Islam in Africa - Mr. Farshteymrfarshtey.net/classes/IslaminAfrica.pdf · Islam spread to...
Transcript of Islam in Africa - Mr. Farshteymrfarshtey.net/classes/IslaminAfrica.pdf · Islam spread to...
Islam in Africa
Prior to Islam
Lack of political unity
Secret societies handle disputes
No need to tax because don’t have to support a bureaucracy
Social System—organized by lineage and age
Unifying force– Religion—animism and ancestors
– Language—Bantu
Prior to the Arrival of Islam
North of the Sahara had been part of classical civilizations
(Phoenician, Greek outpost, Carthage, Roman province)
Arrival of Islam 640-700 CEAttraction
Provided some political stability
Equality within a community of believers made it easier to accept new conquerors and rulersegalitarian
Unite state & religion under 1 leader helped reinforce the authority of African kings—caliph
BUT locally divided by social, ethnic and gender
Divisions within Islam
Berbers—North Africa into Spain stopped from taking over France by Charles Martel in 711 CE
Almoravids—puritanical reformers launched jihads (purify, spread or protect faith) into the South and West
Almahadis—also puritanical reformist
Christian: Nubia & Ethiopia
Reached Africa before Rome’s conversion
Coptic (Egypt & Nubia) translated the gospels into their language & were tolerated
Ethiopia—Remained isolated and independent
King Lalibela—11 churches carved from stone
Later Dynasty—traced lineage back to Solomon & Sheba
Bet Giorgis, a 12th century
Rock-Hewn church in Ethiopia
Matrilineal & patrilineal
Arab slave trade—women and children
New Islamic Empires: Mali in the Western Sudan
Islam spread to sub-Saharan Africa by a gradual process of peaceful conversion.
Conversion was facilitated by commercial contacts
In 1240 Sundiata (the Muslim leader of the Malinke people) established the kingdom of Mali
Sundiata, Lion Prince of Malias told by griots
Mali Empire
Mali
Relation to Ghana
– Controlled trans-Saharan trade
• Much larger
• Niger gold fields
– Muslim leadership
• Fostered spread of Islam
• N. African trade network
Mosque of Jennea “port” city on the Niger River
Mali’s economy rested on agriculture
Mali was supplemented by control of regional and trans-Saharan trading routes and by control of the gold mines of the Niger headwaters.
The Mali ruler Mansa Kankan Musa (r. 1312–1337) demonstrated his fabulous wealth during a pilgrimage to Mecca
When he returned to Mali, Mansa Musa established new mosques and Quranicschools.The kingdom of Mali declined and collapsed in the mid to late fifteenth century because of rebellions from within and attacks from without Intellectual life and trade moved to other African states, including the Hausa states and Kanem-Bornu
Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
– 1304-1369
– young Muslim scholar
– 29 years
– 75,000 miles
• merchant ships
• camel caravans
Kingdom of Grasslands
Camel caravans couldn’t survive in the forests so the Sahel became a point of exchange
Sudanic State—MaliMansa Musa 1312-1337*pilgrimage*brought back scholars*trade protection*cosmopolitan court life*tolerant*gold, salt, dates—
The hoe and the bow—symbols of the common