A Muslim American Slave: The Life of Omar Ibn Said

Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography

by Omar Ibn Said, Ala Alryyes (Editor)

Born to a wealthy family in West Africa around 1770, Omar Ibn Said was abducted and sold into slavery in the United States, where he came to the attention of a prominent North Carolina family after filling "the walls of his room with piteous petitions to be released, all written in the Arabic language," as one local newspaper reported. Ibn Said soon became a local celebrity, and in 1831 he was asked to write his life story, producing the only known surviving American slave narrative written in Arabic.
In "A Muslim American Slave," scholar and translator Ala Alryyes offers both a definitive translation and an authoritative edition of this singularly important work, lending new insights into the early history of Islam in America and exploring the multiple, shifting interpretations of Ibn Said's narrative by the nineteenth-century missionaries, ethnographers, and intellectuals who championed it.
This edition presents the English translation on pages facing facsimile pages of Ibn Said's Arabic narrative, augmented by Alryyes's comprehensive introduction, contextual essays and historical commentary by leading literary critics and scholars of Islam and the African diaspora, photographs, maps, and other writings by Omar Ibn Said. The result is an invaluable addition to our understanding of writings by enslaved Americans and a timely reminder that "Islam" and "America" are not mutually exclusive terms.
This edition presents the English translation on pages facing facsimile pages of Ibn Said's Arabic narrative, augmented by Alryyes's comprehensive introduction and by photographs, maps, and other writings by Omar Ibn Said. The volume also includes contextual essays and historical commentary by literary critics and scholars of Islam and the African Michael A. Gomez, Allan D. Austin, Robert J. Allison, Sylviane A. Diouf, Ghada Osman, and Camille F. Forbes. The result is an invaluable addition to our understanding of writings by enslaved Americans and a timely reminder that "Islam" and "America" are not mutually exclusive terms.

Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Islam, Biography, Memoir, Religion, African American

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1831

Reviews

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book's worth of commentary on an exceedingly minor document. The introduction is extremely overwritten and will dissuade readers. This is too bad, because the text itself, if you can manage to digest the plodding commentary and look for the concealed meanings as suggested, has a terrible pathos to it. The author is writing for Christian masters who want badly to believe that he has converted, but within his apparently obedient, docile, and grateful letter he carefully conceals criticisms of Christianity in practice, and makes subtle choices of phrase that indicate an undisturbed theological commitment to Islam and a memorization of many Muslim texts. The editor includes a clueless earlier translation of this same text from the 1920s, in order to drive home his point that white readers before the 1990s were completely oblivious to these hidden meanings. For people who cannot drag themselves through the introduction, Ghada Osman's essay has another close reading.

After the brief text come a few critical essays. We learn the role of Muslims in perpetuating the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and the fact that African Muslim slaves would often call themselves "Moors" and reject the color-bound label of "Negro," as part of their disputes with non-Muslim slaves. The first author suggests there is a possible genealogical connection between such antebellum bragging and the fin-de-siècle Nation of Islam and Moorish Science Temple. But Omar Ibn Said seems to have no interest in participating in slave society or what came after it. His writings seem to be directed at any possible Muslim readers who are able to discern the finer meanings, as well as the hereafter.

Overall, this book is a good look at how slavery developed in America and shaped the rhetoric and religious life of early African-Americans.

[Ahaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction is extremely academic and dreary and can be skipped entirely.

The autobiographical document itself was quite disappointing in that it's only a few pages long and barely provides details.

The contextual essays afterwards are what add value to the book. They give deep insight into the history and conditions of African Muslims in America, the role of African Muslims in the Transatlantic slave trade, and the hidden meanings in the autobiographical work.

Basically, just read the book for its contextual essays.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting and insightful, especially how Arabic slave narratives written in the US mean that the language is part of the country's multilingual make-up. Never knew of quite the extent of muslim enslaved people in the US.

[Yusuf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uzun süredir listemde olan bir kitaptı, bu nedenle heyecanla okudum. Sorun şu ki kitabın %85'i otobiyografi dışı metinler. Zira Ibn Said'in otobiyografisi 4 sayfa civarı ki bunun da 1-2 sayfası Kur'an'dan çeşitli ayetler... Geri kalan metinler neler peki? 5 sayfa yayınevi takdimi, Ibn Said ve otobiyografisi üzerine yazılmış 2 makale ki onlar da 80-100 sayfa filan tutuyor. Bu metinlerle ilgili bir şikayetim yok, yanlış anlaşılmasın. Ama asıl metnin bu kadar kısa olması hayal kırıklığı yarattı. Beklentimin karşılığını alamadım. Son olarak kapak fotoğrafı ile ilgili de bir bilgi yok. Kapaktaki kişi Ibn Said mi yoksa alakasız bir kişi mi...

[Amanj Aziz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for any interested both in the history of the US, and Muslims. The comments and the texts in this book are highly informative and important.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book start with a commentary that looks like it will never end. Even useful it will be too much for a lot or readers in my opinion.

The very small biography depict the vision of a wise Muslim African who is turn into an slave .

