Research output
Complete citation
Poljarevic, Emin. Review of Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua: An Enslaved Muslim of the Black Atlantic, by Paul E. Lovejoy and Nielson R. Bezerra. Journal of Islamic Studies (2026): etag011. https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etag011.
Status
Published (2026)
Publication type
Scholarly book review
Overview
This review assesses Lovejoy and Bezerra’s reconstruction of the life and writings of Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, an enslaved Muslim whose journeys connected West Africa, Brazil, Haiti, Canada, the United States, and Britain. It highlights the book’s central claim that the disputed 1854 biographical pamphlet is substantially Baquaqua’s own autobiography. The review particularly values the authors’ recovery of his Muslim formation, Qurʾanic schooling, Dendi and Hausa cultural worlds, naming practices, and enduring desire to return home. By foregrounding these elements, the volume recasts the Black Atlantic as an Islamicate as well as an abolitionist and Christian space. The review also notes the book’s maps and reproduction of habeas corpus records, which strengthen its reconstruction of Baquaqua’s movements and struggle for freedom.
Research question or central concern
How convincingly does the volume establish Baquaqua’s authorship and recover the Muslim intellectual, cultural, and legal dimensions of his Black Atlantic life?
Main argument, approach, and contribution
The review evaluates the book through historiography, narrative authorship, Muslim formation, and documentary evidence. It argues that the volume is both a correction and an invitation: it restores an African Muslim voice to Atlantic-slavery history and demonstrates how Islamicate networks, literacy, law, and abolitionist institutions intersected in Baquaqua’s pursuit of freedom.
Keywords
Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua; Black Atlantic; slavery; African Muslims; autobiography; Islamicate history; abolition
Emin Poljarević 