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How Christianity and Islam Came to Africa: A Timeline

Goal Learn when and how Christianity and Islam arrived in different parts of Africa, from ancient kingdoms to the colonial era and independence.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Many people assume Christianity arrived in Africa with European missionaries in the 1800s, and that Islam came only by conquest. The real story is longer and more surprising. Christianity reached North and East Africa almost 2,000 years ago, before it reached much of Europe. Islam arrived in some places by conquest and in others through traders and scholars. Knowing this timeline helps you judge the big question in the next lesson: were these religions imposed, or chosen?

KEY WORDS

Missionary: a person sent to spread a religion.
Convert: to change from one religion to another, or a person who has done so.
Jihad: an Arabic word meaning "struggle". It can mean a personal spiritual struggle, and in history it was also used for wars fought in the name of Islam.
Colonialism: when a foreign power takes control of a territory and its people.
Independence: when a colony becomes a self-governing country.

A timeline of faith in Africa. Traditional religions were always there. Christianity reached Egypt by AD 50 to 300, Aksum in Ethiopia in the 330s, and the Nubian kingdoms of Sudan in the 540s. Islam reached North Africa in the 640s and spread through trade from about 1000 to 1500. Missions and jihads came in the 1800s, then colonial rule from 1885 to 1960. The fastest growth came after independence, led by Africans.

ANCIENT AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY

Egypt: Christianity spread in Egypt in the first centuries after Christ. Alexandria became one of the great centres of the early Church, and Egypt's Coptic Church is one of the oldest in the world.
North Africa: some of the most important early Christian thinkers were Africans, including Augustine of Hippo, born in AD 354 in what is now Algeria.
Ethiopia: in the AD 330s, King Ezana of Aksum adopted Christianity. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has continued ever since, and Ethiopia kept its Christian identity for more than 1,600 years.
Nubia (today's Sudan): the Nubian kingdoms became Christian in the 6th century. The king of Nobadia converted officially in AD 543. These Christian kingdoms lasted for centuries, with churches and cathedrals along the Nile.

HOW ISLAM ARRIVED

An early welcome: around AD 615, some of the Prophet Muhammad's first followers fled persecution in Mecca and were sheltered by the Christian king of Aksum in Ethiopia. Africa's link with Islam began with protection, not conquest.
Conquest in the north: in the AD 640s, Arab Muslim armies conquered Egypt and then spread across North Africa. Over the following centuries, most people there gradually became Muslim.
A long peace with Nubia: the Nubians defeated Arab invasions in AD 641 and 652, and the two sides signed a treaty, the baqt, which kept peace and trade going for around 500 years.
Trade and scholarship in West Africa: Islam spread across the Sahara with camel caravans of traders. Rulers of the Ghana and Mali empires adopted it. Mansa Musa of Mali made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, and Timbuktu became a great centre of Islamic learning.
The Swahili coast: on the East African coast, trade across the Indian Ocean brought Islam to towns like Kilwa, Mombasa and Zanzibar, creating the Swahili culture.

THE 1800s: JIHADS AND MISSIONS

In West Africa, Islamic reform movements led by scholars such as Usman dan Fodio, who launched a jihad in 1804 and founded the Sokoto Caliphate in today's Nigeria, spread Islam further, partly by war.
European Christian missionaries arrived in large numbers, opening churches, schools and hospitals.
Earlier, some African rulers had chosen Christianity themselves: King Afonso I of Kongo, in today's Angola and DR Congo, ruled as a Christian king in the early 1500s, and his son Henrique became one of the first African Catholic bishops.

THE COLONIAL ERA (ABOUT 1885 TO 1960)

After the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885, European powers divided most of Africa between them. Missionaries often worked alongside colonial governments, and mission schools became the main way to get an education and a job in the colonial system.

AFTER INDEPENDENCE AFRICAN-LED GROWTH

In 1900, there were only about 7 million Christians and 11 million Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa; most people followed traditional religions. By 2010, there were about 470 million Christians and 234 million Muslims, according to the Pew Research Center. Much of this growth happened in the second half of the 20th century, after most countries became independent, when churches and mosques were increasingly led by Africans.

In sub-Saharan Africa there were about 7 million Christians and 11 million Muslims in 1900, when most people followed traditional religions. By 2010, there were about 470 million Christians and 234 million Muslims.

REAL-LIFE CASE STUDY SUDAN AND SOUTH SUDAN, A SHORT HISTORY OF FAITH

The land along the Nile that is now Sudan and South Sudan shows the whole story in one place. In the north, the Christian kingdoms of Nubia lasted for centuries until Islam gradually became the main religion of northern Sudan. In the south, most people followed traditional religions, such as those of the Dinka and Nuer, well into the 20th century. Christian missions arrived in the colonial period but at first won relatively few converts. After independence, Sudan's governments in Khartoum pushed Islamic law and Arabic culture across the country, especially after the 1983 "September Laws" introduced sharia nationally. Many southerners resisted, and during the long civil wars, Christianity grew rapidly in the south. Today, South Sudan is a mainly Christian country where traditional beliefs and practices remain strong.

PRACTICE

Complete the sentences.

Drag a word into each gap, or tap a word and then tap the gap.

In the AD 330s, King Ezana made Christianity the religion of .
The Christian kingdoms along the Nile in today's Sudan were called the kingdoms of .
In West Africa, Islam spread mainly with crossing the Sahara.
Mansa Musa, who made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca, ruled the empire of .
The coastal culture of East Africa shaped by Indian Ocean trade is called .

✓ Check Your Understanding

Pick one answer for each question. You'll see the explanation straight away.

1. When did Christianity first become established in Ethiopia?

Ethiopia became Christian in the 4th century, under King Ezana of Aksum, more than 1,500 years before European colonisation of Africa.

2. How did Islam mainly spread in West Africa, in places like Mali?

Camel caravans of traders brought Islam across the Sahara. Rulers of empires like Ghana and Mali adopted it, and Timbuktu became a great centre of Islamic learning.

3. What happened around AD 615 that links early Islam with Africa?

Fleeing persecution in Mecca, some of the first Muslims found protection with the Christian ruler of Aksum in Ethiopia.

4. Roughly how many Christians lived in sub-Saharan Africa in 1900, according to Pew?

There were about 7 million Christians and 11 million Muslims in 1900. By 2010 the numbers had grown to about 470 million and 234 million.

5. What were the 1983 "September Laws" in Sudan?

The September Laws imposed sharia nationally. Many people in the south, who followed Christianity or traditional religions, opposed them, and the issue fuelled the civil war.

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