HISTORY
THE MUSLIM WORLD AND AFRICA
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Christianity was prohibited in North Africa following war with Italy.
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Slaves from the south brought Islam with them during the slave trade.
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Traders in Africa had contact with Arabia and converted to Islam.
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None of the above
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Detailed explanation-1: -Why might West African merchants have viewed conversion to Islam as a trading advantage? They may have seen it as an advantage because people that traded with Berber merchants might agree with them more because they have the same religion and can possibly make the trades go smoother.
Detailed explanation-2: -Following the conquest of North Africa by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE, Islam spread throughout West Africa via merchants, traders, scholars, and missionaries, that is largely through peaceful means whereby African rulers either tolerated the religion or converted to it themselves.
Detailed explanation-3: -To reach West Africa, the religion of Islam joined the caravans of Amazigh traders. The Amazigh people were merchants who were a large part of the trans-Saharan trade. These caravans would cross the Sahara Desert to trade with the large, rich sub-Saharan empires, and they brought the religion with them.
Detailed explanation-4: -Between the eighth and ninth centuries, Arab traders and travelers, then African clerics, began to spread the religion along the eastern coast of Africa and to the western and central Sudan (literally, “Land of Black people”), stimulating the development of urban communities.
Detailed explanation-5: -Islam gained momentum during the 10th century in West Africa with the start of the Almoravid dynasty movement on the Senegal River and as rulers and kings embraced Islam. Islam then spread slowly in much of the continent through trade and preaching.