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The Resource A Muslim American slave : the life of Omar Ibn Said, translated from the Arabic, edited, and with an introduction by Ala Alryyes

A Muslim American slave : the life of Omar Ibn Said, translated from the Arabic, edited, and with an introduction by Ala Alryyes

Creator
Editor
Contributor
Summary
Born to a wealthy family in West Africa around 1770, Omar Ibn Said was abducted and sold into slavery in the United States, where he came to the attention of a prominent North Carolina family after filling "the walls of his room with piteous petitions to be released, all written in the Arabic language," as one local newspaper reported. Ibn Said became a local celebrity, and in 1831 he was asked to write his life story, producing the only surviving American slave narrative written in Arabic. In A Muslim American Slave, scholar and translator Ala Alryyes offers both a definitive translation and an authoritative edition of this singularly important work, lending new insights into the early history of Islam in America and exploring the shifting interpretations of Ibn Said's narrative by the nineteenth century missionaries, ethnographers, and intellectuals who championed it. This edition presents the English translation on pages facing facsimile pages of Ibn Said's Arabic narrative, augmented by Alryyes's introduction, contextual essays and historical commentary by leading literary critics and scholars of Islam and the African diaspora, photographs, maps, and other writings by Omar Ibn Said. The result is an invaluable addition to our understanding of writings by enslaved Americans and a timely reminder that "Islam" and "America" are not mutually exclusive. The volume also includes contextual essays and historical commentary by literary critics and scholars of Islam and the African diaspora: Michael A. Gomez, Allan D. Austin, Robert J. Allison, Sylviane A. Diouf, Ghada Osman, and Camille F. Forbes. The result is an invaluable addition to our understanding of writings by enslaved Americans and a timely reminder that "Islam" and "America" are not mutually exclusive terms
Language
  • eng
  • ara
  • ara
  • eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xii, 222 pages
Contents
  • Introduction : "Arabic work," Islam, and American literature / Ala Alryyes
  • The life of Omar Ibn Said, written by himself / translated by Ala Alryyes
  • Autobiography of Omar Ibn Said, slave in North Carolina, 1831 / translated by Isaac Bird ; with introduction and notes by J. Franklin Jameson
  • Muslims in early America / Michael A. Gomez
  • Contemporary contexts for Omar's Life and life / Allan D. Austin
  • The United States and Barbary Coast slavery / Robert J. Allison
  • "God does not allow kings to enslave their people" : Islamic reformists and the transatlantic slave trade / Sylviane A. Diouf
  • Representing the West in the Arabic language: the slave narrative of Omar Ibn Said / Ghada Osman, Camille F. Forbes
  • Appendix 1: Omar's earliest known manuscript (1819) / Translated by John Hunwick
  • Appendix 2 : Letter from Reverend Isaac Bird, of Hartford, Connecticut, to Theodore Dwight, of Brooklyn, New York (April 1, 1862)
  • Appendix 3 : "Uncle Moreau," from North Carolina University Magazine (September 1854)
  • Appendix 4 : Ralph Gurley's "Secretary's Report," from African Repository and Colonial Journal (July 1837)
Isbn
9780299249540
Instance
Label
A Muslim American slave : the life of Omar Ibn Said
Title
A Muslim American slave
Title remainder
the life of Omar Ibn Said
Statement of responsibility
translated from the Arabic, edited, and with an introduction by Ala Alryyes
Creator
Contributor
Editor
Writer of introduction
Subject
Genre
Language
  • eng
  • ara
  • ara
  • eng
Summary
Born to a wealthy family in West Africa around 1770, Omar Ibn Said was abducted and sold into slavery in the United States, where he came to the attention of a prominent North Carolina family after filling "the walls of his room with piteous petitions to be released, all written in the Arabic language," as one local newspaper reported. Ibn Said became a local celebrity, and in 1831 he was asked to write his life story, producing the only surviving American slave narrative written in Arabic. In A Muslim American Slave, scholar and translator Ala Alryyes offers both a definitive translation and an authoritative edition of this singularly important work, lending new insights into the early history of Islam in America and exploring the shifting interpretations of Ibn Said's narrative by the nineteenth century missionaries, ethnographers, and intellectuals who championed it. This edition presents the English translation on pages facing facsimile pages of Ibn Said's Arabic narrative, augmented by Alryyes's introduction, contextual essays and historical commentary by leading literary critics and scholars of Islam and the African diaspora, photographs, maps, and other writings by Omar Ibn Said. The result is an invaluable addition to our understanding of writings by enslaved Americans and a timely reminder that "Islam" and "America" are not mutually exclusive. The volume also includes contextual essays and historical commentary by literary critics and scholars of Islam and the African diaspora: Michael A. Gomez, Allan D. Austin, Robert J. Allison, Sylviane A. Diouf, Ghada Osman, and Camille F. Forbes. The result is an invaluable addition to our understanding of writings by enslaved Americans and a timely reminder that "Islam" and "America" are not mutually exclusive terms
