A critical study of Thomas Arnold's views about Islam in Africa, south of Sahara until the 9th century AH/15th century AD
Abstract
The Europeans were greatly interested in Africa south of Sahara. So many books were written about the history of Islam in general and in Africa in particular. Some of these writings were fair, whereas others were unjust. One of those writers is the orientalist Thomas Arnold through his book "Call to Islam". In this book Arnold tackles spreading of Islam in various places, particularly in Africa. The writer tackles African history into two chapters out of thirteen chapters of the book. He discussed in the first chapter the matter of spreading Islam among the Christians of Africa especially after the gradual declination of the Christian Church and the arrival of Muslims to "Nuba" (now Republic of Sudan). He discussed that history up to the 18th and 19th centuries. In the other chapter, the writer explains how Islam reached east and west coasts of Africa concentrating on the methods adopted by the Muslim propagandists to spread Islam.Arnold's view about the stages of spreading Islam in Africa, south of Sahara, is tackled and the texts which assure the peaceful spread of Islam are shown. Then the mistakes which the writer fell into are shown and corrected. True historical evidence is scientifically used to criticize and correct his narrations.
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