Islam in the African-American Experience
Authors: Agbere Dawud Abdul-Aziz 
Published: December 2020

African-American Islam, especially as practiced by the Nation oflslam, continuesto engage the attention of many scholars. The racial separatist tendency,contrasted against the color blindness of global Islam, has been the focal pointof most of these studies. The historical presence of African Americans in themidst of American racism has been explained as, among other things, the mainimpetus behind African-American nationalism and racial separatism. Islam inthe African-American Experience is yet another attempt to explain this historicalposition. Originally the author's Ph.D. dissertation, the book spans 293pages, including notes, select biographies, indices, and thirteen illustrations. Itstwo parts, "Root Sources" and "Prophets of the City," comprise six chapters; there is also an introduction and an epilogue. The book is particularly designedfor students interested in African-American Islam. The central theme of thebook is the signifktion (naming and identifying) of the African Americanwithin the context of global Islam. The author identifies three factors thatexplain the racial-separatist phenomenon of African-American Islam:American racism, the Pan-African political movements of African-Americansin the early twentieth century, and the historic patterns of racial separatism inIslam. His explanations of the first two factors, though not new to the field ofAfrican-American studies, is well presented. However, his third explanation,which tries to connect the racial-separatist tendency of African-AmericanMuslims to what he tern the “historic pattern of racial separatism” in Islam,seems both controversial and problematic.In his introduction, the author touches on the African American’s sensitivityto signification, citing the long debate in African-American circles. Islam, heargues, offered African Americans two consolations: first, a spiritual, communal,and global meaning, which discoMects them in some way from Americanpolitical and public life; second, a source of political and cultural meaning inAfrican-American popular culture. He argues that a black person in America,Muslim or otherwise, takes an Islamic name to maintain or reclaim Africancultural roots or to negate the power and meaning of his European name. Thus,Islam to the black American is not just a spiritual domain, but also a culturalheritage.Part 1, “Root Sources,” contains two chapters and traces the black Africancontact with Islam from the beginning with Bilal during the time of theProphet, to the subsequent expansion of Islam to black Africa, particularlyWest Africa, by means of conversion, conquest, and trade. He also points to animportant fact: the exemplary spiritual and intellectual qualities of NorthAmerican Muslims were major factors behind black West Africans conversionto Islam. The author discusses the role of Arab Muslims in the enslavement ofAfrican Muslims under the banner of jihad, particularly in West Africa, abehavior the author described as Arabs’ separate and radical agenda for WestAfrican black Muslims. Nonetheless, the author categorically absolves Islam,as a system of religion, from the acts of its adherents (p. 21). This notwithstanding,the author notes the role these Muslims played in the educational andprofessional development of African Muslims ...