Al Jazeera Podcasts.

Today, revealing the untold history of American Muslims.

The story of Muslims in the U.S. is not one that we discover.

It's one that we encounter.

From before the nation's founding to the 20th century,

how did American Muslims shape the United States we now know?

I'm Alika Bilal, and this is the take.

Thank you. I'm Malika Bilal, and this is The Take. Long before the United States was even founded nearly 250 years ago,

tens of thousands of Muslims were already here.

Some left behind incredible stories that give us a glimpse into their lives.

I was born in Persia and raised in Afghanistan. I came to this country in 1861 with an American

officer, a consul, but I don't remember his name. I couldn't speak one word of English at that time.

Enslaved Muslims, freed Muslims, even immigrants who fought in the Civil War.

About two or two and a half months after my arrival, I enlisted at New Haven, Connecticut,

having been persuaded to enlist while under the influence of liquor.

Their stories defy misinformation and stereotypes and are found in old diaries, traces of archival records, and documents hundreds of years old. Those stories are at the heart of the

PBS series American Muslims, a history revealed.

Graham, who is the director of the project and started it, white British man, who was married to a Bangladeshi Muslim woman,

wanted to hear our story. He heard such fascinating tidbits of our history and also worked on PBS projects

like Henry Lewis Gates' series on African Americans and Linsaw series on like, you know,

Latino Americans, all these different groups and said, why is there no Muslim American series?

My name is Mehta al-Hasson.

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