The Spread of Islam in West Africa: Containment, Mixing, and Reform from the Eighth to the Twentieth Century

While the presence of Islam in West Africa dates back to eighth century, the spread of t he faith in r egions tha t are now the modern states of Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Nigeria, was in actuality, a gra dual and complex process. Much of what we know about the early his tory of West A frica comes from medieval accounts written by A rab and North African geogr aphers and historians. Specialists have used several models to explain why Afri cans converted to Islam. S ome emphasize economic moti vations, others highlight the draw of Islam’s spiritual message, and a numbe r stress the pres- tige and influence of Arabic literacy in facilit ating state building. While the motivations of early conversio ns remain unclear, it is appar ent t hat t he earl y presence of Islam in West Africa was linked to trade and commerce with North Africa. Trade between West Africa and the Mediterranean predated Islam, however, North African Muslims intensified the Trans-Saharan trade. North African traders were major actors in introducing Islam into West Africa. Several major trade routes connecte d Africa be low the Sahara with the Mediterranean Middle East, such a s Sijilmasa to Awdaghust and Ghadames to Gao. The Sahe l, the ecological transition zone between the Sahara dese rt and forest zone which spans the Afri can continent, was an intense point of contact between North Africa and commu- nities south of the Sahara. In West Africa, the three gre at medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and t he S onghay devel- oped in Sahel. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING