In the year 1368 AH / 1948 AD, a black American citizen named George McClewyn (d. 1388 AH / 1968 AD) joined the University of Oklahoma;

He was the first student of African descent to enroll in it!

The laws of racial segregation were educationally segregating white students from blacks, but he struggled until he entered this university, which allocated a bathroom and a separate place in the restaurant, and a far corner in the classroom so that he would not mix with students;

This made McLean at the forefront of the pioneers who challenged color discrimination in knowledge and education within American society.

But away from Oklahoma and its cognitive shortness of breath, and even the existentialism in its country that suffered - after decades - his fellow countryman and his other name, George Floyd, who was killed asphyxiation under the pressure of the knee of a white American policeman in May 2020; We go back hundreds of years to the “wilayat” of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, whose rulers were “the time of the Umayyads ordering [at] the pilgrim, shouting: ‘The people should not issue fatwas except Ata bin Abi Rabah (d. 115 AH / 734 AD)”; As the Fakhani historian (d. 272 ​​AH / 885 AD) says in 'Akhbar Makkah'.

Ata was a black slave of a woman from the people of Mecca, yet he was called "the master of the jurists of the people of Hijaz".

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 463 AH/1071 AD) - in his book 'Al-Faqih and al-Mutafaqah'- narrates that this "black jurist" came to the Umayyad Caliph Salman bin Abdul Malik (d. 95 AH / 715 AD) with his two sons;

Ataa turned his face away from them, “They kept asking him about the rituals of Hajj and he turned his back to them, then Solomon said to his two sons: Get up! So they got up, and he said: O my son, do not slacken (= fall short) in seeking knowledge, for I will not forget our humiliation in the hands of this black slave.” !!

This highly indicative paradox between the two previous positions - which are separated by about 1,400 years - reveals the approach of Islamic culture to the value of human equality, and the techniques for dissolving the differences that Islam put forward between races and races while preserving the value of difference and diversity.

Islam has succeeded not only in overturning the criterion of sovereignty in the Bedouin Arab society, but also on the criteria of differentiation within the surrounding cultures such as Judaism, Christianity, Greek and Persian;

Faqih has become one of the groups whose children are subject to slavery and servitude, and is reluctant to teach kings!

The criteria for differentiation became a spiritual purification, the truth of which is revealed only before God alone.

This article addresses some of the roles and contributions of blacks in Islamic history, and attempts to provide multiple entrances to monitor aspects of the efforts of a large group of black figures who have played scientific, striving, literary and political roles, thus contributing to the advancement of the Muslim movement at various levels and over many centuries;

With the monitoring of these roles restricted to the borders of the Arab region of the Islamic East, in which the blacks represented a "minority", its forefront drew attention and arouses admiration.


Between two systems,


the majority of the first Muslim vanguard were poor and slaves, and this was natural with a call that presented the virtues and morals of man over his social and financial position, and the opportunity was prepared for the pious group of the oppressed in the Arab desert to be leaders in the new religious call.

The most prominent of these people was the great companion Bilal bin Rabah (d. 20 AH / 642 AD), and therefore "Umar used to say: Abu Bakr is our master, and he freed our master, meaning Bilal";

(Sahih Bukhari).

Bilal is the "departed devotional master";

As described by Abu Naim al-Isfahani (d. 430 AH/1040 AD) in 'Hilyat al-Awliya'.

Omar's keenness to use "Our Master" appears to have an eloquent expressive connotation about the new rising values.

Black-skinned Bilal was a dynamic model and representative of these values; He made no effort to represent it out of faith and sacrifice and to express it in the most complete form of expression in his companionship to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and then with his successors after him; Therefore, his negotiating position with the Romans - in the year 13 AH / 635 AD during the siege of Caesarea in Palestine whose archaeological place is located about 37 km south of Haifa - embodies a kind of value confrontation between a rising culture that is the messenger of Islam and another that is declining, the culture of the Romans. The Muslims were represented by a black man who was a slave of yesterday, while the Romans were represented by the son of their great king and with an invitation to negotiate carried by a great white priest who is the concentrated summary of Christian culture at the time, and he was carrying “in his hand a cross of substance.”

It came in 'Futuh al-Sham' by al-Waqidi (d. 207 AH/822 AD) that the Roman leader Palestine bin Heraclius "called for a priest of great esteem in Christianity - a priest of Caesarea and its scholar - and said to him: Ride to these people and speak to them in the best way, and tell them that the king's son is He asks you to follow through to him with an eloquent tongue and make you bold with madness.. and not to be among the tyrannical (= ignoble) Arabs. So he rode the priest.. and walked until he reached the Muslims and stood so that they hear his words, and conveyed to them the message of his leader.

Bilal submitted to the leader of the Muslim army, Amr ibn al-Aas (d. 43 AH / 664 AD) with a request to represent the Muslims in negotiating with the commander of the Roman army, and his commander’s response was: “Go and seek God’s help and do not give him the speech, and express the answer and magnify the laws of Islam. Bilal said you will find me, God willing. where you want."

Al-Waqidi adds that when “Bilal emerged from the Muslim army and the priest looked at him, he denied it, and said that the people had condescended to them, so we called them to address them, so they sent us their slaves because of our smallness with them, then he said: O slave, inform your master and tell him that the king wants a prince from you until he addresses him what he wants. Bilal said: Oh priest, I am Bilal, the mawla of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and his muezzin, and I am not incapable of answering your friend. The king says to you: We are not among those who address the slaves, but rather the owner of your army or the one who is in charge of you will come to us, so Bilal returned while he was broken!!

