Islam in Africa

Islam became the prominent religion in many countries in Africa very shortly after the faith had been created. As such, many leaders of these countries were Muslim, and ran their countries under Islamic rule. This bears the question of how citizens of these countries who were not Muslim were treated. One of our sources states that the Quran “reminds Muslims of the heritage that they share with People of the Book. Yet it also threatens eternal hellfire for all who perversely refuse to become Muslims.” Although these two comments from the Quran some what contradict one another, the prophet Mohammad treated those of other faiths with a semblance of respect. “Muhammad entered into a contract, or dhimma, with an Arabic Jewish tribe at the oasis of Khaybar, whereby he guaranteed to defend them and to respect their religious practices in return for their submission, assistance, and payment of tribute.” Muhammad’s contract was peaceful, yet still put him and his religion in a more powerful position. Because neither the Quran nor Muhammad directly stated how non-Muslim people should be treated, it was left to the specific ruler’s interpretation of how they wanted to treat them. Many rulers decided to let people of different faiths live peacefully in their domain, while others did not.

Contradictory to present day, Christianity was not always the most common religion. Those who participated in the Christian faith in the parts of Africa that were dominantly Muslim were subject to different, and sometimes not particularly fair, treatment. The Christian citizens of the city Tiflis around 653 CE were treated almost exactly the same as Muhammad treated the Jewish tribe at Khaybar, as were the people who were Christian in Syria around 637 CE. The Pact of Ibn Muslama presents the laws that non-Muslims, specifically Christians, had to abide by in Tiflis. For example, “…securing them [Christians] safety for their lives, churches, convents, religious services and faith, provided they acknowledge their humiliation and pay tax to the amount of one dinar on every household.” The Pact of Umar pushes forth the idea, with more detail, that Christians were looked at as subservient, second-class citizens that were expected to follow there Muslim ruler. Following the list of laws that Christians had to abide by , the pact states “All this we promise to observe, on behalf of ourselves and out co-religionists, and receive protection from you in exchange; and if we violate any of the conditions of this agreement, then we forfeit your protection and you are at liberty to treat us ad enemies and rebels.” This gives the ruler power to severely punish a Christian for not doing as they say.

The account of Benjamin ben Jonah of Tudela is said to have quite possibly been exaggerated because Benjamin was trying to emphasize how Jews “prospered because they remained faithful to the Covenant.” Opposed to how the previous documents have described the relationships between Christians and Muslim rulers, it would seem that the Jewish people were more highly regarded and properly treated. In this document there is no implication that the Jewish people were treated any less than their Muslim counterparts. It doesn’t state

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