Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (also Edward Doulan) was an Islamic scholar from Timbuktu. He was enslaved in his early twenties in the city of Bouna (in today's Ivory Coast). He wrote his autobiography, a slave narrative, in Arabic; two copies (one in Jamaica, one near London) were made and translated into English, and published in 1834.
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was the son of a well-to-do merchant and traveler, who went to Bouna to seek gold. Abu Bakr was educated as an Islamic scholar in Jenne after his father died in Bouna during his business travels. After his father's death, Abu Bakr visited his grave his tutor. While they were living there, war broke out; Adrinka, Sultan of Bondoukou, had killed the Sultan of Banda, and extended the conflict to Bouna, which his army overran. In the subsequent chaos Abu Bakr was captured and enslaved. He was made to carry a load down to the Atlantic Coast, where he was sold to Christians, and after three months arrived in Jamaica. A pair of letters at the end of his narrative relate how he was set free by his owner, Alexander Anderson, and given his "English name" as Edward Doulan.[1][2]
References
edit- ^ Kalu, Anthonia C., ed. (2007). "The African Travels of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq". The Rienner Anthology of African Literature. Boulder: Lynn Rienner. pp. 200–205. ISBN 9781626375833.
- ^ Al-Ahari, Muhammad A., ed. (2006). "'Abu Bekr Sheriff of Timbuktoo; Written in Jamaica 1834". Five Classic Muslim Slave Narratives. American Islamic Heritage Series. Chicago: Magribine Press. pp. 201–207. ISBN 9781463593278.