The history of Muslims in Africa

The Arabs have known the eastern African coast for many centuries before Christ because of their skill in maritime navigation; they contacted its people, learned their language, and established trading centers on the coast to facilitate their commercial dealings. Their good treatment of the local populations had an effective impact in strengthening their relationships with them. With the appearance of Islam in the seventh century AD and the accompanying widespread conquests, African peoples became acquainted with the teachings of Islam and its high principles. The Arab and Muslim migration to Africa took on the form of permanent settlement, and thus their temporary trading centers turned into permanent, stable centers, playing a role in spreading Islam and establishing Arab-Islamic civilization among the people who received it well; this increased Islam's deep-rootedness among its people. The time period covered by the research extends until the end of the ninth Hijri century, but the subject is not so much about the chronological span as it is about reaching a comprehensive and final picture of the fruits of Arab civilizational efforts in Africa, which reached their peak in the ninth Hijri century.