Nineteenth-century travelers credited Islam with civilizing enslaved Africans beyond Christianity’s reach

Evidence

Christian travelers, with every wish to think otherwise, have remarked that the negro who accepts Mohammedanism (sic) acquires at once a sense of the dignity of human nature not commonly found even among those who have been brought to accept Christianity. It is also pertinent to observe here, that such progress as any large part of the Negro race has hitherto made is in exact proportion to the time that has elapsed since their conversion, or to the degree of fervour with which they originally embraced, or have since clung to, Islam. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 131

Categorization

• QUESTION: How does this pro-Islam civilizational ranking reconcile with the later racialization of Islam as Blackness?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 131
• XREF: connects to: Europeans saw enslaved African Muslims as semicivilized aids for Christianizing other Africans; Nineteenth-century Christians already framed Islam as a preparation for Christian truth; For early modern Europeans Islam functioned as a civilizing intermediary toward Christianizing Africans — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 130 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Nineteenth-century Christians already framed Islam as a preparation for Christian truth #expands (0.85)
• For early modern Europeans Islam functioned as a civilizing intermediary toward Christianizing Africans #corroborates (0.85) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 130
• A Muslim slave was recommended as a Christian missionary to Africa #exemplifies (0.75) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 136