Servants of Allah
Published by NYU Press
An illuminating study of how African Muslims drew on Islam while enslaved, and how their faith ultimately played a role in the African Disapora.
It is widely assumed that the faith enslaved West African Muslims brought to the Americas was quickly absorbed into their new Christian milieu. Yet, as Sylviane A. Diouf demonstrates in this meticulously-researched, groundbreaking volume, Islam flourished during slavery on a large scale. Even while enslaved, many Muslims managed to follow most of the precepts of their religion. Often literate, urban, and well-traveled, they drew on their organization, solidarity and the strength of their beliefs to play a major part in the most well-known slave uprisings. But for all their accomplishments and contributions to the history and cultures of the African Diaspora, the Muslims have been largely ignored. Servants of Allah illuminates the role of Islam in the lives of both individual practitioners and communities, and shows that though the religion did not survive in the Americas in its orthodox form, its mark can be found in certain religions, traditions, and artistic creations of people of African descent. This fifteenth-anniversary edition has been updated to include new materials and analysis, a review of developments in the field, prospects for new research, and illustrations.
It is widely assumed that the faith enslaved West African Muslims brought to the Americas was quickly absorbed into their new Christian milieu. Yet, as Sylviane A. Diouf demonstrates in this meticulously-researched, groundbreaking volume, Islam flourished during slavery on a large scale. Even while enslaved, many Muslims managed to follow most of the precepts of their religion. Often literate, urban, and well-traveled, they drew on their organization, solidarity and the strength of their beliefs to play a major part in the most well-known slave uprisings. But for all their accomplishments and contributions to the history and cultures of the African Diaspora, the Muslims have been largely ignored. Servants of Allah illuminates the role of Islam in the lives of both individual practitioners and communities, and shows that though the religion did not survive in the Americas in its orthodox form, its mark can be found in certain religions, traditions, and artistic creations of people of African descent. This fifteenth-anniversary edition has been updated to include new materials and analysis, a review of developments in the field, prospects for new research, and illustrations.
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