Dear Editor,

VERY little is written about the prominent role that enslaved African Muslims played in the history of the Guianas; but, for now, we will focus on Guyana, the former Dutch/British colony in South America.While the reconstruction of the history of enslaved Africans in Guyana is difficult, due to the horrors of slavery and the fact that almost 99% of the archival materials are in Dutch, it may cause some unease for the predominantly forced converted descendants of Africans in Guyana today not to mention the whiteman’s burden that made Africa into a “dark corner of the world”, which Europeans claim was void of any civilization.

Black Egypt — (Nubia), Kush, and Axum — were suddenly not part of Africa. This bias was carried over by some who wrote the history books of Guyana and refused to acknowledge the role African Muslims played in the country’s history, and their quest to retain their identities. While enslaved African Muslims may not have had in their possession the Holy Quran, many had it committed to memory, which their masters could not burn.

According to Emilia Viotti da Costa, in her book “Crowns of Glory, Tears of Blood”, some enslaved Africans involved in the 1823 Demerara rebellion were Muslims. An African driver by the name of Bob, from Plantation Brothers, was a Muslim and was known as the Mahometan.

Incidentally, Quamina the ringleader was an African from the Akan community. During the trial of the ‘ringleaders,’ one African who testified against them was a Muslim who demanded to take his oath the Islamic way.

Also, according to Norman Cameron in his book “150 Years of Education In Guyana (1808 – 1957)”, “two Mohammedans”, Romeo and Jason, were ordained as deacons by the Christian missionary on Plantation Le Ressouvenir; Romeo was ordained in 1808 and Jason in 1814.

Despite the horrors of enslavement, traces of their Islamic faith were referenced in the early 1800s in several books that ascribed to materials written in Arabic found among slaves in British Guiana. In Thomas Staunton St. Clair’s 1834 autobiography, titled “A Soldier’s Sojourn in British Guiana, 1806-1808”, he mentioned a slave plot planned for Christmas Eve in 1807. St. Clair was a British soldier stationed in Demerara for three years, from 1805 to June 1808. From his personal recollections, he mentioned that “a slave woman who lived with a young Scottish overseer on a plantation on the East Coast Demerara betrayed the conspirators.” The ringleader was her own father.

Based on her accusation, at least 20 slaves were arrested, while her father and a few others were hanged.

One piece of evidence that was presented during the trial was a letter written in the Arabic script, supposedly by one of the rebels, and addressed to the slaves. However, since no member of the court could read the letter, its purport could only be guessed at. This suggests that her father was a Muslim and one with strong faith.

More importantly, in 1836, two years prior to the arrival of the first Hindustani Muslims in British Guiana, the London Missionary Society reported that Thomas Lewis — a freed African — was educated in England and had started a school in Union Chapel in New Amsterdam. Lewis was formerly a Muslim known as Toby. Toby, the Hausa Muslim, could read the Arabic text of the Holy Quran.

Last, but not least, the very first slave revolt in 1763 was carried out by a house slave, Kofi (which means “born on the Jummah”) from the Akan tribe of Ghana. He was probably a Muslim, since he was literate in the Arabic language. In addition, a few of Kofi’s ‘lieutenants’ were Muslims. Akara (his chief army commander, and from the same plantation) and Atta and Quabi were also from the Akan tribe.

In Guyana, the majority of enslaved Africans were from the Congo and Kromanti regions. Looking at the 1819 slave population of Berbice (Table S3. 4. Higman 1984), there was a significant number of African-born Muslims in the colony. Out of the total African-born slaves (12,867), only 1,198 (or 9%) were specified; and out of this number, 235 (or 20%) were Muslims. These were distributed as follows: 111 Mandingos from Senegambia and Bambara (Mali/Burkina Faso); 27 Temnes, 27 Fullahs and 18 Susus from Sierra Leone; 14 from the Gold Coast, and 38 Hausas from Benin.

Enslaved African Muslims were leaders in slave uprisings. As well, some who converted in exchange for freedom became prominent Christian preachers in Guyana. Among these are Tobi, Romeo and Jason.

During this month of Ramadhan 2016, we would like to pay homage to all formerly enslaved Africans who had been murdered and assassinated during the African Holocaust, and to bring attention to a few who refused to bear the names of their slave masters.
Regards,
RAY CHICKRIE and SHABNAM ALLI