According to Arab oral tradition, Islam first came to Africa with Muslim refugees fleeing persecution in the Arab peninsula. This was followed by a military invasion, some seven years after the death of the prophet Mohammed in 639, under the command of the Muslim Arab General, Amr ibn al-Asi.
Islam had already spread into northern Africa by the mid-seventh century A.D., only a few decades after the prophet Muhammad moved with his followers from Mecca to Medina on the neighboring Arabian Peninsula (622 A.D./1 A.H.).
Specialists have used several models to explain why Africans converted to Islam. Some emphasize economic motivations, others highlight the draw of Islam's spiritual message, and a number stress the prestige and influence of Arabic literacy in facilitating state building.
What were the reasons for the coming of Islam to East Africa?
As Muslim entrepreneurs, both Arab immigrant and coastal Swahili, began to move up country in pursuit of ivory and slaves, the first Islamic sites of worship sprang up in places like Tabora, currently in central Tanzania, for use by these expatriates.
Islam was introduced by traders from the Sahel regions of West Africa. Prior to that, Da'wah workers had made contact and written extensively about the people including inhabitants of Bonoman states located in the hinterlands of contemporary Ghana.
Beginning of Muslim Africa - Battle of Sufetula 647 DOCUMENTARY
Who brought Islam to Africa?
Following the conquest of North Africa by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE, Islam spread throughout West Africa via merchants, traders, scholars, and missionaries, that is largely through peaceful means whereby African rulers either tolerated the religion or converted to it themselves.
Merchants from North Africa and the Senegalese basin introduced Islam to what is now Nigeria during the 11th century, and it was the first monotheistic Abrahamic religion to arrive in Nigeria.
Forms of polytheism was widespread in most of ancient African and other regions of the world, before the introduction of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. An exception was the short-lived monotheistic religion created by Pharaoh Akhenaten, who made it mandatory to pray to his personal god Aten (see Atenism).
In Oromo and Somali culture, Waaq, Waaqa or Waaqo was the name of God in their pre-Christian and pre-Muslim monotheistic faith believed to have been adhered to by Cushitic groups. It was likely brought to the Horn by the speakers of the Proto-Cushitic language who arrived from North Sudan in the Neolithic.
There are many reasons why Islam spread so quickly. First Mecca was connected to many global trade routes. Another important reason was their military conquered lots of territory. A third factor was the Muslims fair treatment of conquered peoples.
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country with over 230 million people, roughly evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Just over half the population are Muslim and around 46% are Christian according to the CIA World Factbook.
In more than 15 ahadith found in the Sahih of Imam Bukhari, Sunnan of Imam Abu Dawwud, Jamii of Imam Tirmidhi and others, the prophet (saws) said Islam has a specific lifespan on earth, these Ahadith state Allah gave Islam 1500 years then relatively soon after this He would establish the Hour, we are now in the year ...
Arab traders first introduced Islam to the Swahili coast in the ninth century. Appreciating its religious value, the Swahili people also recognized that adopting their neighbor's religion would help their trading relationships as well, granting them new access to trade networks.
Somalis are not 'Arab' or 'Middle Eastern'. They follow similar Islamic practices and customs to other majority Muslim countries. However, they are not located in the Middle East and are ethnically Somali, not Arab. Be aware that the northern region of Somaliland is self-declared as an independent breakaway republic.
1 Also, Somali people had established multiple states in the Middle Ages, connected with the Muslim Empires, applied Sharia blended with local customs, defended their territory from foreign invaders, and spread Islam in the Horn of Africa.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Uganda. According to the 2014 census, over 84 percent of the population was Christian, while about 14 percent of the population adhered to Islam, making it the largest minority religion. Anglicanism and Catholicism are the main Christian denominations in the country.
Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was still alive (he died in 632). Thus both religions have been on the continent of Africa for over 1,300 years.
Christianity developed out of Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century CE. It is founded on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and those who follow it are called Christians. Islam developed in the 7th century CE.
One of the main reasons is the disinterests of most Sahelian leaders. Sahelian leaders, rulers of which comprised nations like Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Nigeria, Guinea, etc. They did not develop a belief of spreading Islamic religion to the people there. Instead, they kept it as their own.
The Yoruba are predominant in the southwest, and comprise about 21 percent of the population. Approximately half of the Yoruba are Christian and half are Muslim. The Igbo (or Ibo) are the largest ethnic group in the southeast of Nigeria.
The country with the single largest population of Muslims is Indonesia in Southeast Asia, which on its own hosts 13% of the world's Muslims. Together, the Muslims in the countries of Southeast Asia constitute the world's third-largest population of Muslims.
Although its roots go back further in time, scholars typically date the creation of Islam to the 7th century, making it the youngest of the major world religions. Islam started in Mecca, in modern-day Saudi Arabia, during the time of the prophet Muhammad. Today, the faith is spreading rapidly throughout the world.
Hausa. The Hausa are primarily located in West Africa in northwestern Nigeria and southern Niger but they are also found in Cameroon, Togo, Chad, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Ghana. They are notable because they are the largest ethnic group in Africa with a population of 78 million.
