FWD: “The Story of Omar Ibn Said”

Library > Community Presentations

Presenter: Ahmad Beyh

Delivered: London on April 14, 2019

In the early 19th century in Futa Turo (Senegal), Omar Ibn Said was enslaved and taken to the United States. There, he soon became popular after writing some scripture in Arabic on the walls of his prison cell. This short presentation is a glimpse of his unique story and legacy which culminated in a short autobiography that he wrote in Arabic.

Sources & Future References

• Omar ibn Said - Wikipedia

• The Autobiography of Omar ibn Said, an enslaved Muslim in the United States, 1831

• The amazing story of Omar ibn Said - Islamic Networks Group (ING)

• About this Collection | Omar Ibn Said Collection | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

• New Online: Rare Autobiography by Enslaved West African Scholar | Timeless

• Handwriting on the Wall: The Case of Omar ibn Said - YouTube

• Omar Ibn Said (1770-1864) - North Carolina History

• Summary of Autobiography of Omar ibn Said, Slave in North Carolina, 1831. Ed. John Franklin Jameson. From The American Historical Review, 30, No. 4. (July 1925), 787-795

• Only Surviving Arabic Slave Narrative Written in the United States Digitized by Library of Congress | Smithsonian

• African Muslims in Early America | National Museum of African American History and Culture

• Omar ibn Said, a Muslim slave, wrote a memoir in Arabic acquired by Library of Congress - The Washington Post

Contact Info

• Instagram: @ahmadbeyh

Note: All community presentations are prepared & presented by non-experts on the subject. They are sharing information in the hopes of spurring interest in that subject.

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About Afikra Community Presentations

Delivered and prepared by afikra Community members, the presentation’s goal is to showcase the presenter’s curiosity and research and share some knowledge on a ‎topic related to the Arab world’s histories and cultures. The presentation is the ‎culmination of the afikra coaching process to help identify a topic, find research, and develop the ‎presentation. afikra presentations come in two forms, a long question-driven afikra Feature, and a short afikra FWD with the purpose of sharing something interesting.