Native American Muslims (pre-Colombian)
I found this very interesting article written by a Muslim brother from the Cherokee. Unfortunately he doesn't offer much in the way of citing references though he does offer references...interesting stuff...
Anyone have any acces to South Carolina records and care to check out the "Moors Sundry Act of 1790"?
A Native Americans journey to Islam
by American Patriot Sunday October 06, 2002 at 09:23 PM
A Native Americans journey to Islam Digging For The Red Roots
cherokee.jpg, image/jpeg, 174x225
A Native Americans journey to Islam
Digging For The Red Roots
By Mahir Abdal Razzaq El
My name is Mahir Abdal Razzaq El and I am a Cherokee Blackfoot American Indian who is Muslim. I am known as Eagle Sun Walker. I serve as a Pipe Carrier Warrior for the North Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in New York City. There are other Muslims in our group. For the most part, not many people are aware of the Native American contact with Islam that began over a thousand years ago by some of the early Muslim travelers who visited us. Some of these Muslim travelers ended up living up among our people.
For most Muslims and non-Muslims of today , this type of information is unknown and has never been mentioned in any of the the history books. There are many do***ents, treaties, legislation and resolutions that were passed between 1600s and 1800s that show that Muslims were in fact here and were very active in the communities in which they lived. Treaties such as Peace and Friendship that was signed on the Delaware River in the year 1787 bear the signatures of Abdel-Khak and Muhammed Ibn Abdullah. This treaty details our continued right to exist as a community in the areas of commerce, maritime, shipping, current form of government at that time which was i accordance with Islam. According to a federal court case from the Continental Congress, we help put the breath of life into the newly framed constitution. All of the do***ents are presently in the National Archives as well as the Library of Congress.
If you have access to records in the state of South Carolina , read the Moors sundry Act of 1790. In a future article, Inshallah, i will go into more details about the various tribes , their languages; in which some are influenced by Arabic, Persian, Hebrew words. almost all of the tribes vocabulary include the word "Allah" The traditional dress code for Indian women includes the kimah and long dresses. For men , standard fare is turbans and long tops that come down to the knees. If you were to look at any of the old books on Cherokee clothing up until the time of 1832, you will see the men wearing turbans and the women wearing long head coverings. The last Cherokee chief who had a Muslim name was Ramadhan Ibn Wati of the Cherokees in 1866.
Cities across the United States and Canada bear names that are of Indian and Islamic derivation. Have you ever wondered what the name Tallahassee means? It means that He Allah will deliver you sometime in the future.
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"...if the heart is occupied with loving and believing in falsehood, then it has no space for loving and accepting the truth."
-Ibn Al-Qayyim
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