I recall perusing my high school American History textbook my junior year, when a photo on the margin of a section on the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade caught my eye. There was no caption or description of the photo. The sheer dignity of an elderly black man with a pipe in hand, and what appeared to be Muslim headgear resonated with me.  Who was he? Fast forward to college, and a fortuitous visit to the Georgetown Public Library’s Peabody Room where I saw another painting that appeared to be this same man. The painting was dated 1822. Then, in 2006 I glossed over the Sunday edition of the Washington Post and came across James H. Johnston’s piece, "The Man in the Knit Cap."  The personal reflections and thoroughness of the article filled in gaps of my own personal research that had haunted me for eight years.

One out of the estimated 9.4 million people brought to America via the slave trade, Mahmoud (or Muhammad) Yaro (1736-1823), also known as Yarrow Mamout, was one of only two African Americans of his time to serve as subjects of formal portraits.  At the age of 14, Yaro arrived with his sister to the shores of Maryland in 1752. He was a practicing Muslim, educated in West Africa to read and write in Arabic. Originally hailing from Guinea, Yaro was renowned for his noble, cheerful character. After forty-five years as a slave, Yaro regained his freedom and purchased a property in the now swanky Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC in 1800.


http://almadinainstitute.org/b...american-muslim-tale