The Concept of Blackness in Al-Islam

Within recent years, Black America has witnessed a surge in interest in the religion of Islam. This phenomenon seems to be motivated by two reasons. On the one hand, African Americans are generally drawn to the religion as they have been in the past and are seeking to deepen their knowledge of it. On the other hand, there has been an uptick in propaganda, mainly via social media, that has exacerbated age-old stereotypes of Islam being a religion that is essentially Arab and, even more concerning to Black people, anti-black. In this connection, atrocities such as the Arab slave trade, citing the Hadith of Prophet Mohammed selling enslaved Black people or a misreading of passages from the Qur’an, such as the inmates of hell being described as having “black faces” have all contributed to the notion that Islam carries within it racist ideas and ultimately should be rejected by people of African descent. It is no more, so the argument goes, than another religion aimed at colonizing the minds of Africa and her children. 

Our aim, by way of this short work, is to make clear that such attributions are not only false but also are in opposition to the true character and spirit of Al-Islam. Not only did this religion elevate the civilization of African peoples - which is not to say that civilization wasn't present before the coming of Islam, but rather, the civilized Africans accepted it wholeheartedly - but also, because of its inherent universality, it affirms the dignity of all nations and peoples of the earth. Our understanding is that these mischaracterizations of our religion must be corrected. This is what we will do in the following pages.