We somalis were the first black muslims

[Angelina]

Horners were referred to as Black in Hadith and the Sahaba used the world Black to refer to Horners.

Lol Bilal was the son of an Abyssinians women. If Somalis aren't black then Habesha's certainly aren't either then, yet Bilal who was still called black. Clearly the idea that Somalis are only called black my Western standards isn't actually factual.

Btw, i'm completely fine with Somalis onl wanting to be called Somali ect, but some people's hatred of being called black is illogical.

 

[Angelina]

somalis were referred to as berbers by arabs. arabs 1400 years ago used to call europeans "yellow people" or "bani al asfar" or "beesha jaalle".

So basically, Eritreans and Northern Ethiopians were seen as black, despite many being lighter than us, but we weren't?

 

[reer]

So basically, Eritreans and Northern Ethiopians were seen as black, despite many being lighter than us, but we weren't?

somalis were described as berbers and black. bantus peoples were described as zanj/zunuuj. zanj/zunuuj is like saying negro/negroes. it was ok to say it before but today its not ok.

 

[nomadmutant]

somalis were described as berbers and black. bantus were described as zanj/zunuuj. zanj/zunuuj is like saying negro/negroes. it was ok to say it before but today its not ok.

Negro is not a slur or special word. It's the Spanish word for Black and still used today. I don't know much but zanj was used for Bantus, specifically Swahili Coast not for west Africans and others.

 

[Bluefire]

There is no evidence for this.
According to Muslim traditional sources Islam entered Africa during the migration of the sahabas in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian king may have converted to Islam in the 7 century but we don't know how many Ethiopians followed him. Anyway Islam reached the coast of modern Somalia in the 7 the century, the ancient mosque in Zeila was built during that time. According to most historians though the Islamization of the somali people was gradual , somalis became fully muslim by the 13th-14th century. In the beggining nomads in the interior were still pagan.
It's a misconception to say that Somalia converted in the 7 the century, it was a gradual process that stretched through many centuries

That’s pretty common amongst Muslim nations though.
Syria was still majority Christian during the crusades in the 13th century and Egypt wasn’t majority Muslim until 14th century.

They still aren’t 100 per cent Muslim today.

 

[Apollo]

Lol Bilal was the son of an Abyssinians women. If Somalis aren't black then Habesha's certainly aren't either then, yet Bilal who was still called black. Clearly the idea that Somalis are only called black my Western standards isn't actually factual.

Btw, i'm completely fine with Somalis onl wanting to be called Somali ect, but some people's hatred of being called black is illogical.

Black has different meanings in different parts of the world and in different eras.

In Russia they used to, and some still do, refer to people from the Caucasus and Central Asia as black/blacks.

In the Middle Ages, West Europeans frequently referred to the Maghrebi Moors (mostly made up of Berbers) as blacks. Check the flag of Sardinia where moors are depicted as pitch black.

In Turkey, boomers still use the term Arab to describe Black Africans (even like Nigerians) in an unironic way. As to them back then darkness = Arab. Now the younger generation no longer uses it, but weirdly use the Omani origin word Zanji (spelled Zenci in Turkish).

Basically people used the term black on anybody marginally darker than themselves.

 

[Angelina]

Black has different meanings in different parts of the world and in different eras.

In Russia they used to, and some still do, refer to people from the Caucasus and Central Asia as black/blacks.

In the Middle Ages, West Europeans frequently referred to the Maghrebi Moors (mostly made up of Berbers) as blacks. Check the flag of Sardinia where moors are depicted as pitch black.

In Turkey, boomers still use the term Arab to describe Black Africans (even like Nigerians) in an unironic way. As to them back then darkness = Arab. Now the younger generation no longer uses it, but weirdly use the Omani origin word Zanji (spelled Zenci in Turkish).

Basically people used the term black on anybody marginally darker than themselves.

Yep, i'm fully aware although its strange that the Turks would call Arabs dark when their Arab neighbors are Shamis who are literally the same color as them.

