Writing, which included numerous references to the Qadiriyya Sufi brotherhood, was an integral part of who the Muslims were; it was a means by which they could preserve, express and pass on their religious beliefs, identity and rejection of enslavement (Diouf, 2013).  
Throughout the Americas, enslaved Muslims - like their non-Muslim counterparts - engaged in acts of resistance, but theirs included the overt or secret upholding of Islam, the creation of mutual aid societies to free coreligionists, the sporting of Islamic attire, the production of various writings - from letters and excerpts of Islamic texts to copies of the Qur'an - and uprisings. Being based on Arabic literacy, religious networks, Islamic traditions and the upholding of the five pillars of Islam, it was a distinctly Muslim resistance.