How did Islam come to Africa?

According to Arab oral tradition, Islam first came to Africa with Muslim refugees fleeing persecution in the Arab peninsula. It quickly spread West from Alexandria in North Africa (the Maghreb), reducing the Christians to pockets in Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia.

How did Islam spread to East Africa and India?

How did Islam spread throughout East Africa? After a while when Arab Muslims were settled in East Africa they began to enslave Africans to ship them off to Arabia, Persia and India and later Europeans to get free labor.

What caused the expansion of Islam into West Africa and India?

While the motivations of early conversions remain unclear, it is apparent that the early presence of Islam in West Africa was linked to trade and commerce with North Africa. Trade between West Africa and the Mediterranean predated Islam, however, North African Muslims intensified the Trans-Saharan trade.

Why was Africa a natural location for the spread of Islam?

Another major reason that led to the rapid spread of Islam in West Africa was the trans-Saharan trade network. From the seventh century onwards, Muslim traders from the Maghreb and the Sahara started settling first in some of the market centres in the Sahel and then in the Savanna areas.

Why did Islam spread fairly easily in Mali?

Why did Islam spread fairly easily in Mali? People in Mali practiced Islam with their traditional religions. Mali had become an important empire.

According to Arab oral tradition, Islam first came to Africa with Muslim refugees fleeing persecution in the Arab peninsula. Islam came to root along the East African coast some time in the 8th century, as part of a continuing dialogue between the people on the East coast and traders from the Persian Gulf and Oman.

When did Islam spread to West Africa?

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.

When did Islam first spread to West Africa?

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. The famous scholar Ibn Munabbah wrote as early as 738 C.E., followed by Al-Masudi in 947 C.E.

How did Islam influence trade in West Africa?

Islam promoted trade between West Africa and the Mediterranean. The religion developed and widened the trans-Saharan Caravan trade. The trade enriched the West African and the Muslim traders. Muslims from North Africa came in their numbers and settled in the commercial centres.

Where does the majority of Muslims live in Africa?

Islam enjoys a dominant presence in States situated in West Africa, North Africa, the Swahili Coast, and the Horn of Africa. Since the religion was introduced to the continent in the 7th century, it has spread extensively and the continent today is home to nearly one-third of the Muslim population in the world.

Who was the founder of Islam in Africa?

Among them are Al-Khwarzimi, Ibn Munabbah, Al-Masudi, Al-Bakri, Abul Fida, Yaqut, Ibn Batutah, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Fadlallah al-’Umari, Mahmud al-Kati, Ibn al Mukhtar and Abd al-Rahman al-Sa’di. Islam reached the Savannah region in the 8th Century C.E., the date the written history of West Africa begins.