Muhammad_Article.349.. - Dr. Wesley Muhammad
Muhammad_Article.349.. - Dr. Wesley Muhammad
Muhammad_Article.349.. - Dr. Wesley Muhammad
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
our own – the former being more concerned with brightness, intensity, and shade than with hue<br />
– Lewis suggests that the Arab self-description as ‘black’ is only relative and does not mean blackskinned;<br />
such terms as aswad, sumra, §dam and akh∙ar, all indicating a dark brown or black color,<br />
really signifies ‘swarthy’ when used by the Arabs of themselves in the Classical Arabic literature.<br />
Normal for the Arabs of the peninsula was a light brown or olive complexion. 115 They were<br />
certainly less dark than Africans. 116 Indeed, the conquered natives of Spain, Greece and other<br />
Mediterranean peoples were only “of somewhat lighter skin than the Arabs.” 117 These ‘black’<br />
Arabs and ‘red’ Persians were in fact so similar in complexion, Lewis proposes, that the son of an<br />
Arab father and Persian mother would not look much different from the son of two Arab<br />
parents. 118<br />
A closer look at the relevant references in the Arabic literature indicates that the above is<br />
a misreading. #Ub§da b. al-‘§mit, whom Lewis describes as swarthy, was in fact so black he<br />
struck terror in the heart of his poor Byzantine negotiating partner. 119 There can be no question<br />
of #Ub§da’s appearance being that of a nicely tanned white; on the contrary, his black-skin was<br />
(terrifyingly) real. Similarly, #Abd al-Muããalib’s ten sons – including MuÈammad’s father #Abd<br />
All§h and his important uncles Abå •§lib, Hamza and al-#Abb§s – were not swarthy, according<br />
to al-JaÈií, but a deep black, dalham. #AlÊ b. AbÊ •§lib was intensely black, §dam shadÊd aludma,<br />
120 not swarthy. 121 In fact, #AlÊ would have been about the same complexion as Bil§l, often<br />
said to be the first ‘black Muslim’; he too was §dam shadÊd al-udma. 122 Lewis’s proposition is thus<br />
turned on its head: the son of two Arabs (i.e. #AlÊ) looks little different from the son of an Arab<br />
and an African (i.e. Bil§l), rather than an Arab and a Persian.<br />
This myth of Arabian swarthy whites has informed some translations of the literature,<br />
sometimes with strange results. Notable in this regard is Jane Dammen McAuliffe’s translation of<br />
al-•abarÊ’s description of MuÈammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya. While al-•abarÊ describes the<br />
Imam as so excessively black (§dam shadÊd al-udma adlam) that he was called “Tar Face” (al-q§rÊ)<br />
and “Charcoal Face” (al-muÈammam), 123 McAuliffe renders this passage thusly: “MuÈammad was<br />
very swarthy-his complexion almost black”. 124 The distance between al-•abarÊ’s “excessively<br />
black” and McAuliffe’s “almost black” is significant and should be noted. Puzzling too is David<br />
Powers’ description of Zayd b. \§ritha (d. 8/629), the Prophet’s adopted son. According to<br />
Powers, “Zayd was short, his nose was flat and wide, and his skin was white or tawny colored.” 125<br />
115 Lewis, Race and Slavery, 22.<br />
116 Bernard Lewis, “The Crows of the Arabs,” Critical Inquiry 12 (1985) 88.<br />
117 Lewis, Race and Slavery, 22.<br />
118 Lewis, Race and Slavery, 40.<br />
119 Ibn #Abd al-\aham, FutåÈ mißr (Torrey), 66; Lewis, Race and Slavery, 26, 27; Butler, Arab Invasion, 257.<br />
120 Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, I:37 s.v. مدا suggests that §dam means primarily ‘tawny’, and secondarily darkcomplexioned.<br />
However, according to Ibn Maníår’s entry, when used of human complexions (rather than that of<br />
camels, for instance) §dam/udma signifies an excessively dark brown, al-sumra al-shadÊd and it contains a “dose of<br />
blackness (shurbatun min saw§d): Lis§n al-#arab, s.v. مدا XII:11. Linguist al-Tha#labÊ (d. 1036), Fiqh al-lugha<br />
(Beirut and London: D§r al-Kit§b al-ArabÊ, 2006) 82 likewise notes that §dam’s blackness exceeds that of sumra. See<br />
further Lammens Études, 44.<br />
121 Philip K. Hitti’s description: History of the Arabs, 10th edition (London: Macmillan Education Ltd, 1970)<br />
183.<br />
122 Bal§dhurÊ, Ans§b al-ashr§f, ed. MuÈammad \amÊd All§h (Cairo: D§r al-Ma#§rif, 1987) I:193. On Bil§l see<br />
further EI2 I:1215 s.v. Bil§l b. Rab§È by W. #Arafat.<br />
123 Al-•abarÊ, Ta"rÊkh al-rusul wa"l-mulåk, X:203.<br />
124 History of al-•abarÊ, XXVIII:160.<br />
125 Powers, MuÈammad is Not the Father, 25.<br />
18