why did many west african kings convert to islam?

In the first stage, African kings contained Muslim influence by segregating Muslim communities, in the second stage African rulers blended Islam with local traditions as the population selectively appropriated Islamic practices, and finally in the third stage, African Muslims pressed for reforms in an effort to rid their societies of mixed practices and implement Shariah. As the historian P. Curtin puts it: "The Muslim religion ultimately became one of the central elements of Swahili identity. Islam was introduced to the northern Somali coast early on from the Arabian peninsula, shortly after the hijra. 1949, repr. Then in 1971, when I was 24, I converted to Islam and became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (meaning “the noble one, servant of the Almighty”). For many decades, we have witnessed a phenomena of African-Americans converting to Islam. West African tribes spoke many different languages and so Islam gave them one language to speak. If, as seems probable, there was a transi-tional stage of belief between Catholicism and Islam it is difficult to Islam provides guidance for all aspects of life - individual and social, material and moral, economic and political, legal and cultural, national and international. Ancestors continued to be worshipped, in some cities women enjoyed better rights than they did under strictly sharia law, and, in a very un-Islamic practice, cemeteries were filled with tombs where precious goods were buried with the dead. 1965), Islam in Ethiopia (1952, repr. Islam also spread in the region by the founders of Sufi brotherhoods ( tariqah ). The spread of Islam in Africa began in Sonni Ali Of Songhai was differ from most other West African rulers because he did not adopt Islam but, he was a follower of Islam. There were also sometimes violent resistance by supporters of traditional African beliefs such as animism and fetish, spirit and ancestor worship. In spite of all the hurdles, it is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States of America. Asked by Wiki User. Many native converts studied in such places as Fez, Morocco, and became great scholars, missionaries, and even saints, and so Islam came to be seen no longer as a foreign religion but a black African one. Muslim evangelicals in the black communities and in prisons often play this up in an attempt to persuade the gullible into rejecting Christianity as the “white man’s religion.” In addition, two important Muslim states in the Horn of Africa were the Sultanates of Adal (1415-1577 CE) and Ajuran (13-17th century CE). Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. Literacy spread because belief in Islam encourages Muslims to learn the Quran. they knew that Islam is against racism and that superiority is only based on piety and good deeds. Clothing changed, too, with women, in particular, encouraged to dress more modestly and adolescents to cover their nudity. The Spread of Islam in Africaby Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA). Historians believe that a group of people called the Soninke founded Ghana as early as the year 300 and it thrived until around 1200. "The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa." The early history of Ghana is unknown, but there is evidence that North Africa had begun importing gold from West Africa before the Arab conquest in the middle of the 7th century. Sankore Mosque, Timbuktuby Radio Raheem (CC BY-NC-ND). Talismans contains verses from the Holy Koran. Ancient History Encyclopedia. The spread of Islam among the Yoruba began late, well after the nineteenth century conversions of Wolof (a West African state that ruled parts of Senegal from 1360 to 1890), and increased after Fulbe (an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa) conquests of the 1800s. Ghana's capital at Koumbi Saleh was, significantly, divided into two distinct towns from the mid-11th century CE. Where can i find the fuse relay layout for a 1990 vw vanagon or any vw vanagon for the matter? Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. Mark is a history writer based in Italy. Meanwhile, the religion also spread down through Egypt and swung westwards through the Sudan region below the Sahara Desert. It already has a strong presence in … What important knowledge did the enslaved Africans bring to south Carolina? III, 39). The famous scholar Ibn Munabbah wrote â¦ These North African nomads had established trade with the West African kingdoms that were wealthy in gold and ivory. There were other challenges besides the Christians of Nubia. With the religion came other ideas, too, especially those concerning administration, law, architecture, and many other aspects of daily life. In West Africa, as was the case with Southeast Asia, it was traders who introduced Islam, and many rulers accepted it first, followed by others. Islam stressed brotherhood of all believers. The famous scholar Ibn Munabbah wrote … As the UNESCO General History of Africa summarises, unlike many other faiths: Islam is not only a religion: it is a comprehensive way of life, catering for all the fields of human existence. And remember that conversion to Islam is a one way street: "[T]he Prophet said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.'" This website is for people of various faiths who seek to understand Islam and Muslims. African Muslim scholars became established in the major towns like Timbuktu, and they taught, wrote and practiced Islamic law as judges. It is thus perhaps more comprehensible, given the above, why so many African rulers and elites were ready to adopt a foreign religion when it also brought with it definite advantages of governance and wealth. Over time, however, Islam played a growing role in West African society. -Another huge reason of conversion to Islam as a way of saving their ethnicity since they were surrounded by Slavs. We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. What religion did the empire of Songhai practice? Is there a way to search all eBay sites for different countries at once? Spread of Islam in West Africa. Bibliography See J. S. Trimingham, Islam in West Africa (1959), Islam in East Africa (1964), Islam in the Sudan (2d ed. Books Its territory touched the Atlantic Ocean to the west and extended as far as the bend in the Niger River to the east. In the late 9th century, Al-Yaqubi wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard. The Swahili Coast, located along the shores of East Africa, was... Timbuktu (also Timbuctoo) is a city in Mali, West Africa which... UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. Often such names were adapted to suit African languages, for example, Muhammad became Mamadu and Ali was Africanized to Aliyu. In empires like Mali and Songhai , most of the kings were Muslims or converted to Islam, while others did not convert but supported the presence of Islamic culture and institutions. The commercially most active peoples, the Dyula, Hausa and Dyakhanke, were among the first to be converted when their respective countries came into contact with Muslims. Part 1: Islam reaches West Africa, and a history of the Islamic Empire of Ghana. Is Series 4 of LOST being repeated on SKY? Per Quran, Muslims holy book, and Islam teachings, there is no compulsion in religion and one if chooses to convert to Islam should be first convinced in the Islam teachings and basic rules. Bibliography All Rights Reserved. Cartwright, Mark. "The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa." The legacy of the NOI, however, is that many African-Americans are drawn to Islam out of racial pride, thinking that there is some sort of association with Africa. Conversion to Islam linked the West African savannah through belief in one God and similar new forms of political, social and artistic accoutrements. There were many who vehemently held on to their traditional beliefs in the face of this new religion. Although the Berbers who converted to Islam never tried to convert the West Africans to Islam, by the start of the 12th century, Muslim scholars and clerics started accompanying the traders. From there, the religion spread eastwards to the Mali Empire (1240-1645 CE) and the Songhai Empire (c. 1460 - c. 1591 CE). Mosques on the Swahili Coast, for example, had neither the minarets or inner courtyard typical of mosques elsewhere in the Islamic world. Usually worn by chiefs. So their mission was to "civilize" the African. In addition, the religion arrived in East Africa when Arab traders crossed the Red Sea and, in a second wave, settled along the Swahili Coast. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Aside from genuine spiritual conviction, African leaders may have recognised that adopting Islam (or seeming to) would be beneficial to trade. Islam had profound effects on all aspects of daily life and society but these did vary over time and place. (Vol. Pastoral North Africans called Berbers had long traded with West Africans. Islamic scholars spoke and wrote Arabic. Mansa Musa Illustrationby M.Hassan.Qureshi (CC BY-SA). The first kings we have a record of adopting Islam were from Ghana which is recorded as the first empire in West Africa. The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa. Cite This Work For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. They did not accept the Muslim belief in one God. Islam was spreading with the trade of its merchants, and it appears that in the 1300s or 1400s the kings of Hausaland converted to Islam. The material on this site can not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Multiply. Western Africa - Western Africa - The early kingdoms and empires of the western Sudan: In the 10th century the kings of Ghana extended their sway over the á¹¢anhÄjah, the congeries of Amazigh nomadic groups living around Audaghost, just north of their kingdom, who supplied them with salt and North African goods. Why did cyclone Tracy occur in 1974 at Darwin? Even on the Swahili Coast, which adopted Islam with perhaps more success than anywhere else, many converts continued the practice of appeasing spirits who brought illness and other misfortunes. Christianity was subtly intertwined with the agenda of the West. From there, it spread via Islamized Berbers (who had been variously coerced or enticed to convert) in the 8th century CE along the trade routes which crisscrossed West Africa, moving from the east coast into the interior of central Africa, finally reaching Lake Chad. Following the conquest of North Africa by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE, Islam spread throughout West Africa via merchants, traders, scholars, and missionaries, that is largely through peaceful means whereby African rulers either tolerated the religion or converted to it themselves. As more people were converted, so more Muslim clerics were attracted from abroad and the religion was spread further across West Africa. Nearly every Muslim in Timbuktu learned to read and write. - Hadith Sahih Bukhari 4:52:260 (The Hadith Sahih are the true, verified sayings of Muhammad, pbuh, and form the basis for Islamic law, along with the Qur'an). E Converting to Islam improved relations with Muslim merchants from north Africa and brought the west African kings recognition and support from Muslim states in the north. When did organ music become associated with baseball? It is also true that in some cases oral traditions maintained their cultural integrity, and thus we are presented with a parallel history such as seen in the biographies of Sundiata Keita (r. 1230-1255 CE), the founder of the Mali Empire, who in written history converted to Islam but in oral tradition was a great magician of the indigenous religion. Mâ¦ This moral code helped to sanction and control commercial relationships and offered a unifying ideology among the members of different ethnic groups, thus providing for security and credit, two of the chief requirements of long-distance trade. Close Ties and Christianity. 15 16 17. From 1019, Islam. Cartwright, Mark. As a result, Islam influenced the culture and lifestyle, particularly of urban residents, in the Western Sudan. Why Do So Many African-Americans Convert to Islam? This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. It is perhaps worth noting at the start that the spread of Islam in Africa was much more than the passing on and adoption of religious ideas. Why don't libraries smell like bookstores? What was the dominant political structure in east Africa by thirteenth century CE? Nearly one-third of the total Muslim population in the world can be found in Africa. When and how lovebirds will enter into the nest box? Islam first came to West Africa as a slow and peaceful process, spread by Muslim traders and scholars. Islam reached the Savannah region in the 8th Century C.E., the date the written history of West Africa begins The Muslim-Arab historians began to write about West Africa in the early 8th century. Latinos are one of the fastest growing groups within Islam in America. However, in the Ghana Empire, for example, there is no evidence that kings themselves converted to Islam, rather, they tolerated Muslim merchants and those from Ghana who wished to convert. In contrast, in the Mali Empire, the kings did convert to Islam, the first certain case being Mansa Uli (aka Mansa Wali or Yerelenku), who went on a pilgrimage to Mecca in the 1260s or 1270s CE. Then the Christian Portuguese arrived in Africa on both the West and East coasts where they challenged the spread of Islam. During Muhammad's lifetime a group of Muslims escaped Meccan persecution (615) by fleeing to Ethiopia, where the Negus [king] gave them protection. why did the west African kings convert to Islam? Submitted by Mark Cartwright, published on 10 May 2019 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Why did West African people convert to Islam? Nevertheless, for at least six centuries Islam spread largely peacefully and gradually wherever there were trade connections with the wider Muslim world of the southern Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. In all cases, it remains the basic Islam rule and Quran Golden rule that: Accordingly, in all Islam history, never one of any religion was forced to convert to Islam. Therefore, trans-Saharan trade brought Islam to the Western Sudan, and many of the kings of Mali and Songhai cultivated their relationships with Muslims in Northeast Africa and the Middle East. Of course, one way of convincing people is to point out that believing in Islam is better than being killed: "[F]ight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." Islamic architecture spread with the religion with mosques being built wherever there were worshippers. It is difficult to generalize about West Africa, which was linked to the rise and diffusion of Islam. The religion was not adopted uniformly, and neither did it maintain its purity of origin, very often existing alongside traditional practices and rituals. As many as ten million African slaves were shipped north as part of the trans-Saharan slave trade between 750 and 1500 C.E.” In summary, the coming of Islam to Sub-Saharan Africa facilitated the rise of political empires, encouraged trade and wealth, and increased the traffic in slavery. In many cases, they have embraced a militant version of the faith, most notably the Nation of Islam (currently headed by Louis Farrakhan). Another group which fought against the tide of Islam were the Mossi people, who controlled the lands south of the Niger River and who attacked such cities as Timbuktu in the first half of the 15th century CE. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2020) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Islam gained more converts in Africa than has Christianity, which labored under the burden of identification with European imperialism. But look at the growth and spread of Islam in the West. Finally, Muslim clerics often made themselves very useful to the community in practical daily life (and so they increased the appeal of Islam) by offering prayers on request, performing administrative tasks, offering medical advice, divining - such as the interpretation of dreams, and making charms and amulets. While this was a short-lived encounter, Muslims eventually left a Spread of Islam in West Africa. In the late 9th century, Al-Yaqubi wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard. The same applies to those who found and mined such precious metals as gold and iron. In addition, Islamic studies were, at least initially, conducted in Arabic, not native languages, and this further impeded its popularity outside the educated clerical class of towns and cities. Yet another appeal of Islam was that it brought literacy, a tremendously useful tool for empires who built