The history of islam in west africa pdf

Muslim rulers were just and allowed religious freedom and many of the people they conquered eventually converted to islam. This book is not an attempt to write a history of west africa, but to show the way in which islam. 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. Ajayi covers the history of africa from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the onset of the european scramble for colonial territory in the 1880s. The history of islam in east africa stretches back to around ce.

Africa was the first continent, that islam spread into out of arabia in the early seventh century. The history of islam in west africa can be explained in three stages, containment, mixing, and reform. 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. 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. In spite of growing european commercial, religious and. Includes bibliographical references and index introduction. The nickname boko haram was given by local communities to. A past of which to speak west african mosque architecture. Volume vi of the unesco general history of africa africa in the nineteenth century until the 1880s under the direction of j. Margari hill, stanford university january 2009 available in pdf format 1. 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. France and islam in west africa, 18601960 by christopher. This conference will examine those issues but place them within a. The series will take up issues of religious and intellectual traditions, social significance and organization, and other aspects of.

Islam and west african anthropology article pdf available in africa today 531. The weight of authority seems to be that islam probably crossed the sahara about the 11th century, a. Pdf islam and west african anthropology researchgate. 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. Bringing together two dozen leading scholars, this comprehensive work treats the. Spread of islam in west africa all parts the religion.

Transsaharan trade brought islam to west africa in the 8th century. A brief introduction the spread of islam in west africa. University of glasgow, 1962 africa, west 262 pages. 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. Islam reached the savannah region in the 8th century c. 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. 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. Islam in africa has to varying degrees incorporated tribal and preislamic practices, and the muslims of africa have accepted claims of several selfproclaimed mahdis. Anglicans, methodists, and baptists were active in sierra leone and, with presbyterians, in nigeria, while methodists also set. The introduction to the author, the headings and accentuation of some.

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. This is a short history of africa excluding egypt, ethiopia and dutch and british south africa, which are the subjects of separate histories. 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. Islamic scholarship and understanding history in west africa.

Islam has gained more converts in africa than has christianity, which labors under the burden of identification with european imperialism. Africa was the first continent into which islam spread from southwest asia, during the early 7th century ce. Almost onethird of the worlds muslim population resides in the continent. 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. Islam and society in a west african town berkeley, ca, 1992, esp.

Several important early empires developed in west africa, such as ghana. Boko haram and the islamic states west africa province. Trade and commerce paved the way for the introduction of. Muslims crossed current djibouti and somalia to seek refuge in presentday eritrea and ethiopia during the hijrah arabic. They were the first negro people who accepted islam. At first, muslim traders and merchants lived side by side with the nonmuslims of west africa. 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. Bringing together two dozen leading scholars, this.

The histom1 ofls1am il1 africa ohio university press. Toynbees chapter is reproduced in its entirety below. 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. The journal of african history the historiography of islam in. Almurabids who intended to open the cities of andulus but later.

Spread of islam in west africa islam reached the savannah region in the 8th century c. 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. West african islam is neglected by both islamic studies and african studies, despite its rich history, from the first centuries of islam to the present. 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. It is largely a plateau of modest elevation and borders the sahara desert on the.

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. East african muslims are mostly shafiites and some. Pearson islam in the bilad alsudan to 1800 nehemia levtzion the juula and the expansion of islam into the. 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. Before considering how the history of islam has been studied in west africa, it is. Traders bring islam to ghana between the years 639 and 708 c.

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. A century, or 100 years, after muhammads death muslims had become powerful and had defeated the persian and byzantine empires. Over time, however, islam played a growing role in west african society. The history of islam in africa ohio university press. They ruled the area from north africa to the border of china.

The scant attention paid to islam in the anthropology of west africa. 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. Islam reaches west africa, and a history of the islamic empire of ghana. The history of islam in west africa is more than inter.

Islam, islamic history, islamic civilization, islam in africa, islam in south africa. In this chapter, you will explore how islamic faith and culture influenced west. While this was a shortlived encounter, muslims eventually left a. Because islam spread to west africa from north africa, muslims there fol. The aims and objectives is to find out the factors responsible for the spread of islam in west africa. 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.

The swahili language remains central to many east african muslims, hence the occasionally heard phrase, swahili islam. 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. 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 arc begins in south africa, where there are substantial numbers of muslims of southasian and southeastasian origin. West africa trade islam first came to west africa as a slow and peaceful process, spread by muslim traders and scholars. Introduction abbul hassan ali, assammaniy proclaimed that islam spread in west africa through the activities and efforts of al murabidun strugglers i. Almost onethird of the worlds muslim population resides today in the. 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.