I can email the pdf to anyone who wants it, but thoughts? He focuses mostly on late precolonial and colonial periods, which is what I am less interested in. Anyway, here's a blogpost I wrote about the subject: http://ryfigueroa.blogspot.com/2012/10/race-in-muslim-west-africa.htmlPosts: 26 | From: In a Lagoon | Registered: Nov 2007
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Yes, I've read this book (relied on it heavily for my undergraduate thesis). I think that your blog post sums up the reality of the situation. When I initially began reading the book there was a perception that Hall was projecting modern concepts of race into the past. Upon further scrutiny he doesn't seen to concertize them as he admits to their fluidity by merely focusing on the evolution of "ideas". However, in the absence of strict, somatic categorization involved, I still believe the very title of the book is misleading.
A related discussion can be found in Timothy Cleavland's "Becoming Walata", which I believe better explains the cultural differences between the groups under study.
Posts: 4021 | From: Bay Area, CA | Registered: Mar 2007
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Thank you, I was inspired by reading Keita as well as many posters on this forum and the reloaded version for enriching my knowledge of African history, linguistics, archaeology, and anthropology. And I have heard about Timonthy Cleavland's "Becoming Walata" but haven't been able to locate the text. Does anyone have pdf access or an ebook form for "Becoming Walata"?
Posts: 26 | From: In a Lagoon | Registered: Nov 2007
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OMFG!!! I am currently reading the blog posted in the OP and I can tell you that I am loving it so far! What is said in the blog is 100% correct and on point.
Posts: 1135 | From: Top secret | Registered: Jun 2012
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^Don't expect the book to be a mirror image of the blog post. Hall is conservative and as noted, deals mostly with the more recent history of the Sahel.
Posts: 4021 | From: Bay Area, CA | Registered: Mar 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Sundjata: ^Don't expect the book to be a mirror image of the blog post. Hall is conservative and as noted, deals mostly with the more recent history of the Sahel.
I know which is why I edited my post. Posts: 1135 | From: Top secret | Registered: Jun 2012
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Yes, my post is more focused on earlier precolonial history whereas Bruce focuses on 1600-1960. Also, I likely take what some would label an "Afrocentric" approach. What I need to do is locate more sources on 'race' and ethnicity in terms of Berber-speaking and others in the Sahel and Sahara even further back in time. Sheryl Burkhalter's essay on the Almoravid/Ghana relationship was useful for challenging attempts to reduce relations between 'white' Berber nomads and 'black' agriculturalists, but I would be interested in more of the early history of Ghana/Wagadu, Dhar Tichit, Mauritania, and population movements across the desert since the Neolithic. It sounds like "Becoming Walata" is one book I would enjoy, and I know Richard L. Smith's essay on 'Libyans' was useful.
Posts: 26 | From: In a Lagoon | Registered: Nov 2007
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Wanted to omit my name and info so did without the title page, but title is: "Islam in the Western: On the Question of Social Cohesion".
Posts: 4021 | From: Bay Area, CA | Registered: Mar 2007
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I always heard of Tichit Walatta and did some research on it. But was it actually west Africa's earliest 'civilization'? I know it began around 2000bc...But was it actually a civilization?
Just asking.
Posts: 1135 | From: Top secret | Registered: Jun 2012
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Good question, from the articles by Holl, Munson, and others, such as Kea's brilliant overview of West African Sahelian/savannah 'medieval' states, it developed from 2000 BCE as an agro-pastoralist society with increasing social stratification and additional defensive structures (walls, citadels, etc.). So, I guess it depends on how you define 'civilization,' since over time larger concentrations of people arose with increasing social hierarchies likely accompanying it as the region endured more aridity. I have to do more research and more archaeological work must be conducted I guess, but it's the site of the earliest stone masonry architecture in Western Africa, I believe.
