Abdul-Bassar described two theories which are often used to explain the discrepancy between African-American familiarity with Islam and Caucasian familiarity with the religion.

He called the theories: “The one fourth of them were Muslim thesis,” and the “Islam as a counter-establishment in order to spite the white majority thesis.”

The first thesis identified evidence of Islamic influence that survived from the Atlantic slave trade and the ante-bellum era, while the second thesis attributed Islam’s prominence among African-Americans to the effectiveness of such recent figures as Malcolm X.

“[Malcolm X’s] impact can barely be overstated,” Abdul-Basser said.

The two hour event, whose audience was predominately male, was followed by a session of prayer and a book signing.

—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu.