(CNN) The idea of vetting Muslims didn't start with Donald Trump, or even with the 9/11 attacks. Scholars estimate that some 10,000 to 20,000 slaves from West Africa were Muslims. A few were granted preferential treatment because they could read and write Arabic and looked "whiter" than other slaves. Islamerica This series explores the lives of Muslims in the age of ISIS and Islamophobia. Within a few generations, African Islam was extinguished, snuffed out by plantation owners who converted their slaves to Christianity.

Source: CNN January 31, 2017 21:56 UTC