We remember the physical and mental abuse you were put through by your oppressors.
We remember the conditions you endured during the trade and the suffocation you felt below deck, cramped together.
We remember the lack of sanitation and asphyxiating conditions that put you at constant threat of diseases and epidemics and the deaths you witnessed caused by the cold weather.
We Remember.
And we remember the protests made by the Kings of your countries for your freedom.
We remember the Queens who fought against your oppressors to reunite with you.
We remember how you felt at the auctions in the Caribbean, thinking about how these people had the audacity to put themselves above of you, think of themselves as superior to you.
We remember how you watched those who were brave enough to stand up for their rights be sent to seasoning camps and watched them die there too.
We Remember.
And we remember the 400 years of slavery you had to endure under the persecution of the Americans, Mexicans, Portuguese, English and their allies.
We remember the hard labour they made you do, working on the sugar plantations and not earning a penny
We remember the way they treated you when you asked, protested, and rebelled against them just for emancipation, for freedom - a basic human right.
We remember the sickening masculinity the planters had and the unforgivable acts they committed against you.
We Remember.
We Remember.
We Remember.
But now it’s time for us to educate those who neglect world history.
Those who prefer to live their lives without a care for what happened before them.
Those who believe that what their predecessors had done has made no impact on our lives today
Those who refuse to acknowledge the privilege they have because they don't remember.
They don't remember the white supremacy that has been occurring since that first trade ...
The first trade ...
They Don't Remember.
They Don't Remember.
They Don't Remember.
By Sister Saffiyah
I wrote this poem in remembrance of the atrocities that occured during the transatlantic slave trade and the indescribale events that took place for 400 years. Let us keep our brothers and sisters in our prayers and thoughts and pray that they are finally at peace. In todays post I would like to talk about the muslims, in particular, who were aapart of the slave trade. Many people neglect to remember that it wasnt only those who practiced tribal shamanism and other traditions. Infact, America's first slaves were muslim.
In 1807, a wealthy 37-year-old scholar was captured in West Africa, in what is now Senegal, and transported to the United States to be sold into slavery. That man, Omar Ibn Said, lived the remainder of his life enslaved in the American South, and his story might have been forgotten if not for the handwritten autobiography he left behind.
Ibn Said wrote a firsthand account of what he went through and how he lived the remiander of his enslaved life in the United States. Ibn Said was among one-third of slaves who were Muslim. While the exact number of enslaved Muslims is unknown, up to 40 percent of those who were captured and enslaved came from Muslim parts of West Africa.
First Page of the translation of the Autobiography of Omar Ibn Said:
"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Gracious. God grant His blessing upon our leader Muhammad (SAW). Blessed be He in whose hand is the kingdom & who is Almighty; who created death and life that the might makes you the best of His works; for He is exalted; He is the forgiver (of sins) who created seven heavens, one above the other. Do you discern anything trifling in creation. Bring back your thoughts. Do you see anything worthless? Recall your vision in earnest. Turn your eye inward for it is diseased. God has adorned the Heavens of the world with lamps and had made us missiles for the devil and given us for them a grievous punishment and to those who have disbelieved their Lord, the punishment of Hell and [] of body. Whoever associated with them shall hear a boiling cauldron and what is cast therein may [] those who differ under the anger of God. Ask them if a Prophet has not been sent onto them. They say 'yes; a Prophet has come to us, but we have lied to him.' He said, 'God has not sent us down anything grievous error.' They say, 'If we had listened and had been wise we should not now have been suffering the punishment of the omniscient.’”
Tenth Page of the translation of the Autobiogrpahy of Omar Ibn Said:
"I reside in their own country by reason of great necessity. Wicked men took me by violence and sold me to the Christians. We sailed a month and a half on the great sea to the place called Charleston in the Christian land. I fell into the hands of a small, weak and wicked man who feared not God at all, nor did he read (the gospel) at all nor pray. I was afraid to remain with a man so depraved of who committed so many crimes and I ran away. After a month Our Lord brought me forward to the hand of a good man who fears God and loved to do good, and whose name is Jim Owen and whose brother is called Bob John Owen. These are two excellent men - I am residing to Bladen County ."
Ibn Said's story is very inspirational and definitely worth a read. Through all the hardships he endured he still kept firm to his faith. Subhanallah! Allah says in the Noble Quran:
وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ
“And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way.” [2:186]
Wasalaam,
P.S. Recommended Video - Omar ibn Said: The Life of an Enslaved Muslim Scholar