The Four Sisters represented the ways in which Islam allowed Black women to feel empowered and have a sense of belonging in a society that continuously dehumanized and mistreated them. The Four Sisters -  Sister Khairat, Sister Zeineb, Sister Ayesha, and Sister Ahmadia - were all Black American women who chose to convert to Islam. As detailed in the book, Being Muslim: A Cultural History of Women of Color in American Islam, by Sylvia Chan-Malik, through Ahmadiyya Islam, Black women were able to protect their bodies and minds from the racial and gendered harm they faced and form spiritual kinships with other Muslim women around the world.

    Throughout the time of the great migration, Chicago was advertised to be “a place of limitless Black opportunity.” In reality, white Chicagoans held intense anti-Black sentiments. Black women moved to Chicago in the hopes of finding a space where they could raise their families and create community ties with others. Along with the hopes of cultivating familial ties, the promise of diverse job opportunities outside of typical domestic service drew in many Black women to Chicago, such as Sister Zeineb.

    The Black Church placed an emphasis on Black respectability, which differed in Black nationalism in that it placed more importance on proving that Black people were as good as white people rather than collective Black liberation. This emphasis on Black respectability was restrictive for Black women, because acceptable behaviors were based on what was improper versus proper. Black women who were widowed, had children out of wedlock, or were victim to other structural inequalities were turned away from churches and women’s groups.

    The desire to find kinship, acceptance, and ownership of their bodies is what turned these Black women towards Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam. At a time when Islam was considered to be a religious and cultural threat by Christian missionaries, Black Americans were some of the strongest forces in changing the meaning and presence of Islam. For many Black Americans, the message of Islam aligned with the spirit of Black nationalism and therefore resonated with many. For Black working-class women specifically, Islam was a term that they heard in the context of Black nationalism and was linked to a world that offered spirituality distant from the racist reality that restricted their bodies and minds. The Ahmadiyya mission specifically appealed to Black women such as the Four Sisters because of its emphasis on egalitarianism with respect to gender, race, and class. This was appealing for Black women, such as the Four Sisters, who were victim to sexual advances in the workplace, a lack of community, and structural inequalities that always worked against them and their existence. The Ahmadiyya movement conveyed Islam as offering kinship and connection in the physical and spiritual world, in which the Four Sisters were able to express their full humanity.

 

Sources:

​

Being Muslim: A Cultural History of Women of Color in American Islam

​

Al Islam: The Official Website of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Black Past

​

Stanford: The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute