Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Muslims In America Way Before Columbus



I stumbled across all this information by accident when researching  facts to prove that there were Muslims in American when the Declaration of Independence was signed . Imagine my amazement to find all these riches describing HOW far back there were Muslims in America before Columbus even !I am posting snippets that will link you to the story/ articul itself for you to read .


"Native American Muslims
The Message, July 1996

My name is Mahir Abdal-Razzaaq El and I am a Cherokee Blackfoot American Indian who is Muslim. I am known as Eagle Sun Walker. I serve as a Pipe Carrier Warrior for the Northeastern Band of Cherokee Indians in New York City.
There are other Muslims in our group. For the most part, not many people are aware of the Native American contact with Islam that began over one thousand years ago by some of the early Muslim travelers who visited us. Some of these Muslim travelers ended up living among our people." 


Islam in America before Columbus
Before the West declared themselves the great scientists of the earth, before their own Renaissance, Muslims already were making discoveries in science that took the West hundreds of years to even begin to imagine. What a shame that people in Europe were being persecuted by the Church for their suppositions that the earth was round; they should have come to the Islamic world--- an Afghan Muslim had proved that in 793 C.E.!
However, the studying of the universe brought forth more questions, and more curiosity. The Muslims in West Africa were so intrigued by what was on the other side of the Great Sea, that they began their expeditions into the great unknown. Early reports of these travels are sketchy, but we can be sure that they crossed the Atlantic by 889 C.E.
That was 603 years before Columbus. And that is not counting the actual physical evidence in the United States today that dates back even further; however, we do know, as De Lacy O'Leary pointed out, that Muslims definitely had the scientific knowledge and skill to make journeys across the Atlantic ocean.
We were in the Americas, hundreds of years before Columbus, and of that we can be sure.


Here are some snippets for you read from the below articul.

The secrets of the Nevada rocks
A mosque is as American as apple pie. The first mosques in America were not built in the 60s but in the earliest times when African and a Cherokee Muslims prayed in small buildings.History is but a jig saw puzzle. The facts about Cherokee Muslims were initially brought out by Cherokees themselves. Ms. Sheila Musaji also has a website and has done research on the subject of Cherokee being Muslims.A preponderance of the voyages embarked upon by Columbus and other Spanish and Portuguese explorers toward the other side of the Atlantic were undertaken only in the light of the geographical and navigational knowledge prepared by Muslims. Al-Masudi’s (871-957 CE) work Muruj’uz-Zahab, for instance, was written withthis sort of data compiled by Muslim traders from across Africa and Asia. Two of Columbus’ captains on the first voyage, in actual fact, were Muslims: Martin Alonso Pinzon was in charge of the Pinta, while his brother Vicente Yanez Pinzonwas the designated captain of Nina; both were from the Moroccan Marinid dynasty, descendants of Sultan Abu Zayan Muhammad III (r. 1362-1366). Formerly well-to-do ship riggers, they assisted Columbus in organizing his voyage of exploration, preparing the Santa Maria, the flagship, and covering all its expenses.


Islam in USA

Islam in USA1, By Tariq Mahmud Ashraf

Mr. Ashruf  talks about how Islam is the fastest growing religion in America and the fears Americans have because of this in a post 9-11 world . He also discusses the history of  a Islamic presense in America before Colimbus and much more . A interesting read .
Muslims had reached North America even before Christopher Columbus is credited with having discovered it.refers to Christopher Columbus having recorded in his diary regarding the sighting of a mosque in Cuba during his voyage to America.Columbus logged on October 21st, 1492, that he was sailing past Gibara on the coast of Cuba he saw a mosque. He also logged that remnants of other masjids (mosques) have been found in Cuba, Mexico, Texas and Nevada. 

He also alleges  in this articul something else that  be food for thought  by the American Muslims community  : The USA government doesn't have an accurate count of Muslim population in America for maybe the following reasons:
  • The US Government, fearing the possibility of a domestic backlash, does not want to project the correct figures of the Muslim population in the country.
  • A correct estimate of the Muslim population could well encourage them to start playing a more prominent role in the affairs of the country.
  • The resultant anti-Muslim tirade could, apart from threatening internal security, also impede the flow of fresh immigrants from the Islamic world to the US – something that the US can ill afford.
  • In her global campaign against Terrorism, the US is targeting several Muslim extremist organizations and cannot afford to simultaneously open a domestic front by alienating the US Muslims especially so if they become aware of their actual strength and numbers.
  • Since a large percentage of the Muslims in the US are of African-American / South Asian origin, any campaign against them in the US could fall into the category of ‘racial discrimination’ and apartheid.

4 comments:

on the edge said...

I forgot to add this link as well .

http://www.muslimwiki.com/mw/index.php/Native_Americans_and_Islam

Anonymous said...

Extremely interesting. I had no idea.

AV

on the edge said...

Me either !

on the edge said...

Strange as it may seem to you , Real Muslims do think for themselves.