About this episode
We trace the often-overlooked story of Islam’s journey into Southern Africa—from early contacts in Mozambique and Malawi, to inland routes reaching Zimbabwe, Zambia, and even the fringes of South Africa. We explore how Islam took root among peoples like the Yao and the Ba-Lemba, how literacy promoted by Islam transformed societies, and why its expansion in the south differed from the sweeping movements seen elsewhere on the continent. And in a striking turn of history, we reflect on how—by the decree of Allah—the very forces that strove to hinder Islam’s spread in other parts of the world, became, in the far south, unexpected means for its establishment and growth.
