Islam in Africa

One of the most important growths in the history of Africa is the rise of Islam. Islam surfaced in Arabia during the early 600’s and within a century, Arab Muslims had established a large empire that extended from the Middle East, across northern Africa, and into Spain. Egypt was invaded by the Muslims in 639 and by 710, all the areas in northern Africa was captured by the Muslims. Later on, the empire disintegrated into smaller states, but because of their religion, the people still kept their close ties with one another.

Initially, the people under the Muslims in Africa rejected the religion of Islam. The conversion of northern Africans, who were either Christians or belonged to a local religion, into Islam took many centuries. Islam was spread mainly by traveling merchants and scholars in the southern regions of the Sahara desert. Camel caravans who crossed the Sahara bought the northern Muslims into contact with western Africans. Traders who set off in the Indian Ocean converted the people living along the shores of what are now Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Apart from sharing their religious beliefs, the Muslims taught reading and writing the Arabic language to illiterate Africans. Before long, Arabic became a common language shared by Africans of various ethnic groups.