Member of
Biography type
autobiography
Cataloging source
WU/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1770?-1863
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Said, Omar ibn
Government publication
government publication of a state province territory dependency etc
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
  • facsimiles
Index
no index present
Language note
English translations on pages facing facsim. pages of Arabic text
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorDate
1963-
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
Alryyes, Ala A.
Series statement
Wisconsin studies in autobiography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Said, Omar ibn
  • Slave narratives
  • Slaves' writings, American
  • Slaves
  • African American Muslims
  • Slavery
Label
A Muslim American slave : the life of Omar Ibn Said, translated from the Arabic, edited, and with an introduction by Ala Alryyes
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction : "Arabic work," Islam, and American literature / Ala Alryyes -- The life of Omar Ibn Said, written by himself / translated by Ala Alryyes -- Autobiography of Omar Ibn Said, slave in North Carolina, 1831 / translated by Isaac Bird ; with introduction and notes by J. Franklin Jameson -- Muslims in early America / Michael A. Gomez -- Contemporary contexts for Omar's Life and life / Allan D. Austin -- The United States and Barbary Coast slavery / Robert J. Allison -- "God does not allow kings to enslave their people" : Islamic reformists and the transatlantic slave trade / Sylviane A. Diouf -- Representing the West in the Arabic language: the slave narrative of Omar Ibn Said / Ghada Osman, Camille F. Forbes -- Appendix 1: Omar's earliest known manuscript (1819) / Translated by John Hunwick -- Appendix 2 : Letter from Reverend Isaac Bird, of Hartford, Connecticut, to Theodore Dwight, of Brooklyn, New York (April 1, 1862) -- Appendix 3 : "Uncle Moreau," from North Carolina University Magazine (September 1854) -- Appendix 4 : Ralph Gurley's "Secretary's Report," from African Repository and Colonial Journal (July 1837)
Control code
ocn674935213
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
xii, 222 pages
Isbn
9780299249540
Lccn
2010044625
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other control number
  • 40019677821
  • 40019665461
  • 99944182688
Other physical details
illustrations, facsimile, maps
System control number
(OCoLC)674935213
Label
A Muslim American slave : the life of Omar Ibn Said, translated from the Arabic, edited, and with an introduction by Ala Alryyes
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction : "Arabic work," Islam, and American literature / Ala Alryyes -- The life of Omar Ibn Said, written by himself / translated by Ala Alryyes -- Autobiography of Omar Ibn Said, slave in North Carolina, 1831 / translated by Isaac Bird ; with introduction and notes by J. Franklin Jameson -- Muslims in early America / Michael A. Gomez -- Contemporary contexts for Omar's Life and life / Allan D. Austin -- The United States and Barbary Coast slavery / Robert J. Allison -- "God does not allow kings to enslave their people" : Islamic reformists and the transatlantic slave trade / Sylviane A. Diouf -- Representing the West in the Arabic language: the slave narrative of Omar Ibn Said / Ghada Osman, Camille F. Forbes -- Appendix 1: Omar's earliest known manuscript (1819) / Translated by John Hunwick -- Appendix 2 : Letter from Reverend Isaac Bird, of Hartford, Connecticut, to Theodore Dwight, of Brooklyn, New York (April 1, 1862) -- Appendix 3 : "Uncle Moreau," from North Carolina University Magazine (September 1854) -- Appendix 4 : Ralph Gurley's "Secretary's Report," from African Repository and Colonial Journal (July 1837)
Control code
ocn674935213
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
xii, 222 pages
Isbn
9780299249540
Lccn
2010044625
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other control number
  • 40019677821
  • 40019665461
  • 99944182688
Other physical details
illustrations, facsimile, maps
System control number
(OCoLC)674935213

Subject

Genre

Member of

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