "the name stuck." Today, the vast majority of Muslims in the African Diaspora are not members of the Nation of Islam. Rather, they follow local religious leaders who may or may not be Black, such as Siraj Wahaj, and worship at their local mosques.

United States

In the United States, African slaves were often forced to abandon their traditional religions and convert to Christianity. While first-generation slaves were often able to retain their Muslim identity, their descendants were not. In the decades after emancipation, Islam reemerged in the form of highly visible and sometimes controversial movements in the African American community. The first of these noteworthy movements was the Moorish Science Temple of America, founded by Noble Drew Ali. Ali had a profound influence on Wallace Fard, who later founded the black nationalist Nation of Islam in 1930. Elijah Muhammad became head of the organization in 1934. Like Malcolm X, who left the Nation of Islam in 1964, many African American Muslims now follow traditional Islam.^[5]

Black nationalist movements

Nation of Islam

A Nation of Islam member sells copies of the Final Call newspaper and what looks like assorted oils and perfumes.

Nation of Gods and Earths

The Nation of Gods and Earths, commonly known as the Five-Percent Nation, the Five-Percent Nation of Islam, or the Five Percenters was founded in Harlem in 1964 by Clarence 13X, known to his young disciples as Allah (the Arabic term for God) or the Father. The Nation of Gods and Earths angered religious and political leaders, who viewed the group as an offshoot of the Nation of Islam (NOI), which was already viewed by traditional Muslims as heretical. This came with the Nation having stated its predicted coming and its goal of seeking freedom, justice, and equality from economic, political, social, educational, and religious injustices in the United States and the world over.

Mainstream Muslim movements

After the death of his father, Warith Deen Muhammad broke away from the nationalist teachings of the Nation of Islam.

List of notable Muslims in the African diaspora

References

See also

• Islam in the United States
• Latino Muslims
• Lists of Muslims
• Jews and Judaism in the African diaspora

External links

• An Oral History of Islam in Pittsburgh
• Black Youth Empowerment

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