The impulses of the poor and the weak were an applied example of the new values, and this was evident in the first decisive battles of Islam, the Great Battle of Badr in the year 2 AH / 624 AD, with its strong symbolic meaning in the course of Islam, and the position of its heroes in the conscience of Muslims.

Among the black symbols participating in it is the great companion Muhja’ (d. 2 AH / 624 AD), who was loyal to Omar Al-Faruq (d. 23 AH / 645 AD), and he became the “first killed in the path of God” on the day of Badr;

As Imam al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1347 AD) says in 'Sir A'lam al-Nubala'.

Among them is also the companion, the knight al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad (d. 33 AH / 655 AD), who transmitted al-Dhahabi - in 'Al-Siyar' - a narration stating that he "was a slave...black in color", and on the day of Badr was the only companion who had a horse. Al-Dhahabi narrated that "Ali May God be pleased with him (d. 40 AH / 661 AD) said: You saw us on the night of Badr.. and none of us was a Persia on that day but al-Miqdad.

He witnessed all of the invasions and was nicknamed "The Knight of the Messenger of God ﷺ".


A new normative


belief continued that the struggle of that good crowd nourished the vigor of the new religion in what followed after Badr of the glorious citizens. Not all black companions were of African ethnicity; There were honest Arab companions who were of black skin, and added their touches to the diversity team that represented the founding base of Islam. Among the most prominent of these prominent companions was Ubadah ibn al-Samit al-Khazraji (d. 34 AH / 655 AD), who was black in color, and represented the emergence of the new religion on the land of Egypt, again Bilal's position in the Levant, but this time with al-Muqawqis, the great Coptic.

The commander of the army of the conquest of Egypt, Amr ibn al-Aas, sent a cult at the head of a delegation to negotiate with al-Muqawqis. When Ubadah entered upon him, al-Muqawqis was appalled at his blackness and said [to the Muslims]: “Remove this lion from me and present someone else to speak to me.” They all said: “This lion is the best of us in opinion and knowledge, and he is our master and our best.” And what came before us, but we all go back to his saying and his opinion, and the emir, without us, ordered him to do what he ordered him to do, and he ordered us not to contradict his opinion and his saying. He said: How did you agree that this black should be the best of you, but that he should be below you? They said: No, even if he is black as you see. For he is among the best of us in position, the best of precedent, intellect and opinion, and blackness is not denied to us. Al-Muqawqis said to Ubadah: Go ahead, O black, and speak to me kindly!! As stated in 'Futuh Egypt and Morocco' by Imam Ibn Abd al-Hakam (d. 257 AH / 871 AD).

In fact, if there is a difference between the culture of conquest and the values ​​of conquest;

This is the point from which the two black companions, Bilal and Ubadah - may God be pleased with them - set out in their negotiations with the Roman and Coptic leaders, and the Muslims practically embody in the two positions their saying that "blackness is not denied in us"!

since the beginning of Islam;

Blacks in the Medina community were close to the Prophet ﷺ to the extent that they played their popular games in the Prophet’s Mosque;

As in 'Sahih Ibn Hibban'.

Many black companions carried out important works in the service of the emerging state;

Among them is Rabah, the mawla of the Prophet, ﷺ, who sometimes won the honor of occupying the job of “the keeper of the Prophet,” that is, the one who organizes the entry of people to him at his own times.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Abd al-Barr (d. 463 AH/1071 AD) - in 'Assimilation in the Knowledge of the Companions' - says that this Rabah "was black and he may have given permission (= taking permission) to the Prophet ﷺ sometimes if the Messenger of God ﷺ was alone";

Even the historian Ibn Al-Atheer (d. 630 AH / 1233 AD) mentions - in 'The Lion of the Forest' - that he "asked Omar Ibn Al-Khattab's permission... to the Prophet, peace be upon him."

Among them is also the companion Julaybib, about whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said on the day he was killed: “He killed seven and then killed him. This is from me and I am from him. This is from me and I am from him.”

(Sahih Bukhari).

As well as the companion, the jurist Salem Mawla Abi Hudhaifah (d. 12 AH / 634 AD), who was "the leader of the immigrants.. from Mecca when he came to Medina, because he was the most recited of them."

And when mentioning the virtues of the Companions, they come at the forefront of Umm Ayman al-Habashiah (she died in the caliphate of Othman bin Affan), who is the incubator of the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, and the mother of Osama bin Zaid (d. 54 AH / 675 AD), from whom he inherited the blackness of his color, and she is the one who was the two caliphs Abu Bakr (d. 13 AH / 635 AD) and Umar visited her after the death of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and she was crying in front of them and saying: “I weep for revelation when it was cut off from us from heaven”!!


Available glory The


founding black vanguard set the stage for the largest black rush in history;

No civilization knew the presence of this good and pure color, as happened with Islam, where the black forces inhabited the core of Islamic civilization, and the distinguished black companions - with their jihad, knowledge and literature - had a great influence on a large group of slaves and loyalists - from generations of followers and after them - in order to gain the means of social sovereignty cultural and cognitive;

Science was a satisfactory balance within the new Muslim society, and a kinetic ladder by which leadership castles were built.

Among the most famous men of knowledge and thought in Islamic culture is Yazid bin Abi Habib al-Nubi (d. 128 AH / 747 AD), whom al-Dhahabi describes - in 'History of Islam' - as "one of the flags... and he was a black Abyssinian... and he was the Mufti of the people of Egypt. ;

Was this Yazid an echo of the call of Ubadah ibn al-Samit al-Qayyim in his meeting with al-Muqawqis?