My point is, in the West Somalis are merely called black because we're the same skintone as other SSA, even if our features differ. Arabs called people like Bilal black, but probably didn't see him the same as a black Kenyan for example.

My whole thing is, Somalis are obviously going to be called black as our skin is no different to New world madows even if we are culturally and physically very different. The only reason why many Somalis hate being called it, is because New world madows have a history of being discriminated against and cadaans have negative stereotypes of them.

 

[Apollo]

Yep, i'm fully aware although its strange that the Turks would call Arabs dark when their Arab neighbors are Shamis who are literally the same color as them.

My point is, in the West Somalis are merely called black because we're the same skintone as other SSA, even if our features differ. Arabs called people like Bilal black, but probably didn't see him the same as a black Kenyan for example .

My whole thing is, Somalis are obviously going to be called black as our skin is no different to New world madows even if we are culturally and physically very different. The only reason why many Somalis hate being called it, is because New world madows have a history of being discriminated against and cadaans have negative stereotypes of them.

Most of the 'I am Somali only, screw black' crowd know that the term usually includes them. What they don't like is making an identity out of it, like you see with AAs. For AAs it is a useful identity as that is one of the few things that distinguishes them from White Americans, but for Somalis there already is a ton of linguistic, religious, tribal, cultural things as identity markers.

 

[Angelina]

Most of the 'I am Somali only, screw black' crowd know that the term usually includes them. What they don't like is making an identity out of it, like you see with AAs. For AAs it is a useful identity as that is one of the few things that distinguishes them from White Americans, but for Somalis there already is a ton of linguistic, religious, tribal, cultural things as identity markers.

I'm from the UK. The average Ghanian and Nigerian speaks their language, are proud of their origins and they differentiate between each other based on ethnic group rather than lumping themselves as just 'black' like AAs, yet they have no qualms about being seen as black. Most of the Anti-black Somali posters on the internet seem to be reer UK and the majority of our madows aren't even New world blacks, so trust me no one in the UK is making 'black' as their sole identity. Western Africans here are too busy arguing amongst each other over which nation has the best foods ect. Here, all madows have their own seperate identities, languages ect, yet some Abdis kick up a big fuss.

 

[Apollo]

yet they have no qualms about being seen as black.

Because West Africans are the ancestors of Black Americans who control the narrative on black identity in the West. They see themselves in AAs.

 

[Shimbiris]

Black has different meanings in different parts of the world and in different eras.

In Russia they used to, and some still do, refer to people from the Caucasus and Central Asia as black/blacks.

In the Middle Ages, West Europeans frequently referred to the Maghrebi Moors (mostly made up of Berbers) as blacks. Check the flag of Sardinia where moors are depicted as pitch black.

In Turkey, boomers still use the term Arab to describe Black Africans (even like Nigerians) in an unironic way. As to them back then darkness = Arab. Now the younger generation no longer uses it, but weirdly use the Omani origin word Zanji (spelled Zenci in Turkish).

Basically people used the term black on anybody marginally darker than themselves.

Zenji isn't from Omanis. Maybe it spread to Turks from them but it isn't from them. It long predates "Oman" as any kind of polity on the world stage. As early as the 11th to 14th centuries Arab geographers called the Swahili coast "Bilad al-Zanj":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj

And it probably has continuity with the regional name of "Azania" in antiquity:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azania

Although Azania was once largely Cushitic until the Bantus overtook it.

 

[tariq moses]

The script originated in yemen and is a south Arabian script

no, it evolved from a south arabian script, the process occured inside eritrea/ethiopia

 

[Som]

That’s pretty common amongst Muslim nations though.
Syria was still majority Christian during the crusades in the 13th century and Egypt wasn’t majority Muslim until 14th century.

They still aren’t 100 per cent Muslim today.

