Trade and trade routes played a major role in the spread of the religion of Islam. Muslim traders were not necessarily missionaries. By simply doing their jobs, the merchants contributed to the spread of Islam and the Arabic language.
The personal conduct of these merchants, their honesty, truthfulness, and purity as reflected in their care to perform ritual ablutions, or washing, five times a day was attractive to the residents of countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the eastern African coast. Marriages between these merchants and the women of the matriarchal societies whose offspring were also Muslim contributed to the spread of Islam.
Finally, many of these traders were accompanied by proselytizers and sufis, who also helped spread the Islamic faith. According to Ibn Khaldun, the number of camels in trade caravans between Egypt and Ghana reached 12,000. Because of these trading activities, urban centers such as Timbuctu and Djenne around the central Niger basin and important centers in East Africa such as Suakin, Berbera Mogadishu, and Seylac developed into centers from which Islam spread. The richer merchants also sponsored exceptional students and sent them to study in Cairo.
Merchants also accompanied the kings of West Africa on pilgrimage. The pilgrimage route passed by Ghatt and ended at the foot of the pyramids, as was the case with the Sultan Mari Gata who passed through Egypt during the reign of Sultan Al-Zahir Baybars. One of the most famous of these commercial and religious trips was the trip of Mansi Musa, the Sultan of Mali, whose procession was one of the most magnificent in the Middle Ages, to the extent that Sultan Al-Nasir Mohammad appointed Ahmad al-Mihmindar to supervise the reception of this king. Merchants sold the king a bulk of religious books that would help increase religious knowledge and culture in his region. Al-Qalqashandi's masterpiece, "Subh al-a'sha fi sina'at al-insha,'' included examples of the missives between kings and princes of West Africa and Mamluk sultans. They were written in the Arabic language, which indicates that Arabic was fairly prevalent as a language and that it was the official language of the government diwan, which was the administrative offices or sovereign's council of the state. Egyptians and Muslims were often employed as counselors and aides by foreign kings to the extent that the royal quarter usually had a mosque in which these merchants could pray near the palace, even in countries where Islam was not widespread .
The personal conduct of these merchants, their honesty, truthfulness, and purity as reflected in their care to perform ritual ablutions, or washing, five times a day was attractive to the residents of countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the eastern African coast. Marriages between these merchants and the women of the matriarchal societies whose offspring were also Muslim contributed to the spread of Islam.
Finally, many of these traders were accompanied by proselytizers and sufis, who also helped spread the Islamic faith. According to Ibn Khaldun, the number of camels in trade caravans between Egypt and Ghana reached 12,000. Because of these trading activities, urban centers such as Timbuctu and Djenne around the central Niger basin and important centers in East Africa such as Suakin, Berbera Mogadishu, and Seylac developed into centers from which Islam spread. The richer merchants also sponsored exceptional students and sent them to study in Cairo.
Merchants also accompanied the kings of West Africa on pilgrimage. The pilgrimage route passed by Ghatt and ended at the foot of the pyramids, as was the case with the Sultan Mari Gata who passed through Egypt during the reign of Sultan Al-Zahir Baybars. One of the most famous of these commercial and religious trips was the trip of Mansi Musa, the Sultan of Mali, whose procession was one of the most magnificent in the Middle Ages, to the extent that Sultan Al-Nasir Mohammad appointed Ahmad al-Mihmindar to supervise the reception of this king. Merchants sold the king a bulk of religious books that would help increase religious knowledge and culture in his region. Al-Qalqashandi's masterpiece, "Subh al-a'sha fi sina'at al-insha,'' included examples of the missives between kings and princes of West Africa and Mamluk sultans. They were written in the Arabic language, which indicates that Arabic was fairly prevalent as a language and that it was the official language of the government diwan, which was the administrative offices or sovereign's council of the state. Egyptians and Muslims were often employed as counselors and aides by foreign kings to the extent that the royal quarter usually had a mosque in which these merchants could pray near the palace, even in countries where Islam was not widespread .
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