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Jun 24 Transforming Your Reality Jun 17 A History of Muslim Americans’ Political Engagement Jun 17 My Brother is Gay: Navigating the Intersection of Religion and Family An interview with Imam Wesley Lebron Jun 10 Islam and the Romans: Early Muslim-Byzantine Interaction May 20 Reclaiming the Sunnah of Adoption and Foster Care: An Interview with Basmah Salam Apr 29 National Poetry Month: An Ode to Faith, Visibility, and the Conversations We Don’t Forget Apr 15 Beyond Ramadan: Taking Its Lessons Farther  Apr 15 The Power of Saying No: A Reflection on Boundaries

Tag: knowledge

  • Muslim Contributions to America: Taking It to the Next Level

    Muslim Contributions to America: Taking It to the Next Level

    “Have you ever been to a Muslim hospital? … Have you witnessed a Muslim charity? Can you show me one Muslim signature on the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, or Bill of Rights? Have you ever seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life?” These were the exact words of a public statement made by a Michigan Republican National Committeeman not too long ago. This perspective is not unique, for we have heard a similar statement or narrative from other people as well. One may wonder if this is sheer ignorance or deliberate propaganda.

    Today Muslims are on the front lines of campaigns to support social justice and end civil rights abuses

    Recently, in the wake of the anti-Muslim statements made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, the UK’s daily Guardian published an article providing a brief but compelling survey of contributions made by Muslims in shaping, developing, and serving America (google: the guardian, Muslims who shaped America). The article observes, “What Trump doesn’t seem to grasp is his own country’s history, and how many American achievements worth celebrating are the work of the kind of people – Muslims – he wants to keep out.” The article also commented that even a partial list of “some of the things Muslims have done for the US…is still more impressive than what Trump has done for his homeland.”

    Did the author, Stuart Jeffries, overstate the case? Actually, no. He acknowledges that his list is far from exhaustive but it nonetheless shows that Muslims have been part of American society right from its inception. That story is not well-known, however, as Muslims in America have always been a minority. Nevertheless, Islam has been present and notable all along. Professor Richard Turner, for example, mentions that while researchers disagree over the number of Muslim slaves that were brought to the Americas, they agree that many Muslim slaves were educated and literate in Arabic and they “often occupied leadership roles in the jobs that slaves performed on plantations in the American South…Their names, dress, rituals, and dietary laws were perceived as powerful significations of Islamic identities in the slave community.” To name just a few, Bampett Muhammad was a soldier who fought for the Virginia Line between the years 1775 and 1783 under Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington, in the war against British colonialism. A North African Arab, Yusuf Ben Ali, also fought along with him. A Muslim American soldier, Peter Buckminster, is the man who killed British Major General John Pitcairn at the battle of Bunker Hill. Buckminster later changed his surname to Salem or Salaam.

    There is evidence that founding fathers John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson were quite familiar with Islam and possessed copies of the Holy Quran in their personal libraries. It is worth noting that Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to congress, used Jefferson’s nearly 250¬?year¬?old Quran to be sworn in on as a U.S. congressman. Many Americans don’t know that in 1777, Morocco, a Muslim nation, was the first country to formally recognize the United States as an independent nation. The vast majority of early Muslims present in the U.S. were Africans brought to this country as slaves in the 17th century. The next major wave of Muslims coming to America was in the mid-19th century through to the 1920s, with large numbers emigrating from the Middle East, mostly from Lebanon and Syria, many of whom settled in the American Midwest. Muslim immigrants, like all those who sought opportunity in America, settled in their new home, and established deep and sturdy roots for the generations to come. Achievements by Muslim Americans followed, and as proud citizens they contribute to American society as educators, doctors, engineers, athletes, lawmakers, and soldiers. Statistics provided by the American Medical Association indicate that ten percent of all American physicians are Muslim. Today Muslims are on the front lines of campaigns to support social justice and end civil rights abuses. Muslim charity groups in the United States are too numerous to catalog, though the Bay Area Islamic Networks Group, the UMMA Clinic in Los Angeles, the Chicago-based Inner-City Muslim Action Network, and Dearborn’s ACCESS are examples of groups that provide crucial services for the needy and empower the underprivileged. In 2013, the Muslim charity Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) was rated among the top ten charities in the United States.

