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AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN AFRICA
By Sheikh AbdurRab Hasan
I arrived on the coastland of Africa, Rabat Morocco and for me it was the most beautiful sight to behold on November, 1978. I began a most wonderful journey with many apprehensions and fears of the unknown and I felt that my natural abilities were limited because I knew not the language or the culture of the Moroccan people.
When I arrived, the first thing that took my attention was the “beautiful veiled women”. You could only see their eyes in the slits of their veils, and their purity and modesty was taken from the words of the Glorious Qur'an: Surah Al-Nur 24:31. As a Muslim, it was quite a religious enlightenment. As I arrived at the Hilton Hotel in Rabat, I immediately made total bath and put on my “jallaba”, “mantle” and “turban” and sandals and with prayer rug and prayer beads in hand, I dashed outside into the Hotel’s garden area. I fell down on my knees prostrating toward Mecca and praised Allah for returning me back to the homeland for many hours on the soil of Africa. When I returned back to my hotel room, many people greeted me with “Allah-ul-Akbar”, hotel staff, hotel guests, and many Moroccans and Saudi Arabians who were staying at the hotel.
My African Moroccan brothers welcomed me home with open arms. They reassured me that I had completed the journey in returning back to my homeland after 400 years of slavery and exile. They shared with me their culture and language . I was invited into their homes for dinners, where I was served for the first time in my life “cous cous” (a wheat grain very similar in taste and texture to “cornbread”). The "cous cous" was piled on a big platter looking like a pyramid and it was surrounded with tomatoes, carrots, anchovies, lamb, beef and chicken. Before I could finish my meat in front of me, someone in the circle would toss more meat to me. For dessert, we had “baklava” (a sweet flaky crust with syrup and pistachios nuts).
I found in Rabat some of the world’s most beautiful hand-made Glorious Qur’ans, which I eagerly purchased. It was grayish blue leather with pure silver-leaf pages. Just looking at it dazzled you. They had also beautiful (sable-tooth) curved daggers with rubies and green emeralds set in the handles and beautiful yellow pointed-toe Muslim shoes. (Now I know why, we loved our pointed-toe shoes when I was a youth in the Detroit Ghettos).
Also in Rabat Morocco was one of the most remarkable procedures, when you entered the Grand Mosque, they would query you to make sure that you was a Muslim and not a disbeliever, they had five questions, and none of the questions were related to the "four schools of thought" or “hadiths”.
Seven months passed, when I experienced a sensational event. We were leaving the Grand Mosque and I was walking with two other brothers, and we talking about "Allah" and His Religion "Islam". The brothers had many questions and was urging me to settle in Morocco and stay with them and teach; but as we continued to walk I felt the presence of more peoplejoining us, so I glanced back I saw four more bothers walking with us through the streets in the city of Rabat. We continued walking and I looked back again and now it was approximately 15 or 25 brothers walking with us now, and then I began to see sisters, getting off buses out of taxis, etc., joining us and there were now too many to count, and they began to chant "ALLAH UL AKBAR" "ALLAH UL AKBAR". A brother from out-of-nowhere on a motor bike appeared and told me to “get on ”; which I immediately did. I was then whisked away on his motorbike with my mantle and turban flying in the air. I was taken back to my flat and I knew then that my notoriety had became too big. Shortly thereafter, the king of Morocco, Mohamed II, sent his secretary with a mouth full of "gold teeth", who approached me and asked me "why I had not visited the King's palace to have an audience with him?" I had been warned, previously by my African Moroccan brothers that the King had many dungeons and prisons in his palace for devout “Muslims” and servants of Allah. I had met a Nigerian in New York who had invited me to visit with him at his home in Maryland, Nigeria. I felt that now was the appropriate time for me to leave Morocco. I took a bus up the beautiful coastland of Morocco overlooking the Mediterranean Sea up to Casablanca. It was most beautiful sight to see traveling the highway to Casablanca. I hated to leave my home in Rabat, but felt the urgency of departure.
I left Casablanca with the voice of one of my Moroccan sisters who worked at the Nigerian Embassy, telling me that “I shouldn’t go there (in Nigeria), because these people were not your people.” But the memory of the King and his harsh treatment of devout Muslims, I felt the necessity of leaving Morocco. When I arrived in Nigeria, I immediately noted the vast differences in the people. I stayed in Nigeria for about a year and I traveled throughout Nigeria by train and plane to Ibadan, Ilorin, Zaria, Kano, etc. I had met a Sudanese brother whom I lived with in Nigeria, who made me his special "guest" in Nigeria. By now, my wife had joined me and we lived together with Zakir for many months. I decided to leave Nigeria heading east to Ethiopia.
