THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF ISLAMIC CONVERSION

 Islam came to Africa through North Africa in the 7th century. This was the first
phase of expansion. They conqured Egypt upto the Mediteranean sea. It was
though difficult to spread their word. It was only in the 11th centuary that they
began to settle in N. Africa. Later went accros the Sahara into the Sudan belt world
to spread Islam. Traders, clerks and Mechants spread the word of Islam.

 The second phase is the time when most West Africans converted to Moslem faith
because the African where still doing the mixing stage [mixing the old and the new
faith].
 The third phase was in about 18th century.
 It was spread through militant form for it had a new conception of converting;
 waged wars against those people who did not practise Islam and killed those who
refused to convert.
 Here they formed what they called theocratic states [states ruled according to the
religious roles] in North Africa.
 Islam had also become a centre of comunual life. The creed, five pillars unite the
Muslims but its not right to say that islam is one and the same thing because they
have variations.
 Around the 9thy Century there developed asceticism among Moslems [living of one
their own]. This was condemned seeing it was being separated from community as
the followers where obssessed with motification. They harmed themselves saying
they are doing it for god.
 In the 12 century, two interconnected tendencies developed in Islam. One of them
was acquisition of holy men in Islam. Holy men could teach about the quran.
Another thing was sufism [Muslem mysticism and it was mostly associated with
brotherhood. A mystic person practises sufism who go into a trance and talks about
their experiences. This has done a vital role in the spread and development of Islam.
This type of life attracted most Muslims.
 In the 10th Century Islam had become diluted where they became more
materialistic.
 That is, this life above helped Muslim to convert and accept sufism which would
help strengthen their faith.
 This attracted mostly women to this kind of life because it does not segregate
women.
 Whereas in the orthodox Islam mostly women where left at home to pray while
men went to the Mosque. But sufism, the men and women prayed together.
 Sufism faith led to the erection of monastries for those who wanted to live a single
life.
OR
 Islam
 Islam reached Africa through two gateways, from the East and the North. From
both directions the carries of Islam navigated across vast empty places, the waters
of the Indian Ocean, and the desert sands of sahara.
  Both ocean and desert, which so often are considered barriers could be crossed
with appropriate means of transport and navigation skills, in fact they were
exellent transmitters of religious and cultural influences.
 From Egypt, islam influence extended in three directions: - through the Red sea to
the Eastern coastal areas, - up the Nile to the Sudan, - and across the western desert
to the Maghrib.
 In the 11th Century, Arabs nomads drove southwards from egypt to the Sudan and
westward across North africa.
 These nomads contributed to the islamization and Arabization of the Sudan and N.
Africa. At the sametime, Muslem seamen from Egypt and Arabia established
commercial centres along the Red sea and Africa’s east coast.
 By the 12th Century, the last indegenous Christians disappeared from N. Africa, and
by the 15th Century the Christian Coptic population of Egypt itself was reduced to
a minority of some 15%.
 The Christian Nubians who resisted Muslem expansion for almost 6 centuries,
steadly lost ground btn the 12th and the 14th Century.
 It was only in the hone of Africa that the power struggle btn Islam and Christianity
remained undecided.
 Ethiopia endured as a Christian state even after the number of Muslim had grown
considerably, Muslims could not own land and were excluded from higfh
government offices.

PROGRESS OF ISLAM IN NORTH AFRICA.

