ISLAM AND THE CATHOLIC CRUSADE MOVEMENT IN ZANZIBAR Part 1: Pre-Islamic Era in Zanzibar For the past three decades we have witnessed a radical study of the history of Zanzibar especially during the Omani Sultanate under the British Protectorate. Such history is neither perceived as an extension of European imperial history, nor it is exclusively concerned with the exploitation of Zanzibar by British colonial rulers, explorers, missionaries and administrators. But because of a Eurocentric colonial interpretation and exaggeration of Zanzibars history as a hub of Arabs slavery, instead of as the exportation of the deluxe cloves in the global market, a new generation of Zanzibaris are utilizing innovative research materials at their own disposal. They are utilizing oral traditions, linguistic evidence and the archeological data for the Zanzibar perspective. They have now produced excellent studies which have put Zanzibar into the center of her historical development. The history of Zanzibar without its association with Islam and Arabic influence, is like European history without the acknowledgment of Christianity and Romance languages. As Europe is associated with Rome and Greece, Zanzibar is a also associated with the East African region, but historically and culturally it ties are with Arab-Persian influences because its geographical proximity, and the impact of Monsoon Winds which blow to Zanzibar for six months, and the rest six months to the Persian Gulf. Unlike the hinterland, Zanzibar had more cultural contacts with the people plying the Indian Ocean trade routes, following the Monsoon Winds over the last two thousand years. The most important source for the Indian Ocean during this period, Periplus Maris Erythraen (Circumnavigation of the Erythraen Sea) written by an unknown Greek commercial agent based in Egypt. A considerable increase in knowledge of the Indian Ocean trade in Zanzibar and general and East in general is noticeable in Ptolemy’s Geography, written about 156 CE. The last documentary source for the period is the Christian Topography of Cosmas Indicopleustes, written during the first half of the six century. It was obviously belongs to the period when the Roman Empire and Roman trade in the Indian Ocean had already entered a period of precipitate decline. It is most useful for its information on Ethiopia, on the ascendancy of the Persian in the Indian Ocean. Because of natural highways of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, Zanzibar had received many visitors from kingdoms of Sumarian, which flourished between 6000 BC and 3000 BC and Assyrian from 2000 BC to 6000 BC, both in Mesopotamia whose people are the first to cultivate and settle the Fertile Crescent and are the ancestors of the Sumarians. The archeological investigations of Pre-Islamic Zanzibar are still in an embryonic stage but are supporting oral traditions. The excavation in 1910 proved that the ancient Egyptians, Sumarians and Sabeans visited the East African islands for international trade. The Sumarians are the first known people to develop a high civilization for their inscription which belonged to the Semitic Kingdom of Sargon of Akkad, founded in 2709 BC related the prosperous international maritime trade which flourished in 3000 BC between Mesopotamia, South Arabia and the East African coast. The relationships between Sumarian and Swahili languages are attested in their use of verbal forms instead of conjunctions, in addition to their similarities of words which have common peculiarities of grammar and construction. Swahili and Sumarian have almost similar thematic harmony of the vowels, which form a greater number of derivatives by means of suffixes and both have a system of Harfun (declension) by means of suffixes to the root word without causing significant changes. Other similarities are the absence of distinction between masculine and feminine genders as well as the existence of a negative conjugation. Such as linguistic relationship goes back when the Sumaerians, pioneered the sea route-trade as documented in some historical accounts. The origin of such people was the Persian Gulf where the first ship building industry started. He stated that the Serbeians who took control of the passage from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean (formally called the Zanzibar Ocean), around the first of millennium BC regulated the Indian Ocean from Sindh (now in Pakistan) and the Persian Gulf. It was the same time that the trade entered the flow in Zanzibar islands. Other early visitors to the East African coast were the Phoenicians, a navigating people from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. It is believed that they reached Zanzibar and Kilwa in about 1000 BC on their way to Sofala, in Mozambique for gold, silver and ivory. About 600 BC, a Phoenician fleet sailed the south part of Zanzibar and circumnavigated Africa before returning to the Mediterranean, three years later. About 526 BC when the Persians conquered Egypt, they opened the access to the Red Sea. After the decline of Greek domination, Persian again became the strongest naval power on the Indian Ocean to Zanzibar, and Arab settlement of the coast of East Africa had taken their route, despite the Persians to Zanzibar for trade continued through the upheaval even after the rise of Islam when Arab predominance became more evident in Zanzibar than any other East African countries. Extensive trade between East Africa and the kingdoms of the ancient civilization of the world continued to gained and by 500 BC the coastal islands, including Zanzibar had become part of a vast commercial empire, extending from Egypt, Greece and Rome across the Indian Ocean to India. About 138 BC, Chinese silk and porcelain reached Zanzibar via India. At the very beginning of the first Century CE, Zanzibar was part of the Kingdom of Saba (115 BC-525 CE), also known as Sheba. The Sabeans were a maritime people, with a large kingdom in Yemen and used the seasonal monsoon winds to travel regularly to and from Zanzibar. Their sailed south between November to February, during the Northeast Monsoon, carrying beads, the Chinese porcelain and clothes. Between March and September, they returned to north on the Southwest Monsoon, carrying food grains, mangroves poles for timber, spices, gold (from Sofala), ivory and ebony. These Arabs knew the East African coast as Zinjibar and thence the romantic name Zanzibar is derived. Besides the linguistic relationship between Swahili and Sumarian, the Babylonians, Sumarians and Persians also introduced horns to Zanzibar. In the Beit al-Amãn (The House of Peace) Museum, there are two big ancient horns belonged to the Shirazi rulers, enthroned as Mwinyi Mkuu (Sultan), meaning one who has great power for leadership. There are pictures of Babylonian horns on many old tombs-stones such as on the Kaburi (grave) of prince Haroun at Chwaka in Pemba. Haroun was the son of Mwinyi Mkuu Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman, famous as Mkame Ndume at Pemba. We are not very sure of the etymology of Pemba, but the Swahili word for horn is Pembe, used by Shirazi rulers both in Pemba and the southern region of the Zanzibar island as symbols of their power. The paraphernalia of horns as power, are mentioned in the Old Testament that Zedekiah ibn Khanaanah prepared two horns to symbolize the power of the Kings of Judah and Israel (1 Kings 22:11 and 2 Chronicles 18:10). The presence of horns in Zanzibar indicates the existence of ancient organized Perso-Arabo civilization and their Serikali, a Swahili word for government in Farsi (Persian), indicating that ustaarabu (civilization) of Perso-Arabic existed in Zanzibar islands before the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) but countries like the Central Africa, Zaire, Bahr al-Ghazal (Southern Sudan) and Uganda have no knowledge of using horns for symbol of leadership as in Zanzibar prior to its Islamization. Part 2: From Ethiopia To Zanzibar Islam reached peacefully in East Africa during the seventh century, and by the tenth century it became a dominant religion in Ethiopia, Somalia and the East African islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, Kilwa, Mafia, Pate, Lamu and Mombasa. It reached early in these countries due to their proximity to the Indian Ocean as well as the long prosperous economic and political relations with the Persian Gulf countries. The domination of the Red Sea maritime trade route by the Islamic State of Madina also helped the spread of Islam to East Africa. This is attested by a mosque foundation in Lamu where gold, silver and copper coins dated 830, were found during an excavation in 1984. The oldest intact mosque in East and Central Africa is dated 1007 at Kizimkazi in Zanzibar. The Swahili cities such as Kilwa and Zanzibar had grown rich from trading with both India and China to the extent that by 13th century, Kilwa had already acquired mints of their own, their kings stuck copper coins, inscribing their names. Recent archeologists in Zanzibar also had recovered a hoards of three thousands silver coins of local minting. One of the coins found at Kizimkazi with the name of Sultan Muhammad Ali belonged to the Shirazi dynasty, is implied by the Kilwa Chronicle. But the Fatimi dinar minted in Egypt was the basic international currency in the Swahili cities states. This was observed by the Moroccan globetrotter Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Zawati al-Tunzi (1304-1378), more famous as Ibn Battuta when he visited the East African islands. During his visit in 1331, Arabic was already the common literary and the commercial language spoken all over these coastal islands. He worked as the Chief Qadhi (Supreme Jurist) in the Maldives islands for one year using Arabic as his working language. In Kilwa, he was hosted by Sultan Abdullah bin al-Mudhaffar al-Hassan, nicknamed Abu al-Muwahhib (The Father of Gifts) and he reported that Kilwa, was one of the beautiful and best constructed towns in the world, and by that time he had seen the cities of India, China, Egypt and Morocco, his native country. He then visited Malindi, Mombasa and Pemba before he wrote his book entitled, Tuhfat al-Nazaãr fi-Gharã’b al-Amsãr Wa-’Ajãib al-’Asfãr, known as Rihalar Ibn Batuta (The Voyages of Ibn Battuta), in which he noticed the Shafi’i Madrasa (Islamic School), descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the influence of Yemen in the courts of the East African islands. Not only did Ibn Battuta notice some visitors from Hijaz (Saudi Arabia) and Yemen in Kilwa, indicating that Arabic was spoken in Kilwa, but the letter addressed to the King of Portugal has its beginning composed in Saj (the rhymic prose), common in the Qur’an. But Islam was catastrophically challenged by Crusaders in the guise of explorers, traders and colonialists. Their mission was executed by a euphemism of Catholic Crusade Movement (CCM), from Portugal. As Islam sequentially spread in Ethiopia, Somalia and Zanzibar so did Crusades which were waged against its progress. The discourse of Crusade against Islam in Ethiopia, was discussed by Taqiyyu al-Din bin Ahmad bin Ali al-Makrizi (1364-1442), who provided one of the early authoritative accounts in his book called Al-Ilmãm man bi-Ardh al-Habashah Min Muluk al-Islam (Survey of the Muslim Kings of Abyssinia). Another book by the same author entitled Al-Dhahab al-Masbuk fi-Dhikr man Hajja min al-Khulafãh wa al-Mulk (The Book on the Pilgrimage of Caliphs and Kings), contains interviews which the author collected during his settlement in Mecca with pilgrims especially from Africa between 1435 and 1437. One of the most significant accounts of the Catholic Crusade against Islam in East Africa is found in Tuhfat al-Zaman, better known as Futuh al-Habash (The Conquest of Ethiopia) by Shihãb al-Din. The author himself was the eyewitness to many of the events which he recorded (1506-1542) when he accompanied Imam Ahmad bin Ibrahim al-Ghazi (d. 1543), known in Ethiopia as Imam Ahmad Grãn (Leader Ahmad the Left-handed), more famous for his heroic conquests in Ethiopia. He embarked upon the greatest Jihad against the Portuguese ever known in Ethiopia until he was martyred by them. His loss was not only the defeat of the Muslim Sultanates in Ethiopia, but also the East African history entered a new epoch of Portuguese domination. Qutb al-Din bin Muhammad bin Ahmed al-Nahrawali, author of the book, Al-Barq al-Yamani fi Al-Fath al-Uthmani (The Ottoman Conquest of Yemen), described the expansion of the Ottomans and the Portuguese as well as their interests in East Africa. This indispensable book was published first under the title of Ghazawãt al-Jarakisah wa-al-Atrãk fi-Junub Bilãd al-Jazirah (Jarkish and Turkish Conquests in the Southern Peninsula). The Ethiopian’s resentment against Portuguese Crusaders and their desire for an alliance with the Yemenis, was described by Sharaf al-Din al-Hassan bin Ahmed bin Saleh al-Jamali al-Haymi (1609-1659) in his book, Sirat al-Qãdi Sharaf al-Din al-Hassan bin Ali bin Al-Hassan fi Dukhulihi Ardh al-Habashah, better known as Sirat al-Habashah (Sharaf al-Din’s Report from Ethiopia). Zayn al-Dins book, Kitab Tuhfat al-Mujahidin fi-Ba’ad Ahwa’al Burtuqaliyyin (The Book of Resistance Against Portuguese Expansion), is another important source on Portuguese during the sixteenth century in East Africa. The two volumes of Imam Nural-Din Abdullah bin Hamid bin Salum al-Salimi under the title Tuhfãt al-A’yãn bi-Sirat Al-’Umãn (The History and Life of Omani Dynasties), are significantly important in the history of Islam in Zanzibar. The first volume is exclusively devoted to the early history of Oman and provides an account of the Portuguese and the history of the al-Busady dynasty in both Oman and Zanzibar. Shuhaib al-Din Ahmed Ibn Muhammad bin Majid (1432-1500), a native of Julfar in Omani who knew Swahili and visited Zanzibar, was the pilot of Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) from Malindi, the coast of Kenya to Calcutta and Malabar coast of India. Among his many books on oceanography, the Fawa’dh fi-Usul Ilm al-Bahr wa-al-Qawaidãh (The Book of Benefits of the Principles of Seamanship), is considered as one of the best on the history of Portuguese in Oman and Zanzibar. It was only recently that the study of Islam in East Africa started to attract the attention of contemporary scholars. But most of them neglected the Crusade against Islam in Zanzibar because such religious conflicts seem to belong to the Middle East, despite it is an ecumenical imperative against Islam in any Muslim country, including Zanzibar. Muslims in Zanzibar and East Africa in general were the pioneers of resistance against Crusades, colonialism and Christianity. Their resistance which was the longest and the strongest in the African history can be divided arbitrarily into three phases. The first phase (1498-1595), when the Swahili states remained independent under the government of their own traditional Shirazi ruling dynasties and were fighting against the Catholic Crusaders from Portugal. They inflicted catastrophic damages to some of the Swahili towns but had little control over the inhabitants until Alffonso Albuquerque gained superiority in the region. The second phase (1595-1650), started with the construction of the Fort Jesus at Mombasa, under the supervision of an Italian Giovanni Batista Cairato. Mombasa then became the capital of the Portuguese Crusade in East Africa. This lead to the virtual collapse of the Shirazi dynasties, but the Shirazi islanders continued to pay allegiance to their respective Sultans. The third phase (1650-1700), ended after Muslim liberation due to an alliance between Imam al-Busaid of Oman and Shirazi dynasties of the East African islands. In 1660, Pate and Mombasa asked for help and an Omani fleet was dispatched and besieged Fort Jesus. This last phase collapsed when Mombasa fell in 1698 after a long siege by Seif bin Sultan Seif al-Yarubi who appointed Nassor bin Abdullah al-Mazrui as the governor. But it was not until the Oman placed their garrisons on Kilwa, Zanzibar and Pemba, when the Crusaders lost control over the East African islands. After being expelled from Mombasa and their Fort Jesus was seized, they fled to Mozambique for implantation of Christianity in the gist of colonialism (1700-1975), and they remained there until the country got independence.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 07:19:42 +0000
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