Before Muslim Media Flourished, One Man’s Dream Died After Just Seven Issues
In the spring of 1893, as Americans debated the closing of the frontier and the nation’s emerging role on the world stage, a remarkable publication appeared on newsstands in New York City. The Moslem World was bold, beautiful, and unprecedented—it was America’s first Islamic newspaper.
The man behind this ambitious project was Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb, a former U.S. consul to the Philippines who had converted to Islam. His newspaper, financed by Indian businessmen, was intended to be the centerpiece of an American Islamic mission that would spread the faith across the Western hemisphere.
The story of Webb and his newspaper, meticulously researched by Brent D. Singleton of California State University, San Bernardino, and published in the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, reveals a forgotten chapter of American religious history . It is a tale of high hopes, public ridicule, financial collapse, and personal resilience.
From Missouri Newsman to Muslim Missionary
Webb was no stranger to the newspaper business. Growing up in Hudson, New York, he learned the trade at the foot of his father’s printing press. By the time he converted to Islam while serving as consul in Manila, he had spent nearly fifteen years as a journalist in Missouri .
His friend and colleague William A. Kelsoe remembered Webb as “the most versatile man we had” and “a born newspaper man” who could “stick type in the composing room” and “handle a big news story better than Webb or turn out copy faster than he could” . These skills would prove essential for the daunting task ahead.
Webb’s path to Islam began in Manila, where he met Indian businessman and philanthropist Hajee Abdulla Arab. Arab had read about Webb’s conversion through letters published in Indian newspapers. Traveling to Manila, Arab proposed that Webb lead an Islamic mission to America. Webb agreed immediately. Their contract gave Webb management and editorship of a newspaper that would be “a high class weekly newspaper, devoted to the real doctrines of Islam” .
A Publication of Extraordinary Quality
When The Moslem World debuted on May 12, 1893, it was a thing of beauty. The sixteen-page newsprint was wrapped in a sturdy white paper cover featuring a brilliant etching of a domed mosque, palm trees, a star and crescent, and elaborate eastern-style lettering. Each issue also featured a vivid illustration of a different Indian mosque .
Critics nationwide praised the paper’s printing quality. The New York Times called it “a well-printed paper” that “will be capable, in the course of a year, of absorbing a very handsome sum of money” . The Kansas City Journal pronounced it “a beautifully printed paper,” while the Boston Globe found it “bright, attractive, trenchant and thoroughly interesting” .
Inside, the paper featured translations of Qur’anic verses, lengthy articles by prominent Western and Muslim thinkers, and news from across the Islamic world. Correspondence from American readers suggested growing interest in Islam. One convert from California claimed he had embraced Islam forty years earlier. A Connecticut reader declared, “No Christian paper in the world could have interested me as much as The Moslem World” .
The Three Publications of Alexander Russell Webb
| Publication | Dates of Publication | Format | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Moslem World | May – November 1893 (7 issues) | 16 pages with illustrated cover, high quality printing | Qur’anic verses, articles by prominent thinkers, news from Islamic world |
| The Voice of Islam | June – August 1894 (3 issues) | 4 pages, no illustrations, modest quality | Scaled-down newsletter format |
| The Moslem World and Voice of Islam | January 1895 – February 1896 (unknown issues) | 4 pages, nameplate similar to original | Combined content, published from home, priced at 30 cents/year |
The Mixed Reception
Press reaction to The Moslem World was a mixed bag. Some editors welcomed a new religious voice in America. The New Haven Journal wrote, “Welcome to The Moslem World. It is evidently going to be a bright and interesting paper. And it may do some good. There are people in the country who could do worse than to become good Mohammedans” .
Other responses were less charitable. The Washington Post pondered “whether this unique and original crusade is to be undertaken in the name of the prophet or the profit there may be in it” . The Los Angeles Times dismissed Webb’s enterprise as the product of “the Quixotic brain of Alexander Russell Webb,” suggesting that “religious fanaticism” had “more or less upset the ex-consul’s equilibrium” .
Webb responded to his critics with characteristic energy, thanking the secular press for its “cordial, fair and tolerant” reception while excoriating “the ignorance, bigotry and intolerance” shown by some editors, particularly in smaller cities and towns .
