👩‍💻👨‍💻Discussion # 7: Africa and Islam

Topic: Africa and Islam

Muslim merchants and scholars arrived in sub-Saharan Africa and found a complex region of large empires and small states. As Islam spread and introduced new religious laws and restrictions, the local African population would often mix Islamic ideas with their old traditions. Many North African and Arabic travelers found the mix of Islam and African traditions disturbing and often complained that the Muslims of Africa were not practicing the faith correctly.

Directions: Write two posts, first answer the questions, and then respond to a classmate

Post # 1: Read your text and notes, do some careful research, and watch the videos. This involves some role-playing: pretend you are a Muslim traveler from Arabia and you have arrived at the court of an African King. He is a Muslim, but he allows his people to continue to practice their ancient traditions. Explain to him why this is wrong and how this can prevent them from being "good" Muslims. How would proper observance allow his power to grow? How would it help the African kingdom to gain new allies and trade partners with other traditional Islamic regions?

See the Discussion Guidelines for more information. This post should be concise and address all parts of the prompt. Your points will be based on completion of the assignment (based on the rubric) and whether you use support from the text, lecture, or internet. 6 points total, 3 for your initial post and 3 for replying to someone's post. Your post should be about a paragraph long and your reply to someone's post should be a paragraph as well.

I recommend that you create your initial post by Nov 9, at 11:59 pm so that others may have an opportunity to reply.

Post # 2: You must also contribute a Response to 1 classmate's post: Read another student's post and pretend you are the African ruler. You do not believe that allowing your people to practice old traditions along with Islam is wrong. Explain why your ancient traditions enrich Islam and allow your people to remain happy. Why should traditional Muslim rulers in Arabia and North Africa still consider you a "good" Muslim and trade with your kingdom?

Posts can have more than one reply. Follow the netiquette guidelines below and use evidence to support or disagree with the original post. This is not a place for insults or arguments so use proper language.

Your Response is due by Nov 10, at 11:59 pm

• This assignment is worth 6 points, 3 for your initial post and 3 for your reply to someone else's post
• Turning this assignment in late will result in loss of 1 point per day, up to 3 points
• Click on the reply button, below to get started

Expected Learning Outcome:

Students will critically analyze two different points of view of the spread of Islam in Africa

Rubric:

To view the rubric attached to this discussion, click on the gear box in the upper right and select Show Rubric

Netiquette:

• • Be kind and respectful to others
  • Use full sentences
  • Avoid jargon and acronyms
  • Use language that supports others