Islam in Africa

The Spread of Islam in Africa

Contextually, the story of Islam’s spread throughout Africa should start with the origin of Islam itself. The spread of Islam throughout the continent came almost immediately after the establishment of the Muslim faith, and there was barely any period in which Islam existed where it did not have a presence in Africa.

In the lifetime of the prophet Muhammad, Mecca (today’s Holy City of Islam) was ruled by the Quraysh, who did not initially have faith in Islam and persecuted its early disciples.

As such, the prophet Muhammad advised his earliest disciples to seek refuge in other parts of the world. He recommended the Kingdom of Aksum, in modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea, as a safe refuge, as it was ruled at the time by a Christian king who, according to records, “did not tolerate injustice.” Although dates are in dispute, it is generally regarded that this migration occurred sometime between 613 and 615 CE.

Fig. 1 - a Christian Bible from an Ethiopian Cathedral in Aksum

This wasn’t the easiest journey for the early Muslims, as the Quraysh, hearing about the refuge, sent envoys to Najashi, the King of Aksum, demanding he return the men to him. The King heard the defense made by the refugees and determined that the words of faith from the Quran were so beautiful, they could only come from the same source that brought about the Gospel of Jesus. Thus, the refugees were allowed to remain in Aksum, marking history’s first Hijra.

The Quraysh were said to have converted to Islam themselves soon after, leading the refugees to return to Mecca. But this first Hijra led to future ones. The prophet Muhammad led a Hijra to Medina in 622 CE, and other Hijras continued after his death.

The majority of these early hijras were peaceful affairs, in which the leaders of the nations who took in the migrants were tolerant of the peaceful and intellectual newcomers. In many cases, the leaders came to admire the new faith and adopted it themselves. Najashi, the King of the aforementioned Kingdom of Aksum, would himself convert to Islam.

Islam in West Africa

In these early years of Islam, the faith travelled from its Arabian origins into most of North Africa through the Saharan desert. As the Umayyad Caliphate began to spread the faith through military force along Saharan trade routes, they made their way as far west as Lake Chad in the 700's CE. At around the same time, the Muslim faith made inroads into the horn of Africa, through friendly kingdoms in Egypt and Ethiopia.

Islam then made its way further into West Africa via the Trans-Saharan Trade Routes. Travel through the Sahara Desert was treacherous, and these routes were imperative in order to make the trek safely. Anybody in control of these routes held a lot of economic and political power in the regions.

Fig. 2 - map of the Trans-Saharan trade routes

The faith was readily adopted by African leaders, resulting in its quick adoption by their kingdoms as well. In the 10th century, Islam was adopted in the powerful trading city of Gao and the Ghana Empire. In the 13th century, it spread into the wealthy Mali Empire, and later the Songhai Empire and the Kingdom of Kamen. In the East, Islam ran into some conflict spreading into traditionally Christian regions, but eventually established itself firmly in regions such as the Swahili Coast, and the Kingdom of Abyssinia.

Fig. 3 - The Larabanga Mosque, the oldest Mosque in Ghana

By the time the European powers had their scramble for Africa centuries later, more than half the continent thought of itself as Muslim.

Reasons for the Spread of Islam

But why was the Muslim faith so readily adopted by African kingdoms in this way? How did Islam grow from a local Arabic sect into a religion that spanned a continent in about six hundred years?

Reasons for the Spread of Islam: A Power Vacuum

Firstly, although these African nations had their own kingdoms, there was something of a power vacuum along the Mediterranean coast with the recent fall of the Western Roman Empire. After its collapse, the local kingdoms became largely independent and were left to fend for themselves. Thus, when a foreign religion entered the community, each nation-state dealt with Islam individually, rather than Islam finding itself pitted against a massive governmental institution.

Reasons for the Spread of Islam: Applicability

Secondly, Islam had a characteristic that was unique among religions at the time: applicability. Whereas other faiths concerned themselves primarily with matters of the soul and its relation to the divine, Islam, comparatively, devoted much of its philosophical thought to how to live one’s life in the Earthly realm. In short, Islam taught that the current world was also worth living in, and provided advice on how to live it best, typically in the realms of social interaction, legal counsel, and economics. Thus, it made it a more readily acceptable faith to African leaders, as it provided guidance that wasn’t as esoteric as other faiths.

Reasons for the Spread of Islam: Trade

Third, Islam was adopted early on by leaders of populous trade empires, such as Gao, Ghana, and then Mali. The importance of the Trans-Saharan trade in these kingdoms cannot be understated as it provided precious metals (namely gold) and key resources to the outside world and brought outside wealth into Sub-Saharan Africa. Much of this trade was with the Islamic world, and African rulers saw that if they converted, they would have inroads into wealthy trading partners. At the time, becoming a Muslim just sounded like good business strategy.

Fig. 4 - depiction of Mansa Musa's pilgrimage

Reasons for the Spread of Islam: Flexibility

Lastly, before the world adopted telephone lines, televisions, and the internet, communication across the world had to come either by word of mouth or written down in a physical manner which still needed to be transported across great distances. As such, when Islam spread to an African kingdom which already had a cultural establishment, with its own traditions and customs, it wasn’t able to immediately rely on a Muslim central authority. Instead, Muslims were left to their own devices, with the Quran as a source of guidance, but also understanding it was competing with local beliefs.

So, Islam largely became a flexible and adaptable faith, with people willing to convert to Islam if they didn’t have to abandon the animism or pagan traditions of their ancestors. Proponents of the faith knew it would never survive if it insisted upon itself, and thus, Islam became a religion of philosophy and debate, ready to be adopted by most locals who never had to fear it.

The Islamic Slave Trade

One very important interaction between the Islamic world and Africa was the Islamic Slave Trade. Long before the Transatlantic Slave Trade began, multiple African kingdoms were participating in an active slave trade with the Islamic world. These kingdoms would provide enslaved persons to Muslim traders in exchange for goods, livestock, and spices from the Arab world. This trade occurred along both the Trans-Saharan Trade Routes and Indian Ocean Trade Routes.

Map of Islamic Countries in Africa

Suffice to say, the history of Islam and Africa are greatly intertwined. Below is a map developed with data from the Pew Research Center that shows the regions of Africa with Islamic practice as of 2010. As you can see, Islam still holds strong in both North and West Africa as well as portions of the eastern coast.

Fig. 1 - map showing religious practice in Africa