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The Empire of Ghana
Muslim geographers and
historians have provided excellent records of
Muslim rulers and peoples in Africa. Among
them are Al-Khwarzimi, Ibn Munabbah, Al-Masudi,
Al-Bakri, Abul Fida, Yaqut, Ibn Batutah, Ibn
Khaldun, Ibn Fadlallah al-’Umari, Mahmud al-Kati,
Ibn al Mukhtar and Abd al-Rahman al-Sa’di.
Islam reached the Savannah region in the 8th
Century C.E., the date the written history of West
Africa begins. Islam was accepted as early
as 850 C.E. by the Dya’ogo dynasty of the
Kingdom of Tekur. They were the first Negro
people who accepted Islam. Trade and
commerce paved the way for the introduction of new
elements of material culture, and made possible
the intellectual development which naturally
followed the introduction and spread of
literacy.
Eminent Arab historians and
African scholars have written on the empires of
Ghana, Mali, Songhay, and Kanem Bornu. They
document famous trade routes in Africa - from
Sijilmasa to Taghaza, Awdaghast, which led to the
empire of Ghana, and from Sijilmasa to Tuat, Gao
and Timbikutu. Al-Bakri describes Ghana as
highly advanced and economically a prosperous
country as early as the eleventh century. He
also discusses the influence of Islam in Mali in
the 13th century and describes the rule of Mansa
Musa, whose fame spread to Sudan, North Africa and
up to Europe.
Spread of Islam in West Africa
Islam reached the Savannah
region in the 8th Century C.E., the date the
written history of West Africa begins The
Muslim-Arab historians began to write about West
Africa in the early 8th century. The famous
scholar Ibn Munabbah wrote as early as 738 C.E.,
followed by Al-Masudi in 947 C.E. As Islam
spread in the Savannah region, it was quite
natural that commercial links should also come to
be established with North Africa. Trade and
commerce also paved way for the introduction of
new elements of material culture, and made
possible the intellectual development which
naturally followed the introduction and spread of
literacy, and for which parts of the Sudan were to
become famous in the centuries to come. In
the Kingdom of Tekur, situated on both banks of
the Senegal, Islam was accepted as early as 850
C.E., by the Dya’ogo dynasty. This dynasty
was the first Negro people who accepted Islam.
It was for this reason that
Muslim-Arab historians referred to Bilad al-Tekur
as ‘The Land of the Black Muslims.’
War-jabi, son of Rabis, was the first ruler
of Tekur in whose reign Islam was firmly
established in Tekur and the Islamic Shari’ah
system was enforced. This gave a uniform
Muslim law to the people. By the time the
Al- Murabitun of Almoravids began their attack on
Tekur in 1042 C.E., Islam had made a deep impact
on the people of that area. Al-Idrisi in
1511 described the Tekur Country as ‘secure,
peaceful and tranquil.’ The capital town of
Tekur was also called Tekur which had become
center of commerce. Merchants used to bring
wool to sell there from Greater Morocco and in
return, took with them gold and beads.
We have enough documents
about the history of this region since it was
known to the Arab historians as the Bilad
al-Sudan, the land of the Blacks. In the
medieval period, the most well-known empires that
grew there are known until our day: The empires of
Ghana, Mali, Songhay, and Kanem Bornu.
Eminent Arab historians have written about the
glories of these lands, notable among whom are
Al-Bakri, Al-Masudi, Ibn Batutah and Ibn
Khaldun. Besides these scholars, there were
local scholars whose works have come down to
us. As for example Tarikh al-Sudan,
the History of the Sudan, by Al-Sadi and
Tarikh al-Fattash by Muhammad al-Kati.
There were famous trade
routes, like the one from Sijilmasa to Taghaza,
Awdaghast, which led to the empire of Ghana, and
another from Sijilmasa to Tuat, Gao and
Timbikutu. There were others which connected
the present Nigeria with Tripoli via Fez to Bornu
and Tunisia with Nigeria via Ghadames, Ghat, and
Agades to Hausa land. These routes had made
all the above mentioned places famous trade
centers. These centers of trade invariably
became centers of Islamic learning and
civilization. New ideas came through
visiting traders in the field of administrative
practices. We shall study briefly the
expansion of Islam in each of the ancient empires
of Western Sudan.
Islam in the Ancient Empire of Ghana
Al-Bakri, the Muslim
geographer, gives us an early account of the
ancient Soninke empire of Ghana. His
Kitab fi Masalik wal Mamalik (The Book
of Roads and Kingdoms) describes Ghana of 1068
as highly advanced. Economically, it was a
prosperous country. The King had employed
Muslim interpreters and most of his ministers and
treasurers were also Muslims. The Muslim
ministers were learned enough to record events in
Arabic and corresponded, on behalf of the king,
with other rulers. “Also, as Muslims, they
belonged to the larger body politic of the Islamic
world and this would make it possible to establish
international relations.”
Al-Bakri gives the
following picture of Islam in Ghana in the 11th
century:
The city of Ghana consists
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: each has its Imam, Muezzin and
paid reciters of the Quran. The town
possesses a large number of jurists, consults and
learned men.
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