History books mention that this Nubian overturned the mood of Egypt and brought about a great cognitive shift in the scientific interests of the Egyptians, when he pushed their knowledge in the direction of reason and sober science, after her scientific spirit was stuck with what prevailed in Egypt from the influence of ancient cultures fond of strangeness, tales and the ends of history;

Yazid al-Nubi "was the first to show knowledge and issues [of jurisprudence], halal and forbidden in Egypt, and before that they used to talk about encouragement, epics and temptation."

A group of imams of knowledge in Egypt graduated from him.

Among the most prominent of them is the Muhaddith Abdullah bin Lahi’ah (d. 174 AH / 790 AD) and the Great Imam of Egypt and its most famous Mufti Al-Layth bin Saad (d. 175 AH / 791 AD), who used to say about Yazid: “He is our scholar and our master.”

Let us consider once again this highly significant honorific title from a man of high stature like Imam Al-Laith!!

Yazid al-Nubi also made a political decisiveness in the Egyptians' position on the rule of the Umayyads and gained their loyalty to the new state;

Let us leave the discussion for Yazid to talk to us about this transformation, as al-Dhahabi narrated from him: “My father was from the people of Dongola (which is located today in the Sudan), and I grew up in Egypt and they were Alawites, so I overturned them as Ottoman.”

Despite that Umayyad tendency, Yazid was known for his strictness with the Umayyad rulers over Egypt;

His disciple Ibn Lahi’ah tells us that “Yazid bin Abi Habeeb fell ill, so Hawthrah bin Suhail (Al-Bahili died 132 AH / 751 AD), the Emir of Egypt, visited him and said: O Abu Raja’! What do you say in prayer in a garment with blood on it fleas? So he turned his face and did not speak to him, so he got up. So he looked at Yazid and said [to him Yazid]: You kill people every day and you ask me about the blood of fleas!!

And Yazid was a manifestation of the position of scholars among those with authority and influence, holding on to their independence from them and the prestige of science, how could he not, "one of the three whom Omar bin Abdul Aziz (d. 101 AH / 720 AD) made to them the fatwa in Egypt."

Among this is that Ziyad, the son of the Umayyad prince Abdul Aziz bin Marwan (d. 85 AH / 705 AD) sent to him one day, saying: “Come to me to ask you about some knowledge.. So he sent to him [Yazid]: Rather, you missed me, for your coming to me is good for you, and my coming to you is an evil thing.” on you"!!


Imamate of the nation


He established Yazid by what he did to the position of the followers Ata bin Abi Rabah - referred to at the beginning of the article - who protected the status of science and carried it in front of the pride of those in power, as if they had drank from the same water!!

This tender was black, and that did not prevent him from attaining glory. Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ijli (d. 261 AH/875 AD) said about him - in the book 'Maarifa al-Thiqat' - that he was "the Mufti of the people of Mecca in his time", and al-Dhahabi describes him - in the biography - as a "Sheikh". Islam is the Mufti of the Haram.

Ataa was not only a model in the leadership of blacks among the people of culture to lead Muslims of all colors and races, but he was also a person with special needs who had disabilities.

He was "one-eyed, paralyzed, lame, then blind."

As in the book 'Al-Maarif' by Ibn Qutayba al-Dinwari (d. 276 AH / AD).

And when the historian Ibn Qunfud al-Qunfud al-Quntiny (d. 810 AH / 1407 AD) proved to him these qualities - in his book 'Deaths' - he commented on them - with an amazing phrase that is fully connected to the new values ​​- saying: "Knowledge is neither beauty nor money, but rather it is a light that God puts in the chest of whomever He wills. "!!

Among the symbols of this high elite of black Muslims is the imam of the followers Saeed bin Jubayr (d. 94 AH / 714 AD), who achieved a very high scientific status;

Al-Dhahabi says in the “Thikrat Al-Hafiz”: “It was said to Saeed bin Jubair, ‘Ghabz Al-Ulama’,” and adds that “he was black in color, and Ibn Abbas (d. 68 AH / 688 AD) used to make the pilgrimage to the people of Kufa and asked him to say: Is there not Saeed bin Jubayr among you?! ".

With his academic standing, Ibn Jubayr assumed the function of the judiciary in Kufa and writing for its judges, such as Abu Burda Al-Ash’ari (d. 103 AH / 722 AD);

As mentioned in his translation of Al-Dinori in 'Al-Maarif'.

And when the revolution of the jurists took place against Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf (d. 95 AH / 715 AD) - the ruler of the Umayyads in Iraq - Saeed bin Jubayr participated in it.

Despite the failure of this revolution;

Saeed maintained his supportive position until Al-Hajjaj killed him in the well-known story.

Among the prominent black scholars in the field of Qur’anic readings, the author of the Qur’an of the city of the Messenger of God, peace be upon him: Abu Ruwaym Nafi’ bin Abd al-Rahman al-Madani (d. 170 AH / 786 AD), which Imam Ibn al-Jazari (d. 833 AH / 1430 AD) - in “The End of the End in the Layers of the Readers” - That he was "one of the seven reciters and the flags.. He was black, dark in color, bright in face, good in character and joking. He took the reading casually from a group of followers of the people of Medina, [and] he said: I read on seventy of the followers."

Among the prominent black Sufis is: Abu al-Khair Hammad bin Abdullah al-Tinati (d. 349 AH / 960 AD), who was extolled by Imam al-Dhahabi - in 'History of Islam' - and said that he was "the owner of dignity.. He was black in color, one of the masters of the universe..." Al-Qushayri said: He was The big one has dignity and sharp insight." Al-Dhahabi also translated another black scholar, Khair Abu Saleh (d. 328 AH / 940 AD), the mawla of Abdullah bin Yahya al-Taghlibi (died before 328 AH / 940 AD)…, and he was black.. trust accepted by the judges” in the testimonies.


Poetry and Statement


The presence of blacks was not only limited to the space of knowledge of the Qur'an, hadith and jurisprudence, but they also had their wonderful contributions in the paths of literature, poetry and the field of eloquence and eloquence.

The Imam of Language and Literature Al-Asma’i (d. 216 AH / 831 AD) - in the book “The Poets’ Virtue” - has monitored a number of blacks who testified for their eloquence and poetic excellence, such as the poet Nusib bin Rabah Abu Muhjen al-Nubi (d. 108 AH / 727 AD), and the comic poet Abu Dalamah (d. 161 AH / 778 AD), and the poet Abu Ataa al-Sindi (died after 180 AH / 796 AD).

Then, among the blacks is the imam of the statement and the explanation, Abu Othman Al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH / 869 AD), the author of the outstanding scientific encyclopedia and bright works. “Al-Jahiz’s grandfather was black and was called Fazara”;

As Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 626 AH / 1269 AD) says in 'Dictionary of Writers'.

One of the oldest and most famous black poets is Suhaim, known as “Abdul Bani al-Hashas” (d. about 40 AH / 661 AD), about whom Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdadi (d. 1093 AH / 1682 AD) - in “Khazana al-Adab” - says that he was “one of the veterans: he realized ignorance and Islam, [But] he was not known to have company. He was very black"; And from the poetry of Suhaim his walking home:


If I am a slave, my soul is free in generosity ** or black in color, I am white in character!

Among their poets is also the slave of the Abbasids and their poet Abu Fanan Ahmed bin Saleh (d. 270 AH / 893 AD), who was mentioned by Abu Obaid al-Bakri al-Andalusi (d. 487 AH/1094 AD) - in 'Samt al-Laali' - he said that "he was black, a glorious poet of Baghdad, and she was It has extreme purposes and deep meanings.” He added that “the poetry was popularized in the days of Al-Mutawakkil (d. 247 AH/861 AD), and he used his hair in [Wazir al-Mutawakkil] al-Fath ibn Khaqan (d. 247 AH/861 AD).” And from his fresh hair:


And when my eyes refused to possess the weeping ** and to hold back the streaks of tears, I


yawned so

that the tears would

not be denied ** But the yawning stays little

Likewise, the poet Nusib bin Rabah Abu Mihjen - and he was black from Nubia - who the Imam of Al-Mubarrad Literature (d. 286 AH / 899 AD) tells us - in 'Al-Kamil' - that he "praised Abdullah bin Jaafar (d. 80 AH / 700 AD), so he ordered for him misers, camels, furniture, dinars and dirhams. A man said to him: “Do I represent this black person being given such money?” Abdullah [bin Jaafar] said to him: “If he is black, then his hair is white, and his praise is for an Arab, and he deserved more for what he said than what he earned”!! And from his poetry that the narrators have transmitted:


And if my color is dark, then I am ** of a mind without a vessel that has fallen,


and my needs only come down to me ** and in my

honor shameful

greed

Likewise, he was called Nasib al-Asghar, known as Abu al-Hijna (d. 175 AH / 791 AD), and it seems that he added to poetry a political position in the Abbasid authority; Ibn al-Moataz (d. 296 AH / 909 AD) - in 'Tabaqat al-Shu'ara' - stated that "Al-Rasheed (d. 193 AH/809AD)... entrusted him with some villages (= regions) of the Levant, and he was black...; he benefited from that a lot of money. Most of his poets, as well as Al-Fadl bin Yahya (d. 192 AH/808 AD), and Al-Baramkeh’s [financial] connections were never cut off from him.Al-Hilali said: I once said to Al-Asma’i: What do you say about the poetry of Al-Aswad? He said: He is in our time more poetic than Abdul-Hashas in his time. I said: Where is his hair from Nasib [The Greatest]? He said: They are in one century because their style is one, and that was ahead of time and this is updated!

Among them is the poet Ali bin Jabla, known as Al-Akwk (d. 213 AH / 828 AD), who called al-Dhahabi - in 'Al-Siyar' - "the stallion of poets." Then he added: "Al-Jahiz said: He was the best of God's creation in recitation, I have never seen the like of him in Bedouin or urban. He was born blind, and he was a black leper, with straight hair! Among the poetry of al-Akwk in praise of Prince Abu Dalaf al-Ijli (d. 225 AH/840 AD) is his well-known poem that angered the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun (d. 218 AH/833 AD): The


world is Abu Dulaf ** between its meaning and its dying,


so if Abu Dulaf

turns

over to him!

Among these poets is Kafour the Prophet (d. 503 AH / 1109 AD), who was mentioned by the historian Al-Safadi (d. 764 AH / 1363 AD) - in 'Al-Wafi with Deaths' - he said that he is a "black master, a


glorified

poet", and from his poetry:

Her dowry is expensive,


O seeker of glory, not glory, an epic ** in its folds is damage to the soul and money, and the


nights are expenses that are seldom attracted ** to the desire of a person who seeks hopes

Likewise, Kafur bin Abdullah al-Laithi al-Habashi, known as 'Camphor al-Suri' (d. 521 AH / 1127 AD), was mentioned by Abu Saad al-Samani (d. 562 AH / 1167 AD) - in the book 'Al-Ansab' - he said that "he was Egyptian by birth and origin, who lived in Tyre and was attributed to it." He toured the country and toured the horizons, and he had complete knowledge of language, literature and poetry, he wrote many hadiths, and he died in Baghdad. And from his poetry, when he entered Bayhaq, praising its president, Muhammad bin Mansour al-Bayhaqi (d. 494 AH/1101 AD):


Are there any villages, O Abu Saad bin Mansour, ** for a servant coming and finding pictures of


his emblem if you approach a house, even if it is far away: ** God preserves Abu Saad bin Mansour!


