Throughout America, during the time that Africans were being enslaved, it became essential for white settlers that the land be Christian. Not only was evangelization a justification used for the enslavement of Africans, but a fear of the spread of Islam among Christian colonies began as early as the sixteenth century. However, throughout this time, African Muslims resisted their oppressors by maintaining their faith and going to great lengths to practice Islam. One form of this resistance was through pseudoconversion and reconversion, which can be seen through Abdul-Rahman’s narrative.

Abdul-Rahman ibn Ibrahima Sori was a nobleman from Timbo, West Africa. Abdul Rahman was very well educated; he was fluent in four West African languages as well as Arabic and English. At a relatively young age of 26, he was made the Emir, or military ruler, of an army that consisted of two thousand men. They were tasked in protecting the borders of their kingdom, often embarking on military missions.  On one of these missions, Abdul Rahman was captured and forced into slavery by the British. He was enslaved for forty years before being allowed to return to Africa.

    Upon his arrival to Mississippi in the United States, Abdul Rahman tried reasoning with the white slave traders and slaveowners to free him.  He argued that he came from a rich and noble family who would pay them as much as they wanted for his return back to Timbo. However, the dehumanization of his identity and his labor were worth more to those people than his freedom. His protests were met with ridicule and hostility and his slave owner began to refer to him as “Prince” as a mockery of who Abdul Rahman claimed to be.

    After a failed escape attempt, Abdul Rahman adapted an attitude of compliance to the systemic oppression and dehumanization he was forced into acknowledging the reality of his situation.  He began to work on the fields without rebelling like he had used to. Through his vast knowledge of cotton from the advanced use of cotton in his homeland, Abdul Rahman’s hard work allowed his master to gain wealth and prestige and Abdul Rahman gained some semblance of respect from his master. Abdul Rahman oversaw and trained the other enslaved Africans on the plantation and was granted a small patch of land to plant his own crops that he sold at the local market.

    The local newspaper owner, Andrew Marschalk, discovered Abdul Rahman’s fluency in Arabic, and became sympathetic to Abdul Rahman’s cause. Marschalk sent a letter that Abdul Rahman wrote to his family to a U.S. senator, Thomas Reed, who then sent the letter to the U.S. Consulate in Morocco. Interestingly, his fluency in Arabic caused people to assume that he was a Moor. After reading the letter, the Sultan of Morocco requested that Abdul Rahman be freed. Like many other enslaved Africans, Abdul Rahman suppressed parts of his identity in order to survive throughout his enslavement. Although Abdul Rahman remained faithful to his Islamic faith, he attended church and seemed to express a willingness to convert to Christianity to do what was expected of him. When it seemed as if he would be able to go back home to Africa, Abdul Rahman was willing to pretend to become an instrument for spreading Christianity in Africa in order to increase his chances of being able to go back home. However, Abdul Rahman immediately started openly practicing Islam as soon as he was back in Timbo. This pseudoconversion and reconversion was a common practice among enslaved African Muslims as a survival tactic to appear compliant in front of slave owners while maintaining their own faith in secrecy. This was a form of resistance against their oppressors and allowed enslaved African Muslims to maintain their sense of identity and self when forced into such hostile conditions, as represented through Abdul-Rahman’s story. This form of resistance, through pseudoconversion and reconversion, was one of many used by African Muslims to uphold the Five Pillars of Islam, showing their immense willpower and unbreakable spirits.

​

Sources:

​

Slavery and Remembrance: A Guide to Sites, Museums, and Memory

​

What is racism?

​

40 Years a Slave: The Extraordinary Tale of an African Prince Stolen from His Kingdom

​

Ta Neter Foundation

​

Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas

​

​