Sheikh Abdul Hakim Sherman Jackson has written a wonderful book (Islam and the Blackamerican) which, if read, enlightens and educates one that Muslims in America are a mixed bunch and that ‘immigrant Islam’ is the new kid on the block. Whilst also revealing that Blackamerican Muslims have been around for a good few decades before 1965 when the US government repealed the National Origins Act and the Asian Barred Zone legislation. “In fact, prior to the 1970s, Blackamericans dominated the American Sunni scene, at least in terms of those who actively identified themselves as practising Muslims.”

Getting the mind around the indigenous immigration to Islam, of those native to Europe/America, is proving to be a touch tricky for some. The two things which seem so synonymous, Islam and immigration, need to be clearly distinguished as neither is a prerequisite for the other. Islamic indigenous immigrants may enter Islam for one set of reasons (e.g.emotional/spiritual fulfilment) and foreign economic migrants may enter a country for completely opposite motives(e.g. monetary/educational progress). Although the very first generation of Muslims did migrate/accept migrators, they did so for the sole purpose of preserving their religion. So in their case migration and Islam were very much connected to one another.

Allah knows better.