The Arrival of Muslims in America
The Arrival of Muslims in America Long before the founding of the United States, Muslims were already setting foot in the Americas as navigators and explorers during the 16th-century Spanish expeditions. Among them was Estevanico (Esteban the Moor), a Moroccan-born explorer who arrived with the Spanish Narváez expedition in 1527. Mastering local Native American languages, he became a key guide and interpreter, becoming one of the first non-native explorers to traverse the American Southwest. Additionally, many Moriscos—Muslims from southern Spain skilled in seafaring—served as sailors on early transatlantic voyages. Later, during the expansion of the plantation economy in the Americas, an estimated 10 to 30 percent of the Africans forcibly brought over through the transatlantic slave trade were Muslim. Educated Muslim scholars such as Omar ibn Said, Bilali Muhammad, and Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori endured the harsh brutality of slavery while steadfastly preserving their faith, lit...