Islam served as a civilizational waystation toward Christian conversion in slave categorization.

Evidence

Khaled Beydoun argues that Africans were de-Islamized in the process of becoming Black slaves, but he does not include in his account the mediating role of Islam between African paganism and the route to Christian civilization. That view of Islam as a waystation to Christianity crops up in other parts of the world, like the Indian subcontinent. The possibility that the practice of Islam made otherwise pagan Blacks more civilized is an alternative explanation for their being treated better and categorized differently than just Black. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 137

Categorization

• XREF: Directly engages and complicates Beydoun’s ‘Antebellum Islam’ argument this reader is tracking against Choudhury’s overall thesis, plus GhaneaBassiri. — connects to: Antebellum American slavery used forced Christian conversion to define civilization and belonging; For early modern Europeans Islam functioned as a civilizing intermediary toward Christianizing Africans — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 130; African Muslim slaves preserved Islam until Protestant abolitionism pulled them into Christianity (+3 more)
• QUESTION: The claim that Islam was a ‘waystation to Christianity’ for pagan Africans is a striking theological-political proposition worth verifying against the primary sources.

Broader Connections

• For early modern Europeans Islam functioned as a civilizing intermediary toward Christianizing Africans #corroborates (0.93) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 130
• Europeans saw enslaved African Muslims as semicivilized aids for Christianizing other Africans #exemplifies (0.90)
• Nineteenth-century travelers credited Islam with civilizing enslaved Africans beyond Christianity’s reach #corroborates (0.88) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 131
• A Muslim slave was recommended as a Christian missionary to Africa #exemplifies (0.87) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 136
• African Muslim slaves preserved Islam until Protestant abolitionism pulled them into Christianity #qualifies (0.74)