Deeper Roots

Today, very little mention is made of the presence of Muslims in the Caribean until the 19th century, with the coming of indentured labourers from India, and then in the 20th century, with the arrival of traders from the Middle East. The history of Islam and Muslim people in this region extends back over one thousand years, predating Columbus' contact by six ceturies.

Despite this, Islam has been written out of the history books of the West, or, in some cases, relegated to the position of a primitive, unsophisticated religion that only motivated its followers to conquer and pillage. This work is an attempt to dispel some of the misconceptions about Islamic history in the Caribbean, and introduce a body of documentation that may help to put the actual achievements and travels of Muslim explorers, merchants and settlers into proper perspective...

Abdullah Hakim Quick is the first American Graduate of the Islamic University of Medinah, Saudi Arabia. He also has an M.A. degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, Canada. He has travelled extensively in the Caribbean and Central America and throughout the Muslim world. His direct involvment in the Caribbean Islamic development as the first Amir of the Islamic Council of Jamaica, Imam of Masjid Bilal (Kingston, Jamaica), and a founding member of AICCLA, gives him a rare insight into the evolution of Islam in the Americas. He is the author of several scholarly articles and has lectured and researched in over 29 countries.