Statement on anti-Black racism

The Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies stands against anti-Black racism in all its forms. As a program and a community, we recognize the diversity of Muslim societies in the United States and across the world. We are committed to counter anti-Black racism in our society and within Muslim communities by educating and deepening our understanding of Islam in America, the Black Muslim experience, and the role of Black Muslims throughout the history of the country, and to give a platform to Black Muslim scholarship in our field.

As Kareem Abdul-Jabbar powerfully writes:

Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands.

We will continue to do our part to shine some of that light.

We invite you to join us in attending a campus-wide vigil for Black lives at 5pm Pacific time today. The event, sponsored by the Black Community Services Center, Counseling and Psychological Services, the Office for Religious Life and Ujamaa House. Participants will be reflecting on recent events and hearing thoughts and experiences from some of Stanford’s Black students, staff and faculty. The livestream will be available here. We encourage you to participate.

We also want to share some resources below for our students, faculty and community.

- The Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University

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#BlackIslamSyllabus. This project is curated by Dr. Kayla Renée Wheeler and was inspired by Prof. Najeeba Syeed, #BlackInMSA, and Muslim ARC.  The goal of this project is to provide teachers, professors, researchers, journalists, and people interested in learning more about Islam with resources on Black Muslims to promote a more inclusive approach to the study of Islam.

Reclaiming Blackness and Islamic Identity and Writing and Re-writing the Legacy of Malcolm X, by Dr. Alaina Morgan (Assistant Professor of History, University of Southern California; recent Postdoctoral Fellow at the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, 2017-19)

Statement from US Council of Muslim Organizations: The Killing of George Floyd, White Supremacy, and the Relentless Persecution of Black America.

Muslim American Politics and the Future of Democracy by Edward E. Curtis IV (NYU Press, 2019) - Curtis argues that policies, laws, and political rhetoric concerning Muslim Americans are quintessential American political questions. Debates about freedom of speech and religion, equal justice under law, and the war on terrorism have placed Muslim Americans at the center of public discourse. How Americans decide to view and make policy regarding Muslim Americans will play a large role in what kind of country the United States will become, and whether it will be a country that chooses freedom over fear and justice over prejudice.

The Journal of African Religions - publishes critical scholarship on Africana religions, including the religious traditions of African and African Diasporic peoples as well as religious traditions influenced by the diverse cultural heritage of Africa. 

ENGAGE

Markaz: Resource Center serves the Stanford community that identifies with or has an interest, scholarly or otherwise, in Islamic culture, the Muslim world, global Muslim communities and non-Muslim minorities within the Muslim world.

Muslim Anti-Racist Collective providing racial justice education and resources to advance racial justice.

Sapelo Square is an online forum founded by Dr. Su’ad Abdul-Khabeer on the experiences of Black Muslims in the United States.   

IMAN (Inner-City Muslim Action Network) is a community organization that fosters health, wellness and healing in the inner-city by organizing for social change, cultivating the arts, and operating a holistic health center.

The Abbasi Program’s Online Media library includes some past event videos and podcasts from our Islam in America series.