Mohammad Alexander Russell Webb (born Alexander Russell Webb; November 9, 1846 – October 1, 1916) was an American writer, publisher, and the United States Consul to the Philippines. He converted to Islam in 1889, and is considered by historians to be the earliest prominent Old Stock American Muslim convert. In 1893, he was the sole person representing Islam at the first Parliament of the World's Religions.
Early life
His father, Alexander Nelson Webb, was a leading journalist of his time and may have influenced his son's later journalistic exploits.
Webb received his early education at the Home School in Glendale, Massachusetts and later attended Claverack College, an advanced high school near Hudson, New York. He became editor of the Unionville Republican, Unionville, Missouri. His prowess as a journalist was soon apparent, and he was offered the city editorship of the St. Joseph Gazette in St. Joseph, Missouri. Next he became associate editor of the Missouri Morning Journal. Later he became the Assistant City Editor of the Missouri Republican in St. Louis, Missouri.
While working for the Missouri Republican, he was appointed (in September, 1887) by President Cleveland to be Consular Representative to the Philippines at the U.S. office at Manila. According to the editor of his book The Three Lectures, he had given up any concept of religion at least fifteen years before that point.
Conversion to Islam
In 1886 Webb was introduced to Islam by the works of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement. Webb wrote two letters to Ghulam Ahmad. Webb's first clear step toward Islam was expressed in these correspondences. These letters were published then in Ghulam Ahmad's book Shahne-e-Haqq page 372 and 439. At that time Webb had yet to meet a Muslim but was put in contact with several Muslims in India by a local Parsi businessman. A newspaper publisher, Budruddin Abdulla Kur of Bombay, published several of Webb's letters in his paper. A local businessman, Hajee Abdulla Arab, a follower of Ghulam Ahmad, saw these letters and travelled to Manila to see Webb. In 1888, he formally declared himself to be a Muslim. Webb later acknowledged Ghulam Ahmad as "a man of God" and the one who had guided him to Islam. While Webb kept in contact with Ahmadis until his death in 1916, the Ahmadiyya literature does not record whether Webb was an Ahmadi Muslim, nor does his work show allegiance towards Ahmadiyya eschatology.
Although Webb encountered some hostility because of his beliefs, the American press that reported on his activities did not question his patriotism, but dubbed him instead "the Yankee Mohammedan".
Travels in the Muslim world
After the visit, Webb began plans to tour India and then return to the U.S. to propagate Islam. Webb's wife, Ella G. Webb, and their three children had also converted to Islam by this time. Hajee Abdulla returned to India and raised funds for Webb's tour. Webb visited Poona, Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad, and Madras and gave speeches in each town. In India, he repeatedly expressed his dislike of Westernization and its effect on colonized Muslims. He viewed Muslims who were blindly imitating the West, adopting its style of clothing, and abandoning their own as servile and unworthy of their rich heritage. He saw them as far removed from a genuine Islamic ethos, stating: "The only Mohammedans in all the East who drink intoxicating beverages are those who have been educated in England and wear European clothes. Their contact with Christian nations has demoralized them, and they have drifted away from their religion."
In 1892 he travelled to Egypt and Turkey where he could continue studying Islam. While in Istanbul in 1893, he resigned his post with the State Department and returned to America.
Life and work in New York City
right|thumbnail|150px|Gravestone of Alexander Russel Webb in Hillside Cemetery, Lyndhurst NJ
Settling in New York, he established the Oriental Publishing Company at 1122 Upper Broadway. This company published his writings, including his magnum opus Islam in America, which comprised eight chapters:
Along with this venture he started the organ of the American Muslim Propagation Movement called The Moslem World. The first issue appeared on May 12, 1893, and was dedicated to the "interests of the American Islamic Propaganda" and "to spread the light of Islam in America", and bring forth the ideas that were relevant to everyday Americans.
The different issues spanned on topics of Islamic doctrines, religious poetry, political issues regarding Muslims, frequently asked questions about the Quran and prayers submitted by locals, and general think-pieces about Islam from various authors. The publication would also reprint articles from various American newspapers, countering Christian press that would misconstrue Islam. The journal's frequent comparisons on Christianity and Islam, helped bring forth people across the country to learn more about Islam as well as serve as inspiration to revert.
This journal is noted be significant in shaping some of the earliest Islamic discourse in New York City, as well as serving an international purpose. Webb had felt it was necessary to establish a relationship between Americans and Indian Muslims, who in large had been funding his mission. Many of the articles in the journal were reprinted and summarized editions of pieces written by Indian Muslim Scholars