11/07/2025 08:30
- 10:45
HALL: Lecture Hall 30
Proponent:
Macconi I.
Chair:
Macconi I.
Speaker:
Macconi I.,
Phiri F.,
Rovellini M.,
Traore M.S.H.,
Zangairai F.
Africa was the first continent where Islam spread from the Middle East in the mid-seventh century and by the 1880's it had taken root in a third of the continent. As Scott S. Reese reminds us, African Muslims played a major role in shaping the history of Africa and beyond. They contributed to the expansion of the Islamic faith and to the transnational circulation of knowledge, to the emergence of the commercial empires of medieval western Sudan and the Swahili trading cities of East Africa, and to the modernization of societal structures, to name but a few. This panel aims to shed light on various aspects of this important presence, starting with the dynamics resulting from the encounter with local cultures and communities, as well as with Christianity, also (indirectly) addressing the issue of slavery. The aim is to stimulate research into other topics from multiple perspectives.