Islam in Africa
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Islam in Africa is the continent's second most widely professed faith behind
It was estimated in 2002 that Muslims constituted 40% of the population of Africa, a fraction which has slightly decreased in the meantime[
History
The presence of Islam in Africa can be traced to the 7th century CE, when in Rajab 8 BH, or May 614 CE,
In 20 H / 641 CE, during the reign of Caliph
In the following centuries, the consolidation of Muslim trading networks, connected by lineage, trade, and Sufi brotherhoods, had reached a peak in
The History of Islam in Africa and accounts of how the religion spread, especially in North and the Horn of Africa, has always been contentious. Head of Awqaf Africa London,
Similarly, in the
In the 16th century, the
Today, Islam is the predominant religion of the northern half of Africa, mainly concentrated in North Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, as well as West Africa.[citation needed]
Characteristics
Islam has been in Africa for so long, since its emergence on the Arabian peninsula, that some scholars have argued that it is a traditional African religion.[20]
Although the majority of Muslims in Africa are
Islam in Africa is often adapted to local cultural contexts and belief systems, thereby forming the continent's own orthodoxies. Different societies in Africa have generally appropriated Islam in both more inclusive ways, or in the more radical ways, as with the Almoravid movement in the Maghreb and Sahara.[3]
Additionally, Islam in Africa 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, Muslims in Africa are also part of the Ummah (Islamic community worldwide), and follow global issues and current events that affect the Muslim world with keen interest. With globalization and new initiatives in information technology, Muslims in Africa have developed and maintained close connections with the wider Muslim world.[19]
Analysts argue that Muslims in Africa, like other Muslims in Asia, the Middle 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.[19]
Shari'ah
The Sharīʿah of Islam broadly influences the legal code in most Islamic countries, but the extent of which its impact varies widely. In Africa, most states limit the use of Sharia to "personal-status law" for issues such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody. With the exception of northern Nigeria in West Africa, secularism does not seem to face any serious threat in Africa, even though the new Islamic revival is having a great impact upon segments of Muslim populations. Cohabitation or coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims remains, for the most part, peaceful.[19]
Nigeria is home to Africa's largest Muslim population. In 1999, Nigeria's northern states adopted the Sharia penal code, but punishments have been rare. In fact, dozens of women convicted of adultery and sentenced to stoning to death have later been freed. Egypt, one of the largest Muslim states in Africa, claims Sharia as the main source of its legislation, yet its penal and civil codes are based largely on
Sects
Muslims in Africa mostly adhere to the
Quranists
Quranism is an umbrella term denoting a strand within Islam that endorses a Quran-oriented form of Islam and often eschews hadiths. There are many forms of Quranism and they may not all agree on practical tenets.[23]
Nondenominational Muslims
According to a survey by Pew, there are thirteen countries in Africa wherein at least twenty percent of the Muslim population adheres to a non-denominational form of Islam, i.e. are
Sufism
Sufism, which focuses on the mystical elements of Islam, has many orders as well as followers in West Africa and Sudan, and, like other orders, strives to know God through meditation and emotion. Sufis may be
Many Sufis in Africa are
Salafism
Recently,
On the other hand,
Notable kingdoms and sultanates
- Harla Kingdom (500 - 1500)
- Wadai Sultanate(1501-1911)
- Kanem Empire(700 - 1376)
- Idrisid dynasty (789 - 974)
- Sultanate of Mogadishu (c. 900 - 16th century)
- Maghrawa dynasty (987 - 1070)
