How did Islam spread to West Africa?

Transcription

1 Is a in S & Wes Af i By: Sop Le, Lov o g, an S n Mor

2 Is a nw Af i

3 How did Islam spread to West Africa? One way Islam spread to West Africa nonviolently, was through trade with Muslim merchants across the Sahara. Another way was through contact with North Africa, which had already converted to Islam. Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali

4 What impact did it have? Many West African rulers adopted Islam as their own religion but put little effort into enforcing strict Islamic law, in fear of disturbing the peace due to the deep-rooted African religions that the vast majority believed in. That being said, Islam mainly influenced the elite classes rather than the common population of West Africa. Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali empire, was a prime example of the elite class acceptance towards Islam. During his rule, he converted to Islam, like many other Mali kings, and set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca in order to show his devotion. As a wealthy king, Musa was accompanied by thousands of elaborately dressed servants on his pilgrimage and made incredibly generous donations to the less fortunate along his journey. He gave away so much gold in Cairo, Egypt, that he generated a brief decline in its value. On his return, he brought back Arab scholars and government officials who would help build the presence of Islam in West Africa.

5 What impact did it have? (cont.) During the 8th to the 13th centuries, communication between Arabs and Africans increased greatly resulting in more Muslims rising within the Sahel. As the population grew, the presence of Muslim merchants and scholars within non-muslim kingdoms (such as Ghana) as scribes and advisors rose, as well. In some capital cities, like Ghana and Gao, the presence of Muslim merchants resulted in the building of mosques. Labaragaga Mosque in Ghana

6 SOCIAL, POLITICAL, 1. Islam is accepted primarily by the elite classes Arabic became an important language of religion, education, administration, and trade but did not replace the local language in everyday life Scholars, merchants, and rulers, rather than mystic preachers, initially established Islam in West Africa Ghana became a patrilineal. The patrilineal means a family line traced through the father. Son becomes ruler after father death Many rulers adopted Islam but they respected the people they governed even if they still practiced African religions. Rulers made few efforts to govern their people in strict accordance with Islamic law Muslim merchant-scholars played big roles in non-muslim kingdoms (such as Ghana) as scribes and advisors. 4. During the 11th century, the Almoravid reform movement began in Western Sahara and expanded throughout modern Mauritania, North Africa, and Southern Spain. The Almoravids imposed a fundamentalist version of Islam in an attempt to purify beliefs and practices from syncretistic beliefs. The Almoravids captured trading posts, weakening the Takruri state. Over the next hundred years, the empire dissolved into many small kingdoms. 5. The Mali empire ( ) was a multi-ethnic state containing many religions and cultures. Though the empire s founder, Sundiata Keita, was not a muslim himself, by 1300 Mali kings became Muslim. The most famous of which was Mansa Musa, who made Islam the state religion and in the year 1324 went on a pilgrimage from Mali to Mecca. Mali Empire consisted of all or parts of the modern nations of Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad, which ensure peace in Western Africa Mansa appointed king (hence the name Mansa) Knowledgeable in Arabic and was a practioned Islam follower himself Mansa began the journey. Took an entourage with lots of gold distributed on the way. First African to take the pilgrimage to Mecca. 7. Sindata ( ) was the founding ruler of Mali Empire. Weak ruler and was a muslim but often differentiated things about the religion thus being hated by the citizens and scholars.

7 INTERACTION 1. Islam was spread to West Africa, nonviolently, through encounters with Muslim traders across the Sahara. Another way that Islam spread West Africa was through North Africa, which had already converted to Islam. 2. Around the 8th century, Arab documents mentioned ancient Ghana and that muslims had crossed the Sahara to West Africa to trade. When they arrived, the King of Ghana would not permit the merchants to stay overnight. This granted Ghana the name The Dual City, because they benefited from muslim traders, yet kept Islam outside their kingdom. 3. There were famous trade routes, like the one from Sijilmasa to Taghaza, Awdaghust, which led to the empire of Ghana, and another from Sijilmasa to Tuat, Gao and Timbuktu. These trade routes became centers of learning and about Islamic civilization esp. New ideas expanding through administrative practices 4. City of Ghana = of two towns lying on a plain, one of which is inhabited by Muslims and is large, possessing 12 mosques one of which is congregational mosque for Friday prayers: 5. West Africa adopted the Muslim designs for their own art and fabric/clothes. They use geometric styles in their decorative arts.

