Islam

Throughout history, man has endeavored to expand his beliefs across civilization quite often employing violent means to further his ideas. Islam blazed quite a trail into sub-Saharan western Africa, and it was peaceful. Abu Ubaydallah al-Bakri related vivid descriptions of eleventh-century Ghanian society. Hailing form what was then the Muslim land of al-Andalus-present day Spain- al-Bakri never witnessed the events in his tales firsthand, but those intrepid stories form 1067/1068 flawlessly depict the early history of western Sudan (pg. 387). This saga was expanded two centuries later by Abu Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, when in 1325 Ibn Battuta began reporting on his personal religion trek into the region of Mali. Unlike al-Bakri who never saw the expansion of Islam into Africa, ibn Battuta left his religious upper class home in Tangier, Morocco, to personally witness the expansion of his religion. Very noteworthy is the consistency between the lifestyles and customs of the Ghanian and Malian societies following the centuries of political and cultural advancement. The endeavor of this work is provide insight into this metamorphosis using, both, facts and my perception of facts.

Ghana was the name of one of the emergent trade centers found between the sere Saharan Desert of western Africa and the lush rainforests further south. Ghana received its moniker from the appellation given to the regions kings, and should not be misconstrued as having been derived from the present-day country of that same name (pg. 388).

Central to Ghana's geography was its dual-centered city. The city was in reality a joined pair of microcosms housed in two walled sections, and connected by a short residence-lined path. In the larger of the two cities Muslims resided, and one found

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imams teaching and leading prayers while, five times daily, muezzins chanted invitations to those faithful prayers from their perches atop the minarets. Religion was of paramount import, with the sacrosanct Friday prayer being held in one of the cities 12 mosques. A short jaunt through the residence-lined path of stone and acacia-wood houses brought one to Al-Ghaba, the smaller of the paired cities, and where the king had his royal residence and its accoutrements. In Al-Ghaba, which translates to "the forest" (pg. 389), the Muslim's polar opposite was housed: Cultist pagans made their home in the woods guarding prisoners of the king, and warding off any proponents of those lingering doubts found in the mind