- Kingdom of Kano (1000 - 1805)
- Almoravid dynasty (1073 – 1147)
- Kilwa Sultanate (12th century – 1505)
- Almohad dynasty (1147 – 1269)
- Mali Empire (1230s – 1600s)
- Marinid dynasty(1258 – 1420)
- Ajuran Sultanate (13th century - 17th century)
- Ifat Sultanate(1285 - 1415)
- Songhai Empire (1340 - 1591)
- Bornu Empire(1369 - 1893)
- Adal Sultanate (1415 - 1555)
- Hiraab Imamate (17th century - 1874)
- Isaaq Sultanate (17th century - 1884)
- Wattasid dynasty (1420 – 1554)
- Sennar Sultanate(1502 - 1821)
- Saadi dynasty(1554 – 1659)
- Dendi Kingdom(1591 - 1901)
- Sultanate of Darfur (1603 - 1874)
- Alaouite dynasty(1666 - current)
- Kong Empire (1710 - 1894)
- Majeerteen Sultanate (mid-18th century – early 20th century)
- Imamate of Futa Jallon (1727 - 1896)
- Almamyate of Futa Toro(1776 - 1861)
- Sokoto Caliphate (1804 - 1903)
- Kingdom of Gomma (early 19th century – 1886)
- Kingdom of Jimma (1830 – 1932)
- Kingdom of Gumma (1840 – 1902)
- Wassoulou Empire (1878 - 1898)
- Sultanate of Hobyo (1880s - 1920s)
- Dervish State(1896 - 1920)
- Emirate of Harar (967-1887)
- Makhzumi dynasty (896-1286)
Muslim population in Africa by country
According to the Pew Research Center, three of the ten countries with the largest Muslim populations in 2015 were in Africa: Nigeria (where there were an estimated 90.02 million Muslims, accounting for 50% of the total population), Egypt (83.87 million; 95.1%) and Algeria (37.21 million; 97.9%).[26]
Muslim population | Total population | Percentage Muslim | |
---|---|---|---|
Algeria | 34,730,000 | 35,470,000 | 97.9 |
Angola | 40,000 | 19,080,000 | <1.0 |
Benin |
2,110,000 | 8,850,000 | 23.8 |
Botswana |
<10,000 | 2,010,000 | <1.0 |
Burkina Faso | 10,150,000 | 16,470,000 | 61.6 |
Burundi | 230,000 | 8,380,000 | 2.8 |
Cameroon | 3,590,000 | 19,600,000 | 18.3 |
Cape Verde | <10,000 | 500,000 | <1.0 |
Central African Republic |
370,000 | 4,400,000 | 8.5 |
Chad | 6,210,000 | 11,230,000 | 55.3 |
Comoros |
720,000 | 730,000 | 98.3 |
Congo | 50,000 | 4,040,000 | 1.2 |
Democratic Republic of the Congo | 970,000 | 65,970,000 | 1.5 |
Djibouti | 860,000 | 890,000 | 96.9 |
Egypt | 76,990,000 | 81,120,000 | 94.9 |
Equatorial Guinea | 30,000 | 700,000 | 4.0 |
Eritrea |
1,920,000 | 5,250,000 | 36.6 |
Ethiopia | 28,680,000 | 82,950,000 | 34.6 |
Gabon | 170,000 | 1,510,000 | 11.2 |
Gambia |
1,640,000 | 1,730,000 | 95.1 |
Ghana | 3,860,000 | 24,390,000 | 15.8 |
Guinea | 8,430,000 | 9,980,000 | 84.4 |
Guinea-Bissau | 680,000 | 1,520,000 | 45.1 |
Ivory Coast | 7,390,000 | 19,740,000 | 42.5 |
Kenya | 3,920,000 | 40,510,000 | 9.7 |
Kingdom of Morocco | 32,460,000 | 32,460,000 | 99.0 |
Lesotho | <10,000 | 2,170,000 | <1.0 |
Liberia | 480,000 | 3,990,000 | 12.0 |
Libya | 6,140,000 | 6,360,000 | 96.6 |
Madagascar | 620,000 | 20,710,000 | 3.0 |
Malawi | 1,930,000 | 14,900,000 | 13.0 |
Mali | 14,510,000 | 15,370,000 | 94.4 |
Mauritania | 3,430,000 | 3,460,000 | 99.0 |
Mauritius | 220,000 | 1,300,000 | 17.3 |
Mayotte | 200,000 | 200,000 | 98.6 |
Mozambique | 4,200,000 | 23,390,000 | 18.0 |
Namibia | <10,000 | 2,280,000 | <1.0 |
Niger | 15,270,000 | 15,510,000 | 98.4 |
Nigeria | 80,300,000 | 158,420,000 | 50.8 |
Reunion | 40,000 | 850,000 | 4.2 |
Rwanda | 190,000 | 10,620,000 | 1.8 |
St. Helena |
<10,000 | <10,000 | <1.0 |
Sao Tome and Principe | <10,000 | 170,000 | <1.0 |
Senegal | 11,980,000 | 12,430,000 | 96.4 |
Seychelles | <10,000 | 90,000 | 1.1 |
Sierra Leone | 4,580,000 | 5,870,000 | 78.0 |
Somalia | 9,310,000 | 9,330,000 | 98.0 |
South Africa | 860,000 | 50,130,000 | 1.7 |
South Sudan | 2,316,000 | 11,580,000 | 20 |
Sudan | 45,480,000 | 46,880,000 | 97 |
Swaziland |
<10,000 | 1,190,000 | <1.0 |
Tanzania | 15,770,000 | 44,840,000 | 35.2 |
Togo | 840,000 | 6,030,000 | 14.0 |
Tunisia | 10,430,000 | 10,480,000 | 99.0 |
Uganda | 3,840,000 | 33,420,000 | 11.5 |
Zambia | 70,000 | 13,090,000 | <1.0 |
Zimbabwe | 110,000 | 12,570,000 | <1.0 |
See also
- List of mosques in Africa
- Trade & Pilgrimage Routes of Ghana
- Islam in South Asia
References
- ^ Muslim Societies in African History (New Approaches to African History), David Robinson, Chapter 1.
