"Black people ignore that their
ancestors, who adjusted to the material conditions of the Nile valley, are the
oldest guides of humankind on the way to civilization" Cheikh Anta Diop
In our research for the manifestation of truth, we have discussed
the role of Christianity in the European slave trade. It is therefore necessary
to know also what were the moral supports of the second African holocaust.
Does Islam allow slavery?
Yes Islam allows the enslavement of human beings. Though the Islam
prophet Muhammad condemned the practice and encouraged the freeing of slaves,
other passages from the Koran regulate and thus condone slavery. Here are some
excerpts:
Surah 33, Verse 52: ‘’Not lawful to you, are (any additional )
women after, nor for you to exchange them for wives, even if their beauty were
to please you, except what your right hand possesses. And ever is Allah,
over all things, an Observer.”
Surah 16, Verse 71: “And Allah has favored some of you over
others in provision. But those who were favored would not hand over their
provision to those whom their right hands possess so they would be equal
to them therein. Then is it the favor of Allah they reject?”.
Surah 4, Verse 24: “And also prohibited to you are all married
women except those your right hand possesses. (…) Indeed, Allah is ever
knowing and Wise.”
Surah 23, Verse 1: “Blessed are the Muslims (…) that preserve
their sex (from intercourses) … except with their wives and slaves that they
own.”
Surah 33, Verse 50: “O Prophet! We have made lawful to you your
wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those thy right hand
possesses out of the captives that Allah has intended to you …”
Surah 24, Verse 33 : “Do not compel your slave girls to
prostitution, if they desire chastity, to seek [thereby] the temporary
interests of worldly life. And if someone should compel them, then indeed,
Allah is [to them], after their compulsion, Forgiving and Merciful.”
Did slavery in the Muslim world only target Blacks?
No, slavery in the Muslim world did not specifically target
blacks. If the curse of Ham (the Black) was known by Muslim theologians,
it has not been used like in the example of Christianity to designate the
Kamits (Blacks) in the setting of servitude. If Islam does not generally
distinguish between races, there is clearly a difference between its followers
(believers) and those who are not (non believers). In the Islamic philosophy,
humans are divided into two categories. The unbelievers are eventually doomed
to become believers by the so-called holy war (jihad) or by persuasion.
Non-Muslims, especially Vitalists (animists) are thus seen as
sub-humans and labeled with insults like: idolater, pagan, kafir, infidel, non
believer, godless. And therefore it is perfectly normal to enslave them. If
kamitophobia (racism against Blacks) was theorized by Arab elites, it is mainly
on this Koranic distinction between believer and non believer that the slave
trade will be built.
Islam and African collaborations
We must first clarify beforehand that it is not about saying here
that Black collaborators are the first responsible for the slave trade. Just
like some Jews have collaborated with Hitler, and that some white Europeans
have raided millions of whites in order to deliver them to the Arabs, and that
Arabs and Berbers (Harkis) fought other Arabs and Berbers for France in the
Algerian war, the role of Blacks in the slave trade must not make us forget
that the primary responsibles are the sponsors, and therefore the Arabs, Turks
and Iranians.
Islam entered with violence in Africa from 639. After a bitter war
against the first Berbers who
were black, Arabs eventually
forcibly Islamized the indigenous Blacks of the Maghreb. It should be known
that every good Muslim has the duty to expand Islam. So the former Berbers,
through Jihad, came to West Africa in the 11th century under the commandment of
the Almoravid black king Abu Bakar in order to destroy the pearl of the
continent at that time, the vitalist empire of Ghana.
So those blacks from North Africa, through the chaos that they
created – opened West Africa to Arabs and therefore to slavery. Through war and
persuasion, some Kamit (black) regional chiefs, were islamized, and those ones
then applied the jihad to the vitalist Kamits. Even Ahmed Baba, probably the
greatest Black scientist (Malian) of the Imperial era, while rejecting the
curse of Ham, supported the believer-non believer division and condoned the
enslavement of Vitalists [1].
Each holy war enabled to collect “infidels” who were
captives and were then delivered to the Arab slavers. Samory Touré, true hero
of the struggle against the French colonial invasion but a radical
anti-vitalist, led a jihad in West Africa, delivering other Africans to Arabs.
Tippu Tip, a Black from Tanzania and descendant of Arabs, literally bled East
Africa for 20 years, sowing – with Arabs – absolute terror up to the shores of
the Congo River. He is the most famous collaborator in the Arab slave trade.
His attitude was entirely similar to that of the famous Mulatto princes of Sao
Tome, sons of Portuguese delinquents and enslaved African women, raised in
hatred of blacks, who raided Central Africa with Europeans.
Here is a description of the preparations for the jihad of a Hausa
sultanate (Niger-Nigeria), reported by French emissaries. One subject spoke
these words at a place in the kingdom: ‘’This is the will of the Serki: in
the name of Sultan Bellu, the victorious, may the blessings of God be upon him,
all you people of Mutanin, are called to be here tomorrow morning , armed and
mounted , with adequate provisions to depart, some to the Zenfa, others to the
Zender, for the hunting of the Koholanes idolaters, enemies of the glorious
sultan, our master. – May God curse them “. [2]
But this is also to say that being a Muslim did not guarantee
immunity, because Arabs – always hungry for captives – were even doing the
jihad in order to punish the past disbelief of the new Islamized Blacks or to
punish those who did not practice Islam in a rigorous way. In that way, there
were, genuine jihadist terrorist groups running accross Africa for centuries.
Many of West African peoples had obviously embraced Islam – apparently only-
for security or political reasons while never giving up on vitalism. That was
the case of the first emperors of Mali, from Sundjata to Abubakari II. Sundjata
Keita who was a vitalist even punished by death the collaboration with slavers.
Mansa Musa was the first true Muslim emperor, and like his predecessors, he did
not take part in the trade.
Believing that he was safe after embracing Islam and inventing
themselves an origin in Muhammad’s tribe, a king of Bornu (around Lake Chad) –
addressing the Sultan of Egypt in the 14th century – complained that his yet-Muslim
citizens had been raided by Arabs and said : “Arab tribes have devastated
our whole country, the Bornu country (…) they made prisoners out of free people
among us, those of our strain among Muslims (…) they took our people as
commodities “. [3] Not only were the Kamits of Bornu enslaved but Bornu
today … is the stronghold of Boko Haram. History !!!
Was there any non-Muslim collaboration in the slave trade?
In his book Le Génocide Voilé, ,Tidiane N’Diaye only mentioned the
vitalist kings of Dahomey (now Benin) as non-Muslim collaborators. Yet those
kings at that time, while swearing in the name of their ancestors,
categorically denied any involvement in the sales of captives, considering what
was said and written about them as “slanders”. Vitalism was actually a
psychological weapon of resistance, as in South Africa where Chaka
kaSenzangakhona Zuli opposed the Arabs. We do not know if there was any black
vitalist that has collaborated. Finally we should give thanks to all black
Muslims who refused to cooperate, like the Senegalese religious leader Cheikh
Amadou Bamba.
The current behavior of Black Muslims towards the Arab slave
trade
Black Muslims today are generally in denial of the horror
experienced by their ancestors. Their religious solidarity with Arabs orders
them to protect Arabs. It’s a story they do not want to talk about, however
they are very vocal when it is time to talk about the European slave trade.
The mention of the Arab slave trade is perceived by many as a
spiritual attack. They think first like Muslims before being Blacks. And some
respond with an incredible aggressiveness towards those who mention this page
of history that partly explains the decline of Africa. The extremists even
think that the non-believers got what they deserved.
This attitude of many black Muslims, this sometimes total lack of
compassion for our 11 million deported ancestors [4] who have horribly suffered
from castration, rape, forced labor, insults, remoteness, is unspeakable. This
too, we may say, is a form of collaboration.
Conclusion
Islam has had a very active role in its foundations and its use in
the Arab slave trade. The name “Arab-Muslim slave trade,” which is debated, may
be illustrative of it. But the biggest impression from this study is that
Blacks are spiritually very fragile. The first purpose of the cooperation of
Europeans with Arabs during the slave trade of Whites was enrichment.
Christians and Jews strongly contributed to this trafficking for the sake of
money. Africans themselves have not worked mainly for money, they did it first,
they thought, because of God !!
It is absolutely absurd that we taught the Arabs the existence of
God – through the Blacks of Egypt and the Blacks of Arabia (Sabeans) – and that
they have transformed our religion to found their own and then come and tell us
that ours is void, thus justifying our enslavement. Abid, meaning slave,
became synonymous with Black in the Arab world. Whether Muslim or not, a Kamit
is generally despised by white Muslims, while he might be willing to protect
them.
The best lesson from all this, is that Kama (Africa) should be put
away from any spiritual alienation in the future. The reform and peaceful
promotion of Vitalism and defence are therefore crucial projects for the Black
world.
By: Lisapo ya Kama