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Muslim girl writing her exam in Africa. Islam in Africa is the continent's second most widely professed faith behind Christianity. Africa was the first continent into which Islam spread from the Middle East, during the early 7th century CE. Almost one-third of the world's Muslim population resides in Africa.
The Great Mosque of Kairouan, founded in 670 AD (The year 50 according to the Islamic calendar) by the Arab general and conqueror Uqba Ibn Nafi, is the oldest mosque in western Islamic lands [41] and represents an architectural symbol of the spread of Islam in North Africa, situated in Kairouan, Tunisia.
Following the death in 632 AD of Muhammad, Islam spread far and wide within a very short period, much of this occurring through an initial establishment and subsequent expansion of an Islamic Empire through conquest, such as that of North Africa and later Spain (), and the Islamic conquest of Persia putting an end to the Sassanid Empire and spreading the reach of Islam to as far east as ...
The spread of Islam in North Africa came with the expansion of Arab empire under Caliph Umar, through the Sinai Peninsula. The spread of Islam in West Africa was through Islamic traders and sailors. The religion had also began influencing Harla Kingdom in the Horn of Africa early on. Islam is the dominant religion in North Africa and the Horn ...
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 11 February 2025. Expansion of the Islamic state (622–750) For later military territorial expansion of Islamic states, see Spread of Islam. Early Muslim conquests Expansion under Muhammad, 622–632 Expansion under the Rashidun Caliphate, 632–661 Expansion under the Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750 Date ...
It was at this point that Arab military expeditions into North African regions west of Egypt were first launched, continuing for years and furthering the spread of Islam. In 644 at Medina, Umar was succeeded by Uthman, during whose twelve-year rule Armenia, Cyprus, and all of modern-day Iran, would be added to the expanding Rashidun Caliphate.
Islam has existed in Africa for a long time. It first arrived in North Africa up until around the 8th century when the religion began to spread south and west. It spread across sub-saharan Africa since the 8th century onwards, where Islam is the majority or significant minority religion in many modern countries.
The spread of Islam throughout West Africa was a concomitant of long-distance trade by Mande-speaking Muslim traders and craftsmen known as Dyula.Since Muslims in these regions lived in the dar al-kufr (House of Unbelievers), they needed legitimization for trading with unbelievers – an activity viewed with disdain by some North African Muslim jurists.