    In this issue we look at ways by which American Muslims are thoroughly engaged in further extending their contribution and service to their local communities and to this richly diverse nation. Striving for harmony in every aspect of life through Allah’s guidance, participating fully in civic life, realizing the essential connection between proper human assumption of trusteeship of this earth and the development of ethical character, and duly disseminating the reality about Islam’s call for moderation rather than extremism in any form – these are some of the areas in which American Muslims are demonstrating their commitment to assimilation. But this is qualified assimilation into the American fabric of daily life, one that does not compromise the Islamic principles and values that make the history and contemporary presence of Muslims in America a profound and inspiring story. We must celebrate this!

  • Timbuktu—Empire of Knowledge

    Timbuktu—Empire of Knowledge

    Introduction

    Imagine a city in 16th century West Africa where thousands of Black African students pondered over the latest ideas in science, mathematics, and medicine. A fabled town in the middle of the scorching desert, overflowing with countless valuable books, wonderful crafts, exquisite fabrics, and unrivalled gold jewelry! Imagine a community of highly cultured, wealthy people whose famed city was the subject of legends, its prosperity and mystique behind ochre walls attracting some of the greatest adventurers of the time.

    Timbuktu gives solid proof of a powerful African past and an unbroken chain of African scholarship.

    For most people, knowledge of such a place is vague, and not surprisingly the phrase “From here to Timbuktu” conveys, to those in the Western world, a place of remoteness and far distance from civilization. Yet West African people and the Berbers of the Sahara desert knew such a place well and took pride in being connected to it in any way possible. Timbuktu in the 16th century was home to one of the most respected universities in the world and its intellectuals reached the pinnacle of scholarship and spiritual development. Its commercial networks stretched from below the Niger River to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Peninsula. Timbuktu was the most famous meeting place of the camel and the canoe, where the highest grade gold was exchanged for salt, cloth and other essential items.

    A fabled town in the middle of the scorching desert, overflowing with countless valuable books, wonderful crafts, exquisite fabrics, and unrivalled gold jewelry!

    How did this fabulous city of commerce and scholarship appear on the shores of the Sahara desert? What became of its wealth of knowledge and material goods? A journey into present day Timbuktu may very well reveal some of the answers.

    The Founding of Timbuktu

    The story begins with a Tuareg client woman named Buktu who founded a settlement in the 11th century, some 12 kilometers (eight miles) north of the Niger River flood-plain along the southern edge of the Sahara. It was a perfect resting place for the nomadic Tuareg Imashagen who roamed the desert in the rainy season and were in need of a malaria-free base for their animals to graze during the scorching heat of the summer. Buktu’s camp had fresh water wells, and she would protect their heavy goods when they left the camp at the first rains. This small, seemingly insignificant campsite, known as “Tin-Buktu” or the well of Buktu, according to ‘Ali Ould Sidi and many historians of the region, and it became the cornerstone of a thriving, bustling city.

    Early Development

    Timbuktu, from its inception, was in a unique position to serve all of the people of the region since it was located at the precise point where the Niger flows northward into the southern edge of the desert. It provided a natural meeting place for the Tuareg, the Arabs, the Wangara, the Songhai, the Soninke, the Fulani, and others. It provided a central marketplace for the gold of the south and the salt and goods of the Mediterranean. Salt came from the Tegaza mines of the Sahara and gold came from the famous Boure and Bambuk mines of Mali. The first permanent settlers were African merchants of the Marka, Wangara, Sarakole and Mandinka peoples. They came from Gao, just to the southeast, the ancient city of Jenne, the commercial capital of the Middle Niger and the mysterious towns of Dia and Kabura in the southwest. These merchants developed the first marketplace and built fine houses of mud. A symbiotic relationship formed between the merchants and the tent dwelling Tuareg. The first Masjids (mosques) soon appeared and traders and scholars began to flock to the city.

