mist prep

How does this book relate to the theme?

* The theme of “ruling the self to serve others” relates to this book because to be a good ruler, you have to take the responsibility to educate yourself on the truth of the past.
* It is important to know that there were so many Black people (other than Bilal) who helped shape the course of Islam in the early stages. This book shows that.
* This book helps us to recognize how the Black individuals mentioned in this book navigated race, religion, and social status to spread Islam.
* with great power comes great responsibility (story of ubada shows that there is clearly some prejudice against certain group s of people and if you’re not being discriminated against, its your responsibility (as a holder of some power) to stand up for those being discriminated against.
* Every person has their own individual power, and leaders especially have use their power to uplift those who are underrepresented (like the people in this book).

Were there any Black prophets?

Probably, because the Quran says that Allah (SWT) sent a messenger to every nation, some whose accounts re not given. There are Prophets who have been described as either black or dark brown (ex. Moses & Jesus)

What skin color were Arabs?

Majority of arabs were light and dark brown--asmar with Adam (AS). Prophet Muhammad was probably from a tribe of dark brown people.

What color do Arabs call people with white skin? What do they consider “white” people as?

White skin was called red/ahmar. They consider a “white” person as one who is pure/free from defects.

What are some stereotypes that derived from oppressive racially segregated systems? (Linnaeus)

Lazy black criminal, hard working white success, angry arab terrorist, latino drug smuggler.

What did Dr. Sherman Jackson say about White Supremacy?

Dr. Sherman Jackson said that white supremacy is a form of idolatry, because only God can say who is good, evil, beautiful, etc.

What is considered the first step to justifying genocide?

When the elite (economically or politically elite) classify people into castes or hierarchies, especially when not based on objective merit.

What is race? Honorary whiteness? How many races are there REALLY? Can the subject of race be ignored?

* race is a social construct that has little to do with physical traits. it is arbitrary and an implication for those not in power.
* “honorary whiteness” was used as a bargaining thing
* started wtih south aftican “honorary whiteness” in apartheid regime
* japanese were considered honorary whites in exchange for financial gain
* taiwanese were given white status bc they were large trading partner
* irish/jews in america just “became” white recently
* really just one race - the human race
* cannot ignore the subject of race because people are automatically raicst. need to actively think about race and equity/equality

Black poets during the age of ignorance / jahiliyyah (ppl who were ignorant of islam)

* antara from Abyssinia
* Khafaf from banu sulaym
* these poets were african slave women. they wrote about the pain/consternation they felt due to their blackness

What happened when the Europeans decided to make Africa end at the red sea?

The Arabian peninsula should be classified as Africa, but it’s not. This is because when Europeans declared Africa ended at the Red Sea, the Arabian Peninsula was de-Africanized. Shows the tyranny of European geographical prejudices.

“The Glory of Blacks over White” - Al Jahiz

god made black people black because of their environment, not to disfigure them. takes less then 3 generations to lose color.

Predominant description of Arabs was within the framework of non-white complexion

* Skin color of arabs - brown (as sumrah/al udmah)
* Skin color of Romans/Persians - white (al bayad)
* An-Nawawi: White means non-arab and black means arab, although not very reliable bc he did say that white means human while black means jinn.
* Prophet’s dream about the sheep - page 5
* arab poets would praise ppl by saying theyre white

Tokenization of Bilal

* The way that black people are portrayed in history has been influenced by politics and colonialism. Bilal is not the only Black Companion, although he is tokenized in this way. In historical representations of events, people who were described as having dark-colored skin are being depicted as white, even though this is not the historical reality. There is nothing wrong with white folks being Muslim, but the way people think of the Companions has to be changed since they were not all white. 

Intended audience and why

* black american muslims
* To show that Black Muslims from the early stages of Islam did have a significant impact on the formation of Islam. Islam was not only created by non-blacks.
* nonblack muslims
* Educate ppl and Combat arab-black mutual exclusivity (someone can be arab and they can be black as well)
* afrocentrists, black nationalists, black orientalists, hottepers
* to clarify the misnformation ppl think about Black Muslims
* to show that “Arab” is not a raec the same way “Latino” is not a race (white latinos and white arabs, black latinos and black arabs

Black identity at the time of the Prophet

determined based off: skin color & phenotype (observable characteristics such as kinky hair)

* not every black person had these traits

Prophet’s saying about arabs and non arabs

* The Prophet said that the Arab does not have superiority over the non-Arab, and vice versa. However, after his time, there was this caste system of sorts that was practiced by Arab Muslims, about Arabs vs non-arabs
* ali was black an had dark skin, but he was an arab bc his dad was an arab

Why is the word “noble” used in the title?

To uplift and show that these Black people who have been put down and described as having no heritage/history do indeed have rich history and this should be acknowledged as such .

umm zafar

suffered from epileptic fits and exposed her self, known as a woman of paradise

what to do when trying to find the person

identify girl or boy and then skim through to see (hopefully its multiple choice)