In episode 5 of AMERICAN MUSLIMS, @AymannDotCom discovers how some Muslims were included in the founders’ vision of religious freedom in the nascent Republic, while other Muslims were denied all their rights, because of their race and legal status. “As long as we are talking about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, we have to be talking about their slaves.” -@ProfessorVBrown Watch now for free on the PBS YouTube channel and app.
Omar Ibn Said’s is the author of the only known autobiography written in Arabic by an enslaved person in the United States. A Muslim man born in 1770 in a small area called Futa Torro in Senegambia, Omar’s story is short but “incredibly powerful in terms of what it can tell us about history” (Lanisa Kitchiner, formerly of the Library of Congress). Learn more about how this text helps shape our understanding of the early United States in AMERICAN MUSLIMS, streaming for free on @PBS’s YouTube channel and app. Link in bio.
We are thrilled to share that we have well over 1 million views across episodes 1-5 on the @PBS YouTube channel! Thank you for tuning in to these important stories such as our latest episode about how Muslims shaped the imagination of America’s founding generation.
If you haven’t had a chance to watch our series on the history of Muslims in America, this holiday season is a perfect time to catch up. Stream for free on PBS’s YouTube or app and watch now!
“It opened up a tradition where people got to do this.” - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (@EllisonCampaign) on the controversy surrounding his choice to swear his private oath on office of a copy of the Qur’an that Thomas Jefferson owned.
Learn more about the place of Muslims in early America in our latest episode on AMERICAN MUSLIMS, streaming now.
The The Library of Congress contains two books that offer very different views of the early United States and the place of Muslims within it. In episode 5 of AMERICAN MUSLIMS, host Aymann Ismail visits the Library to see an English translation of the Qur'an once owned by Thomas Jefferson, and an autobiography containing verses from the Qur'an, written by an enslaved African Muslim man named Omar Ibn Said.
Find out how these books represent the promise and contractions of America and watch now on the PBS YouTube channel. Watch now: bit.ly/AmericanMuslimsPBS
Host @asma_journo sent us a short video asking YOU to watch the latest AMERICAN MUSLIMS episode - one that is near and dear to her heart. Asma’s family immigrated from South Asia to the United States in the early 1960s, and through the story of a Muslim man named Mir Dad and his family legacy, learns about the history of migration of Muslims from the region, decades before most people often think it began. Now streaming on @pbs- watch now!
The Jame Masjid in Sacramento, CA is the oldest mosque on America's West Coast. Built in 1947, it is one of many “important institutions that were absolutely critical to the continuity of Islam in this country.” Learn more by watching Episode 4 of AMERICAN MUSLIMS this weekend.
Watch now: bit.ly/AmericanMuslimsPBS
“The largest number of Indian workers on British steamships were Muslim men like Mir Dad.”
On March 15th, 1917 an East Indian Muslim man named Mir Dad entered the U.S. via a British steamship that landed in Philadelphia. One of around 60 men to leave the boat, he quickly settled and built a family in America’s Southwest.
Learn more about his life and multicultural descendants in Episode 4 of AMERICAN MUSLIMS, now streaming. Watch now: bit.ly/AmericanMuslimsPBS
Episode 4 of AMERICAN MUSLIMS: A HISTORY REVEALED is now streaming! In this week’s episode, host Asma Khalid explores the history of South Asian immigration and learns that South Asian Muslim communities have existed in America for much longer than most people realize. Learn more, through the story of Mir Dad, who arrived here in 1917 as a ship jumper, before making his home in the American Southwest. Watch now: Bit.ly/AmericanMuslimsPBS
"Go watch, let me know what you think and share. So that everyone knows that these are stories worth telling." Our episode 3 host, Malika Bilal wants YOU to watch her pursuit of the story of Muslims in the Union army during the Civil War- she even included confetti!
Her journey includes the discovery that not only did Muslims fight to help end slavery within the U.S., but "there's evidence that Muslim attempts to end slavery in the U.S. extended well beyond our shores." Streaming on the PBS YouTube channel and app. Watch now! bit.ly/AmericanMuslimsPBS
“The assumption is that when they came, their gods died, and then they embraced Christianity.” - Terrence L. Johnson. Professor, Harvard Divinity School.
Muslims have been in the United States since before the existence of the nation, yet we’ve only been researching this important history for the past few decades. Watch AMERICAN MUSLIMS: A HISTORY REVEALED Episode 2 and learn more about this important piece of our past. Streaming on the PBS YouTube channel. Watch now: bit.ly/AmericanMuslimsPBS
Mamadou Yarrow (1736 – 1823) was a formerly enslaved African Muslim from Guinea who negotiated his way to freedom, bought a house in Georgetown, D.C., and had his portrait painted by the famous Revolutionary War artist Charles Willson Peale. Through Yarrow’s story, in episode 2 of AMERICAN MUSLIMS, we explore the experiences of these first Muslims to arrive in significant numbers in what would become the United States. Watch now!
