Contrary to the mistaken belief that Islam in America originated with the influx of Arab and Pakistani immigrants in the 1960s, Islam actually originated in this country vis-à-vis enslaved West African Muslims. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington owned enslaved West African Muslims. These first Muslims were forced to convert to Christianity and relinquish all components of their Muslim identities.
In fact, historians argue that the initial shipping of these individuals while naked served to not only dehumanize and animalize them, but to specifically undermine their Islamic conceptions of modesty, and to thereby initiate the complete erasure of their Muslim identities. They not only retained a myriad of components of their Muslim identities, but in some cases, negotiated their identities uniquely to fit their enslaved circumstances.
They found ways to covertly pray, fast, read and scribe copies of the Qur’an from memory, and establish underground Islamic learning networks. The impact of these enslaved Muslims is far-reaching and continually being discovered. Modern-day musicologists are learning about how the melody of the blues, a musical product of slavery, may be derived from the tune of the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer.
These first Muslims laid a strong foundation for Islam in America. They represent a strong adherence to Islam and the Muslim identity, despite their unimaginably difficult circumstances of being enslaved. They inspire modern-day Muslim Americans to be unapologetic of their identities.