Islam In America - By Uzra Zeya
The Growing Presence of American Converts to Islam
One of the more interesting aspects of the Islamic faith has been its continued ability to attract new adherents. Such a tradition is rooted in the history of the religion, and facilitated its rapid spread from Arabia to the far reaches of Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Here in the United States, converts to Islam represent a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds, and account for close to one third of this nation's 3 million Muslims. The vast majority, some 900,000 persons, are of African-American heritage, while the number of white and Hispanic converts is estimated at 75,000.
In terms of religion, converts to Islam come from many backgrounds, including Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism. By more closely examining the experience of Muslim converts, one can better understand the appeal and adaptability of the religion, as well as the future of the Muslim community in the United States.
For African Americans, the appeal of Islam has roots in their own cultural heritage. A number of Muslim slaves were brought to this country prior to the suspension of the foreign slave trade in 1807. Although most were unable to practice Islam, some left behind writings in Arabic which demonstrate that their faith was not forgotten. The Georgia State Library currently has an Arabic manuscript from the late 1850s, written by a Muslim slave from Guinea, Africa, which addresses topics of Islamic law as well as the indignities of slavery.
For most African Americans, however, contact with Islam did not come until the early decades of the 20th century. It was at this point that Islam was presented in a context which attempted to redress the long history of oppression suffered by black Americans. Nobel Drew Ali, an African American from North Carolina, was among the first to link Islam with the black consciousness. He theorized that blacks should consider themselves to be "Moors" or "Asiatics, " which entailed embracing Islam. In his opinion, Christianity was the religion of whites; therefore converting to Islam would provide a source of pride and unity to the African-American community. While Ali's teachings did gain popularity, particularly in urban centers of the northeastern United States, today the movement is virtually nonexistent.
Famous CELEBRATIES Converts to Islam :
•Khadijah - wife of Muhammad. First convert to Islam.
•Shabbetai Tzevi - seventeenth-century Turkish Jew who had claimed to be Messiah and attracted a large following. His conversion to Islam largely dissolved this mass messianic Jewish movement, but also resulted in the development of the ongoing Donmeh religious movement.
•Michael Jackson - the "King of Pop," one of the century's most popular entertainers, formally joined the Nation of Islam on 17 Dec. 2003
•Malcolm X - early leader of American "Black Muslim"/Nation of Islam movement; later a convert to Sunni Islam
•Cat Stevens - British rock musician; changed name to Yusuf Islam
•John Coltrane - prominent jazz saxophonist and composer
•Art Blakey - American Jazz musician
•Muhammad Ali - boxer
•Matthew Saad Muhammad - world champion boxer (formerly Matt Franklin)
•Dwight Muhammad Qawi - world champion boxer (formerly Dwight Braxton)
•Eddie Mustapha Muhammad - world champion lightweight boxer (formerly Eddie Gregory)
•Mustafa Hamsho - boxer
•Akbar Muhammad - boxer
•Mike Tyson - boxer
•Hamdan Chris Eubank - boxer (super middleweight boxing champion)
•Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - basketball player
•Queen Noor - American-born queen of Jordan during reign of the late King Hussein I
•Maryam Jameelah - Jewish American essayist and poet. Formerly Margaret Marcus.
•Daniel Moore - Anglo-American poet
•Muhammad Marmaduke (William) Pickthall - author and Quran translator
•Michael Wolfe - author, journalist (The Hadj: An American's Pilgrimage to Mecca; One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries of Travelers Writing About the Muslim Pilgrimage; ABC Nightline documentary "An American in Mecca")
•Aminah Assilmi - Denver area broadcast journalist; now director of the International Union of Muslim Women (former Baptist)
•Pamela Taylor - science fiction author; Publications Officer of the Islamic Writers Alliance and co-chair of the Progressive Muslim Union
•Jemima Goldsmith - daughter of British billionaire Sir James, who married Imran Khan. Changed name to Haiqa Khan.
•Mumia Abu-Jamal - journalist, Black Panther, political activist, known for his 1982 conviction and death sentence on charges of a police officer, and for a nationally popular counter-culture campaign to free him
•John Muhammad and John Malvo - infamous "Beltway Sniper" serial killers who terrorized Washington, D.C. area residents
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