I had met with the Ambassador of Algeria and the second counselor at the Libyan Embassy, but I wanted to return to Morocco. The Algerian Embassy informed me that if I had an organization, it would be better for me when I come to Algeria and the Libyan Ambassador told me “that in all good conscience” he could not recommend us to go to Libya. So I decided to go to Ethiopia. So I left Nigeria and went to Addis Ababa. I was taken to a local hotel by the taxi driver and begin to live as a native in the land of “Ethiopia”. I learned to eat “Enjella” and greens and meat, which my wife wanted to use the “Enjella” as a napkin because of its grey color. But we were informed that it was "native bread" and it was so delicious with the greens and meat, hot sauces and vegetables. We enjoyed this hotel very much, even with broken water pipes, etc. I enjoyed the people. We then traveled by train to the interior of Ethiopia. What a marvelous sight to see sunset and sunrise in the beautiful landscapes of Ethiopia. I saw the beautiful blue, blue water and orange blossom trees. I saw the sights of the plains land. On the train, I saw a troop of “red-hearted monkeys whose hearts were on the outside of their chest, sitting on the rocks, While traveling through the villages we saw the most beautiful people, men tall, stately and handsome and the beautiful Ethiopian women with their hair in braids and in their traditional “white” muslin cloth dresses. My wife could not wait to buy one. We finally arrived in Dirra Dawa, Ethiopia at the end of Ethiopia. I met with the Ambassador of Djibouti at the Red Sea at the Horn of Africa. He invited us to visit his country, Djibouti, which we eagerly accepted.
But before we left Ethiopia, I experienced a very strange event, I had met a family in Dirra Dawa and he told me of his family in Addis and invited me there to his family in Addis Ababa. When we arrived at the home of his cousin in Addis, I was greeted warmly by a stately Ethiopian man who wore a robed garment. He made me welcome to his home even gave us his master bedroom. My wife and I enjoyed the food and family immensely. While visiting him, he informed me that he had five daughters and I could select one of them to marry. I agreed and selected the second to the oldest “Tesdala” as a future bride. I was introduced to the whole family and a big celebration was arranged in my honor. The family members came from all other Ethiopia to meet and greet me. There was a culture and language barrier, because being from America, I was still ignorant to many of our African cultures and one was that a marriage ceremony could be done with only the consent of the family and the husband-to-be and what I did not understand that this was a “wedding ceremony” which had confirmed my marriage to Tesdala. I mistakenly thought it was only a family gathering to meet me. The next morning, my wife and I departed for the airport, we took a plane from Addis Ababa Ethiopia to Djibouti, Djibouti. As we departed, “Tesdala” looked at me puzzled and bewildered. Unknowing to me, we had been married at this family gathering " wedding ceremony", so when I left her standing at her father’s house, I had abandoned her. But, I thought that I could return in a few months to pay the dowry and marry her. I felt so ashamed later when I was told that I had left my bride at her father’s front door. I could never return.
Djibouti was another warm welcome home. When we first arrived at the airport, we were greeted warmly even by the Djibouti government Agents and officials, who said: “They are Muslims, let them pass. It was wonderful. An experience of sheer pleasure as we boarded the taxi to the hotel, the people was just beautiful. We didn’t want to be just tourists so we didn’t waste any time leaving the hotel and going out to find us a flat. It was very, very hot, but we endured it. I was introduced to one of the senior Sheikhs in the District where we were living who spoke "good English". He became a very close brother to me, Sheikh El-Tahir. He told me that I was from the Hebrew Arabian tribe of the "Ishmaelites" and when I informed him that I was a “sayed”, born with a secret name and Divine Calling, etc. He confirmed my tribal identity with the “Hashims”, the family of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.), the Last Prophet of God. Sheikh brought many of my "bani-Hashim" relatives to meet and greet me. Shortly thereafter, he introduced me to the "circle of the elders". Where we ate sweet meat and drank hot sweet "shi" (tea) and while I was questioned and watched very closely for many hours it was a very pleasant day, and because of the in-depth wisdom which God had blessed me with and my birthright, in the end, I was appointed the title of a “Sheikh” (learned-one and leader).
