A history of islam in west africa pdf

At first, muslim traders and merchants lived side by side with the nonmuslims of west africa. While this was a shortlived encounter, muslims eventually left a. How islam spread into subsaharan region of west africa, and the great civilizations it established there, taking its inhabitants out of paganism to the worship of one god. The swahili language remains central to many east african muslims, hence the occasionally heard phrase, swahili islam. The europeans arrive 265 portugal in west african history 265 the coastalization of the europeans 269 early christian missionaries 276 portugals decline and social upheaval 276 chapter 11 slavery in west africa 281. Muslim rulers were just and allowed religious freedom and many of the people they conquered eventually converted to islam.

Islam and west african anthropology article pdf available in africa today 531. Boko haram and the islamic states west africa province. Traders bring islam to ghana between the years 639 and 708 c. The history of the islamic faith on the continent of africa spans fourteen centuries. Article is composed of three parts, which 1how islam spread into subsaharan region of west africa, and the great civilizations it established there, taking its inhabitants out of paganism to the worship of one god. A past of which to speak west african mosque architecture. Islam, religion, historiography, anthropology, western africa. France and islam in west africa, 18601960 by christopher. On the other hand, in east africa, where islam came from the arabian peninsula, muslims followed the shafli school of law that prevailed in arabia. The history of islam in west africa can be explained in three stages, containment, mixing, and reform. Transsaharan trade brought islam to west africa in the 8th century.

Pouwels ohio university press 2000 pdf the history of the islamic faith on the continent of africa spans fourteen centuries. The region may be divided into several broad physiographic regions. Some of the history of these countries, however, is naturally mentioned in this history of the rest of africa but is kept to the minimum needed to make the rest comprehensible. Spread of islam in west africa islam reached the savannah region in the 8th century c. The northern portion of western africa is composed of a broad band of semiarid terrain, called the western sudan, stretching from the atlantic ocean on the west to the area of lake chad on the east, a distance of about 2,500 miles 4,000 km.

It is largely a plateau of modest elevation and borders the sahara desert on the. A history of islam in west africa cannot be complete without a mention, however brief, of the jakhanke islamic movement which arose in the 12th century under the charismatic scholar alhajj salim suwareh who helped to spread islam in the present day countries of mali, guinea, senegal and the gambia, the most islamized countries in west africa today. Pdf west african anthropology carries the burden of a chasm between what is considered traditional or authentically african and islamic. East african muslims are mostly shafiites and some. Islamic scholarship and understanding history in west africa. In this chapter, we shall look at the spread of islam in west africa as well as the effects of islam. This is a short history of africa excluding egypt, ethiopia and dutch and british south africa, which are the subjects of separate histories. Almost onethird of the worlds muslim population resides in the continent. Th e report then zooms in on east africa, where the three religious families of traditional religion, islam and christianity are all present in large numbers. The following two parts present overviews of islamic history in west africa and the sudanic zone, and in subequatorial africa. Choose from 500 different sets of west africa history islam western flashcards on quizlet. Pearson islam in the bilad alsudan to 1800 nehemia levtzion the juula and the expansion of islam into the. The first west africans to be converted were the inhabitants of the sahara, the berbers, and it is generally agreed that by the second half of the tenth century, the sahara had become dar alislam that is the country of islam. Trade and commerce paved the way for the introduction of.

The nickname boko haram was given by local communities to. Islam has a large presence in north africa, the horn of africa, the swahili coast, and much of west africa, with minority but significant immigrant populations in south africa. Africa was the first continent, that islam spread into out of arabia in the early seventh century. The history of islam in east africa stretches back to around ce. Almost onethird of the worlds muslim population resides today in the. Islam, the west, and the future by arnold j toynbee this is a chapter of a book by arnold j toynbee, civilization on trial, published by oxford university press 1948. It contains a lot of brief, yet informative articles. The introduction to the author, the headings and accentuation of some. The journal of african history the historiography of islam in. A brief introduction the spread of islam in west africa. Chapter 3 religion in west africa 71 myth and ancestors in west african religion 71 religious ideas and the material world 82 religion and politics 86 the moral order in traditional thought 87 cosmology and causation in west african religion 88 sacri.

Includes bibliographical references and index introduction. Islam reaches west africa, and a history of the islamic empire of ghana. Spread of islam in west africa all parts the religion. Among the great facts in the history of west africa prior to the age of european penetration has been the propagation of islam and the way it has changed african societies. Containment, mixing, and reform from the eighth to the twentieth century pdf political islam in west africa and the sahel pdf spread of islam in west africa. Islam, islamic history, islamic civilization, islam in africa, islam in south africa. Until the mid20th century, it remained largely confined to the coast and closely bound up with the history of the swahili towns situated on it.

This book is a major contribution to the social, political and intellectual history of the largest colonial state in africa, the french west african federation. Islam in west africa today 261 conclusions 261 chapter 10 first contact. Brills islam in africa is designed to present the results of scholarly research into the many aspects of the history and presentday features of islam in subsaharan africa. Toynbees chapter is reproduced in its entirety below. The series will take up issues of religious and intellectual traditions, social significance and organization, and other aspects of. The arc begins in south africa, where there are substantial numbers of muslims of southasian and southeastasian origin. They were the first negro people who accepted islam. Islam has gained more converts in africa than has christianity, which labors under the burden of identification with european imperialism. For the first time in a single volume, the history of islam in africa presents a detailed historic mapping of the cultural, political, geographic, and religious past of this significant presence on a continentwide scale.

We end with a discussion of how these disciplines draw boundaries that have thus far discouraged many from looking beyond material exchange in timbuktu to the broader study of islamic. A century, or 100 years, after muhammads death muslims had become powerful and had defeated the persian and byzantine empires. Learn west africa history islam western with free interactive flashcards. The histom1 ofls1am il1 africa ohio university press. Because islam spread to west africa from north africa, muslims there fol lowed the maliki school of law dominant in north africa. The history of west africa has been commonly divided into its prehistory, the iron age in africa, the major polities flourishing, the colonial period, and finally the postindependence era, in which the current nations were formed. By focusing on the specific subject of the development of french policy towards islam, it sheds light on a wide range of issues, from the grand strategy of french imperialism to the. Containment, mixing, and reform from the eighth to the twentieth century. This book is not an attempt to write a history of west africa, but to show the way in which islam.

The history of islam in west africa is more than inter. Islam entered west africa around the 11th century, and according to the oldest source concerning this, the muslim geographer alzuhri writing in 17, the people of ghana converted in 1076, most probably through a murabitun presence among them, even though their king was a nonmuslim. Margari hill, stanford university january 2009 available in pdf format 1. They ruled the area from north africa to the border of china. Boko haram and the islamic states west africa province boko haram emerged in the early 2000s as a small sunni islamic sect in nigeria advocating a strict interpretation and implementation of islamic law, and has evolved since 2009 to become one of the worlds deadliest terrorist groups. Muslims crossed current djibouti and somalia to seek refuge in presentday eritrea and ethiopia during the hijrah arabic. While the presence of islam in west africa dates back to eighth century, the spread of the faith in regions that are now the modern states of senegal, gambia, guinea, burkina faso, niger, mali and nigeria, was in actuality, a gradual and complex process. For the first time in a single volume, the history of islam in africa presents a detailed historic mapping of the cultural, political, geographic, and. Trade and commerce paved the way for the introduction of new. This conference will examine those issues but place them within a. The history of islam in africa ohio university press. Islams presence in african history islams presence in african history dates back to the first phase of the prophet muhammads mission, when in 615 a. Islam reached the savannah region in the 8th century c. Over time, however, islam played a growing role in west african society.