MUSLIM HERO OF THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION Dutty Boukman Dutty Boukman (Boukman Dutty) (died ca. 1791) was an Haitian slave who was one of the most visible early leaders of the Haitian Revolution. According to some contemporary accounts, Boukman may have conducted a religious ceremony in which a freedom covenant was affirmed;[1] this ceremony would have been a catalyst to the slave uprising that marked the beginning of the Haïtian Revolution.[2] Background Dutty Boukman may have been a self-educated slave born on the island of Jamaica. Some sources indicate that he was later sold by his British master to a French plantation owner after he attempted to teach other Jamaican slaves to read, who put him to work as a commandeur (slave driver) and, later, a coach driver. His French name came from his English nickname, "Book Man," which some scholars, despite accounts suggesting that he was a Vodou houngan, have interpreted as meaning that he may have been Muslim, since in many Muslim regions the term "man of the book" is a synonym for an adherent of the Islamic faith. One scholar suggests that it is likely that Boukman "was a Jamaican Muslim who had a Quran, and that he got his nickname from this."[3] Other scholars suggest that Boukman may have practiced a syncretic blend of traditional African religion and a form of Christianity.[4]
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 02:40:44 +0000
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