Press Reaction to The Moslem World
| Reaction Type | Source | Quote |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | New Haven Journal | “Welcome to The Moslem World… There are people in the country who could do worse than to become good Mohammedans.” |
| Positive | Boston Globe | “Bright, attractive, trenchant and thoroughly interesting.” |
| Positive | Kansas City Journal | “A beautifully printed paper, and contains evidence of very high ability in its contents.” |
| Positive | Waco Evening News | “Decidedly the most unique publication in America today.” |
| Negative/Sarcastic | Washington Post | “It is not altogether certain whether this unique and original crusade is to be undertaken in the name of the prophet or the profit there may be in it.” |
| Negative/Sarcastic | Los Angeles Times | “Religious fanaticism is not wholly a thing of the past… perhaps no feature of it will appear more absurd than that which has recently had birth in the Quixotic brain of Alexander Russell Webb.” |
| Negative | Salt Lake City Herald | Called the paper “illogical and unjust” for blaming Christianity for crimes in America |
The Web of Financial Troubles
Despite the paper’s quality and the enthusiasm of some readers, The Moslem World faced a fundamental problem: money. The American Islamic Propaganda had a three-year budget of (33,500 from India, but funding arrived slowly and erratically. Hajee Abdulla Arab wired funds for the final time in November 1893, blaming the falling value of the rupee and the reneging of pledged funds by Indian Muslims .
Without sufficient capital, Webb could not sustain the ambitious publication. In July 1893, after only two issues, he was forced to raise the per-issue price from five to ten cents. Plans to convert the monthly into a weekly were abandoned. By November, The Moslem World had published just seven issues and ceased publication.
Internal Strife and Rival Publications
Webb’s troubles multiplied when internal strife tore his movement apart. John A. Lant and Emin L. Nabakoff, two associates, formed their own Muslim movement and launched The American Moslem, a rival newspaper whose primary purpose seemed to be attacking Webb’s character and defending Lant in their dispute .
The rivalry was bitter and public. In mid-1894, Nefeesa M.T. Keep, Secretary of the Moslem World Publishing Company, barricaded herself in the newspaper’s office, refusing to allow staff admittance. She claimed Webb had mismanaged funds, leaving her unpaid wages and rent past due. The dispute attracted newspaper coverage under headlines like “Muhammed Webb Locked Out” and “War of the Moslems Not Over” .
Despite these challenges, Webb managed to regroup. In June 1894, he launched a scaled-down version of his paper called The Voice of Islam. The modest four-page newsletter lacked the grandeur of its predecessor but allowed Webb to continue publishing at reduced cost. He eventually consolidated it into The Moslem World and Voice of Islam, published from his home in Ulster Park, New York, with the help of his fifteen-year-old son .
The Final Chapter
The last known issue of The Moslem World and Voice of Islam appeared in February 1896. There was no announcement of its demise—like its predecessor, it simply stopped publishing when the money ran out.
Webb retreated from public life, eventually purchasing a newspaper in Rutherford, New Jersey, which he sold in 1900. He served as Honorary Turkish Consul-General for New York until his death in 1916.
Legacy and Significance
The story of Webb’s newspapers illuminates enduring themes in American religious life. Over one hundred years before Muslim media became a prominent feature of American pluralism, Webb demonstrated both the possibilities and the perils of minority religious publishing.
The papers attracted a small but dedicated readership across the United States. They showed that there was genuine interest in Islam among Americans, even if that interest remained a minority phenomenon. Yet Webb’s mission struggled against the same forces that have challenged minority religious movements throughout American history: public prejudice, financial precarity, and internal dissension.
The newspapers also reveal the complex relationship between American religious freedom and societal hostility. Webb operated openly, protected by constitutional guarantees, but faced persistent mockery and suspicion. His experience suggests that formal legal equality does not always translate into social acceptance.
Conclusion: A Forgotten Pioneer
More than a century after Webb’s first newspaper debuted, his story remains a remarkable testament to the persistence of religious conviction against overwhelming odds. As Singleton’s research demonstrates, Webb was not merely a curious footnote but a genuine pioneer whose efforts anticipated the more robust Muslim media landscape that would emerge in the late twentieth century.
His newspapers may have been short-lived, but they carved out a space for Islamic voices in American public life. For that alone, Webb and his Moslem World deserve to be remembered.
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