Islam in America by Nabil A. Bayakly, Ph.D. Muslims in Memphis Org.

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Islam in AmericabyNabil A. Bayakly,
Ph.D.Muslims in Memphis Org.

• How Far In History Do We Go Back?

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Islam Among Native Americans

• Evidence that some Mayans were Muslims.
• From the Seminoles of Florida (Tallahassee
  Tallah-Assee).
• Sequoyah the Cherokee. The last Cherokee chief
  name was Ramadan bin Watie (also known as
  (Stand Watie) and his sons was Saladin Watie.
  Saladin was part of the Cherokee delegation to
  Washington D.C. to sign a new treaty with the US
  at the end of the civil war.

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Sequoyah the Cherokee
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The Admiral Of the Western Seas Cheng Ho (Zheng
He).The Discoverer of America
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The emperor sent his admiral on ever-long
voyages. Seven times, Zheng He's ships set sail
for unknown lands. He traveled to Mecca and
visited Muhammad's (PBUH) tomb in Medina. On the
fifth voyage, he reached the coast of Africa,
landing in Somalia on the east coast.
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1421 The Year China Discovered the World. By
Gavin Menzies (March 15, 2002) Published by
Bantam Press, London
Did a daring Chinese Admiral sailing the world's
largest wooden armada beat Columbus to America
by 71 years? 1421 The Year China Discovered
America? is a fascinating two part documentary
that investigates this possibility, delving deep
into historical archives and exploring the
theories of best selling author Gavin Menzies
(From the Royal Geographical Society in London).

In 1430, Ming Emperor Xuan Zong commissioned
Zheng He to deliver a medal to foreign nations
that he was enthroned with a new era named Xuan
De. The medal was discovered in 2006
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So What Islam Has to Do With This?

• Zheng He was a Muslim. He is from the Hui
  (Mongols) Muslim tribe he was also known as Hajji
  Zheng He. He performed pilgrimage to Makah on
  one of his trips. The Arabic phrase Allahu
  Akbar is inscribed on his tomb.

http//www.time.com/time/asia/features/journey2001
/intro.html http//www.nytimes.com/library/magazin
e/millennium/m3/kristof.html (1999)
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Who are the MELUNGEON?

Arch Goins and family, Graysville Photo from the
1920's, from a great-nephew in Chattanooga,provid
ed by and used with the permission of Barbara
Goins.
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Funk and Wagnells  1893 ----One of a very dark
people living in the Mountains of
TennesseeCentury Dictionary and Encyclopedia
1906 ---- Melungeons a dark people of eastern
Tennessee and western North Carolina with a
discernable mix of white, Indian and black
blood.  Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1913 ----Malengine (Malen"gine) n. OF.
malengin L. malus bad, evil ingenium natural
capacity. See Engine. Evil machination guile
deceit. Obs. Gower.American Heritage
Dictionary---- Me.lun.geon (melun'jen) n. One of
a small group of dark skinned people of
uncertain origin living in the mountains of
eastern Tennessee. Origin uncertain.
dictionary.com----melungeon \Melun"geon\, n.
Cf. F. m'elanger to mix, m'elange a
mixture. One of a mixed white and Indian people
living in parts of Tennessee and the Carolinas.
They are descendants of early intermixtures of
white settlers with natives. In North Carolina
the Croatan Indians, regarded as descended from
Raleigh's lost colony of Croatan, formerly
classed with negroes, are now legally recognized
as distinct.dictionary.comMALENGIN---- a
favourite word of Sir Thomas Malory "mischievous
intent.""http//authorsdirectory.com/c/aucnc10.ht
m"Malengin ----guile.  On his back he carried
a net to catch fools. Being attacked by Sir
Artegal and his iron man, he turned himself
first into a fox, then to a bush, then to a bird,
then to a hedgehog, then to a snake but Talus
was a match for all his deceits, and killed him.
(Spenser Faërie Queene, v. 9"http//www.bartleby
.com/81/10864.html"
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From Anatolia to Appalachia and A
Turkish-American Dialogue by Joseph Scolnick
and Brent Kennedy

• Turkic people have been migrating to America for
  many centuries but this significant influx has
  been largely unrecognized.
• In From Anatolia to Appalachia, Scolnick and
  Kennedy initiate a dialogue regarding this
  neglected area of American history and culture.
  This volume begins the communication with an
  essay reviewing existing evidence followed by
  interviews with knowledgeable persons about
  selected aspects of the population movements. An
  introduction and conclusion give focus and unity
  to the various elements of the dialogue.

