In 1807, Omar ibn Said, a Muslim scholar from Senegal, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in America. He left behind a life story written in Arabic.
Written in Arabic and recently obtained by me through the Library of Congress, "The Life of Omar Ibn Said" is not only an unprecedented narrative of an American, but it is also one of the earliest accounts of Muslims in America.
Omar wrote a brief autobiography, 192 years ago. When he wrote it, Omar was 61 years old and had already spent over twenty years in slavery in America, first serving in Charleston and then North Carolina.
Omar ibn Said was born into a wealthy family in Futa Toro, on the banks of the middle Senegal River in West Africa. He was a Muslim scholar and a Fula tribesman who spent 25 years of his life studying with major Islamic scholars, learning mathematics, astronomy, and commerce.
Omar was enslaved and taken to Charleston, South Carolina. In his autobiography, he describes his capture when Europeans "took many people" and crossed with them the "great sea" on a journey lasting a month and a half, witnessing the violence and terror of the slave trade.
Omar was among roughly one-third of American slaves who were Muslim. While the exact number of enslaved Muslims is unknown, about 40% of those captured came from regions in West Africa with predominantly Muslim populations.
Scholars estimate that the slave ship that brought Omar to South Carolina landed in 1807. A year later, America abolished the importation of slaves from across the Atlantic, banning the arrival of new slaves to the U.S. (although illegal slave trading continued).
Not long after his arrival in Charleston, Omar was sold to a cruel and violent master, so Omar escaped and made his way to Fayetteville, North Carolina.
On the run, Omar sought a place of worship, found a church, and began to pray. When he was found, authorities arrested Omar.
Omar became known for writing on the walls of the jail where he was held in Arabic, challenging the belief that enslaved Africans were uneducated.
Eventually, a prominent local figure, General James Owen, bought Omar. Knowing of Omar's Islamic faith and Arabic literacy, Owen gave him an Arabic Bible. Omar attended the Presbyterian Church and converted to Christianity in 1821.
Omar's conversion to Christianity later made him well-known. Many people close to Omar commented on his Christianity and his steadfast Christian faith. However, in his Bible, Omar wrote in Arabic, "Praise be to God," and "All goodness is from God."
Through his writings, Omar demonstrated cleverness in concealing his Islamic faith. For example, he wrote Surah Al-Fatiha, the first chapter of the Qur'an, in Arabic, showing it to white people.
In another text, he copied a passage from the Psalms but included an authentic Islamic call to prayer behind it. His Islamic education enabled Omar to use Arabic to hide his Islamic writings.
Omar moved with the Owen family in 1836 to Wilmington, North Carolina, and worked on a plantation on the Cape Fear River during the Civil War. He is believed to have died at age 94, but the specific cause of his death is unknown.
Omar wrote commentaries and passages from the Holy Qur'an. His autobiographical account is not historical but relates key events in his life: his forced journey to America, his escape and recapture, his time in jail, and his transfer to Jim Owen's home.
Omar's status and education in West Africa, along with his resilience in the face of mistreatment in South Carolina, gave him the skill to secure better treatment from at least some white Americans.
Both Said's narrative and his autobiography tell of his virtuous character regarding his studies and his devotion. During slavery, education and literacy among slaves were illegal in some states, including South Carolina.
Muslim slaves who left writings challenged the notion that enslaved men and women were merely physical laborers lacking the intellect to deserve freedom.
What we know about the ordinary enslaved African Muslims who left no writings is that their descendants can only be remembered through their names on sales documents or runaway notices. How long they clung to Islam is unknown.
Some enslaved Muslims converted to Christianity, while others pretended to recant and convert to Christianity to please their captors. Yet there are signs that some enslaved Muslims held onto their faith.
"Say I should write my life story…I have forgotten the Arabic language and many things. Also, I cannot write much or with proper grammar, so, my brother, I ask you, please do not blame me, for I am a man of weak eyes and a weak body," said Umar ibn Said.