Reflection on "Prince among Slaves"Ths paper is a reflection of the documentary “Prince among Slaves” which is narrated by

Mos Def and directed, produced and written by Andrea Kalin. This paper shall outline the basics of the documentary, it relation with Sylviane Diouf book and how it theme and content message reflect on daily existence.

Executive SummaryThis historical drama is about a prince named Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori who was a

Muslim prince in Guinea in the late 1788. After his 26th birthday his father a king among the tribe of Fulbe who reigned over West African country of Futa Jallon, made Rahman commander in chief of the army after a successful defeat of some insurgent in their land they were ambushed when returning home and taken captive. They were later sold to the British slave traders and crossed over the Atlantic for the slave market in New Orleans, America.

Upon arrival Rahman was bought by a religious farmer Thomas Foster in a tobacco plantation and toiled in menial labor for forty years. While captive he married an American born slave Isabella and fathered her with nine children. His liberation from enslavement begun after his encounter with certain doctor Dr.John Cox whom Rahman’s father has assisted back in Africa after a failing health and was natured to health by the king tribesmen. After persuasion with the famer to let Rahman free become futile, Cox’s son with the aid of a local new paper editor aired the story of Rahman which caught the attention of the then secretary of state and this followed the president intervention and Rahman was set free. Rahman later campaign for raising of funds o free his wife Issabella for $200 and later his children travelling from state to state petitioning radical groups and political activist for bail out money and only managed to bail out two of his children and their family. They later travelled to Liberia and would later ensure the journey to their kingdom in Futa Jallon but because of age Rahman died before they reached there. However, the rest of the family reunites with their relatives in Futa Jallon kingdom.

Theme of the DocumentaryThe main message in this documentary gravitate the audience on how Muslim faithful

and other religion faithful go through affliction in life sometimes because of their faith and religious beliefs. This also portrays the little known facts about Muslim and the impact it had on slavery. This documentary also sheds lights to the journey of African Muslin from West Africa to United States. This portrays how many Muslim faithful despite their affliction remained faithful to the perception of Islam. Here the only strength and encouragement that these slaves acquired was from Allah the highest God. They endured and persevered through all the torment and aggravated assault that they received from their masters without fighting back but being servants even in hostile conditions. Perseverance and faith is among the key themes in this documentary and are well portrayed by Rahman through out his entire enslavement. This book presents a history of African Muslims following them from West Africa to the Americas. It details how, even while enslaved, many Muslims managed to follow most of the precepts of Islam. Literate in Arabic, urbane and well-traveled, they drew on their organization and the strength of their faith to maintain successful, cohesive communities and to play a major role in the most well-known slave uprisings.

Servants of Allah is the first book to examine the role of Islam in the lives of both individual practitioners and in the American slave community as a whole, while also shedding light on the legacy of Islam in today's American and Caribbean cultures.

1) What are the main points and important messages? 2) How does it relate to the book \"Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas\" by Sylviane Diouf?

Diouf has written one of the few works that not only chronicles the history of Muslim men, women, and children during the Atlantic slave trade and American slavery, but also provides illustrated examples of how African Muslims preserved their faith and maintained their religious lifestyle in the midst of a hostile environment. Diouf asserts that although they left a mark on the religious and cultural landscape of African America, the Muslims have disappeared from the African American collective consciousness and have been overlooked by scholarly research. Replete with examples from the personal narratives and correspondence of the Muslims during this time period, Diouf's study demonstrates how enslaved Muslims served as agents in history, making this work a necessary addition to history and African studies collection. Highly recommended. All levels. -- B.L. Robinson-Jones, Ohio University, Choice, 1999

Sylviane Diouf has given us a book as attractive as its title .... Diouf's work fills an important research gap... This historical study is ground-breaking not only in its theme but also its approach, which can be described as pan-Africanist to the extent that it relates the histories of these deported Muslims to the political upheavals of Medieval Africa . . .; forges links between the varied sites of their dispersal from the 16th to the 19th century . . . and examines the issue of return to Africa and the lineage (or the absence thereof) of this first African Islam. Servants of Allah has a wealth of arguments that provoke reflection and that will not leave the reader indifferent or lacking in bibliographical references

3) Understanding or comments?

Despite the explosion of works on African Americans and religious history, little is known about the Muslims who came to America as slaves. Most assume that what Muslim faith any Africans did bring with them was quickly absorbed into the new Christian milieu. But, surprisingly, as Sylviane A. Diouf shows in this new, meticulously researched volume, Islam flourished during slavery