In 1913, Noble Drew Ali founded the Canaanite Temple in Newark, New Jersey. It would evolve into the Moorish Science Temple of America (MSTA) by the time he settled in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925.
Featured in NMAAHC’s Slavery and Freedom Exhibition, Mohammah G. Baquauqua’s portrait represents just one of the estimated 20%-30% of Africans brought to North America during slavery who were Muslim.
Deborah Tulani Salahu-Din of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture writes about the importance of including the material culture of African American Muslims in the Museum's collection.
