History of American Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of American Islam - Essay Example Estevanico was the first Muslim to enter the historical records in the North America. He was a barber who originated from North Arica and explored the states of Arizona and New Mexico in the 1530s for the Spanish Empire. In 1586, Sir Francis Drake brought around two hundred Muslims the then English colony of Roanoke, which is the present Carolina. Drake’s convoy of some thirty ships had freed these Muslims from Spanish colonial forces in the Carribean where they had been condemned to hard labor as galley slaves.Approximately 15 to 30% of the slaves who were brought to America were Muslims. Some documented cases include abdulrahman Ibrahim Sori and Ayubu Suleiman Diallo 1701-1773. Yarrow Mamout one of the Muslims who bought his freedom had his portrait painted by renowned American artist Charles William Peale, and it is kept at Philadelphia Museum art. In 1831, Omar Ibn said who was an educated native of West Africa managed to write the only well-known American slave descriptio n in Arabic. In 1939 Sayyid Said, the ruler of the Oman ordered his ships to set sail to American on a trade mission, and this marked the point of Muslims friendly relationship with America. In 1854, the Ottoman Empire sent a gift to be included in the Washington Monument. In 1857 Bilali Mohammad, a slave on Sapelo Island, Geogia, managed to write the first and the lone existing book on Islamic Law printed in America and this book was called Bilali document.The first documented Muslim cemetery called the Ross has tombstones dating from 1882.