Sheikh Tahir took me to an Ethiopian Refugee Camp, because of their civil war in Ethiopia, many refugees had come to Djibouti to live, and a Refugee Camp had been established. On seeing the misery of my people at these refugee camps, Sheikh Tahir advised me that a Muslim organization was needed to help the Muslim population and that I should formalize one. My experienced in Agriculture in Mississippi and my experienced in marketing in Denver, Colorado gave me a strong background to set up an organization in agriculture and marketing to help the poor and the powerless, wayfarers, widows and orphans. My stay in Djibouti was almost a year. It was eventful with earthquakes and tremors, and severe heat. My wife had grown a new skin several times, because she had worn synthetics clothes instead of cotton.
After leaving Djibouti, we decided to go back to the West coastland of Ghana to establish an African non-governmental humanitarian volunteer organization because Ghana was an English-speaking country and it was easier for me to incorporate there. This was the beginning of the “Crescent of Hope” a humanitarian non-governmental organization. At first, we conducted programs in Ghana in Accra, Tamale, and Kumasi. We provided a food program and raised money for agriculture, schools and other educational projects.
We left Ghana and traveled to Banjul Gambia. It was a hot, humid, diseased-infested Island, off the shores of Senegal. We left Gambia after a few months and went to Senegal, as an African non-governmental organization. Our first task was an immunization program for babies and adults in Dakar, Senegal. We brought cloths and thread for the people of Western Sahara and we traveled extensively throughout Senegal distributing food and medicines even to the last town in Senegal, Kidira; where we established an agricultural project and distributed medicines to the wayfarers from Mauritanian, conducted blood pressure screening, etc. Dakar, the cosmopolitan capital of Senegal was an contrast of Africa and the European West. It was quite an experienced to be truly "free" in Africa. Plaza Independence was a relaxing environment which I enjoyed and spent a great deal of time there, eating fresh roasted peanuts, donuts and milk and ice cream (I made fresh glazed donuts and marketed them everyday). I enjoyed the Mourrid and the Tijani Muslims who came and visited me and talked with me. We live throughout Senegal, but "Parcel Assindes" was our home base for seven years. I enjoy meeting and visiting with President Diouf of Senegal, a stately leader and gentlemen of the Senegalese people. President Diouf even arranged a special big brand new air conditioned bus with a "cap and uniform" wearing driver who drove this express bus down our street in "Parcel Assindes" which took us to Dakar, Senegal every morning which we sincerely appreciated. In Senegal, we learned to eat fish so big (at least 50 to 60 pounds), big silver flat fish, big black fish, etc. and bushels of shrimp, filet (tenderloin) steaks, etc.
We also used Senegal as a base for our newly founded non-governmental organization. We traveled to Tanzania and the Island of Zanzibar, where the spices were fragrant. A brother from Tanzania, Abdul Sadiq took over the operation in Tanzania and we returned back to Senegal. We was now ready to travel further inland to Bamako, Mali. In Mali we traveled to Gao, where I almost died from dysentery. I had been so busy treating others, I had neglected myself. I was rudely awakened with a severe case of dysentery. It took me many days to recover after losing most of my bodily fluids. Praised be to God for my Nigerian brother Mukalla (and my wife) who administered medicine to me and looked after me during this time. Goa was a land of many contrasts, it was warm in the day and cold at night, it was the crossroads of the desert area and there were many wayfarers living in straw tents at the edge of the desert. We lived for the first time in an earth house. The earth home was cool in the day and warm at night. I saw my first “wild” Sansui (Sansui) dog, he came into our "walled-compound" and was so fast that it was out of sight in a flash. I fell in love with the desert oases and their many, many date palms, and the "curing salt" from the salt mines of the Mali deserts, which still exist today.
We journeyed on to Niger, at the border of Niger and Bakino Faso (Upper Volta), a town on the Niger side, the first city you arrived at in Niger, I found the cleanest halal meats (clean and hanging fresh) that I had not found in a long time, the people were kind and hospitable. We really enjoyed them and wanted to stay, but we journeyed on to the capital Niamey, Niger. We began our "Crescent of Hope" work, we administered food and medicine and some educational programs. Our reception was very, very good amongst the people. The Commanding General of the Army, who later became President, Ibrahim Bari, met with my wife and they discussed many things including the betterment of the Nigerian women.
While living in Niger, I met with some of the Taureg chieftains and I decided to marry one of the beautiful daughters of one Taureg chiefs. One year later, she gave birth to a beautiful healthy 9 lb. baby boy, who was delivered by my first wife and two other sisters at our home. He was my first offspring born free, and I named "Mohamed" the Hebrew Arabian Ishmaelite Prince. After 20 odd years of living and working in Africa, I find a great satisfaction and inspiration working in the cause of Allah. We look forward to our next assignment in Chad, and we invite you to join us!