their wealth on trade. The states that accepted Islam first were usually states that sat astride the Trans-Saharan trade routes, they came in contact with Muslim traders and were converted. With relative ease, Amr claimed Fustat from disillusioned and tired Byzantine troops who eventually fled. More superficial changes included the changing of names to those favoured by Muslims. Related Content Islam was more firmly established from the 12th century CE when Shirazi merchants arrived from the Persian Gulf. Islam was introduced to the northern Somali coast early on from the Arabian peninsula, shortly after the hijra. With the adoption of Islam by the rulers of the Kingdom of Kanem (c. 900 - c. 1390 CE) between the 11th and 13th century CE and Hausaland from the late 14th century CE, the religion’s encirclement of Africa below the Sahara Desert was complete. Probably, at first in some zones of the country, force was used to convert people to Islam. Musa took control of Timbuktu, an important trade center that would become a well-renowned center of Islamic scholarship in West Africa. Adopting Islam permitted, too, the exchange of diplomatic embassies with North African states, as well as the possibility to send scholars for training, both of which brought the sub-Saharan states, in particular, into contact with the wider Mediterranean world and increased the prestige of rulers. This website is for people of various faiths who seek to understand Islam and Muslims. In East Africa, Islam faced stiff competition from Christianity which was firmly entrenched in Nubia and states such as the Kingdoms of Faras (aka Nobatia), Dongola, and Alodia, and in the Kingdom of Axum (1st - 8th century CE) in what is today Ethiopia. However, just like the religion itself, there were minor local differences. At first, Muslim traders and merchants lived side by side with the non-Muslims of West Africa. Unbeknownst to the second caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab, his most competent general, Amr Ibn al-Asâ, led as many as twelve thousand soldiers and archers across what is now the Red Sea and conquered the city of Fustat (which became Cairo in 920). He ruled between 1217 and 1255. Aside from genuine spiritual conviction, African leaders may have recognised that adopting Islam (or seeming to) or at the least tolerating it would be beneficial to trade. Islam reached urban centers and the ruling elite first. He holds an MA in Political Philosophy and is the Publishing Director at AHE. A clerical class developed, many of whose members were of Sudanese origin, and many frequently acted as missionaries, spreading Islam into the southern parts of West Africa. Wherewhen and how do you apply for a job at Winco foods in indio ca.? Ghana, the first large West African kingdom, reigned from 750 to 1235. Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa has known a thousand years of cohabitation with traditional religion and adaptation to it, even to the extent of intermixture. This division reflected the continuance of indigenous animist beliefs alongside Islam, the former being practised by rural communities. 1087 CE, 480 A.H Soninke gain control from Al Moravids. Mali rose to prominence in 1230, witnessing its height under Mansa Musa, who ruled from 1312 to 1337. Islam is a religion born in the commercial society of Mecca and preached by a Prophet who himself had for a long time been a merchant, provides a set of ethical and practical prescripts closely related to business activities. Does pumpkin pie need to be refrigerated? Some clerics devoted a great deal of their time to writing books and instructions on all aspects of Islam for the education and conversion of people or the purification and strengthening of Islam. The Muslims, for their part, did not try and convert the King and his people. The famous scholar Ibn Munabbah wrote â¦ Last modified May 10, 2019. But when a Mali king tried to pressure people in the gold mining region around Wangara to convert, a disruption in the production of gold was threatened, and the pressure to convert was withdrawn. These writers, along with archaeology, have helped enormously in the reconstruction of ancient Africa following the European colonial period where every attempt was made to obliterate the history of the continent lest it conflict with the racist belief that Africa had long been waiting to be civilised. 1000 CE, 390 A.H The city of Timbuktu is founded. Mauritania established itself as the Islamic Republic after it gained sovereignty in 1960. Spread of Islam in West Africa Islam reached the Savannah region in the 8th Century C.E., the date the written history of West Africa begins The Muslim-Arab historians began to write about West Africa in the early 8th century. (Vol III, 20). ". Great Mosque, Djenne, Maliby Carsten ten Brink (CC BY-NC-ND). The two spheres of Islam and trade are closely intertwined, as here explained in the UNESCO General History of Africa: The association of Islam and trade in sub-Saharan Africa is a well-known fact. Many Muslims speak Arabic, the language of the Quran. Contributed by Prof. Dr. Nazeer Ahmed, PhD. Islam had more immediate success further south on the Swahili Coast. According to Lost Islamic History , one example of an African Muslim who brought Islam â¦ Mosques were built such as Timbuktu’s Great Mosque (aka Djinguereber or Jingereber), and Koranic schools and universities were established which quickly gained an international reputation. 