Political activity


The presence of blacks in the historical scene was not limited to jihad, science, eloquence and poetry;

Rather, it went so far as to reach influence in the political sphere to the extent that the top of the authority became a ministry and an emirate, and even their sects had representatives before the authority in Egypt called “Sudan sergeants”, in the manner of the heads of Arab tribes and clans and the leaders of non-Arab groups.

Among the most famous black personalities associated with power in the minds of time is the Emir of Egypt Kafour Al-Ikhshidi (d. 356 AH / 967 AD), who brought to power a mentioned fortune in science and literature;

Al-Safadi translated for him and called him "the famous Egyptian sultan... He was black... and none of the servants reached what he had reached, and he was clever and he looked at Arabic, literature and science."

Perhaps this praise is a correction of the negative image that he painted for Kafur Abu Al-Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi (d. 354 AH / 965 AD) with his slanderous poetry after his praising him.

In addition to camphor Ikhshidi;

Al-Safadi mentioned other personalities of the black masters who shared with him the name and sometimes the knowledge and the proximity to the people of power, including “Kafour Shebl al-Dawla (d. 623 AH / 1226 AD)… [who] was one of the servants of the [Ayyubid] palace in Cairo.., Dina Saleh al-Dawla.. He was a Hanafi and built the madrasa and the Khanaqah (= Sufi zawiya).

We find al-Dhahabi translating - in the 'History of Islam' - to one of the prominent black figures of scientific and political standing, Prince Badr al-Din al-Habashi al-Sawabi al-Adli (d. 698 AH / 1299 AD);

He tells us that "he was described as courageous and opinionated in war, intellect, sobriety, virtue, religion, righteousness, charity, and benevolence to his companions and servants, and he was an emir of honor for more than forty years... and he performed Hajj with the people more than once."

Al-Dhahabi then cites what indicates that this black prince was one of his sheikhs, saying: "I read to him a portion that he heard from Ibn Abd al-Daim (Al-Maqdisi, who died in 726 AH / 1326 AD)".

With blacks engaging in the game of politics as a service and a command;

We find them a multifaceted participation in the events of revolutions, turmoil and conflicts.

The blacks participated in the year 145 AH / 763 AD in the events of Madinah resulting from the revolution of Muhammad bin Abdullah bin al-Hassan, known as the “Perfect Spirit” (died 145 AH / 763 AD).

Ibn Kathir (d. 776 AH / 1374 AD) tells us - in 'The Beginning and the End' - that when this Alawite rebel was killed in Medina at the hands of the Abbasid army;

The Caliph Al-Mansour (d. 158 AH / 776 AD) sent Abdullah bin Al-Rabi` Al-Harithi as governor over it, “so his soldiers spread corruption in the city…, a group from the Sudan revolted against them and gathered and blew a trumpet for them, so all the lions in the city gathered at his voice, and they (= soldiers) carried a campaign against them. One while they were going to Friday prayer, and the presidents of Sudan were: Wathiq, Reasonable, Rumqa, Wahdia, Anqod, Musa`ar, Abu Qais, and Abu Nar. Abdullah bin al-Rabee rode among his soldiers and met with Sudan, and they defeated him.

A little over a century later;

The blacks participated in a massive revolution. The region of southern Iraq was its most prominent scene, and the blacks were its biggest fuel, so it was associated with their name, so it was known as the "Zanj Revolution", and its stormy events extended throughout the years 255-270 AH / 869-883 AD.

Two centuries after the end of the Zanj Revolution;

We met the desperate attempt of the blacks to protect their strong influence in the Fatimid state, which was threatened at the time by falling into the hands of the Zangids, led by the commander of their army in Egypt, Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (d. 589 AH / 1193 AD), who was then a minister of the Fatimids.

It is the attempt that was known in history books as the “Sudan incident,” and was led by “a eunuch called the 'Trustee of the Caliphate' who controls the palace” of the Fatimids in secret cooperation with the Crusaders;

According to the narration of the historian Abu Shama (d. 665 AH / 1263 AD) in 'Kitab al-Rawdatain'.

In the summary of this incident, according to Abu Shama; This 'trustee of the caliphate' sensed the danger of the fall of the state at the hands of Salah al-Din, "so he and those with him agreed to write to the Franks and arrest... al-Salah, so Salah al-Din rose to him, who took his head...; and when the laureate of Sudan was killed and they revolted, and they were more than fifty thousand, and they were If they rose against a minister, they killed him and invaded him…, then the companions of Salah al-Din revolted.. and the war continued between the two palaces.. and evil lasted for two days.” Then the battle ended with a crushing defeat for Sudan with their three known sects at the time - according to al-Maqrizi (d. They are: Al-Farahiya, Al-Hussainiya, and Al-Mamuniyah

Ethical writings


The presence and contribution of blacks to Islamic civilization was not only a tangible reality, but it became a theorized and outlined reality in a unique literature devoted to observing the patterns and characteristics of this presence. And when we wander among the banks of the books we have collected about the efforts of blacks in the movement of the Islamic society; We cannot help but be amazed at the quantity, quality and precision in most of them dealing with this subject, as well as the high and paradoxical human sense even of ancient European writings written by the hands of prominent philosophers, who theorized to divide human beings according to illusory and unscientific racist criteria to define civilized man and savage man.

This is like the writings of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (d. 1219 AH / 1804 AD), who placed the white race in the first place in the talent ladder, and then placed the blacks in third place after the Indians;

As Mahmoud Haider says in his study 'The Philosophy of Denial'.

As well as the racist position of the philosopher Hegel (d. 1245 AH / 1830 AD) towards blacks.

All of these writings occurred within the framework of the inferiority of race and geography, from which Islamic writings were liberated.

The most important independent literature that talked about the presence of blacks within the Arab culture is the one mentioned by Haji Khalifa (d. 1068 AH / 1657 AD) in his book 'Kashf al-Dunun', which is in the order of the deaths of its authors: 'Sudan's Pride over al-Baydan' by Al-Jahiz, and 'In Preference for Blacks'. Ali al-Bayd’ by Abu al-Abbas al-Nas’ih known as ‘Ibn Sharshir’ (d. 293 AH/910 AD). Haji Khalifa described this book as a “nice and comprehensive book”

Which indicates that he saw and did not reach us.

Then comes the book 'Sudan and their virtue over al-Baydan' by Ibn al-Marziban (d. 309 AH / 921 AD), 'Zuhd al-Sudan' by Ibn Al-Sarraj al-Qari (d. 500 AH / 1106 AD), and 'Tanweer al-Ghabash in the merit of Sudan and Habash' by Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 AD). , and 'Nuzha Al-Omar in the Preference between Whiteness, Blacks and Brown' and 'Rafa' Shan Al-Habbash' both by Al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 AD), and 'The Style Engraved in the Advantages of Al-Habush' by Alaa Al-Din Al-Bukhari (d. after 991 AH / 1583 AD).

Al-Jahiz's letter - entitled "Sudan's Pride on the Beidan" - came in the context of a period in which choices emerged among some blacks in which they sought to present their ethnic identity in a narrower way than what the Islamic value perspective recognizes;

Their own identity was highlighted in the context of a trade-off with the general social environment.

Which reminds us - in our time - of the movements that followed the civil rights movement in America led by Martin Luther King (d. 1388 AH / 1968 AD), which demanded that American society treat blacks in the way that whites are treated, but by the end of the sixties groups such as the "Black Panthers" and The Nation of Islam argued that blacks have their own traditions and consciousness, and that they need to be proud of who they are;

According to Francis Fukuyama in his book 'Identity'.

This is roughly what happened in Al-Jahiz's letter, which - despite its content tendency - illuminated an important aspect of the lives of black Muslims and their contributions to Islamic civilization, despite the efforts of some blacks in Al-Jahiz's time to transcend the value of equality towards the tendency of differentiation.

In fact, the emerging title of this letter to Al-Jahiz casts doubt on the author's desire to prefer one gender over another, and this may be due to his warm affection for his ethnic origins.


A revolutionary preamble.


It seems that the context was brewing with something that ignited these emotions, in addition to the protest tendency that dominated most blacks, including their most prominent jurists such as Atta, Yazid al-Nubi and Ibn Jubayr;

The emergence of the letter - which was one of the late production of its owner - was followed by the aforementioned Zanj revolution, which erupted in Basra, the city of Al-Jahiz in Ramadan 255 AH / 869 AD, that is, only six months after his death.

Which opens the way for the possibility that this message was one of the factors that encouraged the blacks - in the stronghold of their large number in southern Iraq - to engage in the revolution, in response to the promises of its leader Ali bin Muhammad “Al-Alawi” (d. 270 AH / 883 AD) to obtain emancipation and social justice, and thus Al-Jahiz He formulated - even if he did not know - the content of the "first statement" of this revolution.

The letter - as understood from its introduction - came as an answer to an unknown person who Al-Jahiz said that he asked him to write about the feats and virtues of blacks because he ignored them in another letter.

The letter began with a talk about the eloquence of words attributed to “a black nation in the desert,” and beginning with a woman from the desert, which indicates what Al-Jahiz wants to aim at, that the honor of blacks is not limited to their men.

It is noteworthy that when Al-Jahiz tried to list the names of the black companions, we find that he prevailed over the equestrian people such as Mihja’, Miqdad, Wahshi, Julaybib and Faraj Al-Hajam. As for Bilal, he only mentioned the virtue of being “our master”;

As Omar said.

ويبدو أن الجاحظ حاول أن يجعل لفكرته أساسا تفاضليا أعمق حيث أشار إلى الشاعر الأموي الأسود الحَيْقُطان (= اسم طائر) الذي قال "قصيدة تحتج بها اليمانية على قريش ومضر، ويحتج بها العجم والحبش على العرب"، والقصيدة تتحدث عن ملك الحبشة النجاشي (ت 9هـ/631م) بوصفه الملك الوحيد الذي أسلم وسط ملوك من بني البيض مثل المقوقس بمصر وكسرى فارس وقيصر الروم وابنيْ الجلندَى في عُمَان، "لكن النجاشي أسلم قبل الفتح، فدام له ملكه ونزع الله من هؤلاء النعمة".

تطعن قصيدة الحَيْقُطان في مكانة قريش التي هي قلب العرب؛ فقد جاءت مثلا في أحد مقاطعها إشارة إلى غزو الحبشة لمكة وانهزام قريش أمامهم؛ وذلك في قوله:
ولقمانُ منــــــهم وابنُه وابنُ أمِّه ** وأبرهةُ المَــلْك الذي ليس يُنكَرُ
غزاكم أبو يَكْـسومَ في أمّ دارِكم ** وأنتمْ كقبض الرمل أو هو أكثرُ
يقول الجاحظ معلقا: "فإنه يعني صاحب الفيل حين أتى ليهدم الكعبة، يقول: كنتم في عدد الرمل فَلِمَ فررتم منه ولم يلقه أحد منكم حتى أفضى إلى مكة.. أم القرى ودار العرب؟.. فإذا غُزِيت -وهي أم القرى وفيها البيت الحرام الذي هو شرفكم- فقد غُزي جميعكم".

