Untold Stories Of World History 05

La Jolla

Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim can the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, we praise Allah azza wa jal, and we send peace and blessings to all of the prophets, those who came to China to Arabia to India, to Russia, to Africa to the Americas, to all of the messengers from the beginning of time, and especially the seal of the prophets and messengers, Mohammed the son of Abdullah, his family, his companions, and all those who call to his way to the Day of Judgment, and we begin in the greeting words of the righteous. Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullah.

The Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, did not speak from himself. But he spoke from above seven heavens, It is reported that he said in one of his traditions, Allah Allah Ma, what a subtle NBR that the scholars are the inheritors of the prophets, and that they did not inherit gold and silver, but they inherited knowledge. And so whoever gains this knowledge has gained a mighty treasure. And so, the prophet peace be upon him, always focused on the importance of knowledge. And we see even in the revelation itself, that it is a crock, it is starting with recite, to read. And so Muslims were always involved in education, they always paid great attention to learning the book

of Allah subhanaw taala, to be able to read and write Arabic, and able to record their feelings and the history and the writings of their people.

But at the same time, the great prophets and those who came before us suffered, and the Prophet peace be upon him also showed us that the people who suffered the most were the NBR. And so

the fact that a person is Muslim, does not mean that they would live a life of ease. Many Muslims found themselves in a state of slavery. In the case of the Americas, it is known now that up to 30% of the people who were taken to the Americas, meaning North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South were Muslims. It is known today that Muslims came from all of the nations of West Africa, that from the southern Gambia region, came the wall off, and the men Dinka and people who had a long tradition from the Mali Empire and from song guy from Nigeria, from the basin, and the coastline in Benin, came the House side, the Fulanis and the Yoruba, and the Ashanti. And so slavery struck all

different nations. In Africa itself. slaves were usually prisoners of war. But in this case, a new form of slavery was being used, where people became like chattel. They were being sold like animals, and they were not integrated into society, but they were stripped of their language, stripped of their culture, and everything that they knew was taken away from them. Despite this hardship, it is coming to the surface now in the archives of many universities, also from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. It is coming coming forward that many portions of the Quran were written and different texts, the reseller of Eben Abizaid have paid awanee the great Maliki scholar was written

by slaves, and the names were written and biographies were written, so many different aspects of learning, coming to the Arabic language by people who are living in a state of bondage. It is reported that in the Caribbean region, that one of the slaves named Abubakar Siddique that he was killed

The plantation records in the Arabic language and a very interesting report is written by him he wrote about himself. And he said the following.

My name is Abu Bakr Siddiq. Born in Timbuktu and brought up in genndy. I acquired knowledge of the court and in the country of Ghana, in which there are many teachers of young people. My father's name is Cara Musa, Sharif.

My parents religion is Islam. They are all circumcised, and their devotions are five times a day. They fast in the month of Ramadan. They give tribute according to the law. They are married to four wives, but the fifth is an abomination to them. They fight for their religion, and they traveled to hijas, meaning they make pilgrimage. They don't eat any meat, except that which they kill themselves. They do not drink wine, nor spirits, as it is held as an abomination to them. They do not associate any partners with Allah, they do not profane the Lord's name. And they do not dishonor their parents. They do not commit murder or be a false witness. They are not proud and jealous and

envious and boastful. For such faults are an abomination unto the religion. They are particularly careful in the education of their children and in their behavior. But I am lost to all of these advantages. Since my bondage, I have become corrupted. And I now conclude by begging Allah the Creator, to lead me into the path that which is proper for me, for he alone knows the secrets of my heart. And what I am in need of Abu Bakr, Siddiq, Kingston, Jamaica,

September 20 1834.

And so we find from this emotional report that the Muslims were communicating in the Arabic language. And it is said in some of the texts that a slave in Jamaica was are writing in Arabic. And he wrote a portion of the core end in the Arabic language. So the slaves were literally writing in Arabic, they were expressing their religion in the language. And they write in a very legible language that that that comes to us. We see here Laila toccata, the sorts of Qatar and is clearly written. And documents such as this are coming to the surface, that show how important Arabic was, and the ability that the people had to communicate with each other, and to maintain the texts and

maintain the culture.

It is also reported that women were involved in Islamic education. And a Muslim woman in 1860, comes into a report. It's easy, they called her an English name, they call their old Lizzie gray, and she died in South Carolina. She was educated in Islam, and she claimed to be a Methodist. But she is quoted to have said, she said Christ built the first church in Mecca. And his grave was also there. Now we can see that she's mixing things up. And that is part of what happens when a person is in slavery, because they're not able to really speak their minds, and to come open with what they believe in. But you can see from that passage, that she was really saying that the first house of

worship was in Mecca. She recognized the Kaaba. And then she also recognized that the prophets, you know, were buried in areas other than Jerusalem, and the places of the People of the Book, or the Christians and the Jews. And so therefore, we find that Muslims are scholars are living within slavery, that great orlimar were captured in West Africa, and were taken to the Americas. One such scholar who found himself in a state of slavery was a Ube, Eben Suleiman.

He was born in Gambia, and he was enslaved in Maryland. He was born around 1700 ad, and he was taken to the Americas. And he was given the name job, Ben Solomon. And what was important about our YouTube

his, his ability, you know, to write the Arabic language, and we find that he actually writes a number of portions of the Quran, he writes his biography, he is able to express himself very freely using the Arabic language. And he came from a very princely family, from the Fulani. And immediately when he was captured and brought to the Americas, and his writings start to come out, they recognize this is not our regular slave who is balling chains in a plantation. So they immediately gave him a job in their house. And he shocked the people.

By writing an Arabic When they express certain things to them, he wrote an Arabic. And he immediately said to his masters, he said, La Ilaha, Illa Allah and he wrote it. And he wrote Muhammad Rasulullah saw salam, that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And he showed them clearly, I'm a Muslim. So they set aside a special place for him to pray. And he used to keep his five prayers. And he was able to fast in the month of Ramadan. And he maintained a cordial relationship. He was fortunate enough to send a letter through a source coming through, he sent a letter to one of the geographical societies. And because his family was well known, in West Africa, it came to the

authorities, and they paid for his freedom. And so are you able to lay man

was eventually freed. He traveled throughout America. And he actually succeeded in impressing people throughout the United States. He also traveled to England. And it is said that the Queen of England actually gave him a present. And he was, it was a shock to people to see him writing the Arabic and to see the Edom to see the character that he had, even though he was coming out of a state of slavery. He finally reached his home in Gambia, and he was involved in struggling against slavery. what he would do is that he would gather his money together and anytime you heard of anybody from his clan, and of the Muslims, who was enslaved, he would purchase that person's freedom, because he

had suffered in the slavery period. And he didn't want this to happen to other people, similarly to what he had experience, so are you able to lay man was a very important person, and he leaves a trace of nobility within Islam, up until today. Another important personality is Abdul Rahman, Ibn Ibrahim.

And reports are coming about obdurate men that he was born in Timbuktu. But he was raised in Fatah jalon, in what is now present day Guinea, and he was a warrior. He was an Amir. He was born in 1762. And he was enslaved in Mississippi. And what is important about obdurate man is that he he struggles throughout his slavery, and he is dignified. And just his presence alone is so Prince like that they called him Prince, and he became well known within the society itself. Let's take a break for a moment and then come back to hear more about Prince Abdullah man and the other scholars in slavery.

Welcome to this new episode of focus point. The new generation is has the habit of reading more than before.

Question was named basically the problem of Jews who lost their function in society.

One of the most important personalities from the scholars of slavery was updraft man, the son of Ibrahim, he was born in the year 1762. in Timbuktu. He was raised in foot agilon in Guinea, and after a long ordeal in the Middle Passage, he found himself in Mississippi despite

torture and the terrible conditions he was forced to live in. He maintained a very princely stature. So he was called Prince. And he maintained his ability to read and write in Arabic. And he was a scholar. He was an Amir. And he was actually the leader of a great army. And this was recognized immediately by his slave masters. And so they made him the leader

of the the slaves, he was actually the one who kept the slaves in line. And despite what was happening to him, he always wanted to be freed from slavery, to return to his own.

