7

Chapter

Islam and Africa

In This Chapter
u The geography and culture of the Arabian Peninsula
u Muhammad and the origin of Islam
u Islamic empires
u Early African civilizat ions
u Africa and Islam

Of all the civilizat ions that have been described to this point, none truly
could be called a global civilizat ion. Arguably, though, that dist inct ion
could be given to the Islamic culture that rose out of the hot sands of the
Arabian Peninsula.

Arabian Peninsula and the Bedouin

The Arabian Peninsula is 1 million square miles of arid desert and scarcely
populated hot plains between the Red Sea on the West and the Persian
Gulf on the East. The people who chose to live in this host ile climate on
the peninsula were called the Bedouin. They were typically nomadic and
herded sheep, camels, and goats from vegetated area to area. Like most
nomadic cultures the Bedouin lived in tribes of related families led by a

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sheikh or chief. Their culture was simple in most respects but eventually it devel
oped its own written language, Arabic, and also a trade network that spanned the
peninsula.

Mecca
As the commerce network developed, connecting all of the points of the peninsula,
the area became a crossroads for the trade of luxury goods between the western and
the eastern trading settlements. As a result, the Bedouin towns grew in population
and strength. Mecca (sometimes spelled Makkah) was such a town. It developed
quickly in the 500s c.e. because it was a commercial crossroads.
Mecca was also a place of religious pilgrimage for the Bedouins and Arabs. A shrine
had been constructed for the mysterious stone of Kaaba and other statues of Arabic
gods. The Bedouin religion during this time had grown into an odd eclectic mix of
polytheism and animism. As trade connections increased in Mecca so did contacts
with monotheistic religions like Judaism and Christianity. This would arguably have
a major influence on the Bedouin and Arabic religion.

Animism is the conviction that life is produced by a spiritual force that is separate from
matter. This belief sometimes includes the belief that spirits and demons may inhabit
particular objects. For example, some people have traditionally knocked on wood to
avoid bad luck. This tradition comes from European animist beliefs in which knocking
on wood scared the evil spirit of the tree away.

Muhammad
It was within this cultural background that Muhammad was born in Mecca around
570 c.e. His parents died early in his life and he was raised by his closest relative, an
uncle. Muhammad was involved in the practice that made Mecca what it was: com
merce. After trading for several years, Muhammad married a wealthy older widow,
and, at the age of 25, he was financially set.
But the life of luxury did not suit Muhammad. In his spare time he walked the city of
Mecca and saw many problems. He worried about the greed of people and the mis
treatment of the poor. He spent many hours alone in the desert pondering the meaning
of life and suffering. Around 610 c.e. he heard a voice in his head instructing him to

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recite its words and warn the people. Muhammad came to the conclusion that it was
Allah (the Arabic word for God) speaking to him, but not until 613 c.e., after reas
surances from a relative that he wasnt crazy, did Muhammad share with others what
Allah told him.

Muhammads Message
Like the Bedouin culture itself, Muhammads message was simple: there is only one
God, Allah, and everyone is equal in his eyes, so everyone should be treated equally.
(Not a bad message at any rate.)

Notable Quotable
They stirred up against him [Muhammad] foolish men who called him a liar,
insulted him, and accused him . However, the Messenger continued to proclaim
what God ordered him to proclaim.
The Life of Muhammad, Ibn Ishaq

This message was not well received by the merchants of Mecca, who perceived eco
nomic inequalities as natural condition. In addition, Muhammads new religion,
now called Islam, meaning submit, was a threat to the economic livelihood of the
city, which came from the pilgrims who visited the Shrine of Kaaba. According to
Muhammad, the stone was part of the pagan past. If Islam was accepted by the popu
lation of Arabia, the revenues received from pilgrims might dry up. So in response,
the merchants of Mecca persecuted Muhammad and his first followers, called
Muslims.

Exile and Return

The persecutions did not stop Muhammad but inspired him to create an Islamic
state. In 622 c.e., Muhammad left Mecca to travel to a nearby city that seemed more
sympathetic to his message, Yathrib. His journey to Yathrib is known as the Hijrah
and it now marks the first year of the Muslim calendar. In Yathrib, Muhammad
formed an Islamic state named Medina (sometimes spelled Madinah).
In 630 c.e. he returned to Mecca with an army of followers to conquer the city for
Islam. When he arrived at Mecca, however, the city gates swung open to him and he

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Part 2: After the Classics

was accepted as the citys rightful ruler. Very rapidly, Muhammad took his forces and
his appeal to the Arabic people and consolidated the whole Arabian Peninsula under
Islamic rule.

What in the World

The Middle East is the birthplace of three of the worlds major religionsJudaism,
Christianity, and Islam. Each of these has a holy site in Jerusalem: the Western Wall
for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock
for Muslims. That has led to many conflicts that have lasted until modern times.

Islamic Teachings
During this period the practices of Islam solidified into what they are today. At the
foundation of the Islam is the Quran (sometimes spelled Koran). The story has it that
the angel Gabriel revealed the content of the Quran to Muhammad over a 22-year
period. The text was written in Arabic and, according to tradition, should only be
read in Arabic to understand the truth of its revelation. In the end Muhammads rev
elations became the holy book of Islam and the final authority in matters of faith and
lifestyle for the Islamic people.

The Five Pillars of Islam

The Five Pillars of Islam found in the Quran represent the core of the practices of
Islam. According to the Quran a member of the Islamic faith must practice these five
pillars.
u The first pillar is faith, professed in the recited creed, There is no God but

Allah; Muhammad is His prophet.

u The second pillar is prayer five times daily, which is announced or called by the

muezzin, or reciter.
u The third pillar is almsgiving, or zakat, which means simply giving to the poor.
u The fourth pillar is the required fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
u The fifth and final pillar is the undertaking, if possible, of a pilgrimage to

Mecca, or hajj, once during ones lifetime.

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In addition to the practices found in the Quran, Islamic social teachings can be found
in the Hadith, a collection of sayings and acts of Muhammad. There is also Sharia, or
Islamic law, derived from both the Quran and Hadith.

The People of the Book and the Seal of the Prophets

Another fundamental belief of Islam is that Allah sent many other prophets, includ
ing Moses in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament of the Bible, to
instruct the people. Because of that belief, Muslims accept Christians and Jews as
people who worship the same God, sometimes referred to as People of the Book.
However, in the Islamic view, Muhammad was the last prophet, and through him the
full and perfect religion was revealed. Muhammad was the Seal of the Prophets, so
although there is some kinship with the People of the Book, there is also friction
because they have not accepted the Seal of the Prophets.

After Muhammad
Muhammad passed away in 632 c.e., and leadership of the Islamic state passed to men
called caliphs, meaning successor, who were elected for life. The first of these men
was Abu Bakr, Muhammads best friend and right-hand man. He was followed by
Umar and Uthman, two other early converts and close companions of Muhammad.
These men were named The Rightly Guided Caliphs because of their exceptional
leadership abilities and religious devotion. During their rule, the Islamic state of the
Arabian Peninsula expanded to the rest of the Middle East, including North Africa,
Egypt, Persia, and Levant (part of Palestine). But after the Rightly Guided Caliphs,
questions of succession of caliphs caused a major rift in the unity of Islam.

Division
When Uthman died in 656 c.e., a dispute over who would succeed him led to civil
war between members of Muhammads family, including Muhammads son-in-law
and wife. Finally after several years of struggle, another leader named Muawiyah, not
related to Muhammads family, announced that he was the new caliph and established
his rule of the expanded Islamic state.
A majority of the Muslims accepted his rule, which marked the beginning of the
Umayyad dynasty. These Muslims refer to themselves as Sunni, or the People of