Makandal was a Muslim. Boukman was a Muslim.

On on at is a CD called "fond des blancs fonds des negres" recording and written comment a "mandinga" ceremony (mandingue are Muslim group in African sahel region) th seems to de devoted to "Allah" (God in arabic). Boukman's singer Lolo that th ceremony takes place near Balant near Cap Haitien in December.

Lakou Badjo for this Nago ceremonies on kings day, and those rhythms sound very similar to the Gnawa north African rhythm. Gnawa are some kind of "sosyete" who practice rituals that could be compared to Voodoo but with Islam refernces/synch retism, with Islamized "loas" (7 families), trances, dances, animal sacrifice, e tc. Senegal lwas are saluted with "salam" and "salamasala". Some points to show Islamic presence in Vodou and let you judge for yourself: Boukman, our famous hero of Bwa Ka-Iman, has been described by historians as Isl amic. His name has also been written as Boucqueman. Though, he was Haitian-Jamaican (his parents were both Haitians), the first part of his name has nothing to do with "book" but rather with Bouk, meaning "villag e". In Mali, the chief of the village was, until a few years ago and maybe up to today, referred to as the Bouqueman (pronounced: book-eeman) or the village Ima n. There is some difficulty to accept Frantz assumption of "bo kay Imam" for two re asons: Bwa can be interpreted as "wood" but it is also employed to designate a person ( ti-bwa, for instance and it might mean "boy" but not in a pejorative sense). Fur thermore, in Creole, bo is not easily confused with bwa. Ka, in several African language refers to "head". In other words, it could mean: "the reunion of the man, head of the Iman." The question is the object of many discussions and those who believe that Bwa Ka yiman means Wood of the Caimans rely on the fact that several maps of the North, dating from the time of the colony, bear such names. Vodoun, as an historical reminder, makes a few references to our Islamic ancesto rs . . . . . Lwas like Kongo Mousayi refer to the famous Kango Moussa usually and wrongly ref erred to as Kankan Moussa, who was Islamic. The people possessed by the Lwa Amin, in the Amin Lakou, in the Gonaives region, did not speak Creole but expressed themselves in "language" repeating two words : "la" and "ila" which sounds something like: "la ila ila la". It's probably the well known "La ilaha illa 'llah" of Islam which is the first part of the Shahad a that means, "There is no god but God" (The Shahada is the Profession of Faith that all converts to Islam must recite). Alfred Metraux reports having seen in the Marbial Valley the lwas Amin, Siniga a

nd Banbara as a triad in the hounfo of Manbo Mina. Those Nations were already ve ry Islamized which might explain their unusual behavior as he describes them. The boat of Agwe-ta-oyo is called IMAMOU. In Mandinka and Arabic languages Almam y was the designation of "Al-IMAMU" or "Al-Imam", the person who leads the Praye r, or in some cases, the chief of the community, and/or a member of the Imami Mu slim community. This should be particularly interesting for those who research w ho discovered America first! It is reported that one of the nominees is a Moslem from the Mali Empire by the name of Abu-Bakr who led a huge expedition, at leas t century before Christopher Columbus, into the "unknown seas" and never returne d. Dede Magrit was the name of the founder of the famous hounfo "Nan Kanpech" that dates from the time of Independence. Dede is usually perceived today as a Manbo because of her feminine name but in Arabic, Dede means: "father, ancestor, grand father". King Henri Christophe, it is said, was very wary of her (or his?) activ ities and kept a constant watch on the hounfo from the Citadelle. It would be mo re understandable if, in reality, Dede Magrit was a man since at that time Mosle ms were reputed to be great warriors and could have been seen as a threat to the Northern Kingdom of Haiti. There is also the prayer which the participants answer: "sala malekum" as each " Nation" is saluted. Many Lwas do not accept the offering of a pig for sacrifice. That absence might be significant. There are remnants of the religion in Morne Rouge; and also various family tradi tions.