Islam in Africa

Between 800 and 1500 as the frequency and intensity of contact with the outside world

increased, which of the following had the most significant impact on sub-Saharan Africa?

• The arrival of the Portuguese

• The arrival of Christianity

• the arrival of Islam

• The arrival of Chinese merchants

• The arrival of the Mamluks

Which of the following statements concerning political and religious universality in Africa is most accurate?

• Although a universal empire did not develop in Africa, Islam provided a principle of universality in the continent.

• During the post-classical period, Africa was politically united under a single government but remained religiously diverse.

• Universal religions found no adherents in Africa, a fact that helps to account for the failure of a universal political system to develop.

• Neither universal states nor universal religion characterized Africa, but both Christianity and Islam did find adherents in Africa.

• There were no similarities in the various African religious beliefs which led to an easy acceptance of universal religions.

African societies organized around kinship or other forms of obligation and lacking the concentration of political power and authority were referred to as

• stateless.

• pastoral groupings.

• Bantu conical clans.

• Islamic tribes.

• proto-empires.

What was the function of secret societies in African culture?

• They smuggled valuable gold across the Sahara and established vital trade routes with the Mediterranean.

• Because secret societies were restricted to females, they permitted women to have an invisible, but powerful, role in political affairs within African societies.

• Because their membership cut across lineage divisions, they acted to maintain stability within the community and diminish clan feuds.

• They served as a disruptive and revolutionary force in African society forestalling the formation of larger states.

• They brought the practice of slavery to the African continent which led to the eventual adoption of Christianity by a majority of African tribes.

Which of the following statements best describes the indigenous religion of much of sub-Saharan Africa?

• Much of sub-Saharan Africa was Christian but later converted to Islam under military pressure.

• Animistic religion, belief in the power of natural forces personified as deities, characterized much of Africa.

• African religion prior to the arrival of the Muslims was typified by an independent form of monotheism characterized by worship in monumental temple complexes.

• Uniquely, African societies lacked any religious principles prior to the arrival of the Christians and Muslims.

• Sub-Sharan groups were influenced by Hindu beliefs brought in through east African trading ports such as Kilwa.

Which of the following was NOT a belief shared by practitioners of many indigenous African religions?

• The idea of a creator deity

• A moral code based on one supreme god

• The veneration of ancestors

• The view that the land had religious significance

• Well-developed concepts of good and evil

What region of Africa was first converted to Islam by 700 C.E.?

• East Africa

• Central Africa

• West Africa

• North Africa

• South Africa

The puritanical reform movements of the Almoravids and Almohadis arose among what groups of people in Africa?

• The Berbers, native desert dwellers of North Africa

• The Arabs during the conquest of North Africa

• The Nubians of the early Sudan

• The inhabitants of the empire of Mali

• The Ethiopians and the Coptic Christians

What was the most important Christian kingdom in Africa?

• Mali

• Songhay

• Kongo

• Ethiopia

• Egypt

Which of the following regions was NOT one of the important points of cultural contact between Africa and Islam?

• The Atlantic Ocean

• The Indian Ocean

• The Persian Gulf

• The savanna or sahel

• The Sahara