BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Black Iraqis Seek Their Heritage

Tiny Minority, Now Muslim, Thought To Have Slave Forefathers.

January 21, 2004|By Ann M. Simmons Los Angeles Times

BASRA, Iraq — His ebony skin, curly hair and facial features distinguish Mohammed Abbass as a man of African descent. But he has never set foot in Africa and knows little about the continent and its people. As long as he can recall, his forefathers have lived in Iraq and his roots are deep in this Middle Eastern country.

"Of course I consider myself to be Iraqi," said Abbass, 35, a carpenter. "I don't have any knowledge about my history."

But that is something that Abbass, typical of the tiny percentage of blacks who have been a part of Iraqi society for centuries, wishes he could change. As has long been the case among African-Americans and Caribbean blacks, many black Iraqis, most of them presumed to be the descendants of slaves, are keen to learn about their heritage.

"I have a wish to know what my history is," said Abbass, who speaks Arabic. "I also want to go to Africa to see what's there."

With the collapse of the despotic government of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, that eventually may be possible, as ordinary Iraqis consider a future of more opportunities and liberties.

For now, the demise of the former system has left government agencies and administrative departments in disarray, making access to statistical information on the ethnic breakdown of Iraq's population of 23 million difficult to obtain. Still, some academics put the number of Iraqis of African decent at about 1 percent, although others say that figure could be closer to 5 percent.

Blacks are an intrinsic part of Iraqi society and generally are treated as such. Some have ascended to significant positions in academia, trade and other professions. Like other Iraqis, they speak Arabic, and most are Muslims belonging to the country's Shiite majority or the Sunni minority.

"We are just like any other Iraqis, no different," said Marydosh Abbass, Mohammed's 72-year-old father, who recalled that his grandfather bore facial markings typical among certain African communities.

But some black and nonblack Iraqis acknowledge that some racial discrimination persists, and dark-skinned Iraqis often are viewed as less attractive and even inferior.

Few blacks rose to political prominence under Hussein, and many are said to have participated in the 1991 uprising against the dictator's regime.

Historical data confirm a link between Africa and the Arab world dating back as many as 1,500 years, when African villages were raided and thousands of people were taken as slaves to the Middle East, including present-day southern Iraq, Kuwait and Iran.

The slaves initially came from East Africa, including areas that became the countries of Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. As the demand for labor grew, Arab slave traders reached deeper into the continent. By the 19th century, Basra, now home to the largest concentration of Iraqi blacks, had become a prosperous slave port.

As many slaves began to convert to Islam, they were spared bondage because Islamic law forbids the enslavement of Muslims. Children born to a Muslim master and slave also were considered free, historians say.

Some blacks managed to rise in social status. Bilal Rabah, an Ethiopian slave, became the first Muslim muezzin, the man who calls the faithful to prayer, during the early Islamic era and the time of the Prophet Muhammad.

Abdulrazzaq Abduljaleel Ibrahim thinks he is a direct descendant of Rabah. The retired soldier said his family has lived in the same Basra stone house for 500 years.

As he sat cross-legged and gently strummed on a traditional African harp-shaped instrument known as a tampora, Ibrahim sang words from a language he doesn't understand. The lyrics were passed down through generations. The only word he recognizes is simba, or lion, in the East African language Swahili.

If he ever had a chance to visit Africa, Ibrahim said, he would be full of questions.

"I would like to know information about our African origins and the kind of things that we still maintain from our origin," said Ibrahim, 45, a father of three. "How they use the instruments I have here. Do they still have the same name, the same music? And the words I am using, am I pronouncing them the same way or not?"

Ibrahim's sister Rabia Abduljaleel Ibrahim, 63, said: "I would like to know where my grandfathers were living. Although it is a long time ago, we still feel a connection, the customs, the blood."