Why was Islam able to grow so quickly in east Africa?

Answer 1

many of Islam's beliefs conflicted with traditonal African beliefs and customs, most cultures lacked a written language, few Muslims traders could speak Arabic, many thought it was evil.
The Muslims that brought the Islams through merchants did not go very quickly.
This isn't true because the very first Muslims went to Abbysinia to seek refuge from the pagan leaders of Mecca,before they migrated from Mecca to Medina. The Christian king of Abbysinia who gave the Muslims refuge later embraced Islam. So Islam arrived in East Africa before it reached Medina (the City of the Prophet).

Answer 2

There were a number of forces opposing the spread of Islam in Central Africa. They included:

1) Lack of Islamic Conquest "in the Neighborhood": Islam spread most effectively in areas under Islamic control or that had direct trade with areas that had been brought under Islamic control. However, since there were no Islamic Empires close to central Africa until the mid-1600s, this made it more difficult to Islam to disseminate out to Central Africa.

2) Lack of Inland-Trade: Most African States or Tribes along the southern coast of West Africa or within the Congo River Basin did not have extensive trade with central West African States or with the Horn of Africa. These states traded much more between each other locally or out on the Atlantic. Since inland trade was rarer, it provided fewer instances for Muslims and non-Muslims to come into contact.

3) Close-Knit Tribal Structure: The Africans of the Sahel were known for leaving their cities to go on large trade missions before returning to their homes. Unlike the Africans of the Sahel, the Africans of Southern West Africa and the Congo Basin had very close-knit tribal structures which prevented exactly these large scale trading caravans and regional exploration. This prevented Non-Muslim Africans from coming into contact with Muslim Africans "by accident" or on account of regional exploration.

4) Diffusion Rates: Religions that spread through peaceful contact without missionizing tend to diffuse more slowly. This was the case with Islam in Central Africa (as opposed to the case of Catholicism in South America). Additionally, it is more difficult for a faith or trade to spread in an area covered with dense forest than open plains or desert.

5) Stronger Traditions: The endemic animistic and spiritual religions of many African Tribes in Central and Southern West Africa were very resistant to changes brought by Islam. Unlike Christianity, which could explain these spirits as secondary demons that could be prayed to (albeit that such actions were undesirable), Islam forbade reverence towards these darker spirits forcing the Africans to make a choice between their native faiths and Islam or Christianity. Many chose their own faiths or chose to mix their faiths with Christianity. They would not give up their beliefs to trade for Islam. (In fact, the belief that this was the choice put to them is one of the many reasons the Yoruba (Christian Animist) and Hausa Fulani (Muslim) hate each other so strongly.)

6) Christian Colonies: The Portuguese, Dutch, and British set up colonial forts along the edge of Africa in the 16th century in order to facilitate slave exportation to the Americas. These forts also came with merchants and missionaries who attempted to curry favor with local African Chiefs and Princes by converting them to Christianity and buying their hearts with European finished goods. This helped to grow a Christian buffer-area in Southern West Africa and in Equatorial Africa.

Answer 3

Islam is slow to spread to East Africa because of the other religions mainly christianity in the area. Also it is slow because of the lack of education and geography in East Africa.

Answer 4

Islam was slow to spread in East Africa due to the physical barriers that separated the traders. Islam was mainly spread through trade and they hardly interacted with the east African region.

Answer 5

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