Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas

by Michael A. Gomez

Beginning with Latin America in the fifteenth century, this book comprises a social history of the experiences of African Muslims and their descendants throughout the Americas, including the Caribbean. The years under slavery are examined, as well as the post-slavery period. The study also analyzes Muslim revolts in Brazil--especially in 1835. The second part of the book traces the emergence of Islam among U.S. African descendants in the twentieth century, featuring chapters on Noble Drew Ali, Elijah Muhammad, and Malcolm X to explain how orthodoxy arose from varied unorthodox roots. Currently Professor of History and Middle Eastern Studies at NYU, Michael Gomez has research interests that include Islam in West Africa, the African diaspora and African culture in North America. He has been involved with the launching of a new academic organization, the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD), and has published widely in the field.

Genres: Islam, History, Religion, Nonfiction

396 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2005

About the author

Michael A. Gomez is the Silver Professor of History and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University. His books include Black Crescent: African Muslims in the Americas; Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South; Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora; and Pragmatism in the Age of Jihad: The Precolonial State of Bundu.

Reviews

[Tatyana Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow but some great perspective and lots to learn from the book.

[Andee Nero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four for effort. He is trying to start something new in the scholarship and his sources are often pretty weak. There is an awful lot of speculation in this book. Still, he worked with what he had an produced something substantial. One issue though... could he have said the word "foregoing" more? There are so many synonyms available that are in much more common usage in the English language!

[Elijah Meeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent review of Islam in the Americas, with great detail on Noble Ali and the predecessors of the Nation of Islam, as well as hard-to-find details on the cultural effect of Muslim slaves in the American South.

[Habeeb Akande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, learn a great deal about the connection of black Muslims from West and North Africa to North America to South America. Deals with the issue objectively and discusses the implications slavery has had on the people from these regions.