Bilali Document facts for kids
The Bilali Muhammad Document is a special handwritten book from the 1800s. It was written in Arabic by a West African man named Bilali Mohammet. He was an enslaved person living on Sapelo Island in Georgia, USA. This important document is now kept at the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia. It is also known as the "Ben Ali (Bilali) Manuscript."
Bilali's Story
Bilali Mohammed was an enslaved person from West Africa. He lived on a large farm, called a plantation, on Sapelo Island, Georgia. His family says he came from the area that is now Sierra Leone. Bilali was very skilled at growing rice, which was a valuable talent for plantation owners in Georgia.
Scholars like William Brown Hodgson met Bilali. Bilali was born in Timbo, Guinea, between 1760 and 1779. He came from a well-educated Muslim family in Africa. As a teenager, he was taken from his home and forced into slavery. He was first taken to the Bahamas and worked for ten years on a plantation there. In 1802, he was sold again and brought to Georgia.
Bilali Mohammed was bought by Thomas Spalding. He became the head manager, or "driver," on Spalding's plantation on Sapelo Island. Bilali could speak Arabic and knew a lot about the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. Because he could read and write, and was a strong leader, he was put in charge of about 500 enslaved people on the plantation.
During the War of 1812, Bilali and other Muslims on Sapelo Island helped protect the United States from a British attack. Bilali passed away in 1857. After his death, a thirteen-page Arabic manuscript was found. At first, people thought it was his personal diary. But after looking at it more closely, they realized it was a copy of an Islamic law book. It was part of what students in West Africa would have studied.
The first part of the document was translated in 1939 by Joseph Greenberg. It was published in The Journal of Negro History. Since the early 2000s, many experts like Ronald Judy and Muhammed al-Ahari have studied it.
What the Document Says
The Bilali Muhammad Document is also called the Ben Ali Diary or Ben Ali Journal. When experts studied the text carefully, they found it was a short explanation of Islamic beliefs. It also included rules for ablution (washing before prayer) and instructions for morning prayers and calls to prayer.
According to Muhammed al-Ahari, this document could be called the "Mother Text" of American Islamic literature. This is because it is the first Islamic text known to be written in the United States. When it was translated, it did not contain any personal stories about Bilali's life.
In Islamic literature, it is common to have a main text, called a Matn, with many detailed explanations. These explanations can help understand the language, spiritual meaning, or connect the text to other similar works. More research is needed on Bilali's life and how he influenced American Islamic literature. It is also important to study his connection to the Gullah language, which is spoken by descendants of West Africans in the region. This will help us understand this unique American Muslim writer better.
Correcting Past Ideas
Some people who looked at the manuscript before thought it was just an old man's notes, copied from memory. However, newer and more expert translations show that it was an original work. It drew ideas from another important Islamic text called the Risalah by Abi Zayd of al-Qayrawan.
Some stories, including those from Reverend Dwight York, have mixed up Bilali Muhammad with other people who had similar names. Bilali Muhammad (also known as Ben Ali, BuAllah, Bilali Smith, and Mahomet Bilali) is not the same person as Yusuf Benenhaly. He is also not the same as the Wahab brothers from Ocracoke Island.
Bilali's Lasting Impact
The Bilali Muhammed Historical Research Society was created in Chicago in 1987. It was named in his honor. This society published a journal called Meditations from the Bilali Muhammad Society in 1988. The research group has since changed its name to the Muslim American Cultural Heritage Institute. It has new leaders and plans to become a non-profit organization in Chicago.
