Muslims in American History: A Forgotten Legacy (before Columbus)

COOL!!!! But this thread contributes nothing.

Columbus was not the first European to visit the Americas.

Yup, Vikings were the first I believe. Correct me if I am wrong.

I don't think he claimed directly or otherwise. However the Vikings made essentially no impact on the Natives Americans or the development of the Colonial Period, which would have been a primary point if the thread starter (and the book) actually contributed anything.

[SIZE="3"]Native Americans and Islam[/SIZE]

There are numerous accounts of Muslims who were intergrated within Native Indian tribes pre Columbus, of Turkic, Moorish and African Muslims leaving colonies to live amongst the Native Indians. There are also historical letters and colonial advertisments describing the threat to the colonies of African Muslim Slaves fleeing and intergrating with the Native American Indians. There is also the case of Mahomet Weyonomonof the Mohegan tribe, who arrived in Britain in 1736 CE (1148 AH) [1]century to discuss the land grabs by the British.

- in the 12th century Al-Idrisi reported in Nuzhat Al-Mushtaq Fi Ikhtiraq Al-Afaq (Excursion of the Longing One in Crossing Horizons), that a group of eight Muslim sailors from North Africa sailed west of Lisbon. After sailing west for more than 31 days, they landed on what must have been an island in the Caribbean. The intrepid explorers were initially imprisoned by Indians but were later released when a translator appeared who spoke Arabic [2]

- 1310 CE (709 AH) Sultan Abu Bakari of the Mandinka kingdom of Mali sent two different fleets of ships, totalling 2,400 ships, sailing west from Africa. The fleets never returned to Africa.

There are also numerous reports of 'black skinned' Indians. For example in Honduras Columbus reported seeing Black skinned Indians. Giles Cauvet's 'Les Berberes de l'Amerique' reported that a pre-Columbian tribe in Honduras was know as the Almamys a corruption of the Mandinka word for the Arabic Imam.

[SIZE="3"]Islamic/Arabic Place Names in America

[SIZE="3"]Islam in America before Columbus [/SIZE]

By: Hisham Zoubeir

[SIZE="3"]A Native Americans journey to Islam Digging For The Red Roots[/SIZE]

Published by American Patriot ,Sunday October 06, 2002
A Native Americans journey to Islam : Utah IMC



By Mahir Abdal Razzaq El


My name is Mahir Abdal Razzaq 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 North Eastern 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 a thousand years ago by some of the early Muslim travelers who visited us. Some of these Muslim travelers ended up living up 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 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 communities 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 Muhammed Ibn Abdullah. This treaty 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 i accordance with Islam. According to a federal court case from the Continental Congress, we help put the breath of life into 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 into 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.


Notice the Turban worn by the Cherokee Men and the Modest Dresses (Veil/Hijab) worn by the Cherokee Women.



Notice again the Turban worn by this Cherokee.