    Mansa Musa’s Impact

    In 1325, Mansa Musa, the ruler of the vast empire of Mali returned from his fabled pilgrimage to Makkah. He had crossed the desert with over 60,000 followers. His caravan contained eight thousand soldiers, servants, and courtiers who drove 15,000 camels laden with gold, salt, perfumes, and stores of food supplies. It is said that the Mansa carried so much gold with him (approximately 180,000 kilograms) that he changed the economy of every land that he reached. On his return, Mansa Musa built a masjid at every stop and on reaching Timbuktu, he commissioned his chief architect, the Andalusian Abu Ishaq As-Saheli, to build the largest house of worship in the whole of West Africa and a spacious royal palace. The grand masjid called Jingarey Ber or Al-Masjid Al-Kabir  is still standing and has been the primary site for Friday prayers in Timbuktu since that time! Mansa Musa’s exploits made Mali and Timbuktu world famous and legends of gold-lined houses and fabulous riches were spread throughout Europe.

    Timbuktu in the Eyes of the Muslim World

    To the Muslim world, the rulers of Mali had revealed another form of wealth. Timbuktu had become a center of learning and a producer and exporter of rare and valuable Islamic books. Famous Muslim travelers like Ibn Battuta and Hasan al-Wazan (Leo Africanus) visited Timbuktu and were amazed at the high level of scholarship and the insatiable love for the study of the Arabic language and the Blessed Qur’an. Hasan al-Wazan wrote: Hither are brought diverse manuscripts or written books, which are sold for more money than any other merchandise.”

    To the Muslim world, the rulers of Mali had revealed another form of wealth. Timbuktu had become a center of learning and a producer and exporter of rare and valuable Islamic books.

    Timbuktu was a principal staging point along the pilgrimage route to Makkah and thus, became a central point for scholars and travelers to the Middle East and a perfect base for the dissemination of Islamic knowledge and ideas. Thousands of manuscripts were stored in private collections and copied by local scribes for use in the many institutions of learning.

    Timbuktu’s Educational Achievements

    At the height of the city’s golden age in the 16th century, Timbuktu boasted over 150 schools and a major University at the Sankore Mosque that enrolled over 25, 000 students. The curricula were intensive and included the Islamic sciences like Qu’ranic interpretation (tafseer), the Prophetic sayings (hadeeth), Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), sources of Islamic law (usool), and Islamic doctrinal theology (aqeedah). These formed the core of the syllabus. The students were also required to memorize the entire Qur’an and the famous religious texts (mutoon) and gain mastery over the Arabic language through the study of grammar (nahw), literary style and rhetoric (balaagah), and Arabic poetry and logic (mantiq).

    After mastering the basic texts and memorizing the required material, the student was assigned a mentor who specialized in a particular field of study. The relationship of student and the master often grew to the point where the student would work for the master or become part of his family. This mulaazamah system produced scholars who benefited not only from their teachers’ theoretical knowledge but also from internalizing their manner of living and thus coming to more deeply understand and embody their teachings.

    Timbuktu also highlights Islam’s great legacy of development in Africa and its proper place in the annals of African achievement.

    Timbuktu’s history has come to us from a series of historical works or Tarikhs written from the mid 17th century through the 18th century. These well written Arabic treasures enable us to enter the African world of scholarship and deep intellectual thought. Some of them were bound with beautiful leather binding and have stood the test of time. The most famous chronicle in this period was the Tarikh-as-Sudan, or the History of the Sudan, written in 1653 by Timbuktu’s most illustrious historian ‘Abd ar-Rahman as-Sa’di. It gives a detailed exposition of the history of the city from its founding till the time of the writing. The two Tarikhs that corroborate the historical detail of Tarikh as-Sudan are Tarikh al-Fattash by Mahmoud Al Ka’ti and the anonymous Tadhkirat an-Nisyaan or A Reminder to the Oblivious. These chronicles remind us of the glorious past and lament the decline of the city.