He depicts the image of the cruelty of American Christians that somehow feels entitled to enslave and abuse African men and women by forcibly remove them from their native countries and bring them to America.

It give us also a vision from and slave perspective of his painful experience and his desire to return to his country.

He had the skill to write in Arabic and had visited Meca before being enslaved.

Just a reminder of how the today inequality of African American originated.

[Abul Kalam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was incredibly disappointing. Omars actual work amounts to about a page and it has been repeated multiple times. The rest of the book is just commentary and case studies of American slave history. As a Muslim I expected or at least hoped for more, Omar’s text does not really even give any real insight on his life or himself. As a Muslim ( l know I keep repeating that point which probably bares no real relevance) I am familiar with Surahtul Mulk it is a great chapter and actually quite poignant but it basically leaves even less original text regarding the so called author. Basically a whole book around four paragraphs by the actual person.

[Sherry Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Historical Read Supported by a Lived Experience

A historical document with a multitude of gems connecting the Islamic faith, African heritsge and African born persons in America. This is a must read for all interested in the design and the construction of the American society. Well included is the supportive research to valid the legacy of Omar ibn Sayyid.

[betulsenaayar · Rating 5 out of 5]

kitap, Ömer İbn-i Said’in bir arkadaşının -yüksek ihtimalle o dönemde Amerika’daki Afrikalıların hakları adına çalışan bir derneğin üyesi- ricası üzerine yazdığı otobiyografisinin Arapça orijinali, İngilizce ve Türkçe tercümesini vermesinin yanı sıra; ‘Amerika’nın ilk yıllarında Müslümanlar (Michael a. Gomez)’ ve ‘Arapça bir batı tasviri: Ömer İbn-i Said’in kölelik hikayesi (Ghada Osman ve Camille f. Forbes)’ adlı makalelere de yer vermiş. Bu yönüyle kitap yalnızca Ömer İbn-i Said’in otobiyografisiyle kalmayıp Amerika’daki köleliğin geçmişi hakkında da fikir sahibi olmamızı sağlıyor. köle edebiyatı üzerine yapılmış çok az çalışma ve veri olduğunu göz önüne alırsak alanında çok değerli bir eser. müslümanların o dönemde yaşadıkları zorluklara rağmen verdikleri mücadeleler de gözyaşartan nitelikte. tüm dünyanın hayran olduğu amerikanın hala devam eden ırkçı ve sömürgeci anlayışını zihinlerde taze tutmak, son dönemlerde yeniden gündeme gelen "black lives matter" hareketini anlayarak sağlam bir bakış açısına sahip olailmek adına okunması gereken bir eser.

[Jeff Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting narrative that is presumably free of the influence of slavers or abolitionists. History is a complicated thing.

“Wicked men took me by violence and sold me to the Christians. We sailed a month and a half on the great sea to the place called Charleston in the Christian land. I fell into the hands of a small, weak and wicked man, who feared not God at all, nor did he read (the gospel) at all nor pray. I was afraid to remain with a man so depraved and who committed so many crimes and I ran away. After a month our Lord God brought me forward to the hand of a good man, who fears God, and loves to do good, and whose name is Jim Owen and whose brother is called Col. John Owen. These are two excellent men.”

[Wil Hobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting exploration of a possibility I never imagined. That statement reflects my ignorance of Islam’s propagation westward and northward across the African Continent along historical trading routes. Omar ibn Said’s brief autobiography is supplemented by scholars’ notes and analyses covering the phenomenon of Islamic studies and practices in Western Africa. He was a Muslim scholar (therefore highly literate) who was among 10s of thousands who were enslaved and sent to the Americas. Said’s story is unique because he was owned by the brother of North Carolina’s Governor who recognized his literacy and spiritual grounding while immersing him in Christianity.

An accessible and consciousness-expanding read!

[Brian Mikołajczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

The autobiography of a Futa Toro (modern day Senegal) Muslim who became enclaved in the Carolinas in America in the early 19th century.
Omar Ibn Said was a devout literate Muslim who wrote his autobiography after the American Civil War.
The biography is short and interesting, but it most of it is about his faith rather than his life.
This volume also has a collection of essays to provide context which were good.
Overall an interesting read.

[Richard Subber · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were Muslims among the slaves in early America.
Some of them were educated and literate. Omar ibn Said was one of them.
He persisted in his creative life.

Read more of my book reviews and poems here:
www.richardsubber.com

[Saf · Rating 5 out of 5]

So beautiful to read about such a wise and cultured person. I read it to inform myself more on the conditions of American slaves but I've gained so much knowledge about my own deen as well maashaAllah. May Allah reward him with the highest grade of jannah Ameen.

[El-Jahiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very important documentation of earliest recorded Muslim slaves in the USA, including the autobiographical life of Omar Ibn Said. A better organization of the discussion could really improve the strcuture of the book, which in its present form appears ver redundant in many places.

[Aaron Schuschu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just his essay o ye Americans. A lot of repetition in the narrative.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look forward to the lastest
Translation 2019

[Wejdan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read such enlightening and heartbreaking autobiography in awhile

[Connie Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read

[Yunis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omar Ibn Said made me think about his time while he wrote his story. His story will always be in my life.