Synopses & Reviews
"[Sure to become] a classic in the field. Highly recommended." --Library Journal
"... full of surprises and intrigues and written in a beautiful style.... a breath of fresh air on the African-Islamic-American connection." --Journal of the American Academy of Religion
The involvement of black Americans with Islam reaches back to the earliest days of the African presence in North America. Part I of the book explores these roots in the Middle East, West Africa, and antebellum America. Part II tells the story of the "Prophets of the City"--the leaders of the new urban-based African American Muslim movements in the 20th century. Turner places the study of Islam in the context of the racial, ethical, and political relations that influenced the reception of successive presentations of Islam, including the West African Islam of slaves, the Ahmadiyya Movement from India, the orthodox Sunni practice of later immigrants, and the Nation of Islam. This second edition features a new introduction, which discusses developments since the earlier edition, including Islam in a post-9/11 America.
Review
.".".full of surprises and intrigues and written in a beautiful style, ....a breath of fresh air on the African-Islamic-American connection."
Synopsis
Sure to become] a classic in the field. Highly recommended.-- Library Journal
... full of surprises and intrigues andwritten in a beautiful style.... a breath of fresh air on theAfrican-Islamic-American connection. -- Journal of the American Academy ofReligion
The involvement of black Americans with Islam reachesback to the earliest days of the African presence in North America. Part I of thebook explores these roots in the Middle East, West Africa, and antebellum America.Part II tells the story of the Prophets of the City -- the leaders ofthe new urban-based African American Muslim movements in the 20th century. Turnerplaces the study of Islam in the context of the racial, ethical, and politicalrelations that influenced the reception of successive presentations of Islam, including the West African Islam of slaves, the Ahmadiyya Movement from India, theorthodox Sunni practice of later immigrants, and the Nation of Islam. This secondedition features a new introduction, which discusses developments since the earlieredition, including Islam in a post-9/11 America.
About the Author
Richard Brent Turner is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Iowa. He lives in Iowa City.
Table of Contents
Preliminary Table of Contents:
Introduction to the Second Edition
Part One: Root Sources
1. Muslims in a Strange Land: African Muslim Slaves in America
2. Pan-Africanism and the New-American Islam: Edward Wilmot Blyden and Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb
Part Two: Prophets of the City
3. The Name Means Everything: Noble Drew Ali and the Moorish Science Temple of America
4. The Ahmadiyya Mission to America: A Multi-Racial Model for American Islam
5. Missionizing and Signifying: W. D. Fard and the Early History of the Nation of Islam
6. Malcolm X and His Successors: Contemporary Significations of African-American Islam
Epilogue: Commodification of Identity
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index