Zaid Shakir – A Legacy of Pride

Zaid ShakirOctober 20, 201125 min0 comments

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Ummah Unity Dignity & Character African American Muslim History Colonial History Muslim Identity Muslim Slaves Da'wah History of Islam in the Americas

About this lecture

In this lecture, Imam Zaid Shakir recounts the remarkable and largely overlooked history of Muslim slaves in the Americas, focusing on luminaries such as Ayub bin Suleiman and Ibrahim Abd al-Rahman — scholars, Quran memorizers, and men of extraordinary dignity who were brought to the New World in chains. He draws on this history to challenge Muslims of all backgrounds to claim this legacy as part of the Ummah's shared story in the West, and calls on Muslims to reconnect with their communities, serve humanity, and embody the unbreakable dignity exemplified by these forgotten forebears.

Imam Zaid Shakir is an American scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, the first accredited Muslim liberal arts college in the United States. Born in Berkeley and raised in housing projects in Georgia and Connecticut, he embraced Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force. He earned degrees in international relations and political science, then studied Arabic and the Islamic sciences for years in Egypt, Syria, and Morocco. A former imam of Masjid Al-Islam in New Haven, he teaches at Zaytuna and lectures nationally on Islamic spirituality, social justice, and the Black American Muslim experience. He is regularly listed among the most influential Muslims in the world.

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