Resisting conversion
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Diouf explains that for many non-Muslim Africans, converting to Islam offered a way to reassert their identity amid the dislocation and trauma of slavery. Uprooted from their homelands and separated from their families, they sought to preserve a sense of self. Islam, with its structured practices, provided an alternative to the Christian conversion efforts of European colonizers. Non-Muslims pragmatically adopted aspects of Islam that aligned with their spiritual needs, often blending them with their traditional beliefs, as Diouf notes: “they incorporated whatever seemed useful in the new religion into their original beliefs” (Diouf, 75).
In contrast, Muslims resisted conversion more staunchly, as their commitment to Islam was deeply tied to their identity. Diouf emphasizes that many Muslims had actively fought to defend Islam in Africa and had been deported as a result. She explains that these “warriors of the faith” were unwilling to abandon a religion for which they had already sacrificed their freedom and lives (Diouf, 76). Their resistance to conversion was both an act of rebellion and a reflection of their strong religious convictions, making them less likely to adopt a new faith imposed by their enslavers.