ثم يشير الجاحظ إلى اتصاف أبناء الزنجيات من العرب -وكان منهم شجعان مشاهير يسمونهم "أغْرِبَة العرب"- بالفروسية "حين نزعوا إلى الزنج في البسالة والأنفة؛ فذكر خُفَاف بن نُدْبَة (وهو صحابي توفي 20هـ/642م)، وعباس بن مِرْدَاس (صحابي توفي نحو 18هـ/640م)، وابن شداد: عنترة الفوارس (ت 608م)".
رد اعتبار
ويرى الجاحظ أن الناس مجمعون على تحلي الزنج بطائفة من "خصال الشرف" حازوا منها ما لم تحُزْه أمة أخرى؛ إذ "ليس في الأرض أمّة السخاء فيها أعمّ وعليها أغلب من الزنج، وهاتان الخَلّتان لم توجدا قط إلا في كريم…، وليس في الأرض أحسن حلوقا منهم، وليس في الأرض لغة أخف على اللسان من لغتهم…، والرجل منهم يخطب عند الملك بالزنج من لدن طلوع الشمس إلى غروبها فلا يستعين بالتفاتة ولا بسكتة حتى يفرغ من كلامه. وليس في الأرض أمة في شدة الأبدان وقوة الأسر أعم منهم فيهما".

وبمطالعة شرح الجاحظ لمناقب السود وفضائلهم تجد فيها تصحيحا مسبقا لبعض وجهات النظر التي ظلت سائدة عند فلاسفة في الغرب -مثل الألمانييْن هيجل وإيمانويل كانط (ت 1319هـ/1804م)- حول السود وقدراتهم العقلية.

فقد قدم الجاحظ تفنيدا قويا لقول من يرد سخاء السود إلى ضعف عقولهم وجهلهم بالعواقب، فلو صدق ذلك لكان "أوفرَ الناس عقلا وأكثر الناس علما [هم] أبخلَ الناس..، وقد رأينا الصقالبة (= الشعوب السلافية) أبخل من الروم (= البيزنطيين)، والروم أبعد روية وأشد عقولا. وعلى قياس قولكم.. كان ينبغي أن تكون الصقالبة أسخى أنفسا وأسمح أكفا منهم…؛ فكيف صار قلة العقل هو سبب سخاء الزنج؟!".

ويعكس الجاحظ -في رسالته- موقفا ثوريا لزنج زمانه تجاه العرب؛ فيقول على لسانهم: "ومن جهلكم أنكم رأيتمونا لكم أكفاء في الجاهلية في نسائكم، فلما جاء عدلُ الإسلام رأيتم ذلك فاسدا… مع أن البادية منا ملأى ممن قد تزوج ورأس وساد، ومنع الذمار (= الشرف) وكنفكم (= حماكم) من العدو".

وهذا الكلام يدعم بقوة السياق الثوري الكبير الذي خرجت فيه تلك الرسالة، إذا أخذنا في الاعتبار أمرين: أولهما محاولة الجاحظ أن يجعل الهاشميين في صفوف السود، فـ"آل أبي طالب أشرف الخلق وهم سود". وثانيهما ادعاء قائد ثورة الزنج أنه من السلالة العلوية الهاشمية، وجمعه الزنج الذين كانوا يسكنون السباخ.

بعد ثلاثة قرون من رسالة الجاحظ تلك؛ جاء الإمام ابن الجوزي فوضع كتابه ‘تنوير الغبش في فضل السودان والحبش‘ لأجل هدف محدد، يوضحه المؤلف بقوله: "إني رأيت جماعة من أخيار الحُبشان (= الحبشة) تنكسر قلوبهم لأجل اسْوداد الألوان، فأعلمتهم أنّ الاعتبار بالإحسان لا بالصور الحسان، ووضعت لهم هذا الكتاب في ذكر فضل خلق كثير من الحبش والسودان".

ففي هذا الكاتب يحرص ابن الجوزي -وهو واعظ بغداد الأشهر- على أن يجدد تأكيد المعيار الإسلامي القائل بأن ميزان التفاضل هو العمل الصالح الذي يحاسب عليه الله تعالى، وبالتالي فإن التفاضل بين الأجناس -مثل التفاضل بين الأفراد في كل جنس- هو أمر مرجعه إلى الآخرة ولا علاقة له بالدنيا.

وهذا البيان القيمي يمثل قفزة إنسانية هائلة وانعتاقا من أسْر الثقافات المحيطة بالدعوة الإسلامية، سواء كانت اليونانية أو الفارسية أو الرومية فضلا عن الواقع العربي حينها؛ والتي وضعت تقسيمات صارمة تحول بين الأجناس والأعراق وتمثّل قيم المساواة والعدالة والإنصاف. وقد أورد الإمام ابن الجوزي الكثير من المأثورات النبوية التي تدعم هذه الفلسفة التي تنقل التفاضل بين الناس من الدنيا إلى الآخرة.

كذلك حاول الكاتب أن يوسع مجال النقاش في هذه المسألة؛ فنقل الظاهرة من التفاضل البشري إلى المعاني الكونية والوجودية لوجود اللون الأسود، ثم أقام سردية قد لا تكون دقيقة في معناها التاريخي لكنها دقيقة في دورها القيمي، بما تقوم به من دعم وتفعيل لما يقترحه الإسلام من أفكار المساواة. فقد عزا المؤلف تعدد الألوان بين البشر إلى سبب موضوعي هو طبيعة البيئة الجغرافية التي تسكنها كل أمة، مع ثبوت الأخوة والأصل البشري الواحد المشترك بين جميع أجناس البشرية.
فضائل جامعة
وقد أجمل ابن الجوزي -في الباب الخامس من كتابه- طباع السود؛ فقال وهو يعيد صياغة ما ذكره الجاحظ متحدثا عن "فضائل اجتمعت في طباع السودان، منها: قوة البدن وقوة القلب وذلك يثمر الشجاعة، ويذكر الحبشة بالكرم الوافر، وحسن الخلق وقلة الأذى، وضحك السن وطيب الأفواه، وسهولة العبارة وعذوبة الكلام".

