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Influence of islam and christianity in africa
Influence of islam and christianity in africa
Influence of islam and christianity in africa
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Islam Spreading “Allan makes the impossible, possible” “Cultural diffusion is the spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another. The mixing of world cultures through different ethnicities, religions and nationalities has increased with advanced communication, transportation and technology”. Islam started in Mecca but the years after Muhammad's death it quickly spread to Europe and Asia making a big increase in practices. 23% of the world is Muslim, making it the second largest religion practiced. So Islam spread because of war conquest, trade, and “the message”.
Not only did the Trans-Saharan trade routes bring commodities such as gold and salt but the Islamic religion as well. Before the Islam reached Sub-Saharan West Africa, Animism was the main religion of Sub-Saharan West Africa. Animism is the belief in numeral spiritual beings that are concerned with human affairs and that they are capable for either helping or harming human instincts. Additionally, kin played a crucial role in early Sub-Saharan societies since who you were related to directly influenced your role in your society. The Islamic empire conquered parts of North Africa which helped spread the influence and wealth of Islam.
The societies of West Africa, Europe, and North America exhibited similarities and differences in their religious beliefs, values, and government systems. These contrasts and similarities were further made apparent during European expansion across the Atlantic and the subsequent new cross cultural interactions that were created. One way in which the societies of West Africa, Europe, and North America diverged was in their belief systems. Unlike Europe and North America, West Africa gradually adopted Islam in addition to its traditional religions. Islam diffused through the trans-Saharan trade with North Africa and by the 1200’s was assimilated into the Mali and Songhai Empire.
Tracing Africa’s History and its ancient heathenistic beliefs Genealogically Africans are the descendants of Ham, Noah’s second son. However, they were called Africans by the European colonial masters because of their curly type of hair which is indigenous to them. The Greeks and Romans used to call the native African people Ethiopians, which is a Greek word for black skinned people. This was not referring to the small country called Ethiopia, but to the whole of Africa. According to Psalm 105:23, 26-27 we read,
The Middle East is a place that was the birthplace for many cultures and religions such as Christianity and Islam. As they expanded from this region, both of these religions had good impact on history. However, Christianity and Islam have their similarities in religious beliefs and their differences in expansion between the two religions. Within the time period c. 600 CE to 1250 CE and 1st century to 1000 CE Islam and Christianity began to spread around the world. The two religions spread socially and economically similar but politically different.
Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, with 2.1 Billion and 1.3 Billion followers respectively. Each had their own rise, golden age, and eventual large-scale split. However, each religion spread in different regions of the world in different ways and developed their own traditions and structures. Christianity and Islam have similarities such as a large-scale split and a history of spreading through popular trade routes, while simultaneously having many differences such as where the two religions spread, the methods in which they spread, and the structure of their religious leaderships. One of the primary differences between the spread of Islam and Christianity is the directions in which they spread.
Religion in Western civilization has undoubtedly played a pivotal role in shaping and developing Western society. Regardless of the form of religion, such as polytheism or monotheism, people in ancient societies believed in a God or Gods. This belief in a higher power was an important part of human progression and expansion. Religion was the backbone of Western civilization and has always been a very important foundation of culture, schooling, philosophy, art, and social interaction. Before Judaism and Christianity, philosophers such as Aristotle ponder the thought of a higher power and in his book Metaphysics wrote about eternal motion was an unmoved mover.
Before the 1500 ce Africa had many trades, cultures, and also some encounters with Islam. In 1000 ce Islam invaded the West African State, in Dr. Mayers, 2012 study of Africa he stated that the spread of Islam revealed the power of the religion, commercial, and also the military qualities. Many civilizations were being change without being close to at least one Islamic statement. Islam had spread so much in Africa that Islamization had served to connect with Africa and connected more with the outside world through trade, religion, and
Islam was welcomed into areas under these empires because people didn 't like the oppressive rule. In conclusion, trade, conquest and choice are reasons Islam spread so
East and West Africa from 1000 to 1500 CE had profound differences in forms of government, with West Africa being kingdom based, and East Africa city-state based. The conversion of Eastern and Western African ruling elites compacted trading between themselves and Islamic traders from Mesopotamia, China, India, and as far away as Oceania. The relatively stable political environment from 1000-1500 CE in Sub-Saharan Africa attracted displaced peoples from the Abbasid empire in Northern Africa, with West Africa utilizing Trans-Saharan trade, and East Africa utilizing mariner trade routes. The East and West developed in clearly different ways, but paralleled each other in a way in which the political, social, and economic environments facilitated stable trade in the region, as well as a distinct blend between Islamic culture and African tradition.
In the 1st century A.D. the early Christianity was introduced to the Africa continent. Some centuries later, in 7th century A.D. the Islam was spread over the continent. As seen these examples, the Africa had some experiences of dealing with foreign religions and systems. Especially, Islamic system had quiet influences over the continent.
Islam and Christianity have many similarities. Actually, both these religions are Semitic, which means monotheistic and their origins can be traced to Prophet Abraham. As, “In both religions a state of purity, or righteousness, is deemed to be bestowed on believers by the grace of God” (Miner, 86). Both Prophets Muhammad and Jesus are Semites, since they spoke Semitic language and lived in the same lands of the Middle East. Indeed,“ Monotheistic religions view revelation as the event of God providing the members of the community in question with the means by which to discern what this underlying, metaphysical account of the human as such is—or to use our own”(Erlewine,12).
African religions do not necessarily separate themselves from the world. Many religions believe theirs is the only way and do not compromise. Africans religions are more accepting and versatile. African religions have spread across other continents and “recruited” new members. Members feel that these religions not only help them to connect with their African culture but also allow them to connect with other African descendants in the country they are in.
Gabriel Aborisade GEOG130-0108 Legacies of Colonization in Nigeria 03/02/2018 Introduction The name Nigeria was coined from the river Niger. Miss Flora Shaw who later became Lady Lugard named it Niger-Area on January 8th, 1897. Nigeria became a British protectorate as a Northern and Southern protectorate. Those two protectorates were amalgamated by 1914 by Lord Lugard.
Exchange and mixing culture of different societies had a major role in creating and spreading religions
