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Product Description
Product Description
Thoughtful and challenging, this book argues for a reassessment of the role historically played by Islam in Africa, and offers new hope for in creased mutual understanding between African people of different faiths. Drawing on a wealth of sources, from the colonial period to the most up-to-date scholarship, the author challenges the widely held perception th at, while Christianity oppressed and subjugated the African people, Islam fitted comfortably into the indigenous landscape. Instead, this penetrating account reveals Muslim settlers to be as guilty of enforcing slavery and conversion as those of their more maligned sister tradition. Only with an acknowledgement of the true roles of both faiths in African history, suggests Azumah, can the people of both traditions move themselves and their continent towards a new future of tolerance and self-awareness.
About the Author
John Allembillah Azumah is presently based at the Henry Martyn Institute for Reconciliation and Understanding in Hyderabad, India. He is an expert on Islam in colonial Africa, and has published widely on this subject.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Detailed and objectively explains the historical context to Arab/Islam contact with Africa. This book does not gloss over the details and pro Islamist may find some uncomfortable facts hitherto largely not discussed.
A book that I would certainly recommend to readers looking to find greater clarity on the issue of Islam in Africa.
A book that I would certainly recommend to readers looking to find greater clarity on the issue of Islam in Africa.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
44 of 45 people found the following review helpful
A Brave New Look at the History of Islam in Africa
31 Mar 2002
Format:Paperback
This book gives an entirely new perspective on the history of the spread of Islam in Africa. It argues that while Christianity has had a great deal written about its negative impact on African culture and religions, and its role in the slave trade, Islam on the hand has been perceived as a natural fit for the Africans and one which spread without resort to violence, slavery and other sins that Christians were guilty of. Azumah argues credibly that this perception is biased and uncritical. And that the evidence would suggest otherwise. An excellent read for those interested in the history of religion in Africa.
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Refreshing and Enlightening
22 Nov 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a well written, deeply researched and balanced presentation of the less than benign role of Islam in Africa and the devastating Muslim slave trade, which overwhelms the Alantic slave trade in duration, extent and brutality. It carefully distinguishes the context, motivations, and impact of pre-Islamic slavery in Africa from the more economically, politically and religiously motivated and sanctioned fourteen centuries of Muslim slavery in Africa. It reviews centuries of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish works back to even medieval times which demonize blacks as "...lazy, stupid, evil-smelling and lecherous slaves...", or "untruthful, vicious, sexually unbridled, ugly and distorted...", or being "nothing more or less than the symbol of wickedness and barbarism...", or which claim that "the Negro does not differ from an animal in anything except his hands have been lifted from the earth", and thus justifiably questions if `the extent to which racial prejudice in Western Europe against blacks could have Muslim influences, since the former owes much of its medieval literature and philosophical tradition to Muslims'.
Especially sobering is the observation that by '...placing blacks under a mythological curse, stereotyping and stigmatizing them on account of the content of their belief and color of their skin, Muslims of all races waged war against and raided Africans, killing millions and reducing others to slaver of the last 14 centuries.'
It is noted that while both the non-Muslim and Muslim worlds must understand these ugly facts, Muslims in particular must also accept the Muslim share of responsibility for the consequent centuries of untold pain and suffering heaped on Africans by the introduction of a foreign religion and in the name of the God of that religion, if there is to be constructive dialogue between the two.
This is powerful read for anyone interested in more than an apologia for Islam in Africa.
Especially sobering is the observation that by '...placing blacks under a mythological curse, stereotyping and stigmatizing them on account of the content of their belief and color of their skin, Muslims of all races waged war against and raided Africans, killing millions and reducing others to slaver of the last 14 centuries.'
It is noted that while both the non-Muslim and Muslim worlds must understand these ugly facts, Muslims in particular must also accept the Muslim share of responsibility for the consequent centuries of untold pain and suffering heaped on Africans by the introduction of a foreign religion and in the name of the God of that religion, if there is to be constructive dialogue between the two.
This is powerful read for anyone interested in more than an apologia for Islam in Africa.
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Excellent book!
7 Aug 2010
Format:Paperback
I agree with the three 5-star reviews already given here. This is a top-notch work by someone with a vast knowledge of the subject.
It would be, however, a big undertaking for many people to read. The toponyms, personal and tribal names number in the hundreds. It would have been useful to have included a map for locations and the trans-Saharan slave trade routes. The work is carefully nuanced, and its being a compromise between a dissertation and a book for the larger public has resulted in a basically good but wordy writing style. I encourage people to plow on through it despite that. The knowledge and perspective are a valuable contribution to anybody's viewpoint.
Azumah wrote this with the intention of contributing to the inter-religious dialogue among African Christians, Muslims, and traditional worshippers. His addressing the issues of this in the 5th chapter does not make me optimistic about the success of such discussions.
Very rightly he does not attempt to exonerate the Western Christian oppression and enslavement of Africans. Rather he points out that Muslims of the past brought upon themselves an enormous amount of guilt due to their treatment of Africans. Justifications for these crimes were based on Islamic religious arguments, including the jihad ideology. For an inter-religious dialogue to be fruitful today, Muslims must acknowledge these facts and look at their heritage critically, painful as that may be.
One aspect which gave me some comfort was that Europeans, particularly the French and English, contributed to halting the jihadists and slave traders. European imperialism was not all bad.
The whole work is good, but if reading its entirety is too tedious, chapters 2-4 are the core for those who are most interested in the history of Islam in Africa.
It would be, however, a big undertaking for many people to read. The toponyms, personal and tribal names number in the hundreds. It would have been useful to have included a map for locations and the trans-Saharan slave trade routes. The work is carefully nuanced, and its being a compromise between a dissertation and a book for the larger public has resulted in a basically good but wordy writing style. I encourage people to plow on through it despite that. The knowledge and perspective are a valuable contribution to anybody's viewpoint.
Azumah wrote this with the intention of contributing to the inter-religious dialogue among African Christians, Muslims, and traditional worshippers. His addressing the issues of this in the 5th chapter does not make me optimistic about the success of such discussions.
Very rightly he does not attempt to exonerate the Western Christian oppression and enslavement of Africans. Rather he points out that Muslims of the past brought upon themselves an enormous amount of guilt due to their treatment of Africans. Justifications for these crimes were based on Islamic religious arguments, including the jihad ideology. For an inter-religious dialogue to be fruitful today, Muslims must acknowledge these facts and look at their heritage critically, painful as that may be.
One aspect which gave me some comfort was that Europeans, particularly the French and English, contributed to halting the jihadists and slave traders. European imperialism was not all bad.
The whole work is good, but if reading its entirety is too tedious, chapters 2-4 are the core for those who are most interested in the history of Islam in Africa.
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