8 CULTURE All schools were run by an Imam. (person who leads prayer in Mosque) Imams were respected through Islam. In school they learned about the holy book of Islam, Quran, Islam, law and literature. They can study surgery, astronomy, physics and chemistry. They could take art, history and geography. During the study they wore a turban. Turban represents light, wisdom, knowledge and (excellent moral character). West Africa was influenced by the Imam as many aspired to be one due to the high honors and leadership skills that came along with the study. Though many West Africans learned to speak in Arabic, many of them still held true to their native languages at informal types of speech. Famous for its two large mosques, Muslim scholars would come to Timbuktu to debate theology and try to keep fellow African Muslims pure of the paganism of the past and true to the doctrines of Islam Architect named Ishaq El Temudjin was brought back with Mansa and created advanced architectural building techniques. Created Madigou, a mosque in the city of Gao, Mali second largest city, and a mosque named Djinguereber at Timbuktu, largest city in empire. The mosques were made out of baked bricks (new tech.) The pilgrimage made by Mansa boosted Islamic Education. Added mosques, libraries and universities. Mansa died in 1337 after 25 year reign.

9 ECONOMIC Ghana had a large number of jurists, consults and learned men in the society and workforce. The pilgrimage of Musa by other Islamic leaders brought increased commerce and scholars, poets, and artisans, making Timbuktu one of the leading cities in the Islamic world during the time when the most advanced nations from Spain to central India were Muslim. Islam facilitated long distance trade by providing useful tools for merchants like contract law, credit, and information networks In some capital cities, like Ghana and Gao, the presence of Muslim Merchants resulted in the establishment of mosques. 5. Capital town of Tekur was called Tekur (really) became center of commerce. Merchants bought wool to sell there from Greater Morocco and in return, took with them gold and beads. 6. Ancient Empire of Ghana, the king employed Muslim interpreters and most of his ministers and treasurers were also Muslims. The Muslim ministers were learned enough to record events in Arabic.

10 Is a n S i *S.P.I.C.E. *Ove w o A -An a s *Ca s a Ef e t

11 Islamic Spain SPICE Themes

12 SOCIAL 1. Some Christians converted to Islam, and there were Mozarabs which were people who weren t actually Arab, but they learned Arabic, veiled their women, stopped eating pork, appreciated Arabic music, poetry, and other aspects of culture. Sometimes they even married a Muslim. Mozarabs were so prominent that a Christian bishop complained about Spanish Christians knowing Arabic grammar better than Latin 2. During the rule of Abu Amir al-mansur ( CE), the persecution of Christians began, as well as the plundering of Christian churches. Muslims started to avoid Christians, Christian homes were to be built below a Muslims, priests could not carry a cross or Bible because it would offend a Muslim, and Mozarabs could only live in certain places 3. Christians and Jews were on a social rollercoaster in terms of being under a foreign religion. Islam controlled and restrained rights given to them before Muslim total takeover. they were not forced to live in ghettos or other special locations they were not slaves they were not prevented from following their faith they were not forced to convert or die under Muslim rule they were not banned from any particular ways of earning a living; they often took on jobs shunned by Muslims; these included unpleasant work such as tanning and butchery but also pleasant jobs such as banking and dealing in gold and silver Jews and Christians were able to contribute to society and culture Non examples include how non-muslims were tolerated IF they did the following acknowledged Islamic superiority accepted Islamic power paid a tax called Jizya to the Muslim rulers and sometimes paid higher rates of other taxes avoided blasphemy did not try to convert Muslims

13 POLITICAL 1. Abd al-rahman I ( ) first amir of Al-Andalus, begins constructing Great Mosque of Cordoba in Abd al-rahman II ( ) patron of the arts, supported agriculture and the sciences as well 3. Reign of Abd al-rahman III ( ) allowed freedom of worship as well as the opportunity for someone to rise in the state s bureaucracy 4. Reign of Abu Amir al-mansur ( ) caused persecution against Christians which included the plundering of their churches Also Non-Muslims (Mozarabs, Jews, Christians) complied with the rules laid down by the authorities. These included: restrictions on clothing and the need to wear a special badge restrictions on building synagogues and churches not allowed to carry weapons could not receive an inheritance from a Muslim could not leave to anything to a Muslim could not own a Muslim slave a dhimmi man could not marry a Muslim woman (but the reverse was acceptable) a dhimmi could not give evidence in an Islamic court dhimmis would get lower compensation than Muslims for the same injury 5. Water was super crucial not only in Spain but the entire continent in general. So important that the Tribunal of Waters was created which was a court of judges chosen by farmers to deal with violations and disputes over the water itself 6. Moors (mix of North African Berber/Arab Descent) ruled Islamic Spain up to 15th century (total of 700 years

14 INTERACTION 1. Muslim writers wrote about farming to help aid those in wanting to advance their region agricultural advances. Some things wrote about were a. types of agricultural land and choice of land,manure and other fertilizers, b. tools and work of cultivation, c. wells, springs, and irrigation channels, d. plants and nurseries, e. planting, pruning and grafting of fruit trees, f. cultivation of cereals, legumes, vegetables, flowers, bulbs and tubers, and plants for perfume, g. poisonous plants and animals, h. preserving of fruit, i. 2. and sometimes, zootechny. With mathematical skills advanced by the Muslims, Spain became known to these advances as it opened doors to the subjects of astronomy, cartography, surveying and engineering, commerce, art, and architecture 3. Some writers from the East include Ibn Mammati (d.1209) who lived in Egypt, Djamel Eddin al-watwat (d. 718/1318) who wrote a book in Cairo about the plantation of veggies and plants. The books these writers wrote eventually reached Spain through the Muslims. In the West was a writer named Al-Ishbilia (fl. end of the 12th century), who wrote on soils, fertilizers, water, gardens, trees, fruits and their preservation, ploughing, seeds, seasons and their tasks, cereal farming, harvesting, farming engineering, livestock rearing, veterinary subjects, etc.

15 CULTURE 1. Islamic Spain was multicultural mix of people including Muslims, Christians, and Jews During the 10th and 11th centuries more rigid and strict forms of Islam started to spread to Spain from North Africa Christians who involved themselves in Islamic culture like learning the language or writing in arabic were called Mozarabs 4. Muslims did not oppress the Christians and Jews as arguably they worshipped the same God just in different worship. (All Monotheistic) 5. Under Muslim rule, anything on paper or transcribed points out that everything in popular works of medicine, agriculture, astrology, and geography were translated from Latin into Arabic. 6. A man named al-mansur in Cordoba formed a group of Muslim poets functions of modern journalists, accompanying their protector on military expeditions and celebrating his exploits in verse, the singsong rhyme of which became engraved in the memory of the people of Al-Andalus 7. In the 10th Century, current caliphate of Córdoba, al-ḥakam II al-mustanṣir, imported books from the east to build a great centre of learning in his city. Thus the reason why Cordoba often battled other great learning cities like Baghdad Muslim philosopher Averroes wrote commentary based off of Neoplatonism or the corrupt nature of society Another Muslim philosopher 8. included Averroes as his commentaries included works of Greek Philosopher Aristotle which was translated in Arabic in Spain. Had influence over Jewish and Christian thinkers with this. Served as court physician and religious judge. Averroës also wrote a commentary on Plato s Republic, in which he critiqued contemporary rulers and governments

16 ECONOMY 1. The oppression of Christians and Jews would not be enticed as mass execution and controlling over a large area would have been massively expensive 2. Agricultural production shot through the flipping roof with the many crops of they introduced are/were sugarcane, rice, spinach, artichokes, eggplant, oranges, lemons, limes, bananas, coconuts, watermelons, mangos, cotton, indigo, and henna. The newer foods created a more cultivated and varied diet for people in Spain (better nutrition, longer life) 3. Cotton was especially important as it boosted the textile industry. The grasp of indigo and henna created dye for the textile industry also. 4. Big Cities (i.e. Cordoba) were important manufacturing centers where textiles, glass, leather, iron and steel were produced. 5. Paper was easier to use and cheaper than calfskin (vellum) and soon lent itself to keeping administrative and commercial records which instilled production of bigger books 6. Paper production occurs in the 10th century by mills.

17 Overview of Al-Andalus Muslim Spain was a multicultural mix of people coming from the three biggest religions : Christianity, Judaism, with Islam ruling the area. 711 C.E., Christian chief Julian went to Musa Ibn Nusair in North Africa (Islam was already implemented into the culture) for aid against a rebellion for current Spain leader Roderick and the Visigoth Army. Tariq ibn Ziyad led 7000 Umayyad troops and successfully conquered Spain Islam power was a grand success in Spain as the terms of surrender were much better in terms of previous rulers who had harsher demands Andalusia was the heart of Islam in southern Spain (Name derived from Al-Al Andalus) Many advancements in different areas like mathematics, architectural practices, huge agricultural boom during early Muslim rule, astronomy, geography etc. Over the course of Muslim rule, tolerance of Judaism and Christianity was imbalanced at points in time other times it was pretty balanced. The downfall of Muslim rule was mainly the Christian uprising and division of Muslim rulers. Islamic Spain was not a certain period of time but an ongoing succession of rulers

18 TIMELINE ERA OF ISLAMIC SPAIN The Dependent Emirate ( ) The Independent Emirate ( ) The Caliphate ( ) The Almoravid Era ( ) Decline ( )

19 POETRY CAUSE Huge migration of Arab-Muslims into Al-Andalus. Scholars and poets bought different forms of poetic writing not only to Muslims but also Jews and Christians Ahmad al-tifasi ( ) was a poetic songwriter whose songs were influenced by Christian hymnals Ibn Bajja (1139) used Christian hymnals combining them with Islamic instrumentals creating different style of music never heard before. Ibn al-zaqqaq advanced in love poetry, some of his works displaying homosexuality. EFFECT Initially poems were viewed as general forms of songs and praise towards important wars or events. Upon arrival in Al-Andalus, poetry took a direct left turn as feelings of love and most times of frustration with religious life and combinations of different styles of music with foreign songs. It gave Spain a cultural outlet that differentiated from Baghdad...

20 AGRICULTURE CAUSE Muslim advanced in the art of plantation and agriculture entered into Spain taking everything any local farmers knew molded it then created systems that would flourish the economy and overall success Many crops were introduced but the three main important one were rice, sugarcane, and cotton as these were abundant and easy to grow with the right soils and irrigation channels Irrigation channels were created from old castle ruins allowing humans to seize, channel, store water in these new systems. Tribunal of Waters created upon initial EFFECT Though the Arab-muslims took charge of everything, the agricultural production went above and beyond with the add-ins of new water systems that allowed Spain to flourish even after the Al-Andalus. With the creation of such, new soils were created as to match with the new crops and products coming every year. Yellow soil was used for the products rice and cotton while the tulips required a more sandy soil. It also allowed Spain to domesticate many animals such as sheeps,goats, and Persian chickens. Agriculture in Spain started and continues on through Muslim encounter.

21 MATHEMATICS CAUSE EFFECTS Muslim encountered in Arabia carried over concepts of Math into Spain Muhammad Ibn Musa al-khwarizmi ( ) was known to be the Father of Algebra with his latin name being derived from the english term Algorithm used in studies of math. Wrote a book called Hisab Al-Jabr wa l Muqabalah, The Book of Calculations, Restoration and Reduction talking about the general branch of mathematics like addition,subtraction, multiplication, and division. Abu al-hasan Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-uqlidisi ("the Euclidean," fl. ca. 953) who used the Indian-based idea of using a dashboard and erasing calculations to using a pen and paper to show how they figured out the problem. This advancement helped as it allowed others to collaborate to try and solve new equations through time and space. 1. Together with a translation of Euclid s Elements, they became the two foundations of mathematical developments in Al-Andalus. Allowing these subjects to pass through Al-Andalus gave way to whole new jobs in subjects of astronomy, cartography, surveying and engineering, commerce, art, and architecture. This also allowed jobs of court positions like court mathematicians who dealt with numbers that were needed by the king or court astronomer who dealt with the stars and practical elements of the sky above. Engineers and architects required mathematics and physics in their study as they dealt with equations like surface area and triangles (as it was and still is the strongest shape in the universe).

22 GOLDEN AGE CAUSE With the overthrow of the Umayyad clan Damascus by the Abbasids, allowed the Umayyads to enter Spain establishing themselves a new kingdom Abd Al-Rahman I garnered support from locals rising in political power, officially establishing a new Umayyad caliphate in Spain, rivaling the Abbasids in Damascus. EFFECT Cordoba became the largest wealthy city in western Europe against that of Constantinople and Baghdad. Islam was the dominant religion in Spain yet faiths like Judaism and Christianity were tolerated as some believers joined the Islamic community or just the fact that both communities had the numbers leaning towards them (though this did not mean that they did not have certain control over them). Many Jews and Christian scholars, doctors, and architects all benefited under the Umayyad dynasty. Women too had benefits as they were instructed to read and learn the art of calligraphy and become scribes in court. Tolerance of both groups came to an extent as any blasphemy came death. The Golden Age reached its peak during the 10th century where Abd Al-Rahman III ruled.

23 Mosque of Cordoba CCause Started by Abd al-rahman I, in 785 he buys the Christian Church of St. Vincent Expanded by Abd al-rahman II, Al-Hakam II, Almanzor Effects Everyone could worship freely (Jews, Christians, Muslims) During the Reconquista, it would later be converted into a Catholic church and have a Renaissance-style cathedral built inside it

24 MOORS PEOPLE Cause People of Arab/Berber descent A general term, but is mainly used during the Middle Ages for people in Europe (Iberian peninsula, Maghreb, Sicily, and Malta) Effect Since most of the people living in those areas are Muslims, the term is closely connected to the religion After the Reconquista, people who lived in Iberia were called Mudejars During the mass baptism in the Spanish Inquisition, Muslims who were forcibly converted into Christianity or are still secretly practicing Islam are called Moriscos

25 SPANISH INQUISITION AND THE CRUSADES Cause Caused by increased tension between Christians and Muslims, especially northern Iberia Almanzor/Abu amir al-mansur plundered churches and led military campaigns against the Christians in late 10th century In 1031 Umayyad Caliphate disintegrated and caused a civil war, which led to Spain being broken up into 30 kingdoms Rigid forms of Islam from North Africa caused some people to force conversion Effect Increased Christian reoccupation, Reconquista is initiated in Pope Urban II also starts the first Crusades on Jerusalem By the 1200s, many Muslims forced out of Spain 1478 is the year Ferdinand II and Isabella of Castile persecute Muslims and Jews as heretics Non-Christians are a minority

26 Granada Cause In 1238, Fernando III agrees to not conquer Granada and instead accept tribute payments and military support from Muhammad ibn Nasr Causes the Golden Age of Granada because of increased population and profit from silk and agricultural products Hospital, educational institute, Alhambra palace Effects Reconquered Gibraltar Marriage of Fernando of Aragon and Isabella of Castile put Granada into Christian rule Papal bull issued in 1478, Jews and Muslims are heretics Granada surrenders in 1492 to Fernando and Isabella Mass baptisms in 1499 by Jimenes de Cisneros in Cathedral of Granada (formerly Mosque of Granada)

27 Works Cited Placement%20World%20History/18.%20Islamic_economy_and_society.htm