In the second Presidential debate, Hillary Clinton made a curious claim about Islam’s place in the history of America: “We’ve had Muslims in America since George Washington.” Many in the television audience of tens of millions must have thought that surely she had evidence for this, and quietly accepted her statement, while others, better prepared, and thus less easily fooled, were not inclined to swallow this latest example of nunc-pro-tunc backdating of Muslims in American history.
Let’s start with Mount Vernon itself. Is there proof of Muslims among Washington’s slaves? The Mount Vernon historian Mary Thompson writes that “the evidence” for the practice of Islam is to be found in the “names of some of the slaves.” That is a peculiar way to state that the only evidence, if it is indeed to be taken as evidence, is that provided by three proper names of four of the slaves (two of them had the same name), out of a total of 318. No evidence of any other kind for Islam at Mt. Vernon is presented. There are no surviving Qur’ans, or the slightest evidence that there ever were any, no records of anyone, slave or master, having seen a “Muslim” slave prostrate and facing Meccawards, praying five times – or even once — a day, not a single report of the recital of the Shehada.
What we get instead is this:
Much of the evidence for the presence of Muslim slaves at Mount Vernon comes from naming practices as well as individual histories. The names of at least three female slaves at Mount Vernon indicate an Islamic influence on the Estate, if not the actual practice of Islam, over a period of roughly thirty years. Two women, presumably a mother and daughter, named “Fatimer” and “Little Fatimer” were included on a 1774 tithables list at Mount Vernon, a document prepared for local authorities listing the people whom George Washington was responsible to pay taxes for. These names appear to be a variation of the popular Muslim woman’s name Fatima, meaning “Shining One” in Arabic, and the name of the Prophet Mohammed’s daughter.
But the name “Fatima” is the slenderest evidence of some Muslim connection, given that the names slaves bore were often given by their owners, or by the men who ran the slave-markets, or by those who brought the slaves over from Africa by ship. Many slaves in America were given Biblical names, or names associated with ancient Rome, but that is hardly evidence of these slaves having any connection to the ancient Israelites or to ancient Rome.
And when the Mt. Vernon historian Mary Thompson refers to “an Islamic influence on the Estate, if not the actual practice of Islam,” this is so vague as to be meaningless. What kind of “Islamic influence” was detected? Expressed how? Why not tell us more? Or is it merely a way of asserting what is not susceptible of proof: to wit, that the name “Fatimer” should be taken as evidence of an “Islamic influence” because “Fatima” is an Arabic name? It might well reflect nothing more than a name some slave-master found appealing.
The second name that is adduced as “evidence” for “some knowledge of Islamic tradition or a familiarity with Arabic” near (but not at) Mt. Vernon is just as unconvincing:
Late in 1800 a young, unmarried mixed race woman named Letty who lived at Washington’s Muddy Hole Farm gave birth to a girl she called “Nila.” This name is a known variant of an Islamic woman’s name “Naailah,” which means “someone who acquires something” or “someone who gets what they want.” [“Nila” is also a name once popular among non-Muslims, and both Hebrew and Indian, but not Arabic, origins for the name are given.] Even if no one was actually practicing Islam at Mount Vernon by this time, this child’s name provides evidence that some knowledge of Islamic tradition or a familiarity with Arabic could still be found in the larger African-American community in Fairfax County or Alexandria, if not at Mount Vernon itself, at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
A slave child’s name, without more, is hardly evidence of a“knowledge of Islamic tradition.” Letty might merely have found the name “Nila” appealing and given it to her daughter. Since there is no evidence at all for the name “Letty” being Muslim, isn’t that more plausible than claiming that “Nila” here must be a shortened form of an Arab name Naailah (unproven) and therefore must have an Islamic significance (also unproven)?
The third bit of “evidence” for “Islam at Mount Vernon” concerns a male slave named Sambo:
The documented history of an African-born carpenter at Mount Vernon known as Sambo Anderson suggests that he was a practicing Muslim…Sambo Anderson was described as having mahogany-colored skin, with high cheekbones, and a stout build. His face was marked by both tribal cuts and tattooing, and he wore gold rings in both ears. Interestingly, Sambo told several people that he was of royal birth, and that his father was a king.
What is it about the “documented history” of Sambo Anderson that “suggests he was a practicing Muslim”? In fact, there is nothing, but the writer keeps up a patter, piling on irrelevant details to make you think some connection to Islam has been made. Of what relevance to being a Muslim is the description of Sambo Anderson’s mahogany-covered skin, high cheekbones, and stout build? Mary Thompson also claims the name “Sambo” must be related to the West African name “Sambou,” and makes the further claim that that name was traditionally given to second sons by the Islamized Hausa tribe. But several authorities on names describe “Sambou” instead as a Hebrew diminutive of “Samuel.” Whom should we believe? Furthermore, she describes Sambo Anderson as having a tattoo on his face; ordinarily that would be evidence not for, but against his being a Muslim, given that in Sunni Islam permanent tattooing is forbidden, haram.
On Sambo’s supposed connection to Islam, Thompson says:
One of the things Sambo probably brought with him to Mount Vernon was Islam. The ethnic group from which he most likely came, the Hausa, was heavily influenced by both the Arabic language and Islamic religion, which spread to them from Mali beginning in the late fourteenth century.
Again, on what basis are these claims made: this “probably-brought-with-him”and “group from which he most likely came”? The tentative speculations presented as firm claims continue to disturb. Did anyone at the time see Sambo perform his ablutions (wudu), ever see him, even once, prostrate in prayer while turned Mecca-wards? Did anyone ever hear a syllable of Muslim doctrine from him, a recital of the Shehada, anything at all? Even just a mention of “Allah”? Don’t you think if there had been any such evidence, a single report, say, by the slave-master or by a fellow slave, that “Sambo was seen prostrating himself in prayer” or “Sambo spoke of ‘Allah’” or of “someone named ‘Muhammad,’” then this Mt. Vernon historian would have adduced it?
So what we have is the flimsiest possible evidence for Islam at Mt. Vernon, all semidemihemi quavering suggestion and maybe-perhaps-might-be speculation:
- “Much of the evidence for the practice of Islam is to be found in the names of some of the slaves” should read: “the only evidence for the practice of Islam is to be found in the names of a handful of slaves – four – out of 318 at Mt. Vernon — and even the supposed Islamic significance of all three names (with two of the three names being of likely Hebrew origin) — is doubtful.”
- “These names [Fatimer, Little Fatimer] indicate an Islamic influence on the Estate, if not the actual practice of Islam, over a period of roughly thirty years.” What kind of Islamic influence? If there is no “actual practice” of Islam, then what is left? These names, without more, hardly constitute evidence of “an Islamic influence.” “Fatima” is not only a name of Muhammad’s daughter, but then became an Iberian toponym, that could have been chosen by non-Muslims, including slave-traders and slave-owners, for its mellifluousness alone… ..
- “Even if no one was actually practicing Islam at Mount Vernon by this time, this child’s name provides evidence that some knowledge of Islamic tradition or a familiarity with Arabic” was to be found at Mount Vernon or in Fairfax County “at the beginning of the nineteenth century.” Again, there is the admission that “no one was actually practicing Islam,” but then comes the attempt to obliquely suggest it nonetheless by insisting that the name “Nila” provides “evidence” of “some knowledge of Islamic tradition,” when “Nila,” as noted above, has in the past been a popular name for girls among non-Muslims, and the name is believed to be not of Arabic but of Hebrew and, in a different line of lexical descent, Indian origin.
- “The documented history of an African-born carpenter at Mount Vernon known as Sambo Anderson suggests that he was a practicing Muslim.” Nothing, in fact, about Sambo that this Mt. Vernon historian has provided convincingly “suggests” that he was a practicing Muslim. And it is a confusing claim given that in the preceding paragraphs, Mary Thompson has repeatedly admitted that “no one was actually practicing Islam at Mount Vernon by this time.” So which is it? That “no one” was practicing Islam at Mount Vernon? Or that the “documented history suggests that Sambo Anderson was a practicing Muslim”? Both statements cannot be true.
The basis on which this assertion – “Sambo as a Muslim” – rests is that the name “Sambo” might have some connection to the name “Sambou,” although “Sambo” was widely used as a slave name, not to indicate a Muslim background, but for those of mixed – African and Indian – descent.
Again, this argument for the presence of Islam from three names is weak. As we have seen, among the favorite sources of slave names (often given by slave-traders or slave-masters) were those from the Old Testament, such as Moses and Samson and Delilah (which no one would adduce as evidence that the slaves were from some Wandering Tribe of Israelites) and, especially, from Roman history, as Pompey, Caesar, Cassius, Cato, Nero, Phoebe, Venus (which do not indicate any Roman descent).
“One of the things Sambo probably brought with him to Mount Vernon was Islam.” Why? This is simply asserted, demanding our adherence, followed by another unproven assertion about “the ethnic group from which he most likely came.” So he “probably” brought Islam, though there is not the slightest evidence for it, and he “most likely came” from the Hausa, though there is no evidence for that, either, and that is how this “history” of Islam at Mount Vernon proceeds, by asserting one unproven thing after another, and the reader is overwhelmed by a series of “suggests” and “most likelies” and “indicates” that these names show Islamic influence, though Mary Thompson repeats that there is “no evidence of anyone practicing Islam at the time.” The reader is left thoroughly bewildered, but inclined to think that why yes, those slave names must mean something, and it’s only now that we’re able to recognize the truth that had been suppressed for so long by those who have denied Islam its rightful place in the American story. At long last we have that pseudo-evidence – the names Fatima, Nila, and Sambo — to prove otherwise.
But it is not the lack of evidence that Islam was “present” at Mt. Vernon or in the young American Republic that is the main point. In fact, while exaggerated claims for their numbers need to be rejected, let’s agree that there is evidence that a small number of slaves did have Muslim backgrounds. Without mosques, or Qur’ans, and living in an entirely Christian environment, however, they were soon Christianized.
What merits our attention and concern is the obvious attempt by so many in power (as Obama, and now Hillary Clinton) to convince us that Islam “has always been a part of the American story.” This attempt has been going on for some time. It began with a State Department spokesman, Phyllis McIntosh, who in a press release in 2004 entitled “Islamic Influence Runs Deep in American Culture,” which claimed that “Islamic influences may date back to the very beginning of American history. It is likely that Christopher Columbus, who discovered America in 1492, charted his way across the Atlantic Ocean with the help of an Arab navigator.”
Nota bene the absence of a definitive statement: “May date back”….”It is likely that.” There is no evidence – none – for this, but there is plenty of evidence of Christian prayers being said on board Columbus’s ships, his deep Catholic faith, the claiming of his discoveries for the very Catholic Ferdinand and Isabella, “los reyes catolicos” (the Catholic king and queen). For it was Ferdinand and Isabella, who had successfully completed the Reconquista, driving the Muslims from Grenada, their last foothold in Spain, who were then willing to support the deeply Catholic Columbus in his attempt to find a sea route for the Christians of Europe to the Indies, given that Muslims had sealed off the land route from Europe to Asia when they conquered Constantinople in May of 1453 (only in that sense should Muslims receive some credit for Columbus’s voyage).
As for Phyllis McIntosh’s claim that Columbus had the help of “an Arab navigator,” this is simply pulled out of the air at Foggy Bottom. It is flatly untrue; there was one member of Columbus’s crew who did know Arabic, but he was a Jewish convert to Christianity, not an Arab. After making her astonishing statement, Phyllis McIntosh fell silent – she never answered her critics, to whom she owed an apology for her travesty of history. For many who only read her original statement, and who would be inclined not to question authority – gosh, the State Department must know whereof it speaks — the damage had been done, the myth of Muslims in Columbus’s crew now set in motion. It would not be surprising to see this fable resurrected in the future, with a putative stamp of authority: “as the State Department long ago recognized.”
Obama, in his quite unnecessary paean to Islam in his 2009 Cairo speech (a speech that ought to be held up for dissection in history classes), said: “I also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story.” It isn’t true. Some “possible” Muslims, even thousands, have been convincingly reported among the millions of slaves, but they were swiftly Christianized. In what way were they an important “part of America’s story”? Muslims played no visible role in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Battle of San Juan Hill, World War I. The first recorded mosque in this country dates from 1929 (a tiny building in Ross, North Dakota); the second, in Iowa, only from 1934. No Muslims contributed noticeably to the literature, art, or music of this country, to its scientific, medical, and technological achievements, or to its political institutions, until recent decades. Muslims played no role in the writing of our Constitution, and especially no role in composing the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments that in every important respect – think of the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and the free exercise and Establishment clauses — which the Sharia, the holy law of Islam, with its rules on blasphemy and apostasy, does not countenance. Freedom of thought and expression and religion, central to the American polity, are all flatly contradicted by the principles of Islam.
Islam punishes those Muslims who speak ill of Islam or appear to mock it. It punishes those who wish to leave Islam, either for another religion, or for none at all. Islam does not recognize the equality of the sexes. Islam does not recognize that non-Muslims are to be treated as equal to Muslims. How could Muslims be expected to do that, when the Qur’an, tells them that non-Muslims are the “vilest of creatures” and Muslims the “best of peoples”?
Yet this concerted effort to make us believe that Islam has “always been part of the American story” continues. In this counterfactual narrative, Muslims served on Columbus’s crew, were to be found among Washington’s slaves, were served the first Iftar Dinner by President Jefferson back in 1805 (it was not an Iftar Dinner but a regular dinner, pushed ahead by a few hours to accommodate the wishes of the Muslim guest, an envoy from Tripoli.
This history makes much of the fact that Jefferson owned a Qur’an (which has been misleadingly taken to mean that he approved of its contents!), and relies on feelgood unsubstantiated claims that during two hundred years of history, from roughly 1800 to 2000, Muslims supposedly continued to be “part of the American story,” as Barack Obama likes to say, without actually making much of an appearance anywhere at all. It is only on September 11, 2001 that Islam really enters American history, with a series of exploding planes, two at each tower of the World Trade Center, one at the Pentagon, and a fourth on a Pennsylvania field. And in the fifteen years since 9/11, Muslims in America keep reminding us of their existence in a way that Hillary and Obama would prefer we forget– at San Bernardino and Fort Hood, at Chattanooga and Orlando. That is certainly how Islam has put itself, but not in a good way, on the main stage of American history, as it is being made today.
The next time a politician claims that “Islam has always been part of America’s story” (out of office, Obama will take up this theme with a vengeance), don’t accept that assertion, nor pass over it in silence, but challenge that claim. Ask when the first Qur’an appeared in the New World, when the first mosque was built (and then the second), and what evidence there is that some of the African slaves had Muslim backgrounds and — if so – how many? Demand to know what the evidence is for Muslim contributions to “America’s story” since 1787, to its political and legal systems, its art, music, literature, science. Make the apologists think twice before they play fast and loose with our history. You will be helping defend against a propaganda campaign that has until now gone largely unchallenged. But there is, thank goodness, time to set the record straight. Islam, whatever else it is, has hardly ever until the last few decades, “been part of America’s story.”

J-pal says
Sambo Andersson – Andersson is a swedish family name, the most common family name in Sweden… “The son of Anders”. In recent times Swedes also use “sambo” for couples living together, not being married legally…
Is there an explanation why Sambo had this Swedish name?
Lucia Bartoli says
The Soave owners were most likely hie the name came to be. Skates often took the names of their owners: Kelly, Jones, McKinney, Washington and so forth.
Mark A says
Good article Hugh Fitzgerald.
Ciudadano says
According to my high school history lessons back in the day:
Mestizo = spanish + native american,
Mulato = spanish + black
Sambo = black + native american
But who knows, maybe brazilian Samba has muslim roots too.
dsinc says
Muslims ran the slave trade. It is unlikely that they would have put any fellow Muslim brothers on the ships as slave cargo. Mary Thompson’s history sounds like Karen Armstrong tripe.
commonsense says
Arab slave traders would indeed have sold black African Muslims into slavery, their embrace of Islam notwithstanding. The Qur’an states that Arabs are the best of people – Arab ethnicity trumps even religious affiliation. The Arabic word – abed – means both “slave” as well as “black African.” This demonstrates that blacks were regarded by Arab Muslims primarily as chattel and only secondarily as members of the Umma.
dcw leftcoast says
I suspect there were very few black mooslims before the 60s . . . lol
This whole concept is far-left lieberal tripe with Zero Facts !
Something only a fool like Obama, Hillarious and a University would believe . . .
TheOldOligarch says
Actually Muslim history is replete with examples of Muslims enslaving and selling other Muslims. This was a constant complaint of the black African Muslims and records of their attempts to mount legal challenges against their enslavement appear fairly frequently.
Basically, sometimes when Arab Muslim slavers would mount a slaving expedition into Africa, Infidels turned out to be harder to come by than they expected, having already been killed or enslaved the previous year/by another slaving party, or else having fled. But the thing is, the slavers have a business to run right? You can’t mount an expedition into Africa and just come back with no slaves, so really, how Muslim are those ‘Muslim’ blacks over there? Why, now that I take a proper look at it those are nothing but a bunch of filthy Kuffar. Looks like this trip is going to be paying for itself after all.
simpleton1 says
,blockquote> don’t accept that assertion, nor pass over it in silence, but challenge that claim. Ask when the first Qur’an appeared in the New World, when the first mosque was built (and then the second), and what evidence there is that some of the African slaves had Muslim backgrounds and — if so – how many? Demand to know what the evidence is for Muslim contributions to “America’s story” since 1787, to its political and legal systems, its art, music, literature, science. Question our so called “betters”
Really? Can that be right?
Where did you get that from?
Are you sure/certain?
Get them to tie themselves to these false hoods and dubious claims, so they can not back away from those statements at a later date.
The replies will become more irrational, showing up the irrationality of the “false claimer” and then leaves a question on many other things they are involved in.
Any one hearing these questions and answers will be also wondering, “what is going on?” and also will check out the facts.
simpleton1 says
Delete the above post [I made too many error in html] if possible, thank you
Question our so called “betters”
Really? Can that be right?
Where did you get that from?
Are you sure/certain? How does that relate?
It does not seem to make sense? Why? How? When?
Get them to tie themselves to these false hoods and dubious claims, so they can not back away from those statements at a later date.
The replies will become more irrational, showing up the irrationality of the “false claimer” and then leaves a question on many other things they are involved in.
Any one hearing these questions and answers will also start wondering, “what is going on?” and hopefully will check out the facts, and start thinking more of what is claimed.
Duane Wicker says
The above also applies to the charges made by women regarding D.T.’s supposed sexual advancements. Where are the dates, locations, time of day, and witnesses? These are charges without foundation. Require them to SHOW PROOF of their accusations and let D.T. go on with the business at hand, not the diversionary B.S..
Brian Hoff says
Trump is faceing criminal charge of rapeing than 13 year old girl with two witnesses so saw the crime being done at thsn party. Five miss america beauty women came foward that he enter the women dressing room while some where nude.
Jay Boo says
Bill Clinton has done much worse.
Jay Boo says
Hillary — no shame at all.
dcw leftcoast says
Five women came forward . . . . over a decade later . . . a few weeks before an election, with dubious stories and ZERO facts.
The Rape thing is more fake nonsense . . . The REAL rapist is ole Bubba Klinton, how many trips has Billie had to Pedo Island with his buddy?
Mirren10 says
”Trump is faceing criminal charge of rapeing than 13 year old girl with two witnesses so saw the crime being done at thsn party.
Mr Trump needs Hilary Clinton to get him off, then. After all, she is on record, on tape, as stating that when she was a practicing lawyer, she got off a rapist who raped a twelve year old girl. She admitted she knew he was guilty, and then *laughed*.
Five miss america beauty women came foward (sic) that he enter the women (sic) dressing room while some where (sic) nude.”
Interesting, isn’t it, that apparently *none* of these women, who have accused Mr. Trump of these unpleasant incidents, should have come forward until Mr. Trump was in opposition to Hilary Clinton for the position of President of the United States ?
Only a right wing bigot would find anything **at all** suspicious in these circumstances ! 🙂
Angemon says
😀 😀 😀
Dmsj says
The first Muslim in America that can be substantiated by primary sources was Anthony Jansen Van Salee of new Amsterdam. The two van Salee brothers are credited with bringing the first known Koran to North America. Wikipedia provides an interesting synopsis.
Angemon says
That’s more than enough evidence for the Craig Considines of this world to weave entire volumes of fictional narrative around while, at the same time, chastising others and accusing them of “islamophobia” over alleged “muslim-sounding names”.
Angemon says
P.S.: which religion would historian Mary Thompson assume Mr. [Raymond] Ibrahim to be based on his name alone?
Jay Boo says
These people don’t need proof.
NPR will do (a story) and then very soon PBS, MSNBC and CNN will all run with it while they all quote each other in an endless circle jerk until the NY Times and BBC also jump in like eager Muslims at a Rotherham gang rape.
Nico says
Beautifully put, JayBoo !
Kenneth T Tellis says
Seems to me that Hilary Clinton has run out of material to write on the subjects that she feels would advance career, and has now turned to history. But we must be aware that her mental state has been affected by the medication that she takes. Thus, the story of George Washington goes to show her desperation has reached new heights.
Godwin says
Also mainly affected by the million donations from the “Oh I See” ! U may have a second president beholden to the Arabs, n Sharia may rule the USA. Congrats !
Linde Barrera says
Thank you for this excellent article, Hugh Fitzgerald. I did a little research on the name “Fatima” and it was given to a town in Portugal about 90 miles north of Lisbon. The Muslims invaded the Iberian peninsula in 722 AD and were expelled from Portugal in 1249 AD, 243 years before being expelled from Spain! And as a lady of 65 years, I cannot recall reading in history books or hearing it from my school teachers’ lips what the real reason was for expelling the Muslims: doctrinal Islamic conquest. How come facts don’t seem to matter to many people with respect to doctrinal Islam and history? ?
HRW says
I wasn’t born yesterday…but had it been so, and If I was to swallow whole the imaginings of these alleged ‘scholars’ & ‘historians’ who persist with this fictitious nonsense then perhaps I would also have to consider that my father-in-law had an Islamic background because his name was “Mo”… as in “Morris”. All who knew him when he was alive simply knew him as “Mo” who, as coincidence would have it was the younger brother of “Sambo”.
My own widowed father has been dating a woman named “Fatima”…a recent immigrant from the Caribbean. Certainly, she too must be of Islamic heritage if one is to apply historian Mary Thompson’s ‘logic’. For who, but a muhammedan would name their daughter ‘Fatima’? This Fatima was baptised soon after her birth and continues to practice her Christian faith. She believes her name originates as a blessing from Our Lady of Fatima . . . and says that no one in her extended family has any familiarity with the muhammedan version.
Perhaps my Israeli neighbor, “Ami” (pronounced “Ah me” would be considered of muhammedan descent given his identity so closely reflects Ahmed as in Mohammed? Not likely…he’s an orthodox Jew whose lineage traces back to Israel for many generations.
There is a social-justice meme trending lately on college campuses which this “historian”, Mary Thompson could be considered guilty of it …it’s called “cultural appropriation”.
Thank you again Mr. Fitzgerald, for your tenacity in holding these intellects feet to the fire.
linnte says
When I was an RN questioning a patient regarding his illness, and I got an answer like “I think so” or “most likely”, we backtracked, and I would rephrase to get a yes or no answer. I wanted to give the patients Doctor the most accurate assessment.
My point is VERY good Mr. Fitzgerald in weeding through the suppositions and shedding light on truth.
Wellington says
Fine article by Hugh Fitzgerald. True throughout. And all part of the reason why I regularly refer to the ignoramus and massive incompetent, Hillary Clinton, made rich by way of the criminal enterprise which is the Clinton Foundation, as “Her Vileness.”
Show me someone wanting Hillary to become the next POTUS and I will show you, at best, a fool. At worst, one who actively wants the destruction of the USA.
Trump is indeed a flawed candidate. But the alternative, i.e., this wretched woman, is far worse. One knows this or should know it. Getting exceedingly tired of those who don’t. After all, patience with the lesser element of mankind should have a time limit on it.
Jay Boo says
In some ways the Left has used Trump as a foil to hide Hillary’s many flaws. While Bernie Sanders was possibly the Left’s solution to the arrogant corruption of Hillary they now must humanize Hillary as the kindly grandma professional and hope those in their own ranks are willing buy it will playing off Trump’s crude remarks.
Wellington says
Agreed, Jay Boo. The MSM and other Lefties have, from the get-go, been with Hillary. Only the tactics have changed as the way-too-long campaign for the American Presidency has proceeded.
And thus, not only is Hillary vile, and those asserting otherwise can be dismissed for reasons ranging from simple foolishness (e.g., college youth) to outright malevolency (e.g., Muslim states like SA and Qatar sending huge amounts of contributions to the criminal enterprise which is the Clinton Foundation), but the entire Democratic Party has now become, in effect, an enemy of America. Would that the Republican Party still had the wisdom and guts enough to both realize and state this, but with wussies like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell in control of the GOP, no one of sense should count on mainstream Republicans anymore, including a family I once admired but no longer do———the Bushes. Oh, Trump is a seriously flawed candidate to be sure, but the fact that he is the best hope America has right now speaks volumes.
The time is out of joint. Never more so.
Jay Boo says
That flying witch Hillary needs to take flying lessons to avoid crashing and bumping her delusional head.
http://trailingahead.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html
somehistory says
When John Q. Adams wrote what he did, and then along comes mary, writing stuff to bolster the words of liars, which one is easier to believe? John Quincy was not the first to recognize the evil of islam. Christians and others had been fighting the demonic teaching for a very long time and in a multitude of places.
People back then were aware of the dangers of islam…hence, the dangers that moslims presented to non moslims. They had a whole lot more common sense than does hillary or those like her and saying the same things.
Jay Boo says
SOMETHING ELSE
Dem. Bill Clinton seduced an impressionable young woman employee.
The Left refused to call it sex.
Dem. Barney Frank involved in a male child prostitution ring.
The Left refused to call it sex.
Hillary hired a Muslim intern to be her personal paid BFF “friend”
The Left refused to …. once again.
PRCS says
Computers–some more powerful than others (remember the VIC-20–the computer for the price of a toy) have been a household appliance for more than 30 years, now, and online access, though not the internet, for almost as long.
There is no good reason for so many of our fellow citizens to not fact check such stories.
Is there anyone here who actually believed HRC “misspoke” about landing under sniper fire in Bosnia? It was just too easy to fact check.
Mazo says
The first Mosque in the United States of America was founded by Lipka Tatar Muslims from Poland and Lithuania on Powers Street of Brooklyn region in New York City on 1907.
Lipka Tatar Muslims are descendants of Muslim Tatars from the Golden Horde who settled in Poland with permission from the Polish King. They married local Slavic Christian women and their descendants adopted Slavic as their mother language. They are europeanized and are white. They served in the Polish army since the Middle Ages and fought against the enemies of Poland including the Ottoman allied Crimean Tatars. They are liked and supported by Catholic Polish nationalists. Polish nationalists just don’t like non-europeans. They beat up Syrian Christian refugees and a Chilean pianist.
Lithuanian American actor Charles Bronson had Lipka Tatar ancestry on his father’s side.
The 1929 North Dakota Ross Mosque was built by Syrian and Lebanese Muslims and is NOT the first Mosque built in America.
West African Muslim slaves lived in America since colonial times. West African Muslim slaves were highly educated and literate. They could read, write, and speak both Arabic, their original African language, and learned English after being taken to America. Phillis Wheatley may have been literate in Arabic script as she was seen writing in an unknown script before she learned English. The African slave Omar bin Said wrote his entire autobiography in Arabic and Abdurrahman Souri wrote a letter to the Sultan of Morocco which explained his situation. Omar bin Said was able to retain enough knowledge of Arabic after decades of living in America to write original works.
Yemeni Muslims served in the American army in World War I to get American citizenship.
Linde Barrera says
To Mazo- I see you did some research, always a good thing. But is it all verified by at least 2 different unrelated sources?
Mazo says
The first Mosque in the United States of America was founded by Lipka Tatar Muslims from Poland and Lithuania on Powers Street of Brooklyn region in New York City on 1907.
Lipka Tatar Muslims are descendants of Muslim Tatars from the Golden Horde who settled in Poland with permission from the Polish King. They married local Slavic Christian women and their descendants adopted Slavic as their mother language. They are europeanized and are white. They served in the Polish army since the Middle Ages and fought against the enemies of Poland including the Ottoman allied Crimean Tatars. They are liked and supported by Catholic Polish nationalists. Polish nationalists just don’t like non-europeans. They beat up Syrian Christian refugees and a Chilean pianist.
Lithuanian American actor Charles Bronson had Lipka Tatar ancestry on his father’s side.
The 1929 North Dakota Ross Mosque was built by Syrian and Lebanese Muslims and is NOT the first Mosque built in America.
West African Muslim slaves lived in America since colonial times. West African Muslim slaves were highly educated and literate. They could read, write, and speak both Arabic, their original African language, and learned English after being taken to America. Phillis Wheatley may have been literate in Arabic script as she was seen writing in an unknown script before she learned English. The African slave Omar bin Said wrote his entire autobiography in Arabic and Abdurrahman Souri wrote a letter to the Sultan of Morocco which explained his situation. Omar bin Said was able to retain enough knowledge of Arabic after decades of living in America to write original works.
Anthony Janszoon van Salee was the first known Muslim in New Netherlands who came in 1630.
Yemeni Muslims served in the American army in World War I to get American citizenship.
Wellington says
“West African Muslim slaves were highly educated and literate.”
What is your evidence for this statement? I should think most black slaves brought to America centuries ago were not literate just as most whites in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth century were not literate or only roughly so. Even today many West African countries have low literacy rates, for instance Burkina Faso whose literacy rate is only around 40%, and Niger which has a literacy rate in the 20% area. Even Nigeria has a literacy rate of, at best, 65%. And go back a mere hundred years or so and these rates would have been even lower. So how was it that most West African slaves from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries “were highly educated and literate?” To put it mildly, I think you are fictionalizing.
And please don’t blame anything on Western imperialism. That dog has been beaten to death.
Mazo says
The official languages of these West African states are now French and Engliah and now their African languages are written in the latin alphabet instead of Arabic.
West African Muslims previously wrote their own African languages in Arabic script in addition to learning Arabic itself. The people of Nigeria’s cities of Zaria and Kanou were famous for their grasp of the Arabic language
The arrival of English and French and the introduction of Latin alphabet brought the government recognized literacy rate to zero as they had to learn everthing over again. They had to learn English and French in place of Arabic and switch to Latin.
African Muslim slaves in Brazil were literate in their own languages in Arabic script and Arabic itself. Brazilians found Arabic script inscriptions in 5he 1835 Bahia rebellion by African Muslims.
African Muslim chiefs and royalty were csptured during wars and sold into slavery. They were literate. Abdurrahman ibn Souri was a prince. Islamic teachers and students fluent in Arabic needed paper to write Arabic on. They bought paper from Europeans and this meant they had an extremely high chance of capture from rival enemies while going downstream to trading stations. Sylviane A. Diouf explained this in her book on African Muslim slaves in America. Omar Ibn Said was a scholar snd he managed to write his Arabic autobiography decades after living in America from just his memory.
Literacy rates vary widely in history. 5,000 years ago more people in Iraq were literate than Japan. Japan’s literacy rate was zero percent 5,000 years ago. Now Japan has a hugher literacy rate than Iraq. Change of languages and introduction of new scripts caused the difference.
Angemon says
None of that answers Wellington’s question: what is your evidence for the statement you made about “West African muslim slaves being highly educated and literate.
Kepha says
One of the Peales, a family of early American artists, made a portrait of a late 18th century African-American ex-slave by the name of Yarrow (yero, yerro, various spellings) Mamut. He was indeed a practicing Muslim from what is now Guinea, and was literate in Arabic. After being freed, he owned real estate and shares in a bank. He was buried in the garden of his own Georgetown home because, as a Muslim, he did not want to be buried with Christians (and perhaps the Christians wouldn’t have him in one of their cemeteries, either). However, he left a number of descendants, who at this stage in history are all Christians of the Baptist and Methodist varieties. Yarrow Mamut’s portrait is now at the famous art museum in Philadelphia.
How many Muslim slaves and ex-slaves who were brought over here kept their Islamic faith is a very large question. My guess is that the “Sambo Anderson” mentioned in the article was probably originally a pagan (scars, etc.) by birth, and I wonder how many of Washington’s “Salt Water” slaves (and Freedmen?) died as Christians. Certainly there was a widespread Christianization of black slaves and freedmen early in our history.
I also strongly suspect that of the “African” religions brought to our shores via the slave trade, various pagan cults were far better represented than Islam; and the survival of such among Caribbean blacks (including in Louisiana) is amply attested to by such cultic phenomena as Voudoun in Haiti and Santeria (some of which is clearly of Yoruba origin) among Afro-Cubans (the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, of Supreme Court case fame, actually has a Yoruba name, even though its adherents were Afro-Cubans who fled Castro).
Mazo says
Muslims fought in the American Civil War. Sylviane A. Diouf mentioned Mohammed Ali ben Said who was born in Bornu in Africa. He was a former slave who then joined the Union Army in the American Civil War to fight the Confederacy.
Omar ibn Said lived right up to the middle of the American Civil war at well over ninety years old.
Angemon says
Mazo posted:
“Muslims fought in the American Civil War. Sylviane A. Diouf mentioned Mohammed Ali ben Said who was born in Bornu in Africa. He was a former slave who then joined the Union Army in the American Civil War to fight the Confederacy.”
Didn’t he change his name to Nicholas Said? And doesn’t his autobiography start with him cursing the influence of mohamedanism in his life, as well as the ruin and desolation mohamedanism wrecked in Africa? Claiming he was a muslim is going against all the available evidence. Oh, and why are you using the plural to refer to *one* person?
Angemon says
Here is Nicholas’ autobiography, digitally preserved as part of the “Documenting the South” project:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/said/said.html
I’ll quote you from pages 14-15:
What a damning thing for an alleged muslim to say. Couple that with his change of name and an inevitable question pops up: was Nicholas Said really a muslim? Born and raised as a muslim as he seemingly was, did he abandoned islam at some point of his life? Well, page 70 tells us:
The answer is: yes, at some point in his life Mohammad Said left islam and converted to Christianity. The follow-up question is, of course, when? He could have very well be a muslims when he fought in the American Civil war, right? Well, I’ll point you to page 145:
The American Civil war was fought from 1861 to 1865. That’s 6 years after Nicholas’ conversion and change of name.
Well, well, Mazo, it seems your case went down the drain. The token muslim you tried to pass as being representative of muslims in American history was, in fact, a convert to Christianity, and he was already a Christian when he fought in the American Civil war. I expect you to retract what you wrote and humbly apologize to everyone here, seeing how you were caught lying.
Linde Barrera says
To Angemon- As per your comment of 11:19 am, Oct. 24, 2016 to Mazo, THANK YOU FOR OUR RESEARCH. It now appears to me that Mazo, Mubarak and Brian Hoff are unable to distinguish truth from propaganda. Or they use it to spew lies. In either case, I can’t help but wonder why they waste their precious time as well as ours, as we here in the anti-jihad are truth seekers. Again, thank you Angemo, and stay safe.
Mazo says
292 Muslims fought in the American Civil War including W. B. Osman and Captain Moses Osman.
Bilali Muhammad led Muslims to fight in the War of 1812 and openly affirmed his Muslim faith.
Yusuf Ben Ali and Bampett Muhamed fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Angemon says
292, you say? Makes one wonder why you needed to lie and try to pass a Christian for a muslim, going as far as to lie about something as basic as his name. So yeah, citations needed. And you have yet to apologize for lying to us. An unapologetic muslim apologist is also an unapologetic liar? Gee, what a surprise…
Angemon says
O, and last time I checked the 1812 war and the Revolutionary war were NOT the American Civil war. As the saying goes, “if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit”…
Kepha says
I don’t doubt that Muslims fought in the US Civil War. Probably there were a few Lipka Tatars who either still retained their Islam or welcomed the chance to fight again after the Tsar whipped the Polish nationalist uprising which they supported.
The arguably most famous Asian-American family of the time, the sons of Chang and Eng Bunker (the Siamese twins) fought for the Confederacy. Losing the war forced their fathers back into show biz for the latter part of their lives.
But it is also a likely hard fact that the number of Jews fighting in the American Civil War (at a time when they were still not numerous in either North or South) outnumbered by several factors the number of Muslims who fought in said conflict.
Elisheva says
The picture above is not Hillary. It looks like her double used on 9/11/16. Crooked Hillary is just full of distortions and deception.
trish says
Don’t forget the loony claim that Muslims intermarried with the Algonquin in Us and Canada hundreds of years ago, pre-Columbus.. A claim roundly denied by the Algonquin, but which made it into educational materials.
They are trying the same game in Australia. Muslims claim Muslim sea-slug fishermen from Malacca visited Australia before Captain Cook. and there was even a Muslim Indian convict In the Third Fleet.
So what? Hardly a sound basis on which to claim a significant Muslim contribution to Australian society. Dutch, Portuguese and French explorers also reached Australia before Cook, but no one claims these countries contributed to Australian society. And when did Islam arrive in Malacca, anyway?
The reason for these claims, spouted on Islamic sites and picked up by mindless politicians, journalists and other ‘useful idiots’ is not just to rewrite history or self-aggrandisement for Islam. There is a more sinister reason.
Islam claims that any soil on which a Muslim has set foot has been automatically claimed by Islam and belongs to the future Caliphate. Thus the claim that Muslims arrived in North America pre-Columbus, and in Australia before Cook. are a blatant claim to most of the New World. Perhaps someone from New Zealand could clarify if there is a similar claim being made there?
GeorgeRomero says
Hi Trish , There is a liar journ o list who thinks that muzz has been in New Zealand for generations , i e-mailed her but she never responded , wonder why?
simpleton1 says
just a year or so ago a translation of the koran into Maori, the natives language in New Zealand with much fan fare and presentation to the Maori king.