 Soon after they had defeated the Byzantine emperior forces in the middle of the
7th century, the Arabs gained control over coastal N. Africa.
 But for sometime, the Arabs failed to impose their authority over the Berber tribe
of the interior. Successive revolts of the Berbers, forced the Arabs to withdraw.
 The next phase of the berbers resistant to Arab rule occured within Islam, through
adherence to heteredox sects, first the Ibadiyya and then the Ismailiyya.
 Islam in the Maghrib became imbued with the mysticism of the sufis who became
the principal agents of Islamazation in N. Africa after the 12th Century.
 Convertion to Islam was the work of men of religion who communicated primarily
with local rulers. The later often became the first recepient of Islamic influence, and
indication to the importance that states had in the process of Islamization.
 Thus, for sometime Muslims lived under the hospitality of infidile kings, who
generally were placed by Moslim for the benevolence towards belivers.
 The process of Islamization advanced when Muslim clerics helped African kings to
overcome droughts. But because only the king and his immediete entourage came
under the influence of Islam, the ruling aristocracy adopted a middle position
between Islam and the traditional religion.
 It was through the chiefly courts that Islamic elememnts filtered the cultures of
common people.
 The expansion of Islamic to the country side widened the popular basis for religion
teaching and preaching. Knowledge of Islam was disseminated to the iliterate
peasants and headsmen in the vernacular languages.
 Poems, easily committed to memory, became a major vehicle for teaching and
preaching.
  Vernacular poems were disserminated in handwritten copies among Moslems
literare, who recited them in public.

Egypt and North Africa

 The formation and dominance of Sunni orthodox.

 Arabs occupied Byzantine, Syria and Egypt in 634 - 55.

 During thr early 7th century Byzantim had been rocked by the controversy between
the Patriarchs of Constatiniple and Alexandria over the orthodox interpretation of
Christology. Durin this confusion, Islam was presented as a new, superior religion,
built on a clear rational seperation between a single, non-trinnitarian God and the
world.
 The sedintary mostly Christian population of indegenous Berbers in Byzantine,
Tunisia and Morrocco had officially surrendered to the Arabs by 711 after half a
century of intermittent fighting.

 In 969, they conqured Egypt, Syria and Western Arabia.

The Conquest of Egypt

 The enormouse expansion of Islam in the second half of the 7th C was not the result
of great religious movement stimulated by a proselytizing zeal for the convertion
of souls, but was an expansion of Arab tribes, breaking through the frontiers which
their powerful neighbours in the Roman and Persian empireres had grown weak to
defend.

 There was no religious landslide to the conqurers at first, and no direct presure
exerted on their part to produce it. There were however, restrictions placed upon
“the people of protection” as the adherents of the tolerated faiths (Christian and
Jews in particular) were called.

 Conditions which Jews and Christians were subjected to include: - payment of

tribute, - hospitality for Muslim, - prohibition of erection of new churches or
monastries, - avoidance of all advertisement or display of Christian practise (no
cross), - certain distinctions in dress and sandals, - and the use of weapons, and
even limitations in the height of their houses.

 Clearly social and religious restrictions such as these would, as they were applied,
exert an indirect pressure to acceptance of Islam.

 To what extent?
  For many both rich and poor, denied the faith of Christ by reason of the magnitude
of the taxation and the burdens imposed on them.
 Self interest appear to have been the earliest motive: - among christian b ecoming
government officials, there was often seccession to Islam, - romance too played its
part, for no Christian would marry a Muslim woman, and conversions to secure the
bride were by no means unknown, - persecutions at intervals undoubtedly
encouraged apostacy.
 Internal Facors:- squabbles within the church made the church weak, - pastoral
neglect is alleged as a definite cause of apostacy, - retirement of influencial
christians to monastic life.

North Africa Subdued

 The Arab advance from Egypt to the West was dictated by military necessity.
According to Becker, “many Berbers had indeed accepted Islam as long as
contigent of Arabian troops was in their neighbourhood.”
 So with the Arab conquerors, the Berber chiefs along with their political submission
adopted of the new masters. [The cases of two oustading leaders are illuminationg.
Kusaila, Ibn Khaldin tells us, together with his lieutenant Sekerdid, both Christian
Chiefs, turned Muslim with the Arab inversion.
 There was also peaceful penetration by the new religion with the methods that
seem to copy the Christian monastic system. Missionaries concerned for the
conversion went into areas as preachers, hermits practising all the religious routine
of the devout Muslim. The Berbers around would reverance this and seek the faith.