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The Undisputed American Muslim History
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Slavery and the Slave Trade
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Mamout was born in Africa around 1736 and was
a teenager when enslaved and brought to
America. He was known as a devout Muslim and
hard worker, and was able to accumulate
some property. He lived the rest of his life in
Georgetown, where he died in 1824 at the age of
about 88.
Yarrow
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Omar Said was captured in warfare and shipped to
Charleston, S.C. in 1806/07, just before the
abolition of the slave trade. He spent about 24
years enslaved in South and North Carolina. He
originally wrote his account in Arabic in 1831,
at around the age of 61 an English translation
appeared after his death in 1864.
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The Prince of Slaves
Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori was a former prince
from West Africa who was made a slave in the
United States.
In 1828 he was freed after spending 40 years in
slavery by the order of President John Quincy
Adams and Secretary of State Henry Clay.
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In 1803, Bilali (Ben Ali) Muhammad and his family
arrived in Georgia on Sapelo Island. Bilali
Muhammad was a Fula from Timbo Futa-Jallon in
present day Guinea-Conakry. By 1806 he became
the plantation manager for Thomas Spalding, a
prominent Georgian master. Bilali and his wife
Phoebe had 12 sons and 7 daughters. One of his
sons is reported as being Aaron of Joel Chandler
Harris work, author of Uncle Remus and Brer
Rabbit stories. His daughters " names were
Margaret, Hester, Charlotte, Fatima, Yoruba,
Medina, and Bint. All his daughters but Bint
could speak English, French, Fula, Gullah, and
Arabic. Bilali was well educated in Islamic law.
While enslaved Bilali became the community
leader and Imam of at least 80 men. During the
War of 1812 Bilali told his slave master that he
had 80 men of the true faith to help defend the
land against the British.
Ben Alis "Diary, housed today at the University
of Georgia in Athens.
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Recent History

• In 1903, Mohammed Asa Abu-Howar arrives in New
  York. Moves to Washington, DC. He becomes a
  successful builder as A. Joseph Howar, who backed
  the construction of the Islamic Center.
• In 1907, The Polish Tartars establish "The
  American Mohammed Society" in Brooklyn, NY.
• In 1908, Muslim immigrants from the Arab
  provinces of the Ottoman Empire, Syria, Lebanon,
  Jordan arrive in North America. They are mainly
  Turks, Kurds, Albanians, and Arabs.
• In 1915, Albanian Muslims in Biddeford, Maine
  established the first effective Mosque in North
  America. Most were bachelors working at the
  Peppermell Mills. Muslim Albanian families still
  reside in Biddeford and nearby Saco.
• In 1920, The Red Crescent, a Muslim charity
  modeled after the International Red Cross, is
  established in Detroit.
• In 1922, an Islamic association was established
  in Detroit, Michigan.
• In 1925, a Muslim group in Michigan City, Indiana
  purchased land designated as their cemetery. In
  the thirties, these Muslims added a
  Mosque/Community Center. The building is still in
  use.
• By 1923, Hassen Mohamed became a successful
  businessman in Downtown Belzoni, Mississippi. He
  had a general merchandise store. Hassen settled
  in the Belzoni area in 1911 he came from the
  Lebanese village of Sireen. Hassen was married
  to Ethel Wright together they had eight children
  one of their sons Ollie Mohamed became a State
  Senator. Hassen Mohamed past away in 1965.

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Immigration Laws

• In 1929, Muslim farmers built one of Americas
  first Mosques (Masjid) in Ross, North Dakota. The
  homesteader Hassen Juma had settled there with
  160 free acres in 1899. By 1902, twenty families
  had followed his path from Birey, Syria. The U.S.
  objected to their naturalization until 1909 when
  it withdrew the ban and the Syrians began
  claiming citizenship. Many fought and died in the
  two world wars. In 1929 the community built a
  Mosque, and performed Jumuah prayers service. 
  The farmhouse/mosque was destroyed in 1978. The
  cemetery on its grounds remains and there is an
  arched gate with a crescent and star on it.

