Today’s Imams, Amirs and Shayuk are faced with a multitude of challenges as they push forward in guiding the Muslim Community. They must be prepared to understand and problem solve complex social, economic, education, financial, psychological, and religious issues that face the Muslim community in America and abroad. These issues currently plague almost every country and major city worldwide. Omar Ibn Said Leadership Academy embarks on the mission to produce “Tomorrows Leaders,” by developing an educational institution that merges traditional Islamic education with global leadership training techniques in order to produce the most prolific leaders in the world.
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Who is Omar Ibn Said?
Omar Ibin Said (ca. 1773-1864) was born in present-day Senegal in Futa Turo, a region between the Senegal River and Gambia River in West Africa, to a wealthy slave holding family. Omar Ibin Said was a Muslim scholar who spent 25 years of his life studying with prominent Muslim scholars in Africa. In 1807, he was captured during a military conflict, enslaved and taken across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States. He first escaped from a cruel master in Charleston, and journeyed to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he was recaptured, and later sold to James Owen. Said lived into his mid-nineties and was still a slave at the time of his death in 1864. Omar Ibin Said was also known as Uncle Moreau and Prince Omeroh.
According to an "American Legacy" article by Marc Ferris (1998), Omar is widely known for fourteen manuscripts that he wrote in Arabic. Out of all of his Arabic manuscripts, he is best known for his autobiographical essay written in Arabic in 1831, is the most famous of several manuscripts Ibin Said is known to have authored. It describes some of the events of his life, reflecting, among other things, his steadfast adherence to Islam throughout his long years, along with openness towards other 'God fearing' people. On the surface the document may appear to be tolerant towards slavery. But in fact, Ibin Said begins it with Surat Al-Mulk, a chapter from the Qur'an, which states that only God has sovereignty over human beings. His essay tells about major events in his life, his devotion to Islam throughout his life, and his feelings towards slavery. Overall, these manuscripts are like a journal or diary for him.
Most of his other work consisted of Islamic manuscripts in Arabic, including a handwritten copy of some short chapters (surat) from the Qur'an that are now part of the North Carolina Collection in the Wilson Library at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Wikipedia Encyclopedia online, 2002)
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