Sometimes historical scholarship tells us more about the present than about the past.  The study of Omar ibn Said, I fear, is one such case.
A recent exhibit at Shaw University tells the story of Omar ibn Said, who was a slave during the antebellum era. (For more on Shaw University, read here.)  The Fayetteville slave has gained national attention because his American slave narrative is the only one known to exist in Arabic.

Current scholarship presents Said as a devout Muslim and a scholar.  He may have been a Muslim until his death, but historians jump to conclusions about Said.  They dismiss much evidence regarding Said and a possible conversion experience.   Many times, church records or missionary reports are overlooked.  Even when one dismisses evangelical hyperbole, those sources raise many questions for researchers.   For instance, Said joined the Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, made a profession of faith, was baptized, and missed few Sunday services.  (Sure, these facts can be dismissed as an insincere outward conversion, but there are missionary reports, written by four people over three decades, mentioning Said.  And early on, Jim Owen, Said’s owner, allowed him to read the Koran and pray to Allah; there was no reason for Said to placate Owens.)

Said was an accomplished and fascinating figure but current presentations of him as a scholar might be misleading.  A friend of mine, a professor and scholar of Islam, who is almost fluent in Arabic, told me that Said?s writings contained elementary grammatical errors?real gaffes that someone fully literate is not likely to make.  (Images of his writings are included in Allan D. Austin’s African Muslims in Antebellum America).

Said also wrote in Arabic that the Owens family ?permit[ed]? him to read the gospel of God, our Lord, and Savior, and King; who regulates all our circumstances, our health, and wealth, and who bestows his mercies willingly, not by constraint. According to the power I open my heart, as to a great light, to receive the true way, the way of the Lord Jesus the Messiah.?  I contended that this was a conversion to Christianity.  My friend said, maybe.  He did say that the way Said used ?a great light? made him wonder if Said was familiar with Sikhism (very likely) and if that influenced his understanding of Christianity.   

Who knows matters of the heart?  What I do know is that Said is an interesting historical figure worthy of in-depth study.  For a brief biography of Said, click here

Stay tuned for more research dealing with Said.