US immigration law excluded Muslim Indians on polygamy grounds even when they claimed whiteness

Evidence

Among the Indian Muslims who arrived in the early twentieth century was Dr. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, an Ahmaddiya Muslim missionary. It is not clear whether he claimed to be white or Black, but he did eventually clear immigration, possibly because he was immigrating from Liverpool rather than directly from the British colony in India. Arriving in February 1920, he was placed in detention and denied entry because his religion permitted polygamy. He spent nearly two months incarcerated and was released because he promised not to practice plural marriage. While in detention, he converted several fellow prisoners to his sect of Islam. Once out of detention, Sadiq went on to convert Marcus Garvey, the leader of the United Negro Improvement Association (”UNIA”), and to influence the renaissance of a more public Islam among Black Americans. There was also a reforged link between Islam and Black identity. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 179

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Aziz’s ‘Racial Muslim’ account of how immigration law racialized Muslims via doctrinal proxies like polygamy rather than skin color. — connects to: Islam was not associated with whiteness, blocking Muslim naturalization — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 89; Islam became racialized in American law through anti-polygamy discourse even without Muslims as defendants — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 141; Islam functionally disqualified citizenship applicants from whiteness regardless of method — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 153 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Islam was not associated with whiteness, blocking Muslim naturalization #expands (0.92) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 89
• Islam functionally disqualified citizenship applicants from whiteness regardless of method #corroborates (0.90) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 153
• Islam became racialized in American law through anti-polygamy discourse even without Muslims as defendants #expands (0.88) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 141
• Polygamy jurisprudence racialized Islam by treating the practice as foreign and treasonable #expands (0.88)
• Religious identity alone distanced Asian Indians from whiteness in naturalization law. #expands (0.86) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 118
• Muslim identity was legally treated as proof of non-whiteness #expands (0.85) — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 979
• Cultural difference is racialized into immutable grounds for excluding Muslims from citizenship #expands (0.80)
• Denying citizenship on religious grounds helped construct American whiteness. #corroborates (0.78) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 117
• Shared ancestry did not protect Mormons from racialization as foreigners #exemplifies (0.78) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 322
• Whiteness by law was defined as Christian, excluding Muslims from citizenship #qualifies (0.75) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 150