Four caliphs, who served as the political and religious leaders of the Muslim nation, succeeded Mohammed. They were Ali, Othan, Umar, and Abu-Bakar. Under the direction of Umar Ibn al-Khattab, the faith made its way to North Africa (634–644). Arabs and Arabized Berbers arrived in west Africa to trade and propagate Islam before Islam reached North Africa. West Africa had long-standing contacts with Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco through trans-Saharan trade. It is challenging to pinpoint the exact moment that Islam arrived in parts of central Sudan or modern-day Nigeria.
However, it is known that the religion was first introduced to the Kanembi Borno Empire in the eleventh century A.D. It is also known that Mai Humai, a monarch of Borno who ruled in the eleventh century A.D., was the first to embrace Islam. Although the religion may have arrived in Borno before the 11th century A.D., it has been proposed that the ruling dynasty may have publicly accepted it later. The first Muslim missionaries to arrive in West Africa were traders. The majority of the desert tribes that ruled the trade routes had converted to Islam by the ninth century A.D.
It is thought that the Islamic faith was brought to the Borno empire by both Arabs and Berbers who lived in the desert. Furthermore, Islam had already established itself in Tekur and Ghana by the tenth century A.D. or earlier in the larger West African region. The Almoravids, whose homes were situated north of Ghana, forcefully accelerated the spread of Islam in the cases of Tekur and Ghana. Borno monarchs began to take Islam seriously in eleventh century A.D. Many of the Borno Mais (kings) are reported to have made pilgrimages, and some are supposed to have been erudite intellectuals with an Arabic education or to have been devout and giving Muslims. Hausalland is another region in modern-day Nigeria where Islam has flourished.
In the fourteenth century, a group of wagarawa traders and Mali instructors introduced Islam to the region. Sarkin Kano was the one who initially received the religion’s official introduction. He then appointed a number of Muslim preachers and teachers to positions where practicing Islam was required. This includes the Muezzin’s post, Iman’s post, and others. The Kano King also mandated that all of his subjects convert to Islam.
The Kano King, after unsuccessful attempts by traditional religious authorities, officially instituted the new faith as the official state religion. However, Islam did not become fully established in Hausaland until the 15th century, especially in Katsina and Kano. Muslim Fulani were among the other communities that contributed to the peaceful spread of Islam in Hausaland and Borno. The Islamic scholars and preachers who fully Islamized Kano and Katsina were backed by the monarchs of these two republics. In the seventeenth century, Kano saw a significant Islamic faith presence in Gobir, Zazzau, Kebbi, Yawuri, and Katsina.
Yorubaland and Nupe were two other parts of Nigeria where Islam was introduced before to 1800 A.D,. Islam reached Nupe and Yorubaland via trade, much as it did in Borno and Hausaland. Nupe was connected to both the east-west and south-north commerce routes. Nupe and Yorubaland were connected to the trans-Saharan trade via the Borno and Hausaland trade routes. By the same commercial lines that passed through Borgu and Nupe, Yoruba was linked to Borno and Hausa.
The regions in question were once Oyo’s dependent provinces or sources of horses, weapons, and ammunition for its cavalry forces for an extended period. Nupe appears to have had Islamic influences by the 17th century; Nupe kings were using Islamic names as early as 1670. Mohammed Wani, who ruled between 1670 and 1679 and between 1746 and 1759, is one example. Jibril, the Etsu Nupe’s Islamic name, was another. In actuality, Nupe had Islamic religious traditions prior to Etsu Tsoede’s reign.
Islam was introduced to Nupe through its early trade with the Songhai, Mali, Hausaland, Borno, and Bendi dynasties. Muhammad Sharif and Mallam Musa were two of the early Islamic thinkers in Nupe who opposed jihad. These scholars contributed to the advancement of Islam in Yorubaland.
According to historians from Yorubaland, such as Samuel Johnson, Islam arrived in the region around the eighteenth century. However, historical accounts indicate that the introduction of Islam to the region occurred in the 17th century, when Alaafin Ajagbo is reported to have accepted the faith. Islam had reached numerous Yoruba areas by the 18th century, including Bagri, Ketu, Ogbomosho, Owu, Ijara, Igboho, Kisi, Saki, Iseyin, and Ikoyi. By the end of that century, a large number of Yoruba Muslims had joined the ‘Ulama (teachers). Despite the Oyo Empire’s significant efforts to spread Islam, by the end of the 18th century, the region still had a small number of Muslims.
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