How Islam Spread Along Trade Routes in Africa and Asia

Introduction

The Islamic religion spread in Asia and Africa mainly through the trade of goods such as spices and gold, as well as through the slave trade. The advantages of proximity to powerful and prosperous Muslim traders triggered the conversion of merchants and rulers to Islam. Islam spread slowly — it took centuries — but in most places where conversion took place, people continue to hold on to the religion (Debrouse). This paper explores the reasons for the spread of Islam along Asian and African trade routes, with particular focus on the success of Islam in Central Asia.

Early Trade Connections and the Quraysh

Since the era of Muhammad, trade has been considered closely related to the Islamic religion and its development. In Mecca, the people of the Quraysh tribe were leaders in commerce. They extended their connections and influence to Syria and Abyssinia (Cook 271–273). According to narratives of the Prophet, Muhammad was himself a member of the Quraysh and worked as a merchant before he began to preach the revelations he received from God. After overcoming the opposition of the Quraysh to his revelations and conquering the Arab Peninsula, his community used its acquired power and influence to build trade networks throughout and beyond the region. Gradually, Islam spread through diplomatic and economic means, among other empire-building activities (Laguerta).

Geographic Advantages and the Spice Trade

The central position of ancient Islamic territories — situated between Asia, Africa, and Europe — helped Arab Muslims exercise control over major trade routes. A key example of Islam's spread through trade is evident in the spice trade. Because the routes connecting Africa, Asia, and Europe passed through Arab and African Islamic territories, Muslims controlled the majority of the spice trade, which was an essential commodity of the era. The portable nature of spices, and their use in everything from medicine to incense to food, made them among the most significant trade items of the time. Islamic merchants engaged in direct trade rather than working through middlemen, traveling personally to trade regions and thereby allowing people in distant areas to encounter the religion firsthand (Debrouse).

The Spread of Islam Across Africa

Islam spread to Africa early, initially through Egypt, which served as a gateway between Africa and the Arab world. Islamic traders entered Eastern Africa through what is now Sudan, where many local rulers converted due to the economic benefits they gained from relations with prosperous Muslim merchants. As traders moved southward, they began marrying women of higher social classes in coastal cities. This created important trade alliances and a sense of solidarity among the elite, effectively making Islam the religion of the upper class.

Through West African trade, Islam and Arab traditions permeated the region of the Maghreb — now Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Merchants of gold and salt traveled to West Sub-Saharan Africa, where they promoted the virtues of Islam to local rulers through their respected positions in governance and commerce. On the western side of the continent, Islam found wide acceptance in Ghana. Leaders converted to Islam in order to demonstrate goodwill toward northern trading partners, whose horses and tax revenues they needed (Debrouse).

Since ancient times, extensive trade routes had existed across Africa, functioning as conduits for the exchange of both goods and ideas. Islam was one of the most influential ideas spread along these routes. African trading communities established markets along the routes to improve the flow of goods and ensure the safety of merchants. Gold was the primary export from West Africa, accompanied by other goods such as kola nuts, salt, and ivory. North Africans, in turn, provided administrative and religious services, and also brought horses, Asian spices, and scholarly books from cities such as Bukhara, Baghdad, and Kairouan. Contrary to what some European authors have suggested, slaves were not the primary trade item exchanged between Africans and Arabs. In fact, Omani merchants only began competing with Europeans for East African Bantu slaves between the 1600s and 1700s (Ahmed).

Trade played a greater role than Arab migration or military expedition in introducing Islam to West Africa. Among the most significant centers of trade were Tahert (in Algeria), Tandeni (in Mali), Sijilmasa (in Morocco), and Agadez (in Niger). These trade routes connected with prosperous commercial areas along Lake Chad and the Niger and Senegambia river basins. The Sanhaja people, who inhabited the Sahara, escorted the caravans and were among the earliest converts to Islam from the Umayyad era in the 700s. In the Niger River and Senegambia basins, local chieftains, noblemen, and merchants drove the adoption of Islam for socioeconomic reasons. Merchants valued the ethical standards in business and contractual law outlined in Shariah. Chieftains and noblemen found value in the organizational and administrative practices of Islamic civilization. Most importantly, Islam offered a universal community and creed in which all believers were considered equal (Ahmed).

Conclusion

The Islamic conquests caused relatively little destruction and in many regions suppressed the sectarian violence and imperial rivalries that had plagued subject populations. Muslims tolerated Christianity but disestablished it from public life; from that point onward, Christian worship, theology, endowments, and ecclesiastical politics were conducted privately. Ironically, Islam reduced the status of Christians to roughly the same subordinate position that Christians had previously imposed on Jews — with one important distinction: this subordination was judicial in nature, not accompanied by systematic persecution or violence, though exceptions of intolerance did occur in certain times and places (Esposito 40–45).

Works Cited

Ahmed, Nazeer. "Islam in Africa." History of Islam, 22 Dec. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

DeBrouse, Rachael. How Did Trade Help Spread Early Islam? n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Laguerta, Dianne. "The Relationship Between Trade and the Spread of Islam." The Classroom, 2001. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Esposito, John L. Islam: The Straight Path. Vol. 4. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. pp. 37–67.

Cook, Michael. A Brief History of the Human Race. W. W. Norton & Company, 2005. pp. 267–294.