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More History

• In the 1930's, three other Mosques (Masjids) were
  started in Dearborn, MI., Sacramento, CA., and
  Michigan City, MI.
• In 1934, The Muslim community of Cedar Rapids,
  Iowa built the first Masjid (Mosque) specifically
  designed and built as a Masjid. The earlier
  community was predominantly Lebanese under the
  leadership of Abdullah Ingram. Cedar Rapids
  community has grown and has been able to maintain
  their Islamic identity.
• 1947-60, A third wave of Muslim immigrants,
  coming from Palestine, Yugoslavia, Lebanon and
  Egypt.
• In 1949, The Albanian-American Muslim Center of
  Detroit was founded by Imam Vehbi Ismail.
• By the late 1940s, a few jazz musicians became
  Muslims. Art Blakey, Talib Dawoud, Mohammed
  Sadiq, Sahib Shihab, Ahmad Jamal, Dakota Staton,
  Yusef Lateef, Idrees Sulieman, and McCoy
  (Sulieman Saud) Tyner to a name a few.
• In 1952, Muslim service men sue the federal
  government and were allowed to identify
  themselves as Muslims.
• In 1955, The State Street Masjid in New York City
  was established by Sheikh Dawud Ahmed Faisal. It
  is still in use today. From this Masjid came the
  Dar-ul-Islam movement in 1962.
• In 1955, A Mosque was established by Yugoslavians
  in Chicago. These Muslims arrived in the early
  1900s and have evolved into an organized ethnic
  group with several institutions, including the
  Bosnian-American Cultural Association.
• In 1963, The Muslim Student Association (MSA) was
  founded. Its an organization to aid foreign
  Muslim students attending schools in the United
  States. MSA now has more than 100 branches
  nationwide

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1965

• In 1965, Muhammad Ali the three time world boxing
  champ makes the name Muhammad Ali and the Islamic
  faith a household name in America.
• In 1965, Internationally known Muslim leader El
  Hajj Malik al-Shabazz was assassinated in New
  York.

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And More History

• In 1982, The Islamic Society of North America
  (ISNA) was established in Plainfield, IN. ISNA is
  now an umbrella organization for many active
  Islamic groups seeking to further the cause of
  Al-Islam in the United States.
• In the 1990s A National Shura developed in North
  America which comprises Imam W.D. Mohammed, Dr.
  Abdullah Idris Ali, President of ISNA, Imam Jamil
  Al-Amin, and Dr. Abdul Malik Mujahid, the Amir of
  ICNA.
• In 1991, Charles Bilal, of Kountze, Texas, became
  the nations first Muslim mayor in an American
  city.
• In 1993, Captain Abdul Rasheed Muhammad became
  the First Muslim Army Chaplin (Imam) in the U.S.
  Army was installed. In 1991 according to the
  United States Department of Defense, there are
  more than 5,000 Muslims in uniform on active duty
  in the military.
• In 1994, Council on American-Islamic Relations
  (CAIR) is established, a leading Islamic Human
  and Civil rights organization.
• In August 1999, The first Muslim US Ambassador,
  Osman Siddique was sworn in as the Ambassador to
  the Fiji Islands
• In 2006, Keith Ellison was elected congressman.
  He is the first Muslim to be elected to the House
  of Representative.
• Throughout the 80's and 90's we have seen much
  growth in the Muslim community. Today Islam is
  the fastest growing Religion in America today and
  has now become the second largest religion in the
  United States.

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Pseudo-Islamic Cults

• In 1929, "The Lost-Found Nation of Islam in the
  Wilderness of North America" in Detroit was
  founded by W.D.Fard. Fard was known as (Wali D.
  Fard, Wallace Fard, and W.F. Muhammad) mystery
  surrounds his origins some identify him as
  half-Syrian, half-Jamaican some say half-Persian,
  half-Turkish, and the FBI says he was
  half-Polynesian, half-Scottish. Fard claimed he
  was half-European, half-Meccan genealogy. On July
  the Fourth, he announced the beginning of His
  mission which was to restore and to resurrect his
  lost and found people, who were identified as the
  original nation of Muslims of Asiatic-African
  descent from the tribe of Shabazz, who were
  captured, exploited, and dehumanized and
  enslaved. In 1931, Fard was preaching in Detroit,
  Michigan where after hearing his first lecture
  Elijah Poole was overwhelmed by the message and
  immediately accepted it. The founder of the
  Nation of Islam gave him the name "Karriem" and
  made him minister. Later he was promoted to the
  position of "Supreme Minister" and his name was
  changed to Muhammad.Mr. Muhammad quickly became
  an integral part of the Temple of Islam. For the
  next three and a half years, Mr. Muhammad was
  personally taught by his teacher Wali D. Fard.
  Eljiah was taught some Islamic beliefs, a
  self-independence and empowerment concept, a
  history, a superior cultural belief, was inspired
  to read and respect the Holy Quran. There where
  about 8,000 followers at that time.
• In 1933, Fard told Eljiah Muhammad that he was
  the Mahdi "The Saviour", the one who had come in
  the early morning dawn of the New Millennium to
  lay the base for a New World Order of Peace and
  Righteousness on the foundation of truth,
  justice, freedom, and to change the world into a
  Heaven on Earth.