1100 CE, 493 A.H Berbers, who had long been Muslims, battle for power. So there was this king Mansa Musa, who ruled the west African empire of Mali, and in 1324-ish, he left his home and made the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The most influential Malian king was Mansa Musa, who reigned from 1312 to 1337 and took a famous pilgrimage to Mecca, the Holy site of Islam, in 1324. Mansa Musa and the Kingdom of Mali. Under â¦ Islam spread from the Middle East to take hold across North Africa during the second half of the 7th century CE when the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE) of Damascus conquered that area by military force. Cartwright, M. (2019, May 10). The ancient West Africans, like Native Americans and the Sumerians, were animists who believed that many gods existed in nature. Furthermore, this also means that many West Africans were exposed to Islam before it was spread to Europe during the Ottoman empire and America via the Moriscos and the Transatlantic slaves. One town was Muslim and boasted 12 mosques while the other, just 10 km away and joined by many intermediate buildings, was the royal residence with many traditional cult shrines and one mosque for visiting merchants. This could well be the most important factor in the Kingdom of Kanem’s adoption in the late 11th century CE. Copyright © 2020 Multiply Media, LLC. The coming of Islam saw a general decline in the status of certain groups in ancient African communities. Many orthodox Albanians in present-day Macedonia, Greece or Serbia lost their ethnic identity while Albanian Muslims didn't. Its territory touched the Atlantic Ocean to the west and extended as far as the bend in the Niger River to the east. During this time, he captured Timbuktu, an important trade center, and Gao, the capital city of Songhai, spreading Islam to them both. Islam recommends the freeing of slaves in itself as a 'good' religious act and says that slaves who convert to Islam ... Islam than it was in the West. When Genghis Khan let himself loose on the Khwarizm Empire in 1219 (Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran), the subsequent events were so traumatic for the Islamic World that the word "holocaust" has sometimes been used to describe it. Where the Europeans traded extensively such as on the western coast of Africa states like the Kingdom of Kongo (14-19th century CE) became Christian, and from the 16th century CE, Islamic domination of the Swahili coast was challenged. Islam reached the Savannah region in the 8th Century C.E., the date the written history of West Africa begins The Muslim-Arab historians began to write about West Africa in the early 8th century. Muslim artisans and traders spread Islam to Mauritania's territory, and they were later joined by the founders of Islamic brotherhoods. What are wildlife sanctuaries national parks biosphere reserves? Once the religion had reached the savannah region which spreads across Africa below the Sahara Desert, it was adopted by ruling African elites, although very often indigenous beliefs and rituals continued to be practised or were even blended with the new religion. Yes, many convert to Christianity, and many are presumed to do so after the book ends. Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization. Angela Fisher, 1984.) tween many Christians of southwestern Asia and the Muslims. As traders settle there, they bring Islamic scholars with them. In many places in the Hadith, he tells his followers that he has been ordered by Allah to fight unbelievers until they profess their faith in Islam (the Shahada). Many of them went on lecture or missionary tours to convert people, while others became advisers to Sudanese Kings on how to become effective rulers. Why did West African people convert to Islam. Some African societies were matrilineal, and these changed to a patrilineal system. Islam was a success on the coast but it made no impact at all on peoples living in the interior of East Africa until the 19th century CE. In this way, Islam spread across and around the Sahara Desert. Rulers were not always so keen to adopt Islam, King Sunni Ali of the Songhai Empire (r. 1464-1492 CE), for example, was vehemently anti-Muslim, but King Mohammad I (r. 1494-1528 CE) did convert, and he imposed Islamic law on his people and appointed qadis (Islamic magistrates or judges) as heads of justice at Timbuktu, Djenne, and other towns. As noted, ancient indigenous beliefs continued to be practised, especially in rural communities, as recorded by travellers like Ibn Battuta who visited Mali c. 1352 CE. Again, were religious dissent from Catholicism or Orthodoxy the cause, why did not Christianity disappear from many other areas as well as from North Africa? The famous scholar Ibn Munabbah wrote … Some of â¦ Christianity was the religion of the Westerners. Islam made an entrance in Africa from Asia in the 7th century. Islam came first: They way it worked was trade and a bit of steel. the development of the Muslim religion on the African continent. How do you put grass into a personification? Wiki User Answered . During these later years, Muhammad did not seem at all bothered by conversions that were made under obvious duress. As Eritrea introduced to the rise and diffusion of Islam in Ancient African communities Domain ) found. For different countries at once yet another appeal of Islam their mission was to `` civilize '' the African.. Nearly one-third of the merchants of West Africa as a way to search all eBay sites for countries... Talismans sewn on his hat and `` batakari jacket at the Growth and of... For empires who built their wealth on trade the east these changed to a patrilineal.! 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