Professor El Hadji Samba Amadou Diallo leads a lecture on Islamic history (Alan Knight | Student Life)

Professor Diallo is a senior lecturer in the Department of Africa and African-American Studies with a research interest in Islam in West and Francophone Africa. The event was co-hosted by the Washington University Muslim Student Association, the African Student Association, the University’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. 

Diallo said that Islam is a religion that advocates for ethnic equality. 

 “Religious piety and knowledge takes precedence over race, and the Quran mentions that ‘the most honored among you in the sight of God is the one who is more righteous,’” Diallo said. 

He said that because of Islam’s promotion of both racial equality and education, Islamic knowledge was able to be rapidly transmitted across Africa, increasing literacy, education, and scholarship. 

He added that this led to the foundation of the oldest continually running higher learning institution in the world — the University of Al-Qarawiyyin–by African-Arab scholar and philanthropist Fatima Al-Fihri — in 859 AD.

“Al-Qarawiyyin became an important center of Islamic scholarship and learning in Africa, producing numerous scholars and attracting students from all over the world,” said Diallo. “It even inspired the design of universities in the West, such as Oxford University in England.”

Diallo went to say that other Islamic learning centers and universities in places like Seville, Sudan, and Timbuktu, developed soon after. He said that these centers staged informative historical and geographical studies like the Timbuktu Chronicles, a series of written works from the 17th century.

“In the Timbuktu Chronicles, there are two books that narrate the history of Black and Western African people, and analyzing them enhances our understanding of African epistemologies,” said Diallo. “This is important to understand the spread of Islam in the western part of the continent.”

Diallo later talked about the spread of Islam to America, stating that of the seven million Africans who were forcibly moved to America and sold into slavery, 30% were West African Muslims. 

Diallo said that the largest and most “influential Muslim communities” in the United States during the enslavement of Africans were in Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia, which were areas with a large population of enslaved people.

Junior and organizer of the event Aisha Adedayo said that many of these slaves had to find covert ways to practice Islam in America.

“Many slaves were forced to convert [to Christianity], but they found creative ways to practice Islam discreetly,” said Adedayo. “For example, to not work during the day, they pretended to be sick so they could fast in Ramadan.”

Diallo mentioned that Islam persisted despite these pressures.

“You can burn the book, but you can’t burn what is in the hearts and minds,” Diallo said. 

First-year Nassim Aidja said that he thought the lecture was really insightful into Islamic practices in West Africa and America, two regions that aren’t commonly associated with Islam, but have significant ties to it. 

 “Diallo was able to tie multiple aspects of Islam, sects, and regions together to learn the history of Islam in Africa and clear away any racist misconceptions about Islam,” Aidja said.

Diallo also discussed the efforts of Muslim leaders in the push for abolition. He said that Thomas Clarkson, a prominent English abolitionist, was inspired by Abdul Kader Kan, a Senegalese Muslim leader who opposed the slave trade in Futa Toro, a region of present-day Senegal. 

He also mentioned Malcolm X, a Muslim African American who helped lead the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. However, Diallo said that African Muslims and African Americans, despite their contributions to society, have been made invisible in records of history.

“For me, it seems that Muslims were just invisible, just like the enslaved people,” said Diallo.
“Islam was here, but nobody noticed that.” 

Diallo finished his lecture by telling listeners that though African and African American Muslims are often invisibilized, they still have prominent and thriving communities in both places.

 “They were there every time,” he said. “Islam is an African religion, as well as an American religion.”