The Islamic World from 600-1400 and the African Societies and Kingdoms 1000 BCE-1500 CE
The religion of Islam was found by Muhammad in Mecca. He was said to have received visions from the angel Gabriel. These visions led Muhammad to believe that he was the last prophet which was why God was speaking to him through Gabriel. This is the same God as the Christians and Jews. Despite this there are many differences between the three religions (1) Jewish people do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah and they are still waiting on the Messiah (2) Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah and that he died for everyone’s sins and that by believing that Jesus did this people will be able to go to Heaven (3) The Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet of God, but that Mohammad was a higher ranking prophet, who received messages from God through Gabriel. After having the visions Muhammad began spreading his belief. Eventually, the people who became his followers were called Muslims and his religion Islam.
The religious beliefs of some of the African Kingdoms and societies were based on the idea of ancestor worship. They believed that the spirits of their ancestors guided them. They would ask god to bless them and to help them and their villages. Some African kingdoms believed in the worship of nature and gave honor to the spirits that encompassed the air, sun, sky, rocks, and trees.
The Muslims practice what is referred to as The Five Pillars of Faith (Rodwell, 2004). These pillars of faith are used to represent acts that one must do to show their faith and submission to Allah. (1) Faith- Upon becoming a member of the Islamic faith. The convert recites a pledge of faith, saying “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”. (Rodwell, 2004) (2) Prayer- Muslims are required to pray in the directions of Mecca five times a day (3) Alms- this is the requirement that all Muslims are supposed to give money to the poor by the way of a religious tax called Alms (4) Fasting- While celebrating the month of Ramadan. Muslims only eat at the very end of the day after fasting from dawn to dusk (5) Muslims take a trip to the city of Mecca at least once in their life. (Rodwell, 2004)
Ghana which was created by the Soninke people by the 700’s. They referred to their kings by the title of Ghana meaning war-chief. The kingdom of Ghana took over the southern routes after they had seized the town of Awdaghost from the Berbers. One of the kings of Ghana converted to Islam after being taught technology by Arabs. After this he had his kingdom convert to Islam. Almost everyone did, but some people remained faithful to their original beliefs. The king of Ghana lived in the city of Koumbi Saleh. The Muslim and African people in the town lived separately from each other. The Empire of Ghana became wealthy by taxing the merchandise that traders brought through their lands. They also traded gold that was mined from the Niger River for salt that came from the Sahara. The king of Ghana also had chieftains from subordinate kingdoms pay tribute. This was done as a way to help the king pay for the expense of running his kingdom.
The Empire of Mali came about in the 13th century when a group of Muslims named the Almoravids conquered Ghana in the 11th century. Their leader named Sundiata cemented his control of the country formerly known as Ghana by taking control of a number of cities and trade routes. The new Empire of Mali was more powerful than Ghana. Like Ghana the majority of the empire’s wealth came from gold. This gold would enable the newly established capital city of Niani to become one of the world’s biggest trading centers of the time. This gold was mined by Africans who had not converted to Islam. These slaves would become a valuable commodity for export. Unlike the Arab Muslims who did not care for lavish displays of wealth. The kings of both Ghana and later Mali had no issue with flaunt the wealth that they had obtained. One such man was Mansu Musa. Mansu Musa is considered to be the richest man who ever lived by many. His wealth was said to be so vast that no one has ever come up with the exact number, but estimate put it somewhere around 500 billion dollars. Musa supposedly rode in carriages made of gold, ate off gold dishes before throwing them out after a single use. He was also said to be overly generous with his money. Tossing gold coins into the street as he passed through villages. He would have mosques built in Timbuktu after traveling through the city on his way to Mecca.