It is reported that obdurate men saw a person, a white American doctor, a person who had been in West Africa, who actually are suffered and gotten very sick, and was indebted to a man's family. And so when he saw this man, he called the man and he reminded him that his family had taken in the man for three months in West Africa. And he asked the men to get him out of slavery. So this man then began to raise funds in order to free up draft men from slavery. Eventually, he was able to get out. And he started to tour the country. During this time, he was asked to write the Lord's Prayer. So now he's asked to write something in Arabic, they, they they like his Arabic writing. So they say to

him, and maybe this is a type of joke or you know, they're playing with him and they say, Can you write the Lord's Prayer in Arabic? So obdurate man writes the Lord's Prayer. This is the actual text, and it says the Lord's prayer and he writes Bismillah R Rahman Rahim, Al hamdu, lillahi Rabbil alameen r Rahmani Raheem, Malik el Medina. And he writes the Fatiha the opening chapter of the Quran. But they can't read Arabic. So they don't know that it's actually the default he had these read. And this is a very interesting document, because it shows what happens in the slavery period. And it shows you know, the the the fact that Muslims respected their faith, even though they were

forced to appear as though they had accepted Christianity. So Abdirahman toward the country, and he raised funds to get his wife out of slavery, which he did. And then he was trying to raise funds for his children. But he was not able to do this. Because of a political change in the atmosphere in America. He ended up going back to his country.

fate had at the color of Allah subhanaw taala, the will of Allah subhanaw taala came in, and six months after he returned to his home in West Africa, he he got cholera and he died. His some of his children did, however, returned to West Africa. They were freed from slavery, and they were eventually reunited with his mother in West Africa.

Another interesting personality is Yato, Mohamad Yato. Mohamad has one of the most well known faces from amongst the slaves. He was born in the 1700s. And he died at the age of 128.

He was freed from slavery after 70 years, just imagine 70 years in slavery. But when you look at his face, he's a man over 100 years old. He still looks like he's young. And so Yato Muhammad is a very interesting personality, a well known person, highly respected, and he is a person who is respected by African Americans up until today. Another important personality within the scholars of slavery is Omar, Eben se.

And Omar Eben Sayed is known because of his prolific ability to write and he is reported to have written 14 manuscripts. He wrote his own autobiography and the Arabic language.

Unfortunately, he died in the state of slavery.

And the writings of Omar Eben Sayid are being studied in America up until today.

What we find within these documents is a powerful use of the Arabic language. And we find a man expressing himself writing about his life, giving details to the Arabic so he

He was highly proficient. And he was able to express deep thoughts within the Arabic language. And his documents are some of his documents are actually available in America today. At last word they were they were in the city of Detroit. They were purchased by African American Muslims. And they are on display in Institute's, and this is part of the rich heritage of Africans in America, and especially Muslims, who had come to this part of the world. What is crucial, again, for us to remember that these are people living in bondage, but they are Aldama, they are scholars, and they are writing the texts, they are maintaining their dignity, they are maintaining their honor and

suffering at the same time. And this is part of the message or part of the duty and responsibility of the prophets. And that was that even though they were suffering, they still maintain the dignity. So the scholars and slavery in America had a great heritage, and they become important people for our understanding of what happened in this region.

After this, we find also that there are other individuals who are well known. From amongst them were two slaves who were enslaved in Georgia, on the sapelo Islands, Bill Ali, Mohammed.

And solly. Bill Ali, were two imams known, of course, in Monday language as Al mammies. And this is how they were

referred to. And this picture is from the documents the actual document of Bill Ali Mohammed himself. That was written in Georgia, on sapelo Islands. And again, it's interesting to see the usage of the word el mammies. We saw this appear in Central America. When the people within Panama and Honduras, the areas where African people were living in Central America, would actually use the term el mammies and gyrus and guavas and Kaaba. They were using West African mandate, terminologies. Again, the word el mammies comes from Le Mambo, which comes from an Imam. So both bill Ali Mohammed and solly, Bill Ali, were moms and leaders of their people.

And their relatives are still living within these islands. In Georgia today. What they are known for, especially in American history, is that they were literally given the the military responsibility to protect the islands. So their relationship with the slave masters and the authorities was different than other slaves that we find coming out of American history, because they were literally given weapons. And we find that when this island was under attack, that they actually protected the islands. And they were respected by their people. And given all of the the dignity and all of the rights of an Imam within an Islamic territory.

Bill Ali, Mohammed was known as a person who was strict in his press, he would constantly make his salaat. And he carried the rug along with him. And even when they were working, he would stop and he would make his prayers. He constantly wore a fess on his head, and he make us do art to the Creator of the heavens in the earth. And when he eventually passed away, they put his fez and his rug down into his grave area. And he is known in the suppiler region. Up until now, what is interesting that comes out in some of the history textbooks is that coming out of Georgia, the word bill Ali becomes known as Bella. And then through language and time, it becomes known as Bailey. So anybody who comes

from the sub Halo islands of Georgia or in Georgia itself, who has the name Bailey, is actually considered to be a descendant, either of Bill Ali Mohammed or solly Milady. And this is an interesting point for us. Because when the historians look into the history, they find that there was no slave master named Bailey. It was the practice of many of the slave masters to name their slaves after their family name, but there was no Bailey within the Georgia area. So anybody who was named Bailey was more than likely a descendant of Muslims.

