Ijtihad Network Being Wise and Faithful Muslim in the Contemporary World
It is commonly claimed that Islam is antiblack, even inherently bent on enslaving Black Africans. Western and African critics alike have contended that antiblack racism is in the faith’s very scriptural foundations and its traditions of law, spirituality, and theology. But what is the basis for this accusation?
Bestselling scholar Jonathan A.C. Brown examines Islamic scripture, law, Sufism, and history to comprehensively interrogate this claim and determine how and why it emerged. Locating its origins in conservative politics, modern Afrocentrism, and the old trope of Barbary enslavement, he explains how antiblackness arose in the Islamic world and became entangled with normative tradition. From the imagery of ‘blackened faces’ in the Quran to Shariah assessments of Black women as ‘undesirable’ and the assertion that Islam and Muslims are foreign to Africa, this work provides an in-depth study of the controversial knot that is Islam and Blackness, and identifies authoritative voices in Islam’s past that are crucial for combatting antiblack racism today.
About the Author
Jonathan A.C. Brown is Professor and Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is the author of Slavery & Islam, Misquoting Muhammad and Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World, all of which are published by Oneworld. He lives in Virginia.
Table of Contents
- INTRODUCTION: READING AND MISREADING
The Argument of This Book
The Virtues of Black Africans . . . Sudan, Habash, Zanj?
Blackness or blackness? The Question of Capitalization
Blackness in the Modern Muslim World
Antiblackness in the Modern Muslim World
Roots and Branches of Antiblackness
The Color Line in Other Times and Places
Misreading for Race and the Burdens of the Present
Guidance After Waywardness
- THE BACKGROUND OF RACE AND RACISM
Race and Reality
Race and Racism: Origins and Modern Developments
Racialization, Religion, and Color
When is Something or Someone Racist?
Was Islamic Civilization Racist?
- BLACKNESS CONTESTED
Blackness as Phenotype, White as the Norm
Blackness as Sin, Barbarism, and Filth
Black as Metaphor; Metaphor Shaping Reality
Blackness as a Political Condition
Blackness as Non-Being: Afropessimism
So What About Antiblackness and Islam?
- THE WESTERN NARRATIVE OF ISLAM, SLAVERY, AND ANTIBLACKNESS
The Roots and Branches of Afrocentrism
The Problems with Afrocentrism and ‘Arab-Islamic Slavery
Enduring Templates: Moorish Bondage and the Arab Slave Trade
Gathering the Threads: Arab-Islamic Slavery and the Israel-Palestine Conflict
ISIS, Boko Haram, and the Narrative of Barbary Captivity
- THE PROPHET, ARABIA, AND THE RISE OF ANTIBLACKNESS
The Easy Answer
Black Crows: Why was Blackness Bad in Arabia?
Blackness in Body and Metaphor in Arabia
The Rise of Antiblackness, Part One: Black as Slave
The Rise of Antiblackness, Part Two: Black as Hypersexual, Black as Stupid, Black as Animal
- ANTIBLACKNESS IN THE QURAN AND SUNNA?
Tyranny of the Present
Blackened and Whitened Faces in the Quran
The Forgery of Antiblack Hadiths
Raisin-Headed: The Question of Antiblack Racism in the Sunna, Part One
Two for One: The Question of Antiblack Racism in the Sunna, Part Two
- ANTIBLACKNESS, SUFISM, AND VENERATION OF THE PROPHET
Casual Antiblackness, or Black as Human?
The Prophet’s Color and Black Muslims
Antiblackness and Insulting the Prophet
Black as Beautiful
- ANTIBLACKNESS IN MALIKĪ MARRIAGE LAW
The Conundrum of Custom
Desirability and Blackness in Maliki Law
- WHAT IS THE POINT OF THE LAW? ISLAMIC HIERARCHY OR ISLAMIC EGALITARIANISM
Justifying Hierarchy in Suitability (kafāʼa)
Islamic Civilization and Natural Hierarchy
A Useful Analogy: Islamic Law and Caste in India
Egalitarianism Resurgent: Jahiliyya, Caste, and Tribalism
What is the Purpose of the Law?
- CONCLUSION
Miscegenating Our Way Out
Can Discrimination Be Legitimate?
Miscegenating Our Way Out
Can Discrimination Be Legitimate
Bibliographic Information
Title: Islam and Blackn
Author (s): Jonathan A.C. Brow
Publisher: Oneworld Academics
Length: 416 Pages
ISBN: 978-0861544844
Pub. Date: December 13, 2022
