DawudWalid
Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee.
Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein."
Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C.
Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada.
Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL).
Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.
Assalamu alaikum, Brother Dawud. I just wanted to say that I appreciate you coming to have this discussion with our San Diego community. You touched on many important topics and provided historical backgrund that I believe is valuable to all Muslims. Initially, I wanted to tweet my final thoughts after Saturday’s lecture, but I decided that I would put them here with hopes that you would read them and find time to provide a response.
With regard to the topic of anti-blackness in the Muslim community, I feel that you left out the main driver of the anti-blackness within the Ummah which is no doubt, Arab supremacy. Instead, you put a lot of emphasis on white supremacy and colonialism as the roots of anti-black attitudes when the Arab slave trade came well before the Trans Atlantic. You put a lot of emphasis on the physical characteristics and lineage of the original Arabs. Although it may not have been your intention, you made Arabs seem relatable to Black people in respect to the similarities in skin tone and hair texture of certain tribes to in some way make us more worthy of their respect. However, dark skinned Arabs are still enslaving dark/black skinned Sudanese people to this day specifically because they are Black and African and seen as less human.
You gave the impression that the Arab slave trade in East Africa in comparison to the Trans Atlantic slave trade, was somehow so different and less horrific. I agree they were different in some ways with respect to the inner workings and ultimate outcomes. However, you mentioned how the Arab slave trade was not based on phenotype or skin color, however what is happening today in Mauritania and Sudan speaks volumes. You mentioned that Arabs enslaved other Arabs and this is was also true in West Africa. Africans enslaved other Africans and Europeans even enslaved other Europeans. This was the times. However, it doesn’t erase the mass atrocities faced by Black people during Arab Slave Trade.
To my understanding, during the Arab slave trade, families, cultures, religions, and languages were also destroyed in addition to the brutality and violence the people endured. This included castrations of Black males and mass rape of Black women, who were in many cases, forced to accept Islam in exchange for their freedom. You mentioned how, freed slaves were allowed to marry into the family of the Arab slave owners. This made it seem as if the Arab slave masters were generally more forgiving and less harsh in some way when this only became an option after slaves accepted Islam. It is true however that depending on the circumstances, the statuses of Africans were able to rise quicker over time in the Arab world than that of those brought to the Americas.
I feel that Arab supremacy is the real issue within our Ummah in terms of “anti-blackness” and I expected you to call it what it was because Arab supremacy not only affects Black Muslims, but all Non-Arabs within the Ummah. Arabs are seen to be at the top of our religious hierarchy and you mentioned this briefly, but I feel that it was discussed in such a way that (to me) minimized both the historical and current anti-blackness among Arabs toward Black Africans by attributing it to white supremacy when Arab supremacy is and has been the main culprit when we examine historic and modern day Arab-African relations.
I’m only discussing these things because these were my honest thoughts. As a well educated lecturer, I am certain that you are well aware of the things I discussed. You seem pretty straightforward and not someone who sugarcoats, so I just wanted to know why it came off this way and know your thoughts on these subjects. Again, I appreciate you opening up this discussion and thanks in advance for any responses to my commentary.
JazakAllah khairan
Wa alaykumus Salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
This is worthy of a conversion. Perhaps we can set up a Google Hangout to discuss these further. I have much to say about what you’ve posed. Let me know if you are interested, and we can fix a date with you and others down there who are interested and/or share your concerns.
I do agree with what you wrote, but was restricted on time to get into some of the things you mentioned. I would, however, like to clarify some things pertaining to the Arab slave trade as well as the racial hierarchy which you mentioned of light skin Arabs at the top. We also have intra-black Muslim hierarchy in which people like me are called Adoon by Somalis, Akata by Nigreians/Liberians and Baria by Ethiopians/Eritreans. It’s a deep subject.
Wa iyyaki
JazakAllah khair for your swift response brother! I do understand that there was a crunch for time and that’s mainly why I wasn’t able to voice my commentary in person and most likely why you were limited in your content. It is indeed very deep because these historical interactions still affect us in various ways. And yes, I too am aware of the Intra-Black attitudes, prejudices and colorism between not only Black Muslims, but also between various Black nations, tribes and peoples within the diaspora. I would love to dive further into this subject and I’m in the process of gathering up some more people who are interested in chiming in on this. I already have a few sisters that also attended your lecture who are down. We appreciate you! BarakAllahu fik for spreading your hikmah and the truth.
Salaam 🙂