Why

This is important is because one of the great abolitionists, a person well known in American history, named Frederick Douglass, he was a direct descendant of the Bailey's. So this great abolition abolitionist, this great freedom fighter, who was known in American history was more than likely coming out of an Islamic background. It's also interesting to note that other names amongst the slaves were being distorted and mispronounced and changed into English names. Abubakar was changed into Booker.

And we find other names, which are being changed. And so therefore, what another great personality in the south, whose name was Booker T. Washington,

may possibly also have come from an Islamic background. So if you look at African American history, and American history, if you say that Booker T Washington, who was a great leader of a college, a great educator, Booker T, Washington, and Frederick Douglass came from Muslim backgrounds, then we would literally be changing the nature of American history. Again, these are gems of wisdom. This is part of the untold story of world history. This is part of a legacy that needs to be known by the people of the world. Islam has always been the religion of education, the religion of progress, the religion of resistance to evil. And again, we see in America, another part of this saga,

Muslims were able to develop themselves, they were able to maintain Arabic writing, they were able to keep the traditions in a state of slavery for a long period of time. Unfortunately, because of the pain of slavery, it was eventually for the most part lost. But now it is coming back to the surface, with hundreds and 1000s of African Americans coming into Islam and roots to DDD, search for roots is recognized to be, to a great extent, a search for Islam. So I leave you with these thoughts. And I pray that you will continue to live in peace, and that Muslims in the whole world will find peace. Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Eve in Jamaica, was writing in Arabic. And he wrote a portion of the course and in the Arabic language. So the slaves were literally writing in Arabic, they were expressing their religion in the language. And they write in a very legible language that that comes to us. We see here Laila to Qatar, the sorts of Qatar and is clearly written, and documents such as this are coming to the surface, that show how important Arabic was. And the ability that the people had to communicate with each other, and to maintain the texts and maintain their culture.

It is also reported that women were involved in Islamic education. And a Muslim woman in 1860, comes into a report. It's, they called her an English name, they called her old Lizzie gray, and she died in South Carolina. She was educated in Islam, and she claimed to be a Methodist. But she is quoted to have said, she said Christ built the first church in Mecca. And his grave was also there. Now we can see that she's mixing things up. And that is part of what happens when a person is in slavery, because they're not able to really speak their minds and to come open with what they believe in. But you can see from that passage, that she was really saying that the first house of worship was in

Mecca. She recognized the Kaaba. And then she also recognize that the prophets, you know, were buried in areas other than Jerusalem, and the places of the People of the Book, or the Christians and the Jews. And so therefore,

We find that Muslims are scholars are living within slavery, that great Allah Ma, were captured in West Africa and were taken to the Americas. One such scholar who found himself in a state of slavery was a Ube, Eben Suleiman.

He was born in Gambia, and he was enslaved in Maryland. He was born around 1700 ad. And he was taken to the Americas. And he was given the name job, Ben Solomon. And what was important about our YouTube is his ability, you know, to write the Arabic language, and we find that he actually writes a number of portions of the Quran, he writes his biography, he is able to express himself very freely, using the Arabic language. And he came from a very princely family, from the Fulani. And immediately when he was captured and brought to the Americas, and his writings start to come out, they recognize this is not a regular slave who is balling chains in a plantation. So they

immediately gave him a job in their house. And he shocked the people.

By writing in Arabic, when they express certain things to them, he wrote an Arabic. And he immediately said to his masters, he said, La Ilaha, Illa Allah, and he wrote it. And he wrote Muhammad Rasulullah saw Salaam that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And he showed them clearly, I'm a Muslim. So they set aside a special place for him to pray. And he used to keep his five prayers. And he was able to fast in the month of Ramadan. And he maintained the cordial relationship. He was fortunate enough to send a letter through a source coming through, he sent a letter to one of the geographical societies. And because his family was well known, in West Africa,

it came to the authorities, and they paid for his freedom. And so are you able to lay man

was eventually freed, he traveled to out America. And he actually succeeded in impressing people throughout the United States. He also traveled to England. And it is said that the Queen of England actually gave him a present. And he was it was a shock to people to see him writing the Arabic and to see the Edit, to see the character that he had, even though he was coming out of a state of slavery. He finally reached his home in Gambia, and he was involved in struggling against slavery. what he would do is that he would gather his money together and anytime he heard of anybody from his clan, and of the Muslims, who was enslaved, he would purchase that person's freedom, because he had

suffered in the slavery period. And he didn't want this to happen to other people, similarly to what he had experienced. So are you able to lay man was a very important person, and he leaves a trace of nobility within Islam. Up until today. Another important personality is Abdurahman Rahman, Ibn Ibrahim.

And reports are coming about obdurate men that he was born in Timbuktu. But he was raised in foot agilon in what is now present day Guinea. And he was a warrior. He was an Amir. He was born in 1762. And he was enslaved in Mississippi. And what is important about obdurate men is that he he struggles throughout his slavery, and he is dignified. And just his presence alone is so Prince like that they called him Prince, and he became well known within the society itself. Let's take a break for a moment and then come back to hear more about Prince Abdul Rahman and the other scholars in slavery.

Welcome to this new episode of focus points. The new generation is has the good the habit of reading more than before

Question was named basically the problem of Jews who lost the function in society.

One of the most important personalities from the scholars of slavery was updraft man, the son of Ibrahim, he was born in the year 1762. in Timbuktu, he was raised in foot agilon in Guinea. And after a long ordeal in the Middle Passage, he found himself in Mississippi. Despite the torture and the terrible conditions he was forced to live in, he maintained a very princely stature. So he was called Prince. And he maintained his ability to read and write in Arabic. And he was a scholar. He was an Amir, and he was actually the leader of a great army. And this was recognized immediately by his slave masters. And so they made him the leader

of the slaves, he was actually the one who kept the slaves in line. And despite what was happening to him, he always wanted to be freed from slavery, to return to his own.

It is reported that obdurate men saw a person, a white American doctor, a person who had been in West Africa, who had actually suffered and gotten very sick, and was indebted to a man's family. And so when he saw this man, he called the man and he reminded him that his family had taken in the man for three months in West Africa. And he asked the men to get him out of slavery. So this man then began to raise funds in order to free up draft men from slavery. Eventually, he was able to get out. And he started to tour the country. During this time, he was asked to write the Lord's Prayer. So now he's asked to write something in Arabic, they they they like his Arabic writing. So they say to

him, and maybe this is a type of joke or you know, the playing with him and they say, Can you write the Lord's Prayer in Arabic? So obdurate man writes the Lord's Prayer, this is the actual text, and it says the Lord's prayer and he writes Bismillah R Rahman Rahim, Al hamdu, lillahi Rabbil alameen r Rahmani Raheem, Maliki Ahmed Dean, and he writes the Fatiha the opening chapter of the Quran. But they can't read Arabic. So they don't know that it's actually the default he had these read. And this is a very interesting document, because it shows what happens in the slavery period. And it shows, you know, the the fact that Muslims respected their faith, even though they were forced to

appear as though they had accepted Christianity. So up to a man toward the country, and he raised funds to get his wife out of slavery, which he did. And then he was trying to raise funds for his children. But he was not able to do this. Because of a political change in the atmosphere in America. He ended up going back to his country.

fate had at the color of Allah subhanaw taala, the will of Allah subhanaw taala came in, and six months after he returned to his home in West Africa. He he got cholera and he died. His some of his children did, however, returned to West Africa. They were freed from slavery, and they were eventually reunited with his mother in West Africa.

Another interesting personality is Yato Muhammad Yato. Muhammad has one of the most well known faces from amongst the slaves. He was born in the 1700s. And he died at the age of 128.

He was freed from slavery after 70 years, just imagine 70 years in slavery. But when you look at his face, he's a man over 100 years old. He still looks like he's young. And so Yato Muhammad is a very interesting personality, a well known person, highly respected, and he is a person who is respected by African Americans up until today. Another important personality within the scholars of slavery is Omar Eben say it.

And Omar Eben say it is not

known because of his prolific ability to write, and he is reported to have written 14 manuscripts, he wrote his own autobiography and the Arabic language.

Unfortunately, he died in the state of slavery.

And the writings of Omar Eben say it are being studied in America up until today.

