The Islamic Slave Trade: Examining Africa’s Ties
Since the dawn of the seventh century, the African continent has been a welcoming home for Islam, Modern Age’s fastest growing religion, and its followers.1 Over the subsequent eons, Islam and Africa have become entwined in an intersectional and harmonious relationship, balancing the nuances of faith, scholarship, politics, and economics––all resultative of the institutionalized slavery that metastasized across the continent with the spread of the religion. As a preordained and established tenet of Islamic society, slavery was seen by Muslims as a culturally banal aspect of life, looking toward verses from the Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam, and the Hadith, a collection of the Prophet Muhammad’s …show more content…
Shahadah, the first pillar, requires prospective converts to declare their faith to be indoctrinated into Islam, reciting aloud, “La ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasulullah,” which translates from Arabic to “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is a messenger of God.” Salat, the second pillar, requires Muslims must adhere to a rigid five-times-a-day prayer cycle, facing Mecca to pray at sunrise, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall each day. Zakat, the third, is synonymous with modern day almsgiving, calling upon practicing Muslims to annually donate money, belongings, and/or time to charities, following the lead of Muhammad’s alms practices. Out of observance to the month in which the Archangel Gabriel revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad, Sawm, the fourth pillar, enforces fasting during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, forbidding Muslims from eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset all throughout the month of Ramadan. Lastly, the Hajj, the fifth pillar, mandates that every Muslim––who is capable to do so––should make the pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, situated on the western coast of Saudi Arabia.3 Fervently believing in an exceedingly intensive faith, early Muslims, striving to accomplish and adhere to all five of the pillars, endeavored to incorporate Islam into their daily interactions with commerce, politics, and trade. Grounding the migrant Muslims to their faith, the pillars
Since the dawn of the seventh century, the African continent has been a welcoming home for Islam, Modern Age’s fastest growing religion, and its followers.1 Over the subsequent eons, Islam and Africa have become entwined in an intersectional and harmonious relationship, balancing the nuances of faith, scholarship, politics, and economics––all resultative of the institutionalized slavery that metastasized across the continent with the spread of the religion. As a preordained and established tenet of Islamic society, slavery was seen by Muslims as a culturally banal aspect of life, looking toward verses from the Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam, and the Hadith, a collection of the Prophet Muhammad’s …show more content…
Shahadah, the first pillar, requires prospective converts to declare their faith to be indoctrinated into Islam, reciting aloud, “La ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasulullah,” which translates from Arabic to “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is a messenger of God.” Salat, the second pillar, requires Muslims must adhere to a rigid five-times-a-day prayer cycle, facing Mecca to pray at sunrise, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall each day. Zakat, the third, is synonymous with modern day almsgiving, calling upon practicing Muslims to annually donate money, belongings, and/or time to charities, following the lead of Muhammad’s alms practices. Out of observance to the month in which the Archangel Gabriel revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad, Sawm, the fourth pillar, enforces fasting during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, forbidding Muslims from eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset all throughout the month of Ramadan. Lastly, the Hajj, the fifth pillar, mandates that every Muslim––who is capable to do so––should make the pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, situated on the western coast of Saudi Arabia.3 Fervently believing in an exceedingly intensive faith, early Muslims, striving to accomplish and adhere to all five of the pillars, endeavored to incorporate Islam into their daily interactions with commerce, politics, and trade. Grounding the migrant Muslims to their faith, the pillars