The country of Ethiopia, then known as Aksum was one of the few African countries that did not convert to Islam. Even though it was surrounded by a number of countries that had, such as Somalia. Despite this the inhabitants of the country were influenced by Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Ethiopia’s main port was Adulis. Nonetheless the country had a strong adherence to Christianity ever since it was introduced almost a century before. In fact, the country’s history the Kebra Negast tells the story of Queen Makeda and how she had traveled to Jerusalem. She had traveled to Jerusalem in order to obtain advice from King Solomon, who was known as the wisest man in the world (The Holy Bible, 1989). Once she arrived to the city she converted to Judaism and had a son with King Solomon. This was were a number of valuable commodities such as, precious stones, gold, ivory and slaves were traded with Islamic traders. This is a scenario that would never happen with to a Muslim woman as they would not be permitted to take such a trip, and they are not permitted to speak to members of the opposite sex who are not family.
The Islamic faith also spread to Spain, southern France, and China. The leadership of the aforementioned Muslim lands was under a Caliphate until circa 900. They established two dynasties (1) Abbasid, whose capital was Baghdad and (2) Umayyad which encompassed the lands of Damascus and Syria. The Islamic countries began to fall apart because the Caliphs were unable to create a centralized government. This meant that there were too many localized dynasties and they were all competing with each other.
Then in 1095 Pope Urban II decided to start the crusades. These crusades was done both to “protect” the Christian Middle East from Muslim invasions and also to showcase the power of the Catholic Church. The Crusades ended in the late 13th century without any real impact on the Muslim or Christian religions. Although, the crusades did open up Europe to trade, because many of the knights returned home with merchandise they had obtained while they were gone. This sparked a desire in Europeans for things from outside Europe. This led to trade for such items as spices, silk, art and gold.
After the crusades between1200-1400 The Mongols conquered much of the Islamic lands of China, India, The Middle East and Russia, which they ruled for a little less than a century. The invasions and subsequent conquering of these countries interrupted trade for a while. This had an adverse effect on the economies of these countries. Eventually, the Mongols split up and assimilated into the countries they had conquered incorporating many aspects of the Muslim culture into their lives. Due to the Mongols not attempting to change the cultures or beliefs of the people they conquered. Some of the ideas that the Muslims practiced were incorporated into the beliefs of the Mongols.
These ideas were (1) According to Muhammad piety was more important than birth status. This differed from the African Societies were people showcased their wealth by wearing elaborate jewelry, hairstyles, and clothing. Despite the importance of piety to the Muslim people, they did have a social hierarchy (2) the most important were the Arabs who were descendants of the original followers of Muhammad, then there were the converts who consisted of the Persians and Berbers many of the people who traded with the Berbers converted to Islam in order to avoid being attacked and to maintain their trading power. Next in the hierarchy was the Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians who were considered protected and finally the slaves which consisted of people captured in war who were converted to Islam.
Islamic culture had a very strong separation in regards to men and women. According to the Koran men are supposed to be in charge of the women. Muslim women were expected to be modest and submissive. They were also expected to dress in a manner that did not draw attention to their sexuality. African women on the other hand did not adhere to the same rules of modesty. They wore intricate hairstyles and they wore adornments on their cheeks and in their ears. In some of the African Kingdoms, they were ruled by both a King and a Queen. The Queen was an equal ruler to the King. She had the right to choose the next king and she had full privileges as a member of the council .Muslims were more educationally and medically advance then the people of Europe having produced a number of important discoveries in a number of areas such as, architecture, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy. Members of the African kingdoms also had a lot of experience in areas like architecture and medicine, especially in regards to natural remedies. The major difference between the Muslims and the Africans is that the Muslims were constantly expanding into new areas to spread their beliefs, where the African leaders did not have to do that.
Works Cited
Hill, M. (2016). The Spread of Islam in West Africa: Containment, Mixing, and Reform from the Eighth to the Twentieth Century (1st ed.). Stanford University. Retrieved from http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/the_spread_of_islam_in_west_africa_containment_mixing_and_reform_from_the_eighth_to_the_twentieth_century
Liu, X. (2010). The Silk Road in world history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McKay, J., & McKay, J. (2000). A history of world societies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Rodwell, J. (2004). The Koran. New York: Bantam Dell.
The Holy Bible. (1989). New York.
