Illuminates how African Muslims drew on Islam while enslaved, and how their faith ultimately played a role in the African DisaporaServants of Allah presents a history of African Muslims, following them from West Africa to the Americas. Although many assume that what Muslim faith they brought with them to the Americas was quickly absorbed into the new Christian milieu, as Sylviane A. Diouf demonstrates in this meticulously-researched, groundbreaking volume, Islam flourished during slavery on a large scale. She details how, even while enslaved, many Muslims managed to follow most of the precepts of their religion. Literate, urban, and well-traveled, they drew on their organization, solidarity and the strength of their beliefs to play a major part in the most well-known slave uprisings. But for all their accomplishments and contributions to the history and cultures of the African Diaspora, the Muslims have been largely ignored. Servants of Allah?a Choice 1999 Outstanding Academic Title?illuminates the role of Islam in the lives of both individual practitioners and communities, and shows that though the religion did not survive in the Americas in its orthodox form, its mark can be found in certain religions, traditions, and artistic creations of people of African descent. This 15th anniversary edition has been updated to include new materials and analysis, a review of developments in the field, prospects for new research, and new illustrations.

>> viiContentsAcknowledgments ixIntroduction to the 15th Anniversary Edition 11 African Muslims, Christian Europeans, and theTransatlantic Slave Trade 202 Upholding the Five Pillars of Islam in a Hostile World 713 Th e Muslim Community 994 Literacy: A Distinction and a Danger 1595 Resistance, Revolts, and Returns to Africa 2106 Th e Muslim Legacy 251Notes 285Select Bibliography 315Index 327About the Author 341Illustrations appear as a group following page 142.