Posts: 26 | From: In a Lagoon | Registered: Nov 2007
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quote:Originally posted by yvesfigueroa: Good question, from the articles by Holl, Munson, and others, such as Kea's brilliant overview of West African Sahelian/savannah 'medieval' states, it developed from 2000 BCE as an agro-pastoralist society with increasing social stratification and additional defensive structures (walls, citadels, etc.). So, I guess it depends on how you define 'civilization,' since over time larger concentrations of people arose with increasing social hierarchies likely accompanying it as the region endured more aridity. I have to do more research and more archaeological work must be conducted I guess, but it's the site of the earliest stone masonry architecture in Western Africa, I believe.
Thanks man and good post.
Posts: 1135 | From: Top secret | Registered: Jun 2012
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quote:Originally posted by Sundjata: [qb] ^Who is that Black man in the photo (certainly not Bruce Hall)?
sorry a mistake there, on the Duke site Bruce hall isn't showing a photo. It's Kerry Haynie.
When you search in google images they had Kerry's picture with Bruce Hall's name under it
Author of Race in Muslim West Africa Bruce Hall they look kind of similar with the blue shirts
Posts: 42930 | From: , | Registered: Jan 2010
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Hey, Sundiata, I read your thesis. It was very well-written and compelling in your argument for proto-nationalism in Songhay as well as cooperation and solidarity among so-called different 'races' of the Sahel. I didn't know that the Soninke played such a large role among the ulama of Timbuktu! A lot of more Eurocentric-minded historians and scholars gave me the impression that Timbuktu's Muslim educated elite were mostly of Sanhaja origins whereas Djenne featured more of a "Black" ulama. Gonna check your sources now.
Posts: 26 | From: In a Lagoon | Registered: Nov 2007
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It depends on what you define as civilization, some people argue one must leave written records. It was def. a settlement and it led to the development of Ghana..
quote:Originally posted by yvesfigueroa: Good question, from the articles by Holl, Munson, and others, such as Kea's brilliant overview of West African Sahelian/savannah 'medieval' states, it developed from 2000 BCE as an agro-pastoralist society with increasing social stratification and additional defensive structures (walls, citadels, etc.). So, I guess it depends on how you define 'civilization,' since over time larger concentrations of people arose with increasing social hierarchies likely accompanying it as the region endured more aridity. I have to do more research and more archaeological work must be conducted I guess, but it's the site of the earliest stone masonry architecture in Western Africa, I believe.
Posts: 8804 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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Thanks yvesfigueroa. I also ran this by Prof. Michael Gomez at NYU who apparently enjoyed it quite a bit. He's among the few who have made similar arguments. You may also want to look up some of the other works of Lansine Kaba and Lamin Sanneh (who are also referenced within the bibliography).
My intent however, was not to distort the very real contributions on the part of Sanhaja scholars. In fact, the most famous scholar in Timbuktu, Ahmad Baba, was of Sanhaja ancestry. Though as mentioned, his mentor and teacher was a Soninke scholar [originally] from Djenne so it all comes back full circle.
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^Oh, and another thing that needs to be clarified is that "Sanhaja" and "Black" were not always mutually exclusive anyways. Ahmad Baba's own nisba included him among the Sudan, so "Eurocentric-minded" historians who try to relegate "Black" scholars exclusively to Djenne quarters are pretty much grasping at straws.
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I think I read Gomez's book on Islam and the African diaspora in the Americas, it was enlightening. I haven't read much of his work focusing on Islam in West Africa. I found his work, Black Crescent, more convincing and interesting than Sylviane Diouf's text on enslaved Muslims in the Americas.
Posts: 26 | From: In a Lagoon | Registered: Nov 2007
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^Off hand I can direct you to an early article that he wrote called "Timbuktu under imperial Songhay; a reconsideration of autonomy". He is also currently in the process of writing a book on the subject.
And thanks a lot for the Diouf reference! I'm rather surprised that I've yet to come across this interesting piece of research. Long shot, but you wouldn't happen to have THAT book in pdf format, would you? If not, no biggie.
-------------------- mr.writer.asa@gmail.com Posts: 4021 | From: Bay Area, CA | Registered: Mar 2007
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Robert Figueroa said: Environmental conditions and climate obviously influence skin color, hair texture, and nasal indices, and tropically adapted peoples living in dry, tropical climates tend to have narrower noses whereas those living in wet tropical regions (such as parts of West Africa and Central Africa) tend to have broader, flat noses and faces.
^^Indeed, and they are ALL African. Africa itself has numerous micro-climates- from high altitude snow-capped mountains (where broad-nosed people are found), to sweltering lowland savannah (where narrow nosed people are found). Africa has it all, and contradicts Eurocentric attempts to impose assorted "apartheid" formulations on how they are "supposed" to look, and they don't need any "race mix" to explain their genetic or phenotypic diversity.
However, Keita also recognizes a north-south cline of cranial similarities that shows the further north up the Nile one travels, the lighter the skin color and less similar to "Sub-Saharan" populations one encounters. However, this does not imply lighter-skinned peoples from ancient Lower Egypt and the Nile Delta were not "African," Keita has argued that there phenotypic diversity is part of a coastal supra-Saharan trend that is equally "African" as peoples living in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Nigeri
^^ANd some of the earliest analyses of northern people show them clustering with tropical Africans. Light skin color is noting unusual in the cooler Medit climate further north, but limb proportions, which do not change so easily group the specimens with Africans rather than older- climate types like Europeans or "Middle Easterners"
In fact, Keita has one published study where he adopts an archaeogenetic or historical approach to interpreting a Y-Chromosome study where Upper Egyptians have more shared lineages as a region with East Africa than Lower Egypt does, hardly surprising given the area's close historical ties to Sudan and the Horn of Africa.
Indeed - as shown below.
Before concluding, one must also elucidate further the fallacy of the Nubian concept. In contemporary Egyptology and mainstream lexicon, Nubia connotes "blackness" and becomes a label for all dark-skinned peoples in dynastic Kemet or to the South. This fallacy then implies that all "black" peoples in Kemet were "foreign Nubians."
Quite so, and it must be again emphasized that the people most related to the ancient Egyptians are "Nubians"..
The 25th dynasty of "Black Pharaohs" also saw themselves as revivalists of Kemet's traditions,
^^Yes, they were that, and so-called "black" pharaohs have been around long before the 25th Dynasty.
In fact, many scholars have noticed morphological similarities in remains of the Natufian complex that correlate with "Sub-Saharan Africans" in traits such as prognathism and the peoples of this cultural complex were the first to introduce Neolithic domesticates to Anatolia and Europe, thereby making "blacks" the initiators of many key steps in the development of human societies across the globe. Perhaps the much maligned Afrocentrists do have some validity, just maybe.
^^Not "maybe".. but "what it is." The Eurocentrics already knew all along- they just obscured the data with a web of propaganda and disinformation. As to the Natufians:
-------------------------------------------------------- Indeed, one of the shortcomings of Cheikh Anta Diop's work was an attempt to connect everything in "Black Africa" with Kemet, including false linguistic theories connecting ancient Egyptian to Wolof and languages not part of the Afro-Asiatic family. This perspective essentially creates the reverse of the Hamitic hypothesis devised by colonialist British ethnologist Seligman, which claimed all civilizations in Africa are the result of "dark-skinned whites" of pastoralist backgrounds that elevated the "Negroid" peoples they came in contact with. The only difference with Diop is the "Hamites" are appropriately recognized as part of the broad range of African variability but still given an imagined disproportionate role in the development of other African societies outside of the Nile Valley.
That was a weakness in Diop's work, and reflects some of the diffusionist thinking in his day, but I think it is extreme to say he attempted to "connect everything" in Black Africa with Kemet. He didn't. He saw Kemet as a very important central point but didn't credit it with EVERY development in Africa. For example he holds in African Origin of Civilization that Pygmies were already in place and had already occupied the continent prior to the dispersion of other blacks.
And in a sense, Diop's "diffusionism" makes some sense, but not with Kemet as the central headquarters. What links with Diop's concept is the Sahara, that broad belt that was not always desert but once lush greenbelt that once covered one-third of Africa, and that has served as a key motor of Africa' evolution, including the famous climatic “pump” that pushed and pulled Peopleinto variousmaprts, including the Nile Valley. And indeed, the Sahara was never the “apartheid” barrier Eurocentric models make it out to be, and itself is a key environmental player in the development of some of the great kingdoms and civilizations of Africa. See Kruper Kroelin 2006: Sahara: motor of Africa's evolution.
I think we have to be careful not to buy into stereotypes of Diop spun elsewhere, which are often distortions deployed to sandbag a clearer view of African bio-history. Diop was a product of his time, and some of his claims and data are outdated and obsolete as happens with the passage of years. But he was not pushing a "reverse black Hamite" approach. Enemies of a more accurate African bio- cultural history trade in such distorted stereotypes, trying openly or by insinuation to obscure the data behind a cloud of extraneous red herrings such as alleged "self-esteem issues" in "looking to Egypt" etc etc. But as I've written before- black folk don’t need any "central headquarters" in Egypt- quote from previous thread:
Some have argued that that African-Americans Should not “interfere” with Nile Valley history, and have “no connection” to said history, and self-styled “concerned” Egyptians, both bogus and real sometimes put in an apparent appearance to lecture said ‘African Americans.” or “Black Americans.” But if hard data itself shows that numerous ancient Egyptian cultural links and similarities to other parts of “Black Africa”, including MODERN African cultures, how come African Americans are supposed to sit quietly and say nothing?
Hordes of “African Americans" are not obsessively tracing their history back to Egypt as alleged by assorted blowhards and pundits. They don't need to any such tracing, nor do they need "permission" from self-styled Arab nativists, alleged "Egyptian" natives/nativists, or white people to study and comment on Egypt.
The Sahara was once a lush greenbelt extending across one-third of Africa, allowing the easy movement of peoples. Its climatic cycles - the famous Saharan "pump" - was to create conditions for the movement of peoples into the Nile Valley, the Sahelian zone and elsewhere. But it remains the foundation.
Informed African-Americans thus do not conceive of Egypt as being created out of thin air. Nor do they rely on the truism that "Egypt is in Africa." They begin at the Saharan zone, which provided the main source for the peopling of the Nile Valley, and laid the foundation, and was the genesis of the Nile Valley Civilization.
As far as peopling: The Sahara is the key, the starting point, the genesis, the fundamental force. Egypt follows AFTER and derives from that broad Saharan foundation, not before. There is no need to seek "inspiration" from latecomers like Rameses or Cleopatra. The "inspiration" springs from the starting point, the African cultures that gave rise to the Egyptian dynastic civilization. It is from that genesis, that launching point, that other developments are appreciated, in all their continuity. Egypt is not the starting point.
The Sahara was also a key player in the great West African civilizations that were to arise as well- Mali, Ghana, Timbuktu etc., ranging from the Saharan trade, to the transmission of knowledge, to the transmission of new methods and technologies.
The Sahara is the great linking pin and transmission belt culturally. It is also the great climate and environmental motor that shaped one-third of Africa. Many informed African Americans place Egypt in its proper context as a tropical civilization. They don’t begin any exploration of African civilizations with Egypt, they start with AFRICA ITSELF, from which the genesis, the foundational elements sprung, that provided the basis or substratum for that civilization.
The Sahara is one such central foundational element. It is in that broad Saharan zone for example that the ancients created ther huge megaliths of stone, and designed calendars and other astonomical alignments. It is from that broad zone that the cattle cults of NE Africa developed- cults that were to figure so prominently in Egyptian religion. It is from the African genesis that other concepts such as divine kingship, and the art iconography of Egypt developed.
It is from the Saharan zone (which extends well into the Sudan) that patterns of technology in pottery, tool-making, mummification, and numerous other influences emerged that were to distinguish ancient Egypt. ANy "inspiration" taken by African-American begins with a foundation based on the ground, in Africa.
There are other “African Americans” who look even further back than the Saharan mix mentioned above. They look back to the dawn of modern humanity, which emerged from “sub-Saharan” Africa, then proceeded to Northeast Africa, (also "sub Saharan" by the way), and from there to the rest of the globe by various exit routes. The Sahara is one key, and there are OTHER key centers of bio-cultural development within Africa. But again, the starting point for any discussion remains AFRICA itself.
Many informed African-Americans thus don't need anyone to tell them how they "should" think about Egypt, the Nile Valley, the Sahara or any other part of Africa, nor do they need "clearance" or "approval" from would be, reputed or alleged "concerned Egyptians" or presumptuous white lecturers to place Egypt in its scientifically documented African context.
Mary Lefkowitz - they quietly admit fundamental propositions the "Afrocentrics" have been holding all along..Posts: 5905 | From: The Hammer | Registered: Aug 2008
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No offense zarahan but was all of that necessary? Let us try to stay on topic please.
Posts: 4021 | From: Bay Area, CA | Registered: Mar 2007
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No, alas, I have not been able to locate Diouf's book Servants of Allah as a pdf. It was interesting though, since her and Gomez's book, if I remember correctly, claim that the Fulani were perceived as "mulattoes" by European slaveholders in the Americas. I also think Diouf was exaggerating her evidence in some cases, though Islam was obviously a big part of some slave cultures in the western hemisphere. A friend of mine emailed me a chapter from the book once, but otherwise I was only able to locate it in a university library.
I'll check out the Gomez article on Timbuktu.
Posts: 26 | From: In a Lagoon | Registered: Nov 2007
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Fair enough, just responding to the blog post of Figueroa referenced above by several, with its Keita data, which true enough also, have little to do with Muslims in West Africa as well. Just my take in view of certain statements. But now let's look at the blog post: -------------------------------------------------------------
Firgeroa said: indeed black, and both Egyptians and Berbers were thought of as descendants of Ham alongside other African populations, such as the Zanj,
^^And in some Muslim writings, there was a clear racial "son of Ham" inferiority spin on this, including some argue various Islamic hadiths etc that riff on black "Hamitic" inferiority, as shown below.
Clearly, these precolonial and colonial period definitions of race have cast long shadows. The contemporary crisis in Mali or ongoing slavery in Mauritania are directly linked to these notions of black as servile and equated with slavery.
But here's a question. Bruce Hall argues that quote: "during the nineteenth century, honorable lineages and genealogies came to play an increasingly important role as ideological buttresses to struggles for power amongst nomadic groups and in legitimising domination over sedentary communities. ‘Race’ was a corollary of the heightened ideological importance of lineage."
And he further holds "racial discourses do not correspond directly to the idea of ‘race’ in the West. For the outsider, local racial distinctions are often difficult to discern because somatic difference is not the only, and certainly not the most important, basis for racial identities."
So then, if "race" in pre-colonial times was not like the "Race" formulations of the West, what is the reason in the current era for black being identified as more servile and inferior? In other words, if "race" is based more on lineage considerations back in the day, has this emphasis changed in the modern era? Were people more "racially conscious" due to lineage considerations in the past, but are now more "racially conscious" due to Western influence?
And in what way is growing Islamic hegemony or influence directly linked with blacks as racially inferior? Have said Islamic hegemonists played a race card of some sort- like the various writings purporting to pronounce on black inferiority for example? (see below)
This concept of "bidan" or whiteness was always linked to a broader context of Islam, Arabs, and the Arabic language, however.
Indeed, but how would that tie in with the Tuareg rebellion at the present time, or the Islamic fundamentalists struggling for power? If said Islamics triumph, would this be a triumph of bidan or whiteness and would blacks be seen as more servile and inferior, even amid the contradictions of skin color in the Saharan zone?
Tuareg nationalism, which has manifested itself in rebellions in the past, is directly linked to local concepts of race, 'racism' and religion.
^^I think RObert needs to develop this more as it is not as fully clear from his article. Given what Bruce Hall says above about lineage, is Tuareg nationalism more about lineage then, than about "racial" features such as skin color and other phenotypic features? And if Ansar Dine is seeking more imposition fo sharia law, how does that tie in with the concept of "race"? Is Islamic fundamentalism linked with issues of "race" or does such fundamentalism minimize "race"? There needs to be a bit more clarification on this.
In Libya, if you black, get back... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ INFERIORITY OF THE BLACKS IN SOME ARAB WRITINGS
Racism Against Black People Narrated Anas bin Malik: Allah's Apostle said, "You should listen to and obey, your ruler even if he was an Ethiopian (black) slave whose head looks like a raisin." Sahih Bukhari 9:89:256
Narrated Anas: The Prophet said, "Listen and obey (your chief) even if an Ethiopian whose head is like a raisin were made your chief." Sahih Bukhari 1:11:662
Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet said to Abu-Dhar, "Listen and obey (your chief) even if he is an Ethiopian with a head like a raisin." Sahih Bukhari 1:11:664
Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) reported: There came a slave and pledg- ed allegiance to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) on migration; he (the Holy Prophet) did not know that he was a slave. Then there came his master and demanded him back, whereupon Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: Sell him to me. And he bought him for two black slaves, and he did not afterwards take allegiance from anyone until he had asked him whether he was a slave (or a free man) Sahih Muslim 10:3901
'Ubaidullah b. Abu Rafi', the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), said: When Haruria (the Khwarij) set out and as he was with 'Ali b. Abu Talib (Allah be pleased with him) they said," There is no command but that of Allah." Upon this 'Ali said: The statement is true but it is intentionally applied (to support) a wrong (cause). The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him described their characteristics and I found these characteristics in them. They state the truth with their tongue, but it does not go beyond this part of their bodies (and the narrator pointed towards his throat).
The most hateful among the creation of Allah us one black man among them (Khwarij). One of his hand is like the teat of a goat or the nipple of the breast. When 'Ali b. Abu Talib (Allah be pleased with him) killed them, he said: Search (for his dead body). They searched for him, but they did not find it (his dead body). Upon this he said: Go (and search for him). By Allah, neither I have spoken a lie nor has the lie been spoken to me. 'Ali said this twice and thrice. They then found him (the dead body) in a rain. They brought (his dead) body till they placed it before him (Hadrat 'Ali). 'Ubaidullah said: And, I was present at (that place) when this happened and when 'Ali said about them. A person narrated to me from Ibn Hanain that he said: I saw that black man. Sahih Muslim 5:2334
Shem, the son of Noah was the father of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Greeks; Ham was the father of the Black Africans; and Japheth was the father of the Turks and of Gog and Magog who were cousins of the Turks. Noah prayed that the prophets and apostles would be descended from Shem and kings would be from Japheth. He prayed that the African’s color would change so that their descendants would be slaves to the Arabs and Turks. Al-Tabari, Vol. 2, p. 11, p. 11
Ham [Africans] begat all those who are black and curly-haired, while Japheth [Turks] begat all those who are full-faced with small eyes, and Shem [Arabs] begat everyone who is handsome of face with beautiful hair. Noah prayed that the hair of Ham’s descendants would not grow beyond their ears, and that whenever his descendants met Shem’s, the latter would enslave them. Al-Tabari, Vol. 2, p. 21, p. 21
A man of B. al-'Ajilan told me that he was told that Gabriel came to the apostle and said, 'There comes to sit with you a black man with long flowing hair, ruddy cheeks, and inflamed eyes like two copper pots. His heart is more gross than a donkey's; he carries your words to the hypocrites, so beware of him.' This, so they say, was the description of Nabtal.[2] Ishaq:243
"I have heard the Apostle say: 'Whoever wants to see Satan should look at Nabtal.' He was a sturdy black man with long flowing hair, inflamed eyes, and dark ruddy cheeks. He used to come and talk with the Prophet and listen to him. He would carry what he had said to the hypocrites. Nabtal said, 'Muhammad is all ears. If anyone tells him something he believes it.' Allah sent down concerning him: 'To those who annoy the Prophet and say that he is all ears, say, 'Good ears for you.' For those who annoy the Apostle there is a painful punishment."[2] Ishaq:243
It is your folly to fight the Apostle, for Allah’s army is bound to disgrace you. We brought them to the pit. Hell was their meeting place. We collected them there, black slaves, men of no descent. Ishaq:450
The black troops and slaves of the Meccans cried out and the Muslims replied, ‘Allah destroy your sight, you impious rascals.’ Ishaq:374
"Abu Darda reported that the Holy Prophet said: Allah created Adam when he created him (sic). Then He stroke (sic) his right shoulder and took out a white race as if they were seeds, and He stroke (sic) his left shoulder and took out a black race as if they were coals. Then He said to those who were in his right side: Towards paradise and I don't care. He said to those who were on his left shoulder: Towards Hell and I don't care. - Ahmad" Mishkat, Vol. 3, p. 117
Ahmad ibn Abi Sulayman, the companion of Sahnun said, “Anyone who says that the Prophet was black should be killed. Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi, Qadi ‘Iyad, p.375
"Ham [Africans] begat all those who are black and curly-haired, while Japheth [Turks] begat all those who are full-faced with small eyes, and Shem [Arabs] begat everyone who is handsome of face with beautiful hair. Noah prayed that the hair of Ham's descendants would not grow beyond their ears, and that whenever his descendants met Shem's, the latter would enslave them." Al-Tabari, Vol. 2, p. 21, p. 21
"Shem, the son of Noah was the father of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Greeks; Ham was the father of the Black Africans; and Japheth was the father of the Turks and of Gog and Magog who were cousins of the Turks. Noah prayed that the prophets and apostles would be descended from Shem and kings would be from Japheth. He prayed that the African's color would change so that their descendants would be slaves to the Arabs and Turks." Al-Tabari, Vol. 2, p. 11, p. 11
Narrated 'Abdullah: The Prophet said, "I saw (in a dream) a black woman with unkempt hair going out of Medina and settling at Mahai'a, i.e., Al-Juhfa. I interpreted that as a symbol of epidemic of Medina being transferred to that place (Al-Juhfa)." Sahih Bukhari 9:87:161
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: concerning the dream of the Prophet in Medina: The Prophet said, "I saw (in a dream) a black woman with unkempt hair going out of Medina and settling at Mahai'a. I interpreted that as (a symbol of) the epidemic of Medina being transferred to Mahai'a, namely, Al-Juhfa." Sahih Bukhari 9:87:162
Narrated Salim's father: The Prophet said, "I saw (in a dream) a black woman with unkempt hair going out of Medina and settling in Mahai'a. I interpreted that as (a symbol of) epidemic of Medina being transferred to Mahai'a, namely, Al-Juhfa." Sahih Bukhari 9:87:163
Negative Attitudes against Black Color
Abu Dharr reported: The Messenger of 'Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When any one of you stands for prayer and there is a thing before him equal to the back of the saddle that covers him and in case there is not before him (a thing) equal to the back of the saddle, his prayer would be cut off by (passing of an) ass, woman, and black Dog. I said: O Abu Dharr, what feature is there in a black dog which distinguish it from the red dog and the yellow dog? He said: O, son of my brother, I asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as you are asking me, and he said: The black dog is a devil. Sahih Muslim 4:1032
And on the day of resurrection you shall see those who lied against Allah; their faces shall be blackened. Is there not in hell an abode for the proud? Qur'an 39:60
The day will come when some faces will be brightened (lightened) (with joy), while other faces will be darkened (with misery). As for those whose faces are darkened, they will be asked, "Did you not disbelieve after believing? Therefore, suffer the retribution for your disbelief." As for those whose faces are brightened (lightened), they will rejoice in GOD's mercy; they abide therein forever. Qur'an 3:106-107
Islamic Writers and Scholars on Black People
Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) was, among other things, an Islamic jurist, Islamic lawyer, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, and hafiz "Therefore, the Negro nation are, as a rule, submissive to slavery, because [Negroes] have little [that is essentially] human and have attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals, as we have stated."[3] Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, 14th century
"beyond [known peoples of black West Africa] to the south there is no civilization in the proper sense. There are only humans who are closer to dumb animals than to rational beings. They live in thickets and caves, and eat herbs and unprepared grain. They frequently eat each other. They cannot be considered human beings."[3] Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah
Ibn Sina or Avicenna (980-1037), was, among other things, a Hafiz, Islamic psychologist, Islamic scholar, and Islamic theologian [Blacks are] people who are by their very nature slaves.[4] Quoted in “Blasphemy Before God: The Darkness of Racism In Muslim Culture” by Adam Misbah aI-Haqq
