Introduction and Context

“You asked me to write my life…I have much forgotten my own, as well as the Arabic language. Neither can I write very grammatically or according to the true idiom. And so, my brother, I beg you, in God’s name, not to blame me, for I am a man of weak eyes, and of a weak body.” - Omar Ibn Said
Omar Ibn Said was born in present-day Senegal, Africa around 1770. Growing up in his native land, he was an educated man, a scholar, and a devoted Muslim. At the age of 37, he was captured in Africa and sent to South Carolina to be a slave. 

Differing reports say that between 10-15 percent of slaves brought to the United States through the Middle Passage were muslim, but it became difficult to maintain the religious rigor ascribed to Islam. Unless they were able to have a copy of the Quran and break for prayer, core tenets of their faith practice were lost.

Said eventually converted to Christianity but his pastor as well as historians have speculated that he maintained parts of his muslim faith his entire life. As a result, Omar Ibn Said's account of slavery is a testimony to the religion that was so important to a huge number of slaves brought to America over the Middle Passage. At the same time, it was also a snapshot of a faith that was essentially stamped out by the slave system of the American South.
Omar Ibn Said became somewhat of a spectacle when he was incarcerated after trying to escape from his master, who was only mentioned as "Johnson" in his narrative. During his time in jail, he wrote script on the wall that was foreign to his jailers. It was eventually decided that the "code" on the wall was actually written in Arabic. After his imprisonment, he was sold to a prominent North Carolina family, the Owens. The Owens allowed Said to write an account of his life, which was unusual for slaves at this time. It is the only known slave narrative that was written by a Muslim slave in Arabic, making it an extremely important document.

In this passage, Said explains the journey from West Africa to America and explains his religious traditions. The way that he uses language makes his origins and context obvious. The podcast clip below also explains the significance of Said's autobiography.

Document - from the Life of Omar Ibn Said, Written By Himself

I continued my studies twenty-five years, and then returned to my home where I remained six years. Then there came to our place a large army, who killed many men, and took me, and brought me to the great sea, and sold me into the hands of the Christians, who bound me and sent me on board a great ship and we sailed upon the great sea a month and a half, when we came to a place called Charleston in the Christian language. There they sold me to a small, weak, and wicked man called Johnson, a complete infidel, who had no fear of God at all. Now I am a small man, and unable to do hard work so I fled from the hand of Johnson and after a month came to a place called Fayd-il  [Fayetteville]...

Before I came to the Christian country, my religion was the religion of "Mohammed, the Apostle of God--may God have mercy upon him and give him peace." I walked to the mosque before day-break, washed my face and head and hands and feet. I prayed at noon, prayed in the afternoon, prayed at sunset, prayed in the evening. I gave alms every year, gold, silver, seeds, cattle, sheep, goats, rice, wheat, and barley. I gave tithes of all the above-named things. I went every year to the holy war against the infidels. I went on pilgrimage to Mecca, as all did who were able.--My father had six sons and five daughters, and my mother had three sons and one daughter. When I left my country I was thirty-seven years old; I have been in the country of the Christians twenty-four years.--Written A. D. 1831.

Muslim Slaves in America - Traditional Preservation through Slave Spirituals

In this segment of the Backstory podcast from their episode titled, "Islam & the United States," Sylviane Diouf of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture engages with Edward Ayers about some of the overlooked legacies of enslaved Muslims in America. In particular, this segment highlights the influence of Islamic music on the early blues. Slave spirituals such as the one heard in this short segment, allowed slaves to practice their traditions through song.

Discussion Questions and Document Based Analysis

  1. According to the text, how long did Omar Ibn Said "study" in Africa?
  2. How does Said describe his first master, Johnson? Use examples from the text.
  3. Why was it difficult for Muslims to maintain their religious tradition once they were transported to America as slaves?

Sources Referenced

Ira Berlin, "Before Cotton: African and African American Slavery in Mainland North America during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries," from Passages to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in History and Memory, David Blight, ed. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 2004): 23.

Edward Ayers, Brian Balogh, and Peter Onuf, Islam & the United States, Backstory Podcast audio, published October 24, 2014.

Edward Ayers, Brian Balogh, and Peter Onuf, "The Writing on the Wall: The Story of Omar Ibn Said," Backstoryradio.org, published October 29, 2014.

Patrick E. Horn, Summary of the Autobiography of Omar Ibn Said, 1831, Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina.