Islamic Religion example essay topic

Ever since Islam bloomed from the deserts of Arabia, it had received massive amounts of scrutiny in regards to its teachings, and especially its spread throughout the world. Even more than fourteen hundred years later, the religion of Islam continues to receive this scrutiny by those who oppose it. One of the chief arguments posed by those who oppose the Islamic faith is that Islam was "spread by the sword in Africa". According to African history, this is very far from the truth.

Almost every religion that has ever existed has, or has had, its agents who would travel to far away places and spread the teachings and philosophies of that particular religion. Islam is no different in this substance. But the way the Islamic religion had spread throughout Africa was not accomplished through missionaries or through means of religious leaders, rather it was the business matters that led the way for the religion to transform the faiths of millions upon millions of people on the continent. West Africa is one of the most pertinent parts of Africa as a whole that experienced Islamization in a light mostly outside the context of violence. The agents of Islamization of West Africa were not the actual agents of Islamization, but rather only agents of Islam.

These agents were none other than simple Muslim traders who go from one place to the other conducting business alongside Islamic practices and leaving impressions on the people and communities they deal with. Very much unexpectedly", [m] enchants opened routes and exposed isolated societies to external influences, but they were not themselves engaged in the propagation of Islam, which was the work of the religious divines" (Levtzion, 68). Only later did the holy men of Islam follow along traders in their business endeavors and "it was through them that Islam actually left traces along the trade routes" (Levtzion, 68). Muslim scholars would go along for the ride and settle in newly formed Muslim town and cities in order to conduct and encourage Islamic philosophy and rituals. Business moves through Africa, and much of the world, like water and it could have been very highly expected for the hands of the Muslim world to touch West Africa, nevertheless most of the continent. Islam took hold of three kingdoms of West Africa in different ways and at different levels.

The Askiya Kingdom experienced Islam in much larger dimension than did the Ghana and Mali kingdoms. All three kingdoms had Muslim influences, but all three had these influences at different degrees. The Ghana kingdom had practiced its traditional religion for much of the time alongside numerous Muslim peoples who are settled in their society. Business brought Muslim traders to Ghana as well as script writers for political and court duties. Those Muslims who resided in Ghana "lived under the auspices of a non-Muslim king who invited Muslim traders to the capital and employed literate Muslims in his court" (Levtzion; 64). As so, These Muslims brought with them the Islamic lifestyle by where Mosques were constructed.

The rest of the Ghana kingdom converted to Islam under what may have been due to the Al-Moravid movement that spurred throughout north Africa and conquered the west from the Ghana Kingdom to Southern Spain. The Al-Moravid movement was "committed to strictly observe the letter of the law, according to the Maliki [school of thought]" (Savers; 25). The emphasis on the word "strict" is no exaggeration of the practices of the Al-Moravids. The Al-Moravids stressed more prayers throughout the day than the five ritually practiced by Muslims everyday.

Those who did not comply to the philosophies and practices of the Al-Moravids would receive outlandish punishments such as public beatings, and in some extreme cases, execution. Islam in Ghana did not hold long as they experienced pagan invasions. The Suss us took over Ghana and ruled it polytheistic ally until they themselves later embraced the religion and made it national. The Mali Kingdom emerged after the Ghana kingdom declined.

The Mali kingdom was first ruled by pagani stic regimes. But the kingdom's governing body converted to Islam due to a holy man of Islam bringing an end to a plaguing drought that influenced the king so much he discarded stone idols and exiled sorcerers. Although the government of the kingdom converted to the Islamic religion, the masses continued to follow their polytheistic practices "of the traditional religion: its fertility rites, ancestor worship, and the supplication of the deities" (Levtzion; 65). This made Islam an elite religion rather than a religion of all classes of people and continued as so for quite some time. Due to the masses continually practicing the traditional religion, the rulers fluctuated between the two religions in that " [t] hey behaved as Muslims in some situations but followed traditional customs on other occasions" (Levtzion; 66). Mans a Musa, the leader of the Mali kingdom, took the religion of Islam to a national level by building "Friday mosques with minarets and instituted the public prayer" (Levtzion; 66).

He instated Islam into people's everyday lives and even "attracted Maliki scholars" (Levtzion; 66). The Moroccan traveler Ibn Batt uta noted the practices and rituals in a national celebration. He noted how " [a]'s Islamic festivals became national feasts, they also accommodated traditional ceremonies" (Levtzion; 67). This did work to the benefit in the Islamization of Mali but rather hindered its success.

The national religion contained both characteristics of Islam as well as the polytheistic traditions practiced by the people, which makes it apparent that people didn't accept the religion whole-heartedly. This very fact would affect the survival of the religion in future circumstances. After losing such cities as Jenn e and Timbuktu to foreign powers, the capital itself "declined and was deserted by the foreign Muslim community" (Levtzion; 67). Though the Islamic scholars and clerics held continuous religious services in surrounding regions, the main population of Mali lost "the Islamic zeal" and returned to the traditional religion (Levtzion; 67). Even the kings ruling Mali went back to the median patronizing both religions. Islam didn't have a long lasting effect on the people of the Mali kingdom, mostly because of the teeter-totter rituals the people would perform that included both religions.

It was not effective overall and caused the downfall of Islam in the kingdom. The Songhay Kingdom emerged out of the three as the one that would instate Islam nationally and institute it permanently. It began with the leader of the kingdom who goes by the name Sonni Ali. Sonni Ali was no different from the rulers of the other two kingdoms in that he combined elements of both Islam and the traditional religion of his ancestors. Sonni Ali "observed the fast of Ramadan and gave abundant gifts to mosques, but he also worshipped idols, sacrificed animals to trees and stones, and sought the advice and help of traditional diviners and sorcerers" (Levtzion; 69).

What gave Sonni Ali the Islamic advantage in his kingdom was based on his military conquests. The many lands he conquered "brought him to rule over regions that had been under stronger Islamic influence" (Levtzion; 70). His successor, Askiya Muhammad, took it to a much needed further step in that he "made Islam one of the central pillars of the state and cultivated close relations with the scholars of Timbuktu" (Levtzion; 70). Askiya Muhammad also appointed all judicial and political positions to Muslims, therefore closing the gap politically. Giving Muslims political power will cause the state to be Islamize d, in which it will be more likely to be run under Islamic law rather than the traditions and laws of the past that rulers before had satisfied in their authority. Askiya Muhammad felt the strong urgency of the scholars to participate in his endeavors and took in their advice.

He grew close bonds with the scholars of Timbuktu and they praised Muhammad for the highly valued support he gave them at all times. The scholars of Timbuktu constantly kept a connection with the rest of the Muslim world, especially those scholars of Egypt. In the middle of the sixteenth century, "intellectual life in Timbuktu was influenced by Egyptian scholars, with whom scholars from Timbuktu studied when they visited Cairo on their way to Mecca" (Levtzion; 92). The scholarships being intertwined and influential was very effective in preserving the Islamic religion among those of the Songhay Kingdom. All three kingdoms had Muslim influences, be it political, financial, or social.

But these influences could be only temproary on the societies they dwell on. The key to the survival of the Islamic philosophy in the everyday lives of citizens would only work under one condition: a complete change of beliefs and lifestyle. The intermittence in religious practice was what either caused the religion to flourish or perish in each respective kingdom. The Songhay Kingdom had the best of luck historically with its fortunate military conquests which gave it the better chance of Islamic survival in the long run. Also the close connection they kept with the rest of the Muslim world was not only essential at keeping the religion alive but progressing in it as well.