What we find within these documents is a powerful use of the Arabic language. And we find a man expressing himself, writing about his life, giving details through the Arabic, so he was highly proficient. And he was able to express deep thoughts within the Arabic language. And his documents are some of his documents are actually available in America today. At last word, they they were in the city of Detroit. They were purchased by African American Muslims, and they are on display in Institute's and this is part of the rich heritage of Africans in America, and especially Muslims, who had come to this part of the world. What is crucial, again, for us to remember that these are

people living in bondage, but they are Aldama, they are scholars, and they are writing the texts, they are maintaining their dignity, they are maintaining their honor, and suffering at the same time. And this is part of the message or part of the duty and responsibility of the prophets. And that was that even though they were suffering, they still maintain the dignity. So the scholars and slavery in America had a great heritage, and they become important people for our understanding of what happened in this region.

After this, we find also that there are other individuals who are well known. From amongst them were two slaves who were enslaved in Georgia, on the sapelo Islands, Bill Ali, Mohammed.

And solid bill Ali were to imams known, of course, in mundane language as Al mammies. And this is how they were

referred to. And this picture is from the documents the actual document of Bill Ali Mohammed himself, that was written in Georgia, on the sapelo Islands. And again, it's interesting to see the usage of the word el mummies. We saw this appear in Central America. When the people within Panama and Honduras, the areas where African people were living in Central America, would actually use the term el mammies. And genres and guavas and caba. They were using West African mandate, terminologies. Again, the word el mammies comes from El emammal, which comes from LMR. So both bill Ali Mohammed and solly, Bill Ali, were Imams and leaders of their people.

And their relatives are still living within these islands in Georgia today. What they are known for, especially in American history, is that they were literally given the the military responsibility to protect the islands. So their relationship with their slave masters and the authorities was different than other slaves that we find coming out of American history, because they were literally given weapons. And we find that when this island was under attack, that they actually protected the islands. And they were respected by their people. And given all of the dignity and all of the rights of an Imam within an Islamic territory.

Bill Ali Mohammed was known as a person who was strict in his press, he would constantly make his salaat and he carried the rug along with him. And even when they were working, he would stop and he would make his prayers. He constantly wore a fess on his head. And he made his way out to the Creator of the heavens in the earth. And when he eventually passed away, they put his fez and his rug down into his grave area. And he is known in the sub Halo region up until now, what is interesting that comes out in some of the history textbooks is that coming out of Georgia, the word Billa Li becomes known as baileigh

And then through language and time, it becomes known as Bailey. So anybody who comes from the sapelo Islands of Georgia or in Georgia itself, who has the name Bailey, is actually considered to be a descendant, either of Bill Ali Mohammed or solid Pillai. And this is an interesting point for us. Because when the historians look into the history, they find that there was no slave master named Bailey. It was the practice of many of the slave masters to name their slaves after their family name. But there was no Bailey within the Georgia area. So anybody who was named Bailey was more than likely a descendant of Muslims.

Why this is important, is because one of the great abolitionists, a person well known in American history, named Frederick Douglass, he was a direct descendant of the Bailey's. So this great abolition, abolitionist, this great freedom fighter, who was known in American history was more than likely coming out of an Islamic background. It's also interesting to note that other names amongst the slaves were being distorted and mispronounced and changed into English names. Abubakar was changed into Booker.

And we find other names, which are being changed. And so therefore, what another great personality in the south, whose name was Booker T. Washington,

may possibly also have come from an Islamic background. So if you look at African American History and American history, if you say that Booker T Washington, who was a great leader of us are a college, a great educator, Booker T. Washington, and Frederick Douglass came from Muslim backgrounds, then we would literally be changing the nature of American history. Again, these are gems of wisdom. This is part of the untold story of world history. This is part of a legacy that needs to be known by the people of the world. Islam has always been the religion of education, the religion of progress, the religion of resistance to evil. And again, we see in America, another part

of this saga.

Muslims were able to develop themselves, they were able to maintain Arabic writing, they were able to keep the traditions in a state of slavery for a long period of time. Unfortunately, because of the pain of slavery, it was eventually for the most part lost. But now it is coming back to the surface. With hundreds and 1000s of African Americans coming into Islam and roots to DDD, search for roots is recognized to be, to a great extent, a search for Islam. So I leave you with these thoughts. And I pray that you will continue to live in peace, and that Muslims in the whole world will find peace. Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh