The Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa : A Quest for Inter-religious Dialogue

The common perception is that Christianity in Africa was responsible for many injustices and harm to the culture and society of the continent, but Islam fitted well in Africa, and eschewed slavery. Azumah shows that Islam enslaved and forcibly converted as many African people as Christianity.

Thoughtful and challenging, this book argues for a reassessment of the role historically played by Islam in Africa, and offers new hope for in creased mutual understanding between African people of different faiths. Drawing on a wealth of sources, from the colonial period to the most up-to-date scholarship, the author challenges the widely held perception th at, while Christianity oppressed and subjugated the African people, Islam fitted comfortably into the indigenous landscape. Instead, this penetrating account reveals Muslim settlers to be as guilty of enforcing slavery and conversion as those of their more maligned sister tradition. Only with an acknowledgement of the true roles of both faiths in African history, suggests Azumah, can the people of both traditions move themselves and their continent towards a new future of tolerance and self-awareness.