Afro-Arabs
عرب أفارقة | |
|---|---|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Gulf States · Levant · Yemen · East Africa · Mauritania · Sahel · North Africa | |
 Saudi Arabia | 3,600,000[1] |
 Yemen | 3,500,000[2] |
 Iraq | 1,500,000–2,000,000[3] |
 Mauritania | 1,500,000[4] |
 Jordan | 60,000[5] |
| Languages | |
| Majority: Arabic Minority: Hausa · Fula · Swahili · Comorian · Wolof | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Ethnic groups of Africa Afro-Saudis · Afro-Palestinians · Afro-Jordanians · Al-Muhamashīn · Afro-Iraqis · Afro-Syrians · Afro-Omanis · Afro-Emiratis • Sudanese Arabs | |
Afro-Arabs, African Arabs, or Black Arabs are Arabs who have substantial or predominant Sub-Saharan African ancestry. These include primarily minority groups in the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. The term may also refer to various Arab groups in certain African regions.[6]
Overview
[edit | edit source]From the 7th century onward Muslim communities were established along the East African coast, subsequently spreading inland. The Arab slave trades, which began in pre-Islamic times but reached their height between 650 AD and 1900 AD, transported millions of African people from the Nile Valley, the Horn of Africa, and the eastern African coast across the Red Sea to Arabia as part of the Red Sea slave trade. Millions more were taken from West Africa and East Africa across the Sahara as part of the trans-Saharan slave trade.[7]
By around the first millennium AD, Persian traders established trading towns on what is now called the Swahili Coast.[8][9]
The Portuguese conquered these trading centers after the discovery of the Cape Road. From the 1700s to the early 1800s, Muslim forces of the Omani empire re-seized these market towns, mainly on the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar. In these territories, Arabs from Yemen and Oman settled alongside the local "African" populations, thereby spreading Islam and establishing Afro-Arab communities.[10] The Niger-Congo Swahili language and culture largely evolved through these contacts between Arabs and the native Bantu population.[11]
In the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, descendants of people from the Swahili Coast perform traditional Liwa and Fann at-Tanbura music and dance,[12] and the mizmar is also played by Afro-Arabs in the Tihamah and Hejaz.[citation needed]
In addition, Stambali of Tunisia[13] and Gnawa music of Morocco[14] are both ritual music and dances that in part trace their origins to West African musical styles.
Notable Afro-Arabs in Early History
[edit | edit source]Early Islamic Personalities
[edit | edit source]
- Bilal ibn Rabah, early Muslim, companion of Muhammad and first Muezzin in Islam
- Umm Ayman, early Muslim and caretaker of Muhammad after the death of his mother
- Ayman ibn Ubayd, early Muslim and companion of Muhammad, son of Umm Ayman
- Usama ibn Zayd, early Muslim and companion of Muhammad, son of Umm Ayman and Muhammad's adopted son, Zayd ibn Harithah
- Sumayyah bint Khabbat, early Muslim and companion of Muhammad, considered the first Shahid in Islam
- Ammar ibn Yasir, early Muslim and companion of Muhammad, one of the four companions of Ali ibn Abi Talib
- Wahshi ibn Harb, early Muslim and companion of Muhammad
Medival Islamic Rulers
[edit | edit source]- Abu al-Misk Kafur, Sultan of Ikhshidid Egypt
- Al-Mustansir Billah, Caliph of the Fatimid Empire
- Yaqub al-Mansur, Caliph of the Almohad Empire
- Muhammad al-Nasir, Caliph of the Almohad Empire
- Al-Musta'sim, Caliph of the Abbasid Empire
- Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif, Sultan of Sharifian Morocco
Notable Afro-Arabs in Modern History
[edit | edit source]Rulers and Heads of State
[edit | edit source]
- Muhammad Ahmad Al-Mahdi, Leader of the Mahdist Revolt, later Imam of Mahdist Sudan
- Abdallah ibn Muhammad Al-Khalifa, Imam of Mahdist Sudan
- Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, Chief Minister of Sudan, Imam of the Ansar
- Ismail al-Azhari, Prime Minister of Sudan under First Sovereignty Council, later President of Sudan
- Abdallah Khalil, Prime Minister of Sudan under First Sovereignty Council
- Ibrahim Abboud, President of Sudan
- Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa, Prime Minister of Sudan under Second Sovereignty Council
- Gaafar Nimeiry, President of Sudan
- Ahmed al-Mirghani, President of Sudan
- Sadiq al-Mahdi, Prime Minister of Sudan, Imam of the Ansar
- Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan
- Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, President of Sudan under Third Sovereignty Council
- Mohamed Naguib, President of Egypt
- Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt
- Sultan Turki bin Said Al Busaidi, Sultan of Muscat and Oman
- Faisal bin Turki Al Busaidi, Sultan of Muscat and Oman
- Taimur bin Faisal Al Busaidi, Sultan of Muscat and Oman
- Barghash bin Said Al Busaidi, Sultan of Zanzibar
- Khalifah bin Said Al Busaidi, Sultan of Zanzibar
- Ali bin Said Al Busaidi, Sultan of Zanzibar
- Hamoud bin Mohammed Al Busaidi, Sultan of Zanzibar
- Ali bin Hamud Al Busaidi, Sultan of Zanzibar
- Khalifa bin Harub Al Busaidi, Sultan of Zanzibar
- Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
- Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
- Said Ali bin Said Omar, Sultan of Grande Comore
- Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane, President of the Comoros
- Said Mohamed Jaffar, President of the Comoros
- Ali Soilih, President of the Comoros
- Said Atthoumani, President of the Comoros
- Said Mohamed Djohar, President of the Comoros
- Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim, President of the Comoros
- Azali Assoumani, President of the Comoros
- Ahmed Sambi, President of the Comoros
- Ikililou Dhoinine, President of the Comoros
- Tippu Tip, Sultan of Utetera, later Colonial Governor of Stanley Falls District of the Congo Free State
Influential Personalities
[edit | edit source]- Rula Jebreal, foreign policy analyst, journalist, novelist and screenwriter of Nigerian and Palestinian descent
- Fatima Bernawi, the first Palestinian female militant, of Afro Palestinian descent born to a Nigerian father and Palestinian mother
- Ahmad Muhammad Al-Khatib, founder of the Arab Nationalist Movement and the Kuwait Democratic Forum, member of the National Assembly of Kuwait
- Colette Dalal Tchantcho, Kuwaiti-Cameroonian actor
- Randa Abd Al-Aziz, Iraqi journalist and news anchor
- Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, Saudi businessman
- Etab, Saudi singer
- Omar Hawsawi, Saudi footballer
- Majed Abdullah, Saudi footballer
- Salem Al-Dawsari, Saudi footballer
- Mohamed Al-Deayea, Saudi footballer
- Ali Al-Habsi, Omani footballer
- Khalid Eisa, Emirati footballer
- Chahine van Bohemen, Dutch-Moroccan footballer
- Almoez Ali, Qatari footballer
- Fahad Al-Abdulrahman, Qatari footballer
- Sanna Abubkheet, First female athlete from Gaza to compete at the Olympics
- Majed Abu Maraheel, First Palestinian to compete at the Olympic Games
- Ghadir Ghrouf, Track and Field sprint athlete who represented Palestine at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing
- Mohammed Abukhousa, Palestinian sprinter who competed at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships and at the 2016 Olympics
See also
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- Al-Akhdam
- Afro-Asians
- Afro-Emiratis
- Afro-Iranians
- Afro-Turks
- trans-Saharan slave trade
- Indian Ocean slave trade
- Red Sea slave trade
- Black Guard
- Gnawa
- Haratin
- Shirazi people
- Swahili people
- Zanj
Citations
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (Archived 2017 edition.)
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ http://www.africanviews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=105 Archived 2014-07-24 at the Wayback Machine Jordan
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Hinde 1897, p. 2.
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Bibliography
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- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Arab Slave Trade Afo-Arab relations and the Arab Slave Trade
- "Black Africans in (Arab) West Asia" - a cited ColorQ.org essay
- Prof. Helmi Sharawy, Arab Culture and African Culture: ambiguous relations Archived 2021-07-24 at the Wayback Machine, paper extracted from the book The Dialogue between the Arab culture and other cultures', Arab League, Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (ALECSO), Tunis, 1999.
- Resolution on Afro-arab Co-operation of The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, 23, February 23–28, 1987.
- African Union/league of Arab States Inter-secretariat Consultative Meeting On Afro-arab Cooperation, Addis Ababa: 10–12 May 2005.
- Maho M. Sebiane, « Le statut socio-économique de la pratique musicale aux Émirats arabes unis : la tradition du leiwah à Dubai », Chroniques yéménites, 14, 2007.[1] [permanent dead link].
- Afro-Arabian origins of the Early Yemenites and their Conquest and Settlement of Spain
