Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research

African Muslims in America Before Columbus

While many start the story of Islam in America with the Enslaved Muslims brought from Africa, Islam has rich early interactions through luminaries like Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad and Mansa Musa. Knowing this history is significant and reshapes the story of how Islam in America is told altogether.

Series Description: Two worlds that were and still are so frequently intertwined, are Islam and Black America. Yet often these two are looked at as either mutually exclusive, or limited to one historical period or transformative personality. In this series, Sr. Ieasha Prime gives a brief overview of the many ways in which these worlds interacted, and the many figures we owe that interaction to.

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Ieasha Prime

ِFellow | Ieasha Prime is the Director of Women’s Programming at Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia and the founder of the DC Muslim Women’s Conference. In addition to her full-time work, she is the co-founder and Executive Director of Barakah INC, an organization committed to training Muslim women in traditional Islamic sciences with a focus on modern application.