Writing His Way to Spiritual Freedom: The Life and Works of Omar ibn Said

Omar ibn Said (ca. 1770-1864) was a Fula Islamic scholar from Futa Toro in West Africa, who was enslaved and transported to the United States in 1807. There, while enslaved for the remainder of his life, he wrote a series of Arabic-language works on history and theology, including a posthumously famous autobiography. This is a collection of all known writings from his pen with complete translation and commentary. It includes all 40 plus annotations from his personal copy of an Arabic Bible and related texts related to prior translators. Additionally, sources of quotes in Omar's texts and given. Omar's associate Lamen Kebe, who was addressed in Omar's autobiography and later repatriated to Liberia after 40 years in slavery in the United States, is also studied in detail as are Kebe's pedagogic theories and list of texts used in his home country's madrasa.