- ^ a b c "Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation". The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity. Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. August 9, 2012. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-53366-9. Archivedfrom the original on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- ISBN 9780852299562 p.306, Foreign Policy, May 2007.
According to the Encyclopædia 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. Ian S. Markham,(A World Religions Reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.) Archived 2010-11-12 at the Wayback Machine is cited by Morehouse University as giving the mid-1990s figure of 278,250,800 Muslims in Africa, but still as 40.8% of the total population. These numbers are estimates, and remain a matter of conjecture. See Amadu Jacky Kaba. The spread of Christianity and Islam in Africa: a survey and analysis of the numbers and percentages of Christians, Muslims and those who practice indigenous religions. The Western Journal of Black Studies, Vol 29, Number 2, June 2005. Discusses the estimations of various almanacs and encyclopedium, placing Britannica's estimate as the most agreed figure. Notes the figure presented at the World Christian Encyclopedia, summarized here Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, as being an outlier. On rates of growth, Islam and Pentecostal Christianity are highest, see: The List: The World’s Fastest-Growing Religions Archived 2008-05-01 at the Wayback Machine - ISBN 978-0470658987. Archivedfrom the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ "as-Sahaba Mosque (Mosque of the Companions)". Madain Project. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
- ISBN 9780826494238. Archivedfrom the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2021 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-0-511-97676-6.
- ^ Nehemia Levtzion and Randall L. Pouwels (eds). The History of Islam in Africa Archived 2022-03-06 at the Wayback Machine. page 1. Ohio University Press, 2000
- ISBN 978-1841623719. Archivedfrom the original on 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
- ^ a b Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 25. Americana Corporation. 1965. p. 255. Archived from the original on 2017-01-06. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
- ^ a b Lewis, I.M. (1955). Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho. International African Institute. p. 140. Archived from the original on 2016-08-06. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
- ^ "A Country Study: Somalia from The Library of Congress". Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir Thomas Walker Arnold, pg.261-
- ^ Abduhu Badawi: Ma'a Harak ul-Islam fi Ifriqiyah (Siding Islamic Movement in Africa) 1979 Cairo page 175
- ^ "Christian College | Bethel University". www.bethel.edu. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010.
- ^ Mark Cartwright. "The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa". World History Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
- ^ "African Religion Diaspora and Continent". Dr. Kofi Asare Opoku. Archived from the original on 2019-06-01. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hussein D. Hassan."Islam in Africa" Archived 2008-08-21 at the Stanford Web Archive (RS22873). Congressional Research Service (May 9, 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ African traditional religion in the modern world - Douglas E. Thomas page 125
- ^ Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt, Mukhtasar Khalil & The Nexus Between Maliki Fiqh and French Law, retrieved 2023-01-22
- ^ Shea, Nina. The Contest of Ideas with Radical Islam: The Centrality of the Idea of Religious Freedom and Tolerance. HUDSON INST WASHINGTON DC, 2006.
- ^ Jafarli, D. "The rise of the quranist movement in Egypt (19th to 20th ctnturies): a historical approach." Гілея: науковий вісник 126 (2017): 181-185.
- ^ John Pike (2012-08-17). "Sufi Islam". Globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
- ISBN 978-90-04-21525-2.
- ^ Diamant, Jeff (1 April 2019). "The countries with the 10 largest Christian populations and the 10 largest Muslim populations". Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
Further reading
- J. Spencer Trimingham, History of Islam in West Africa. Oxford University Press, 1962.
- Nehemia Levtzion and Randall L. Pouwels (eds). The History of Islam in Africa. Ohio University Press, 2000.
- David Robinson. Muslim Societies in African History. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
- Bruce S. Hall, A History of Race in Muslim West Africa, 1600-1960. Cambridge University Press, 2011, ISBN 9781107002876.
- Paul Schrijver (2006), Bibliography on Islam in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa, Research Report, Leiden: African Studies Centre,
- Chopra, R.M., "SUFISM" (Origin,Growth,Eclipse,Resurgence), 2016, Anuradha Prakashan, New Delhi. ISBN 978-93-85083-52-5.