    Present Day Documentation Centers

    Today, many of these great works have been unearthed from private collections and stored in documentation centers. The most famous is the Ahmad Baba Center for Documentation which began its collection around 1970 through a UNESCO educational grant. Named after one of the greatest scholars in Timbuktu history, this center has been chosen by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa as the focus of a major drive to preserve the manuscripts of Timbuktu and train Malians in the modern art of archival science. Mr. Mbeki visited Timbuktu in 2001 on a diplomatic mission and was so impressed by the thousands of manuscripts written by African scholars that he made this project one of the chief endeavors of the African Union.

    In addition to the Ahmad Baba Center, the Bibliotheque des Manuscrits “Al Wangary” houses the private library of the family of Shaykh Muhammad Bagayogo, the teacher of Ahmad Baba. The Mahmoud Ka’ti Collection contains numerous rare manuscripts from the great scribe’s personal collection. The Mamma Haidara Memorial Library has brought together a host of important documents and has sent displays around the world. The As-Sayouti Collection contains some of the most beautiful handwritten copies of the Qur’an in West Africa. So much work has been done in bringing together the written history of Timbuktu, that a network of 23 private collections has been formed to give local direction to this sensitive task.

    Important Masjids and Heritage Sites

    Timbuktu’s skyline has always been dominated by its houses of worship. It is to the famous mosques that the old city with its triangular layout owes its different quarters. These adobe mosques have become famous throughout the world for their unique shapes and their long histories. In the northern quarter, at the apex of the triangle lies the Sankore Masjid with its pyramid shaped minaret laced with protruding wooden support beams. It was here that the Sankore University housed its thousands of students and produced some of the greatest scholars in Africa. In the western corner of the city lies the Jingerey Ber Masjid built by Mansa Musa in 1325.  Five hundred years later in 1858, the British traveler Henry Barth wrote that the mosque “by its stately appearance made a deep impression on my mind.” This masjid is now considered the oldest standing mosque in West Africa and it has hosted the main Imam of Timbuktu at the only Jumu’ah Prayer (Friday Prayer) in the city since its inception. In times of crisis, it stood as a sanctuary for the people of Timbuktu and for centuries was a center for deep spiritual reflection. The third major masjid is the Sidi Yahyia Masjid that was originally built by Shaykh Ibrahim Hamallah Al Kunti in the 14th century and rebuilt about 1400 by Amir Muhammad Naddi. It is the best preserved of the main houses of worship and, along with the other two, is a world heritage site.

    A Great Legacy and a Catalyst for Renewal

    The first non-Muslim to enter the city was the French explorer Rene Caille, on April 20, 1828.  He was disappointed at the condition of the buildings of Timbuktu but noted that “apparently all of the population could read the Qur’an and even know it by heart.” The golden age had passed but the spirit of scholarship and piety still remained. Timbuktu, at its height in the 16th century— with its wide-ranging commerce, fabulous prosperity, countless rare and esteemed manuscripts and  rich scholastic legacy, its designation as a center for the dissemination of religious and spiritual teaching—destroys racist notions of Black inferiority, educational and commercial backwardness, lack of record-keeping or public archives such as libraries and universities; indeed, Timbuktu is a death knell to the deception that Africa had no history.

    Timbuktu gives solid proof of a powerful African past and an unbroken chain of African scholarship. Timbuktu also highlights Islam’s great legacy of development in Africa and its proper place in the annals of African achievement. The city’s well preserved trove of spiritual wisdom may hold some of the answers to today’s complex problems and never-ending conflict and war. Perhaps the heat of the desert sands and the emptiness of its expanse can be catalyst for the deep reflectiveness and sincerity of heart necessary for an African Rennaisance of economic, cultural and political liberation; and God willing, a wider renewal of hope and aspiration for humanity.