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From its beginning, Islam has been a central feature in Africa.

Africa was the first continent into which Islam expanded, and it has become an integral part of many African cultures and histories[1]. According to World Book Encyclopedia, Islam is the largest religion in Africa, followed by Christianity [2]. However, according to Encyclopdia Britannica, Christianity is the largest religion in Africa, followed by Islam[3].1/4 of the world's Muslims are in Africa.[4] [edit]Population There are conflicting statistics on religious practitioners in Africa (including North Africa). Encyclopdia Britannica, as of mid-2002, there were 376,453,000 Christians, 329,869,000 Muslims and 98,734,000 people who practiced traditional religions in Africa.[5] Nevertheless, according to a May 9, 2009 Congressional Research Service report, there were 371,459,142 Muslims, 304,313,880 Christians, 137,842,507 who practiced indigenous religions, and 9,818,542 people who practiced other religions in Africa.[2] [edit]History Main articles: Muslim conquest of North Africa, Shirazi era, Spread of Islam, and Migration to Abyssinia

The presence of Islam in Africa can be traced to the seventh century when the prophet Muhammad advised a number of his early disciples, who were facing persecution by the pre-Islamic inhabitants of the Mecca, to seek refuge across the Red Sea in the Christian Kingdom of Abyssinia (modern dayEthiopia and Western Somalia) under the rule of al-Najashi. See also Islam in Somalia and Islam in Ethiopia. In the Muslim tradition, this event is known as the first hijrah, or migration. These first Muslim migrants provided Islam with its first major triumph, and the coastline of Somalia became the first safe haven for Muslims and the first place Islam would be practiced outside of the Arabian Peninsula. Seven years after the death of Muhammad (in 639 AD), the Arabs advanced toward Africa and within two generations, Islam had expanded across North Africa and all of the Central Maghreb.[1][2] In the following centuries, the consolidation of Muslim trading networks, connected by lineage, trade, and Sufi brotherhoods, had reached a crescendo in West Africa, enabling Muslims to wield tremendous political influence and power. During the reign of Umar II, the then governor of Africa, Ismail ibn Abdullah, was said to have won the Berbers to Islam by his just administration. Other early notable missionaries include Abdallah ibn Yasin, who started a movement which caused thousands of Berbers to accept Islam.[7] Similarly, in the Swahili coast, Islam made its way inland - spreading at the

The Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali, originally built in the reign of King Mansa Musa of theMali Empire in the 13th century. A prime example of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style of West Africa.

expense of traditional African religions. This expansion of Islam in Africa not only led to the formation of new communities in Africa, but it also reconfigured existing African communities and empires to be based on Islamic models.[2] Indeed, in the middle of the eleventh century, the Kanem Empire, whose influence extended into Sudan, converted to Islam. At the same time but more toward West Africa, the reigning ruler of the Bornu Empire embraced Islam.[7] As these kingdoms adopted Islam, its populace thereafter devotedly followed suit. In praising the Africans' zealousness to

The Great Mosque of Kairouan (also known as the Mosque of Uqba), founded in 670 by the Arab general and conqueror Uqba Ibn Nafi, is the oldest and most prestigious mosque in North Africa [6], located in the city of Kairouan, Tunisia.

Islam, the fourteenth century explorer Ibn Battuta stated that mosques were so crowded on Fridays, that unless one went very early, it was impossible to find a place to sit.[7] In the sixteenth century, the Ouaddai Empire and the Kingdom of Kano embraced Islam, and later toward the eighteenth century, the Nigeria based Sokoto Caliphate led by Usman dan Fodio exerted considerable effort in spreading Islam.[7] Today, Islam is the predominant religion of Northern Africa, mainly concentrated in North and Northeast Africa, as well as the Sahelregion. This has served to further differentiate the various cultures, customs and laws of different parts of the African continent. [edit]Characteristics

in more inclusive way, or in the more radical way, as with the Almoravid movement.[8][9]. African Islam has both local and global dimensions. On the local level, experts assert that Muslims (including African Muslims) operate with considerable autonomy and do not have an international organization that regulates their religious practices. This fact accounts for the differences and varieties in Islamic practices throughout the African continent. On the global level, however, African Muslims belong to the ummah, the worldwide Islamic community, and follow global issues and current events that affect the Muslim world with keen interest. With globalization and new initiatives in information technology, African Muslims have developed and maintained close connections with the wider Muslim world.[2] Analysts argue that African Muslims, like other Muslims in Asia, the Middle

The Larabanga Mosque of Ghana, one of the oldest surviving mosques inWest Africa.

East and the rest of the world, seem to be locked into an intense struggle regarding the future direction of Islam. At core of the struggle are questions about the way in which Muslims should practice their faith. The scholars assert that the majority seems to prefer to remain on the moderate, tolerant course that Islam has historically followed. However, a relatively small, but growing group would like to establish a stricter form of the religion, one that informs and controls all aspects of society.[2]

The 12th century Sankore Madrasah, Timbuktu, Mali. One of the earliest universities in the world. The three mosques of Sankor, Djinguereber Mosque and Sidi Yahya compose the famous University of Timbuktu. Madrasah means school/university in Arabic and also in other languages associated with Muslim people.

Although the majority of Muslims in Africa are Sunni or Sufi, the complexity of Islam in Africa is revealed in the various schools of thought, traditions, and voices that constantly contend for dominance in many African countries. African Islam is not static and is constantly being reshaped by prevalent social, economic, and political conditions.[2] Islam in Africa often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems forming Africa's own orthodoxies. Africans have generally appropriated Islam

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