Misconceptions Ep. 2 - Islamic Africa Founded and Civilized by Arabic Conquest

Hello everyone, it's Jabari here. If you haven't seen episode 1, I strongly recommend that you check it out. I'll put a link to it at the end of this video. Last episode, I debunked the popular belief that Sub-Saharan Africans were still in the Stone Age until Europeans introduced metal tools to them in the 15th century. In this video, I'll be covering another very commonly held belief. A belief that Islamic Sub-Saharan African states were conquered or civilized by Arabs and were nothing but tribal savages prior to Arabic conquest. Also, the belief that they shouldn't even qualify as African nations at all. Of course, there are very few big reasons why this assessment is incorrect, but it's true. The white man Arabs had gunpowder, paper, writing systems, and all kinds of sh** that you blacks never developed. Are you sure about that? Last I checked, gunpowder and paper were Chinese inventions and writing systems came to Europe from the Middle East. Alright, so where were we? The Middle East has traditionally been the focal point of the world's major innovations and Middle Eastern peoples have always been the ones to spread them to other parts of the world, with progress into Africa being significantly slower due to the Sahara Desert. While most North African civilizations were almost immediately conquered and converted by one large wave of Arabic invaders shortly after the founding of Islam, nearly all African states south of the Sahara were founded by black African people and ruled over by black African royal families, whether they were Islamic or not. Those that were Islamic were almost always willing converts. In most cases, peaceful conversion happened naturally over a long period of time through trade with Arabs and Berbers via the Trans-Saharan trade, as opposed to North Africans who succumbed to one fast sweep of Islamic invasions between the years of 647 and 709 CE. Even the small percentage of Sub-Saharan Africans that were forcibly converted were usually done so by other black African Islamic nations, not Arabs or Berbers. Such is the case with the Fulani Jihad that took place between the years of 1804 and 1808 and resulted in the conquest and conversion of a large expanse of West African land and the eventual formation of the Sokoto Caliphate. The Mali Empire, though Islamic, retained its own local flavor of it, blending local customs and traditions with Islamic religion in somewhat of an unorthodox manner, with women, for example, retaining relative freedom and equality and being able to walk around without the burqa or hijab, a sharp contrast to other Islamic states. Its architecture was also strongly dominated by local building customs and traditions, containing some of the largest mud brick structures in the This is most evident in the Sudano-Sahelian architecture, which has been the style of choice for much of Sahelian West Africa since 250 BC, long before Islam was even born and is even still used today. This also shows that these states weren't civilized by Arabs. Most of them already had indigenous states and civilizations in place prior to their conversion, including Dar Tichit which was part of a collection of some 2,000 West African stone-walled settlements that have been before the presence of any Arabic explorers or even the Islamic religion. Through archaeological excavations, these sites were proven to have been built by the Seninke people, a Niger-Congo group from sub-Saharan Africa. The Ghana Empire is believed to be the successor state of these stone settlements and was also firmly established and thriving and remained largely non-Islamic for most of its history. Even when conquered by Islamic Almoravid dynasty, the Empire of was able to regain its independence after just 10 years and never converted to Islam, despite a few sects of its residents becoming Muslims. Countless states in and around Islamic Africa remained independent, prosperous, and just as powerful as their Islamic neighbors, such as the kingdoms of Benin, Ashanti, Mosi, and Dahomey, whom which had direct contact with Islamic nations and peoples yet still retained their own local religions, customs, and traditions, all the while competing with their Islamic neighbors militarily and economically. Some parts of Africa had no Islamic connections whatsoever, yet they still amassed incredible wealth and power, such as the kingdoms of Congo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. This is not to say that Arabic influence on African kingdoms did not exist, because it certainly did. Formerly illiterate societies often adopted the Arabic writing system and others took cues from Arabic mathematics, military, architecture, and armor. This is most evident in the Swahili people, whose language and architecture show strong Arabic influence. However, Arabs didn't go to a land of savages living in grassland like many people assume. They simply brought change and exchange of ideas in a similar fashion to what happened throughout Eurasia's history. In fact, Europeans had no farming, no metal tools, or any domesticated animals until the innovations were brought to them from the Middle East. Even after the formation of states like Greece and Rome, Europeans still continuously borrowed from innovations that were brought to them from the Middle East, such as compasses, gunpowder, and paper, which in turn the Middle Eastern people had adopted from the Chinese. Gunpowder was brought to Europe through war and conquest in the 13th century during the Mongol invasions. Christianity is also something that has its origins in the Middle East. Even our modern numerals of 0 through 9 are referred to as the Arabic numeral system, and were introduced to the West from Arabs who adopted and adapted them from a similar set of characters that originated in India. Spain was under Islamic rule between the years of 711 and 1492, where dramatic changes in art, architecture, medicine, and science took place, which these Islamic nations that controlled them take credit for. Islamic peoples also conquered and ruled over Greece in the mid-15th century, and held these lands until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. With that said, if Islamic civilizations of sub-Saharan Africa are to be considered conquered or civilized by Arabs or people of the Middle East, then European nations and just about every other Eurasian nation also deserve that title to some degree. Indonesia, which has the largest and one of the most oldest Islamic populations in the world, should also carry that banner. The entire modern world today is built of a massive soup of innovations from diverse groups and cultures constantly competing, adopting, and improving upon the technology and cultural trends of others. The most important accomplishments in metallurgy, agriculture, and writing that changed Europe forever have their origins in the Middle East. Therefore, it is illogical to shut out African accomplishments just because they have done the same thing. I hope you guys enjoyed the video. This is only part two of an ongoing series that debunks misconceptions about sub-Saharan Africa. 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