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Continue

• In 1934, Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975) becomes the
  leader of "The Lost-Found Nation of Islam in the
  Wilderness of North America" which later became
  known as "The Nation of Islam." The Nation of
  Islam, was an indigenous African American Islamic
  expression founded by Wali Fard Muhammad and
  developed by Elijah Muhammad. In 1934, W. Fard
  Muhammad, departed the scene and left Elijah
  Muhammad with the mission. By 1935, Mr. Muhammad
  faced many new challenges and a death plot at the
  hands of a few disgruntled members. To avoid the
  plot and to do research at the Library of
  Congress he moved to Washington, DC. In
  Washington, Mr. Muhammad studied and started a
  Muslim community he was known as "Mr Evans",
  "Ghulam Bogans", Muhammad Rassoull". The Nation
  of Islam had developed many Temples of Islam, and
  the University of Islam across the country, they
  had businesses, farms, property, rental property,
  transportation fleets and more. He produced many
  great Muslim and non Muslim leaders like Al-Hajj
  Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), Muhammad Ali, Louis
  Farrakhan, and Imam Warith Deen (W.D.) Mohammed

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From Chaos Comes Order

• In 1975, W.D. Mohammed becomes the leader of the
  Nation of Islam. He moved the Nation of Islam
  from nationalism into the path of Islam. Under
  his leadership the community made many positive
  transitions and name changes from The World
  Community of Islam in the West, to the American
  Muslim Mission, Ministry of W.D. Mohammed, and
  now Muslim American Society.
• In 1978, Warith Deen Muhammad is named as
  consultant/trustee by the Gulf States to
  distribute funds for Islamic missionary
  activities in the U.S.

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Another Muslim Sect

• In 1920, The first Ahmadiyya Muslim missionary to
  arrive in America was Dr. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq,
  who arrived in Philadelphia on Sunday, February
  15, 1920, on board the Haverford. For religious
  reasons he was detained on Ellis Island, New York
  on February 25, 1920. On May 20, 1920 he was
  released by the order of the Secretary of the
  State. Dr. Sadiq stayed in New York for some
  time and continued to preach Islam. Later, he
  moved to Chicago and in 1921 established the
  first headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim
  Community, at 4448 Wabash Avenue, giving it the
  name "Al Masjid."
• In 1950, the first mosque in the nations capital
  is established as the "American Fazl Mosque" at
  2141 Leroy Place, Washington, DC. It served as
  the Headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim
  Community from 1950-1994.

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Yet Some More

• In 1926, Duse Muhammad Ali (1866-1945), mentor of
  Marcus Garvey, helped establish an organization
  in Detroit known as the "Universal Islamic
  Society." Its motto was "One God, One Aim, One
  Destiny." He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, the
  son of a Sudanese mother and an Egyptian army
  officer. He was brought to London at a young age
  by one of his fathers" friends. He was known to
  be a frequently in the company of Muhammad
  Pickthall, the English Muslim scholar who
  translated the Holy Quran into English. Duse Ali
  had considerable influence upon Garveys when
  they work together in London when Duse Ali was
  the Editor African Times and Orient Review.

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September 11, 2001

• A cowardly attack on OUR nation
• Active campaign against Islam was launched.
• Attacks on
• Deity of Islam
• The Message
• The Messenger
• The Practice
• The People

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Newark, Delaware
Present Day Islam in America
Somerset, Kentucky, USA
D.C.
Tempe, AZ
Northbrook, Illinois
L. A.
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Windsor, CT
Central Florida
Indianapolis, Indiana
Teaneck, New Jersey
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Are there any Other Contributions?

• Yes.
• The US constitution
• In sciences
• In economics
• Many more to come (In Sha-Allah).

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Who Are the American Muslims

• A mosaic of the whole world
• The sooner we admit that they are Americans the
  sooner we come out of our slumberness.

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What is Next?

• Learn about your civil rights
• We MUST put back into this society.
• We MUST build bridges with other communities.
• Our children are ALL AMERICANS (whether we
  realize it or not)