Muslim Perspectives Radio Program

According to traditional accounts of the Conquest of Mecca by Muslim historians, the Prophet Muhammad addressed his enemies with words echoing Prophet Joseph in the Qur’an: “No reproach shall be upon you today. Go, for you are free.”

The story suggests that acceptance does not require people to erase their differences. It requires them to see beyond those differences and recognise the humanity they share.

Every year, Emancipation Day reminds us of one of humanity’s darkest chapters: the transatlantic slave trade. We remember the millions of African men, women and children who were captured, transported across the Atlantic, and forced into lives of bondage. Yet within that history lies a chapter that is too often overlooked: the story of the thousands of Muslims who were among the enslaved.