Islam+in+Sub-Sahara+Africa


 * Islam in Sub-Sahara Africa **

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During the 13-15th Centuries there were many factors of Sub-Saharan Africa that contributed to the spread of Islam on the Swahili coastline. There were **trading centers** that formed where other countries traded with each other; **there was the development of new towns, and the development of coastal commerce and ritual/beliefs that contributed to the Spread of Islam**. Sub-Saharan Africa developed on the seaboard and the offshore islands of Africa’s Indian Ocean. Islam spread mainly through centers that formed in the new towns and ships that the trade was brought from place to place. These new towns traded with **Persia, Arabia, India and China. Also ivory, gold, slaves and animals were exported from the ports in exchange for silks from Persia and porcelain from China.** The new town of **Kilwa** flourished with international trade. They had an **active role in long distance coastal commerce and caravan trade.** Islam was urbanized by the East African trading ports that were found along the coastline. In the 13th century architecture developed that helped to spread Islam to other parts of the world. The people settled in new towns that were developed, like the town of Kilwa. **Ibn Batuta** who was an Arab traveler considered Kilwa as one of the **most beautiful and well constructed towns**. Kilwa controlled the southern part of Sofala which is the farthest point south that the ships sailed from India. In the city of Kilwa the African customs and the Bantu language still remained strong. With the construction of the new town, **the people were provided with the ethics and beliefs that made contact between civilizations easier.** People were starting to make **compromises between their new faith and the ways of the indigenous people.** The towns shared the same Bantu and Arabic influence and language but were ruled by separate Muslim ruling families. In the city of Kilwa the **trading ports built mosques and palaces** where the people could go to in times if they needed a peaceful place to go. In Islam **syncretism** formed with groups who moved into the area looking for natural resources that were needed for their subsistence. So the African **indigenous traditions became linked with the places of origin in Kilwa**. People of the Islamic ethnic groups had to **blend in with other groups of pre colonial Africa to adapt their religious practices;** they also **synchronized cultural ways of the origins** of human life in the present and the future. The Swahilian people reacted with numerous ideas of how to spread their culture and language along the coast of east Africa. media type="custom" key="7397193"