"UMAIF towards UMMAH"

There is no such Cherokee chief named Ramadhan Ibn Wati in all of Cherokee history. The chief of the Cherokee in 1866, who I believe Mahir is alluding to, was General Stand Watie, who, although being chosen by a faction "mix-bloods" as their chief, was not the principle chief of the Cherokees - which was Chief John Ross.

John Ross' Cherokee name was Guwisguwu. He was born of a Scottish father and a 1/4 Cherokee mother. And, like the overwhelming majority of mixed-bloods, was a Christian, to the extent of being a professor of that religion.

Stand Watie's father's name was Oo-wati in Cherokee, meaning "the ancient one". His father was also a Christian and went by his Christian name of David Oowatie. His mother was half-Cherokee, and was also a Christian and known by the name Susannah. Chief Stand Watie's Cherokee name was Takertawker, which means "he stands". Stand Watie, who was also a Christian, was given the Christian name of Isaac, however, he preferred the English version of his name "Stand" to the name Isaac. Later, the "Oo" was dropped from "Oo-watie" and the family name became Watie (sometimes being spelled Waite).

It is amazing that an Afrocentrist would use a Confederate General, fighting to defend the institution of chattel slavery of Africans and their descendants, among other things, to propagate an Islamic / Cherokee connection. I believe he makes this exaggeration due to Stand Watie having a son by the name Saladin, the anglicized version of the Arabic name Salah ud-Deen. The Watie family were a Christian Cherokee family, as were the majority of Cherokee families, which was one of the reasons of so many Cherokees adopting the institution of chattel slavery, while it was the "traditionalists" who had opposed chattel slavery. Also, Saladin was not all that uncommon of a name back then. I have been able to find at least four references to Cherokees named Saladin.

I have no idea how the name Ramadhan was twisted around to refer to Chief Stand Watie. It is obviously an outright lie and the only source for it is Mahir himself. If anything it would seem that Mahir would have logically attempted to rename Chief Stand, Ishaq in reference to his Christian name Isaac but, inshaa Allaah, that deception would be exposed as well.

If there was any semblance of Islam among Indians, it would seem that there would at least be one Indian named Muhammad, as this is the most popular name in the Islamic world and the world at large. However, I have not seen the existence of this name among Indians, wa Allaahu â€کalam. Additionally, even after the genocide waged upon us and the banning of our traditional religions, these religions have still been able to survive, however we do not find remnants of Islam surviving among American Indians. If anything survived from Islam it would at least seem that the "pillars of Islam" would have survived along with common terms and names, such as Allaah, Muhammad, salaah, Ramadhaan, Islam.

Even among those Muslim slaves, that were brought over to America from Africa, you could still find remnants of Islam among them and clues to their being Muslims even today. Where are the remnants and clues among American Indians? It is not that I believe it is not possible, however, I disagree with Muslims making these assertions unless substantial evidence for such claims can be provided. Making these assertions without providing the incontrovertible evidence for such claims only destroys Muslim's integrity and trustworthiness, and makes it just that much harder to have a dialogue with and to present the Islamic da'wah to American Indians, wa Allaahul musta'an.

The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu 'alayhi was sallam said, “The Hour will not begin until no one on earth still says, 'Allaah, Allaah.'" (Ahmad)

We do no even find the saying of "Allaah, Allaah" among the Indians.

This entry was posted on Monday 21 November 2011 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response.