Islam in Africa

[edit] Islam in Africa
Main article: Islam in Africa
The first continent outside of Arabia to have an Islamic history was Africa, particularly Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia via modern day Eritrea).


The Great Mosque of Kairouan also known as the Mosque of Uqba founded in 670, is the oldest mosque in the Maghreb, Kairouan, Tunisia[edit] Islam in Maghreb
This part of Islamic territory has had independent governments during most of Islamic history, with a number being of historical importance.

The Idrisid dynasty were the first Arab rulers in the western Maghreb (Morocco), ruling from 788 to 985. The dynasty is named after its first sultan Idris I.

The Almoravid dynasty a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that flourished over a wide area of North-Western Africa and the Iberian peninsula during the 11th century. Under this dynasty the Moorish empire was extended over present-day Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Gibraltar, Tlemcen (in Algeria) and a great part of what is now Senegal and Mali in the south, and Spain and Portugal in the north.

The Almohad Dynasty or "the Unitarians," were a Berber Muslim religious power which founded the fifth Moorish dynasty in the 12th century, and conquered all northern Africa as far as Egypt, together withAl-Andalus.