Another way of staking a claim for islam.
Mazo says
The Muslim merchants and fishermen who visited Arnhem land in Australua were from Makassar, not Malacca, you dolt. Makassar becane Muslim between the 14th and 17th centuries.
GeorgeRomero says
Thank you Hugh , another great post and historical essay , Cheers!
paul says
she got paid to say it by bho
Shmooviyet says
@paul: by BO, and no doubt by others to whom she owes a great deal.
She will continue this ‘islam in US history’ line, assured it will sink in to the consciousness of her followers who take her every word as gospel.
Adding another Thank You to Hugh Fitzgerald for this article. Too much learning going on here at JW– a major concern for the Hillarites.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
“exploding planes, two at each tower of the World Trade Center”
2 planes/tower * 2 towers = 4 planes. This should be “exploding planes, one at each tower of the WTC”.
Cretius says
This claim of an Islamic connection is junk history as it is based solely on opinion with NO documentary evidence to support the claim. Having worked in American history for over 35 years I reject this claim out of hand. Just another Clinton lie.
old white guy says
whatever Mary Thompson might be she is not a historian.
Crusades Were Right! says
What? No real connection between Islam and Revolutionary America?
Next thing you’ll be telling us that Ahmed Mohamed didn’t invent the clock!
; ¬)
Jan Aage Jeppesen says
Actually Islam came close to colonize North America together with the British 400 years ago:
“In 1603 the Sultan of Morocco, Ahmad al-Mansur, got the good idea to propose his ally Queen Elizabeth I, that England should help the Moors colonize America. The Sultan proposed that Moroccan and English troops by the British navy together attack the Spanish colonies in America, expel their hated Spanish enemies and then take over the land and preserve it under the common rule forever.
However, there was a stumbling block. Would not it be more sensible, suggested the Sultan, if most of the future colonists were Moroccan rather than English? For people from your Majesty’s country wrote the Sultan, is hardly able to endure the extreme heat while our people has no problems with the heat, because it does not harm them.
After thorough evaluation, the Moroccan proposal was rejected, which seemed to many people of that time incomprehensible. After all, Britain was in close alliance with both the Moroccans and the Ottomans – The Pope considered actually Queen Elizabeth as “Turkish ally”. The British might well have their reservations about Islam, but these paled compared to their fear of the papacy.”
(Source: Francis Ghilès, article in Nato Review, “Nato and the Middle east”, 2005).
Carolyne says
Hillary Clinton is full of crap. While it is true that Muslim slave traders captured Africans to sell as slaves, I doubt this counts as contributing to anything George Washington did to help establish a new country. I know of slave churches in the South, but I have never seen a slave mosque. Since importing slaves was stopped by a law enacted in 1807, it was implemented in 1808 so that while it is possible that George Washington might have owned a slave who was imported from Africa and might have been Muslim, no evidence of that exists. Certainly Alex Haley’s ancestor who was brought to America wasn’t a Muslim. I think but can’t prove that most slaves imported directly from Africa were not Muslim as I have never read anything which says otherwise. They were converted to Christianity after their arrival. probably from some voo doo belief. Hillary Clinton will say anything, true or not, if it proves her point. Usually not true.
Carolyne says
In the picture above she is wearing glasses prescribed for those who have double vision and/or a brain injury which causes it, A brain damaged President? Why not. I’ve suspected others of this malady.
Linde Barrera says
To Angemon- Typo error- Should be “YOUR RESEARCH” not “OUR RESEARCH.
Paul Clark says
You don’t think Hillary would lie to you, do you?
David says
L O L ! ! ! !
☺ YOU ARE SO FUNNY !
HA HA HA !
Jimdandi says
Spent some time in the Philippines. Knew a Filipino Catholic family with a daughter named “Nila”.
CommoHull says
Another one hit out of the park, Hugh! That’s why you’re my favorite pinch hitter for Robert.
TH says
The notion that Columbus had a Muslim as navigator in one of his ships is preposterous. In January of the same year, 1492, that Columbus reached America on the 12th of October, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella finally took Granada after several years of conquest. Does anyone in his sane mind who knows anything about Spanish history think that Columbus would have had a Muslim as navigator? It would be possible that one whose family had converted to Christianity much before that date would have been with Columbus.
Angemon says
The idea that Columbus took muslim navigators is a derivative of the idea that muslims regularly sailed to America, which is false. There was a member of the crew who spoke Arabic, and he was a Jewish who converted to Catholicism to avoid being expelled from Spain after the Alhambra decree (there were four other Jewish converts, including Columbo’s physician and one of the navigators). His name was Luis de Torres, and he also spoke Hebrew and Aramaic, which is kinda of a big deal considering that Columbus was expecting to meet with Jewish traders in Asia.
Dishonest historians, as well as dishonest muslim apologists (but I repeat myself), try to rewrite history by portray anyone speaking Arabic at the time as being muslim.
David says
George Washington was a good man. Wise and educated. I’m certain that, if George knew the potential danger posed by even a single muslim among his slaves, I think George would have struck them in the neck and solved that problem with one stroke of his sword!
So to speak.
?
Ali Bey says
Daniel Pink says that if the voters were only men, Trump would win the election. I wish that some of the women who will vote Clinton may no be molested or raped by the sex-urgenced Muslims that Hillary will let to enter the United States.
Graeme Howarth says
The great missionary C.T. Studd’s first convert in what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo was named Sambo. His original name. He was not a Muslim. It is likely that the common pejorative “Sambo” in reference to black men arose among the British because of Studd’s first convert.
nothing to do with Islam though.