“In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate”: Rewriting Literary Conventions and Reclaiming Islamic Identity in The Life of Omar ibn Said (1831)

Omar ibn Said’s 1831 autobiography The Life of Omar ibn Said stands out in American slave narratives for presenting an enslaved Muslim’s experiences written in Arabic, defying the dominant English-language tradition. This article investigates how Said’s choice to write in Arabic is an act of resistance, allowing him to reassert his identity in defiance of the dehumanizing institution of American slavery. This paper argues that Said’s autobiography functions as a counternarrative that emphasizes his intellectual identity and humanity by challenging the typical captivity narratives of American slave narratives—strategically utilizing silence to portray suffering while also incorporating Islamic literary styles and paradigms that resist conforming to mainstream American literary conventions. By analyzing Said’s strategic use of Arabic and Islamic narrative forms, this paper advocates for re-examining and expanding the American literary canon to encompass diverse voices and experiences. Studying autobiographies like Said’s opens conversations about non-English texts that reshape dominant historical narratives surrounding enslavement and American identity.