Ibn Qutaybah (828-889), was a renowned Islamic scholar from Kufa, Iraq "[Blacks] are ugly and misshapen, because they live in a hot country."[3] Ibn Qutaybah (828-889)
Nas?r al-D?n al-T?s? (1201-1274), was a Shia Muslim Scholar and Grand Ayatollah "If (all types of men) are taken, from the first, and one placed after another, like the Negro from Zanzibar, in the Southern-most countries, the Negro does not differ from an animal in anything except the fact that his hands have been lifted from the earth -in no other peculiarity or property - except for what God wished. Many have seen that the ape is more capable of being trained than the Negro, and more intelligent."[3]
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Tasawwurat (Rawdat al-taslim): [The Zanj (African) differ from animals only in that] their two hands are lifted above the ground,... Many have observed that the ape is more teachable and more intelligent than the Zanj.[4]
Al-Muqaddasi (945/946-1000) was a medieval Muslim geographer "Of the neighbors of the Bujja, Maqdisi had heard that "there is no marriage among them; the child does not know his father, and they eat people -- but God knows best. As for the Zanj, they are people of black color, flat noses, kinky hair, and little understanding or intelligence."[3] Al-Muqaddasi (fl. 966), Kitab al-Bad' wah-tarikh, vol.4
Al-Masudi (896-956), was a Muslim historian and geographer, known as the "Herodotus of the Arabs."[5] "Galen says that merriment dominates the black man because of his defective brain, whence also the weakness of his intelligence."[3] Al-Masudi, Muruj al-dhahab
Morocco: black, get back...
Posts: 5905 | From: The Hammer | Registered: Aug 2008
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Wow. Interesting stuff, and good critiques. I have done some more research into the "origins of racism" and one professor, James H. Sweet, from UW-Madison actually argued that the roots of anti-black prejudice and racism can be found in the Muslim, Arab-dominated Iberian peninsula, which he ties to a lot of the anti-black statements from various thinkers from the Muslim world in the medieval era. The question of 'race' in the Muslim world and racism is a fascinating one, and, alas, I ultimately have much more research to do and careful editing to improve the aforementioned blogpost. But I know as well from multiple readings that those Muslim scholars you cite above said nothing new, early Christian theologians, church leaders, and saints also used blackness, both symbolic and real, as an immoral, oversexed, unintelligent and ugly darkness in a quasi-Manichaean Christian concept of purity and beauty, often associated with whiteness and beauty. Hence, the bride in Song of Solomon is described as "black, BUT beautiful" in its Latin translation in the Vulgate whereas the original from the Jewish texts describes her as "black and beautiful. But you do make some very suggestive and important critiques of my blog and illustrate a long history of anti-black, early racist thought denigrated dark-skinned Africans.
Posts: 26 | From: In a Lagoon | Registered: Nov 2007
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Some scholars also trace some of the anti-black statements of the Muslim scholars you cite as originating among Roman intellectuals, philosophers, and literary figures. Lloyd Thompson's Romans and Blacks had a lot of useful information pertaining to Roman attitudes regarding "Blacks," and I believe he found there to be evidence of proto-racial thought with negative views of 'blacks,' but he related it to Black Africans being negatively viewed for deviating so strongly from the "somatic norm" of the Mediterranean. Also, John H. Starks analyzed Latin literature of Vandal North Africa, finding evidence of anti-black colorist thought in Late Roman, Vandal, and Byzantine writings. Also, David Goldenberg's Curse of Ham is useful for explaining the "Curse of Ham" myth in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. There is a real nasty vibe one gets when reading translations of Latin, Arabic, some Greek, and other writings of Antiquity on 'blacks' and blackness. Hell, the "Ethiopian" saint, Moses, of the Coptic church, is belittled and his humanity questioned by Coptic monastic communities in the Coptic literature (although, written down perhaps a century or more after the life of the saint), whcih some people link to a rise in anti-black prejudice in Roman-ruled Africa because of black 'barbarian' invasions from the south.
I have written about some of these topics where proto-racial thought appears to have predated the Muslim world. Anyway, I feel like I am actually changing the subject and not giving a good response to your points.
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