وألمح هذا الإمام إلى فكرة ذكية وهي حضور اللون الأسود في الطبيعة، واعتبار ذلك من جماليات وتنوعات الحياة؛ فذكر -في الباب السادس- بعض الفضائل التي وردت للون الأسود لكنها في الطبيعة، ومنها "سواد العين" وهو موضع النظر، و"سواد الكبد" وهي أشرف الأعضاء، وسواد الشَّعَر وهو "تاج جمال الآدمي". ثم نقل الحديث الى عالم السواد في النبات والحجارة موظفا رمزية "الحجر الأسود" الدينية.

وتحدث ابن الجوزي عن بلاد الحبشة -وهي أرض أمم من السود- باعتبار أنها أرض ذات مكرمة عظيمة؛ فقد آوت المضطهدين من المسلمين الأوائل من ظلم الأهلين في مكة، ذاكرا ما جاء في الأثر النبوي من أن سبب الهجرة إلى الحبشة هو أن "بها ملكا لا يُظلم الناس ببلاده فتحرزوا عنده حتى يأتيكم الله بفرج منه".

والحقيقة أن العلاقة الجيدة بالحبشة -وهي موطن اللون الأسود عند العرب- ترك في الذاكرة الإسلامية انطباعا إيجابيا في التاريخ الإسلامي عن بلاد الحبشة وملكها، وبالتالي عن نظرة غالبيتهم إلى اللون الأسود عموما.

فالعرب "البيض" -كما يوضح ابن الجوزي- ليسوا هم جماع الفضائل، بل ينافسهم في ذلك أقوام وألوان وأولهم أهل الحبشة، بل فاقهم النجاشي كرامة وجوارا كما تجلى في حواره مع مبعوثيْ قريش لاستعادة المسلمين من أرضه بالقوة: عبد الله بن أبي ربيعة المخزومي (صحابي ت 35هـ/656م) وعمرو بن العاص (ت 43هـ/664م).

فقد رفض النجاشي تسليم المستضعفين قائلا: "لا أسلمهم إليهما..، جاوروني ونزلوا بلادي واختاروني على من سواي، حتى أدعوهم وأسألهم ما يقول هذان في أمرهم، فإن كانوا كما يقولون سلمتهم إليهما ورددتهم إلى قومهم، وإن كانوا على غير ذلك منعتهم منهم، وأمنت جوارهم ما جاوروني".

ظلت ذكريات إقامة المسلمين في الحبشة لا تنقطع في أحاديث المسلمين؛ فكان النبي ﷺ يطلب سماع نوادرهم ويخاطب المهاجرين العائدين من الحبشة قائلا: "ألا تحدثوني بأعاجيب ما رأيتم في الحبشة؟!"؛ (صحيح ابن ماجه).

وكذلك لا يمكن إغفال العلاقة الخاصة التي ربطت النبي ﷺ بالنجاشي وتبادلهما للرسائل، وأن النجاشي أسلم لما بلغه كتاب النبي ﷺ؛ إذ "أخذ كتاب رسول الله فوضعه على عينيه، ونزل عن سريره فجلس على الأرض تواضعا". بل إن النجاشي هو خاطب أم حبيبة بنت أبي سفيان (ت 44هـ/665م) للنبي ﷺ، وكانت قد هاجرت إلى الحبشة مع زوجها عُبيد الله بن جحش الأسدي (ت نحو 6هـ/628م) الذي يقال إنه ارتد عن الإسلام فتنصّر ومات هناك، وكان النبي ﷺ قد طلب ذلك من النجاشي فتولى تزويجها له ودفع صداقها ثم جهزها وأرسلها إليه.

وكان من العجيب إيراد ابن الجوزي لبعض الألفاظ المعروفة في لغة الحبشة وقد وردت في القرآن الكريم مثل "كفلين" و"مشكاة"، وأشار إلى أن "طه" بلسان الحبشة تعني: قل يا رجل، و"أوّاهٌ" معناها بلغتهم: المؤمن.

والحقيقة أن هذه الظاهرة القرآنية جزء من ظاهرة كبرى تحدث عنها السيوطي -في ‘الإتقان في علوم القرآن‘- حين عزا إلى ابن النقيب المقدسي (ت 698هـ/1299م) قوله في تفسيره إن "من خصائص القرآن على سائر كتب الله تعالى المنزلة أنها نزلت بلغة القوم الذين أنزِلت عليهم، ولم ينزل فيها شيء بلغة غيرهم، والقرآن احتوى على جميع لغات العرب، وأنزل فيه بلغات غيرهم -من الروم والفرس والحبشة- شيء كثير".

ولعل القصد من ذلك هو تحرير رسالة القرآن وعالمية الإسلام من أي حصرية لغوية أو لونية تكون مانعة من الوحدة. وهذه الشراكة الإسلامية بين الأمم ليست شراكة لغوية فقط، بل إنها أيضا وظيفية؛ فقد أورد ابن الجوزي قول رسول الله ﷺ: "الملك في قريش، والقضاء في الأنصار، والأذان في الحبشة، والأمانة في الأَزْد" (رواه الترمذي). وهذا نموذج للتفكير في توزيع الأدوار يبقى سُنّة وقيمة لا تتوقف ويبنى على أساسه لضمان ترسيخ الشراكة بين البشر!!