Note 152 — Chapter XI · THE SPREAD OF ISLAM IN AFRICA.

According to Muhammadan tradition Moses was a black man, as may be seen from the following passages in the Qurʼān. “Now draw thy hand close to thy side: it shall come forth white, but unhurt:—another sign!” (xx. 23). “Then drew he forth his hand, and lo! it was white to the beholders. The nobles of Pharaoh’s people said: ‘Verily this is an expert enchanter’ ” (vii. 105–6). The following story also, handed down to us from the golden period of the ʻAbbāsid dynasty, is interesting as evidence of Muhammadan feeling with regard to the Negro. Ibrāhīm, a brother of Hārūn al-Rashīd and the son of a negress, had proclaimed himself Caliph at Bag͟hdād, but was defeated and forgiven by al-Maʼmūn, who was then reigning (A.D. 819). He thus describes his interview with the Caliph:—“Al-Maʼmūn said to me on my going to see him after having obtained pardon: ‘Is it thou who art the Negro k͟halīfah?’ to which I replied:—‘Commander of the faithful! I am he whom thou hast deigned to pardon; and it has been said by the slave of Banuʼl-Ḥasḥās:—“When men extol their worth, the slave of the family of Ḥasḥās can supply, by his verses, the defect of birth and fortune.” Though I be a slave, my soul, through its noble nature, is free; though my body be dark, my mind is fair.’ To this al-Maʼmūn replied: ‘Uncle! a jest of mine has put you in a serious mood.’ He then repeated these verses: ‘Blackness of skin cannot degrade an ingenious mind, or lessen the worth of the scholar and the wit. Let darkness claim the colour of your body: I claim as mine your fair and candid soul.’ ”152