Yes of course. Even in Arabia some Christian communities survived, for example the Christian community in Najran survived untill the 13th-14th century

 

[K-M-O]

I'm from the UK. The average Ghanian and Nigerian speaks their language, are proud of their origins and they differentiate between each other based on ethnic group rather than lumping themselves as just 'black' like AAs, yet they have no qualms about being seen as black. Most of the Anti-black Somali posters on the internet seem to be reer UK and the majority of our madows aren't even New world blacks, so trust me no one in the UK is making 'black' as their sole identity. Western Africans here are too busy arguing amongst each other over which nation has the best foods ect. Here, all madows have their own seperate identities, languages ect, yet some Abdis kick up a big fuss.

@Angelina


Though Apollo answer it perfectly....



let me say this: when Somalis avoid the identity “black”, they’re not avoiding what they see through their shades; they’re avoiding the broad term that associates with it.


to start it off.....

Native Americans were once called Red skin/ Red people, let’s be honest.... they’re not.


Asians were once called Yellow people, again they’re not.

the word “Asian” is even more worse and broad than ”Black”.


the word White, Black and Asian are political not cultural nor racial.


even Jews see the political advantage on identifying as white; when they mostly decline in a group settings, while gaining political power.

They identify as White when it suits them best; cause they know it’s political-power and control.



if you’re implying that Somalis are black: through darker skin, other features that defines stereotypical sub-Saharan African
Looks; that would be considered a discrimination, generalisation and ignorance.

Always learn the groups before lumping them with other groups.




interestingly Somalis shades are darker skin through the climates they’ve adapted to. Similar to our ancestral ancient Nilotic people.

But we’re also Cushitic. There’s types of shades Somalis can adapt to:
some being semi-light skin, other being brownish, while most of them being dark-chocolate skin.


I’m semi-light skin and quite brown myself. The rest of my family has different diverse shades some being dark, while other being light skin.


Somalis are very distinctive but also diverse. we’re unique and that’s what makes us beautiful.

 

[Nalaaye floxks]

@Angelina


Though Apollo answer it perfectly....



let me say this: when Somalis avoid the identity “black”, they’re not avoiding what they see through their shades; they’re avoiding the broad term that associates with it.


to start it off.....

Native Americans were once called Red skin/ Red people, let’s be honest.... they’re not.


Asians were once called Yellow people, again they’re not.

the word “Asian” is even more worse and broad than ”Black”.


the word White, Black and Asian are political not cultural nor racial.


even Jews see the political advantage on identifying as white; when they mostly decline in a group settings, while gaining political power.

They identify as White when it suits them best; cause they know it’s political-power and control.



if you’re implying that Somalis are black: through darker skin, other features that defines stereotypical sub-Saharan African
Looks; that would be considered a discrimination, generalisation and ignorance.

Always learn the groups before lumping them with other groups.




interestingly Somalis shades are darker skin through the climates they’ve adapted to. Similar to our ancestral ancient Nilotic people.

But we’re also Cushitic. There’s types of shades Somalis can adapt to:
some being semi-light skin, other being brownish, while most of them being dark-chocolate skin.


I’m semi-light skin and quite brown myself. The rest of my family has different diverse shades some being dark, while other being light skin.


Somalis are very distinctive but also diverse. we’re unique and that’s what makes us beautiful.

My great grandpa is lightskinned and my great grandma is darkskinned, I got siblings that are lighter than me

 

[Apollo]

Thank God Germans weren't the first white Muslims:

 

[Nalaaye floxks]

Thank God Germans weren't the first white Muslims:

Aren’t the first white muslims the balkans?

 

[Dualke]

The script originated in yemen and is a south Arabian script

No, the Ge'ez script is derived from the Ancient South Arabian Script but is not the same thing. That's like saying Latin is a Greek script, big difference.

 

[Clllam]

I’m sure we all know that. With Masjid qiblitain etc etc (Historians don’t know whether or not the King of the Adulites was lying when he claimed he subjugated the Northern Somali Coastal cities. There is no doubt there was an Axumite influence however. If he really did, then Zeila was under Axumite authority). Funny thing is that Somalis were mostly Orthodox Christians, Waaqists, and some Jewry was also practiced prior to Islam.