Negotiating Identities: A History of Islamization in Black West Africa

Abstract

While Muslim immigrants from West Africa are arriving in the United States at unprecedented rates, few recognize their Islamic activity. The orientalist stereotypes many westerners consume about Islam prevent them from understanding the complex ways these Muslims negotiate their religious, racial, and ethnic identities. Today, most West African Muslims in the US belong to the Wolof, a major ethnic group in Senegal, followed by the Malinke of Cote dʾIvoire. As such, their Islamic identity is not straight forward, forcing them to shift the boundaries of their Black and African heritage to accommodate their faith. This article argues that in order to fully grasp the contemporary practices of West African Muslims, one must understand the overall history of their Islamization, a process describing how the Wolof and Malinke have negotiated their preexisting identities to form an Islamic sense of self.