Alexander Russell Webb
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Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb | |
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Born | Alexander Russell Webb November 9, 1846 |
Died | October 1, 1916 | (aged 69)
Nationality | American |
Known for | U.S. consul to the Philippines and an early American convert to Islam. Resprenting Islam at the Parliament of the World's Religions. |
Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb (born Alexander Russell Webb; November 9, 1846 – October 1, 1916) was an American writer, publisher, and the
Early life
His father, Alexander Nelson Webb, was a leading journalist of his time and may have influenced his son’s later journalistic exploits.
Webb received his early education at the Home School in Glendale, Massachusetts and later attended Claverack College, an advanced high school near Hudson, New York. He became editor of the Unionville Republican, Unionville, Missouri. His prowess as a journalist was soon apparent, and he was offered the city editorship of the St. Joseph Gazette in St. Joseph, Missouri. Next he became associate editor of the Missouri Morning Journal. Later he became the Assistant City Editor of the Missouri Republican in St. Louis, Missouri.
While working for the Missouri Republican, he was appointed (in September, 1887) by President Cleveland to be Consular Representative to the Philippines at the U.S. office at Manila. According to the editor of his book The Three Lectures, he had given up any concept of religion at least fifteen years before that point.
Conversion to Islam
In 1886 Webb was introduced to Islam by the works of
Although Webb encountered some hostility because of his beliefs, the American press that reported on his activities did not question his patriotism, but dubbed him instead "the Yankee Mohammedan".[5]
Travels in the Muslim world
After the visit, Webb began plans to tour India and then return to the U.S. to propagate Islam. Webb's wife, Ella G. Webb, and their three children had also converted to Islam by this time. Hajee Abdulla returned to India and raised funds for Webb's tour. Webb visited
In 1892 he travelled to Egypt and Turkey where he could continue studying Islam. While in Istanbul in 1893, he resigned his post with the State Department and returned to America.[7]
Later life
Settling in New York, he established the Oriental Publishing Company at 1122 Upper Broadway. This company published his writings, including his magnum opus Islam in America, which comprised eight chapters:
- Why I Became a Mussulman
- An Outline of Islamic Faith
- The Five Pillars of Practice
- Islam in Its Philosophic Aspect
- Polygamy and the Purdah
- Popular Errors Refuted
- The Muslim Defensive Wars
- The American Islamic Propaganda
Along with this venture he started the organ of the American Muslim Propagation Movement called Moslem World. The first issue appeared on May 12, 1893, and was dedicated to The Interests of the American Islamic Propaganda and "to spread the light of Islam in America". It lasted for seven monthly issues (May to November 1893).
Webb was the main representative of Islam at the 1893
"I have faith in the American intellect, in the American intelligence, and in the American love of fair play, and will defy any intelligent man to understand Islam and not love it."
— Alexander Russell Webb in the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago speech
For the remainder of his life, he was the main spokesman for Islam in America. Many of America's most prominent thinkers heard him speak on the Islamic Faith, including Mark Twain.
On
He is also known for his work as writer. He wrote two booklets about the Armenian genocide from a Muslim point of view: The Armenian Troubles and Where the Responsibility Lies and A Few Facts About Turkey Under the Rule of Abdul Hamid II. He was appointed the Honorary Turkish Consul in New York by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Webb showed his plans for a Muslim cemetery and masjid and the sultan complimented him on them, though those plans never materialized.
From 1898 till his death on October 1, 1916, aged 69, he lived in
See also
References
- ^ "ZAMAN". Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ M'Bow, Amadou Mahtar; Kettani, Ali (2001). Islam and Muslims in the American continent. Beirut: Center of historical, economical and social studies. p. 109.
- ISBN 9780893709198.
- ISBN 978-0-19-518728-1.
- ^ Jamie Gilham. Loyal Enemies: British Converts to Islam, 1850-1950 C. Hurst & Co., 2014, p.136
- ISBN 0195187288. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ISBN 1590080440.
Sources
- Melton, J. Gordon, Biographical Dictionary of American Cult and Sect Leaders (Garland Publishing Company, Inc., New York & London, 1986), pp. 303–304.
- Tunison, Emory H., “Mohammed Webb, First American Muslim”, The Arab World, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 13–18.
- Webb, Mohammed A.R., Islam in America (Oriental Publishing Company, New York, 1893), pp. 5–6.
- Webb, Mohammed A.R., The Three Lectures (Madras, India, 1892), pp. 3–5.
- Webb, Mohammed A.R. and Brent D. Singleton (ed.), Yankee Muslim: The Asian Travels of Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb. Wildside Press, 2007. This work consists of Webb's travel journals and lectures in Asia (mainly India during the Fall of 1892) and includes an extensive biographical introduction and supplemental appendices.
- Singleton, Brent D., "Minarets in Dixie: Proposals to Introduce Islam in the American South," (December 2006) Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol. 26 issue 3, pp. 433–444. Details Webb's attempt to colonize parts of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama with Indian Muslims. As well, it discusses a northern editor's call to convert African-Americans in the south to Islam.
- Singleton, Brent D., "The Moslem World: A History of America's Earliest Islamic Newspaper and Its Successors," (August 2007) Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol. 27 issue 2, pp. 297–307. Examines Webb's newspaper, The Moslem World, and its offshoots and presents a brief overview of a rival publication, The American Moslem.
- Singleton, Brent D., "Brothers at Odds: Rival Islamic Movements in Late Nineteenth Century New York City," (December 2007) Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol. 27 issue 3, pp. 473–486. Explores Mohammed Webb's American Islamic Propaganda movement and relations with its splinter groups the First Society for the Study of Islam in America and the American Moslem Institute.
- Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb, Islam in America, and the American Islamic Propagation Movement" by Muhammed Abdullah al-Ahari from the introduction of his reprint of Webb's Islam in America available through SoundVision.
External links
- A Muslim in Victorian America, the Life of Alexander Russel Webb
- Alexander Russell Webb (Archived 2009-10-25) Please note that almost all of the above article on Webb was derived from this source written by Muhammed al-Ahari.