The Spread of Islam

A look into Southeast Asia and Africa before and after Islam

Africa pre-IslamStateless Societies States• Kinship or obligation without political

power or authority• Problem with a group? Leave and

establish a new village.• Problems: external pressure, difficulty

mobilizing for war, difficulty organizing large building projects, unstable conditions for trade.

• Rulers with hierarchy of officials

Examples: Bantu people Examples: Mali Empire, Kingdom of Ghana, Songhai Empire, Great Zimbabwe

Lack of political unity due to differences in geography, language, religion, and politics

Ancient African Civilizations

Common elements of pre-Islamic Africa• Language – Bantu speaking, or

derived from Bantu• Religion – animistic• Served as a guide for behavior• Introduced and necessitated

animistic priests• Believed that evil and illness were

caused by witches and spirits

• Economy – merchants control trade

Africa after Islam: North Africa

• North Africa used to interactions with the classical world (Greece, Rome, etc.)• Carthage (think Roman Punic

Wars) was in Northern Africa •Muhammad’s followers

(umma) spread across Northern Africa and into Spain

Islamic North Africa• Berbers of the Sahara Desert –

went of a jihad to purify and spread Islam South into Africa.

• REMEMBER – Jihad does not necessitate violence.

North Western Africa• Kingdom of Ghana, Mali

Empire, Songhai Empire all converted to Islam

• Mali built the Great Mosque of Djenne

• Songhai had Muslim rulers with trade routes on rivers, inviting in more Muslim merchants

East Africa• Trade cities became

bastions of Islam• Islam spread slower to

inner Africa (Christian missions already set up)• Hybrid culture – Swahili

and Muslim

Southeast Asia pre-Islam• In India, foreigners

assimilated and converted to Hindu or Buddhism• Southeast Asia –

Buddhist. Built maritime empire. • Trade to outside civs

discouraged, merchants on the bottom of society

Comparison of Hindu and IslamHindu IslamOpen InflexibleTolerant Persuasive to convert (but not

forced)Various forms of religious devotion

Worship of a single God

Caste system- some are higher in society than others

All believers are equal in the eyes of God

Generally- Islam is more religiously rigid

Southeast Asia post-Islam• Interactions between Hindu and Islamic

cultures• Trade, religious interchange, tension (leads to

warfare), Indian culture to Baghdad (“Islamic flowering”, building on Indian math to progress astronomy)

• Islam brought little change because Islamic conquerors offered lower taxes and religious tolerance to towns if they willingly surrendered• Generally- coexistence between Islam and

Hindu

Southeast Asia post-Islam• In Indonesia, Malacca was an

important trading port• Islam spread from port to port

(port cities are receptive)• Spread by Sufi mystics who set

up schools and mosques across Indonesian islands