Abdullah Hakim Quick – Untold Stories Of World History 07

Abdullah Hakim Quick
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AI: Summary ©

The historical significance of Islam is discussed in various segments, including its historical significance in the Eastern and South African regions, its historical significance in the Middle East, and its historical significance in the West. The segment also touches on the history of the European writing system, including its rise of slavery, the use of slavery in writing, and the importance of learning to blend cultures and look at other cultures. The region is also a hub for Islam, with the use of Arabic names and strong connections with the Eastern region.

AI: Summary ©

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			Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim In the name of Allah, most Gracious, Most Merciful. I praise Allah
subhana wa Taala. And I send peace and blessings to all of the prophets, all of the righteous ones
from the beginning of time, and especially to our beloved Prophet Mohammed, his family, his
companions, and all those who call to his way and establish his sooner to the Day of Judgment. As to
what follows I begin with the greeting words of the righteous. Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullah. The
Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, was the last of a long series of messages. And
these prophets and messengers came to every nation and every tribe.
		
00:01:04 --> 00:01:13
			They came to bring the people out of the belief in many gods, to the unity of Allah subhanho wa
Taala, Creator of the heavens and the earth.
		
00:01:15 --> 00:01:34
			And it is reported that the prophets did not change the cultures of the people, but they brought
them away in to enjoy to heed the oneness of God. And they brought them a Sharia a law that was
suitable for their country, their people, and their time.
		
00:01:36 --> 00:01:46
			And whatever was the means of income. However, the people were able to benefit from the life of this
world continued within this belief in one God.
		
00:01:48 --> 00:01:49
			The east coast of Africa,
		
00:01:51 --> 00:01:59
			was in touch with the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea, long before the time of the Prophet Muhammad,
peace and blessings be upon him.
		
00:02:00 --> 00:02:23
			And in the ancient Greek annals, and anonymous, Greek traveler, travel down the Red Sea, and into
the East African coast. And he wrote periplus of the Eritrean sea. This was written in 50 ad, and it
described the circumnavigation of the Indian Ocean.
		
00:02:25 --> 00:02:42
			The ancient Egyptians also traded with East Africa. And they traded with dyed cloaks, tunics,
copper, tin, and silver. And they traded for frankincense, ivory, and tortoise shells.
		
00:02:44 --> 00:02:50
			The ancient Romans penetrated this region as well. And they called it as Ania.
		
00:02:52 --> 00:03:41
			The Human Rights living in Yemen, in the southern part of Arabia, had a brisk trade going on with
the people of East Africa, between 155 bc and 300 ad. They traded in spices, and perfumes,
frankincense, myrrh, and they traded with the people and received gold, ostrich feathers and other
African products. And so this sets the foundation for the Islamic period the trade routes were open,
sailors will going down the Red Sea into the East African coastline, and then moving around the
Indian Ocean and bringing together the cultures in Arabia, Africa and India.
		
00:03:42 --> 00:04:04
			So when the Islamic period came, the same movements of people benefited the movement of Islam as a
way of life. And the cultures were affected. And the people were again brought together. And of
course, when we look at the Islamic period in this region, we have to begin with Ethiopia with axon
under joshy Rahim Allah,
		
00:04:05 --> 00:04:17
			the emperor of Aksum in Ethiopia had a powerful impact upon his people, and those who are living in
the region. And one could say that the the effect of this Emperor
		
00:04:18 --> 00:04:26
			continued on not only just for a few months and years after his death, but it continued on for
centuries.
		
00:04:27 --> 00:04:37
			The first real report that we get of Muslims penetrating deep into the east coast of Africa is the
chronicle of llamo.
		
00:04:38 --> 00:04:59
			This was reported by the Khalifa Abdul Malik, Eben Marwan of the Romanians. He sent emissaries into
East Africa in 696 ad, and it is reported that massage houses of worship were built and a connection
was made between the people on the coastline and the mayor
		
00:05:00 --> 00:05:58
			dynasty. Up until today, there are archeological findings that people are gaining constantly showing
this connection. One of the most interesting is in shanga Lambo, the island of Lambo, and they're
within this set of islands is a mask that is dated back to seven AD AD. Following this, there's
another report. And this is in a treatise, a set called the chronicle of kilwa. And it reports about
the journey of seven brothers from Shiraz. They entered into the East African coastline. And they
succeeded in doing business with the people of the area. They even married the people of the area
and we know that Shiraz is in present day Iran. So this connection is now coming about between the
		
00:05:58 --> 00:06:03
			people of East Africa and not only Arabia, but also Persia.
		
00:06:04 --> 00:06:24
			Following this in the 10th century, our famous geographer and historian, Elon Musk early in his
model of the hub, he wrote somewhere around 945 ad, he wrote about a trade that was going on between
Africa, China, India and the Gulf of Arabia.
		
00:06:25 --> 00:06:36
			And he also wrote a very interesting point he mentions for the first time in recorded history, the
presence of a language and he called it a zenji language. It was called Swahili.
		
00:06:38 --> 00:06:58
			Following this, another famous geographer, well known throughout the world, Al idrisi, looked at the
world and he placed in East Africa, Zanzibar and musket in Roman, and he wrote that this was a very
powerful, important part of the world.
		
00:06:59 --> 00:07:49
			Following this, there's another report, and this is in the journey of Ibn battuta rahima, who lauded
the great traveler, and he went down into the East African coast, he visited Mogadishu in present
day Somalia, he visited kilowatt in Tanzania. And he recorded that the the Amir of kilowatt was
visited by a group of allama of scholars from the Hejaz from Saudi Arabia. And they will not they
will known at that time as extremely pious and knowledgeable people, they will following following
the method the school of thought of you mama Shafi, Rahim Allah and they brought out the importance
of kilwa and at that point really killer reaches the height. Now, what we are getting from this is a
		
00:07:49 --> 00:08:05
			blending that comes about, it is a blending of Arab culture and African culture and Persian culture
and Indian culture. And what develops out of this is what is known as the people of a Swahili
		
00:08:06 --> 00:08:26
			in the Arabic language, Sahil is a coastline, the plural would be Swahili. So, what develops is a
language Kiswahili that we would say in English, what Swahili language so, Swahili becomes Swahili,
the people of the coastlines
		
00:08:28 --> 00:08:44
			kilwa becomes the center becomes the base where the culture reaches its highest point in the history
of that region. And so Kiswahili is the language m Swahili means the people of the coastline
		
00:08:45 --> 00:09:42
			what happens here is it is a beautiful blending between Bantu languages these are Central African
and East African languages. So, the foundation of Swahili, the roots of the verbs and terminologies
are bound to roots, but the vocabularies are mostly Arabic vocabularies. So, for instance, if they
say a mom in Arabic, they would say emammal in Swahili, if you say Amir, they would say ameerul in
Swahili, so, abantu base Arabic vocabulary words also there is a presence of Hindi and some
Portuguese loanwords that are coming also into the Swahili language. The next period coming in and
this is in the 15th century, it's after the formation of Swahili culture. After that beautiful
		
00:09:42 --> 00:10:00
			blending is developed. And after kilwa itself reaches a height in civilization, the Portuguese come
into the region. We have understood that Vasco de Gama came in using maps from the Muslims. He also
		
00:10:00 --> 00:10:52
			hired Mohammed bin magid, who was a Muslim to show him how to get into the Indian Ocean. And they
came in with the pretext that they were fighting the crusades, they came in with it with with the
understanding that by going around Africa, in what they call the Cape of Good Hope, because they
were hoping to get around the middle of the Muslim world, that they would be able to reach India,
without going through the lens of the caliphate, to Turkey to Iraq, through the center of the Muslim
world, they wanted to serve, circumvent this, and go straight to India, and to benefit from China,
and those regions. And so the Portuguese came into East Africa. And we find from this, a period of
		
00:10:52 --> 00:11:45
			destruction. They came, unfortunately, in the name of the religion, in the name of Jesus, the son of
Mary. And they, they reached out their hands to the people and traded at first, and then they
received it. They set up lighthouses and special marking points. And by 1505, they returned, and
they attacked the main cities in East Africa, although they had found kilowatt as one of the most
beautiful cities in the world. And they write in their memoirs, that kilowatt, and Mombasa and the
cities of the East African coastline were more beautiful than anything they had in Portugal. But
still, their intention was destruction. The people were Muslims, or morose as they would say. And so
		
00:11:45 --> 00:11:46
			the same
		
00:11:47 --> 00:12:15
			struggle. The same confrontation continued. And they began to destroy the ports, using their
technology, using their military skills that they had developed in their crusades. And in their
conquest of Al Andalus. They were able to sack the city of Mombasa and to push the people into the
interior. They also destroyed much of kilwa
		
00:12:16 --> 00:13:10
			and they built forts to meet their boats at the shore. They built fort also in Mombasa, they called
it fort Jesus. And they set up these military structures all over the coastline, in other in Hormuz,
Southern Arabia. They continued on into India to go up in Gujarat, they made it all the way to
Calcutta. And they set up a complex network in order to control that region. But this could not
continue. Because the people of the region were discontented by their rule. And we're upset at the
way they came into their lives and destroyed what had taken centuries to build. Let us take a break
and returned to what happened to the East African coast after the period of the Portuguese.
		
00:13:28 --> 00:13:39
			Welcome to this new episode of focus points. The new generation is has got the habit of reading more
than before.
		
00:13:41 --> 00:13:50
			Question was named basically the problem of Jews who lost their function in society.
		
00:14:03 --> 00:14:53
			In the 17th century, the East African coastline and the Indian Ocean went through a major change.
And that was that the Portuguese fleets the power of the Portuguese who had dominated the coastline
was diminished by the coming of the British. Not only this, but also a combined force of the local
people of East Africa. Along with a new group entering into the scene, the harmonies coming from
southern part of Arabia, were able to defeat the Portuguese and drive them from all of their forts.
When we look at the effect of Portuguese culture, we find that it had almost no impact in the
language there are very few Portuguese words being used. All that is left are a few forts that are
		
00:14:53 --> 00:14:59
			abandoned or being used along the coastline from this period, we then
		
00:15:00 --> 00:15:58
			Find that the Romanies who originally came in to assist their Muslim brethren against these Crusader
forces, that too many then start to dominate the region. And by 1812, we find that the Salton Sea
inside comes into the area. And he stops fighting, which is going on between Mombasa and llamo. And
then by 1840, he subdues the whole Swahili coast. And the woman is then move their capital, from a
man from musket, they move it then down into Zanzibar. So the island of Zanzibar off the coast of
what is now known as Tanzania, becomes the capital of the Omani Empire, huge plantations were
developed. And slave labor was being used to grow the spices and the sugar, and the different
		
00:15:59 --> 00:16:47
			products, which were being sold all throughout the Muslim world. This is a sad period for Swahili
history. Because it is during that period, that slavery comes into the forefront. And hundreds and
1000s of people were taken from the interior, and were sold in slave markets in Zanzibar. And then
also in other parts of the of the Muslim world. It is important to understand, number one, that
slavery was not the beginning of Swahili culture, that Swahili culture really was developed from an
ancient trade that was going on between the people of the North, and the people of the East African
coastline, those who were moving all around the Indian Ocean. Swahili culture was a beautiful
		
00:16:47 --> 00:17:36
			blending of African languages, African culture, and Arab culture and Persian culture. But what
happened during the Romantic period was, in a sense, another form of imperialism. And so the problem
we are facing today, looking at history is that usually when people speak about East Africa, they
speak about the humanities and slavery, as though this is the only contribution that East Africa has
made to history. The reality is, this was a short period of time. And the first generation of
humanities who came into this region, we're actually freedom fighters, and they help the local
people to liberate themselves. To add to this, some new, interesting information is now coming into
		
00:17:36 --> 00:17:42
			the arena. And we want to open up these gems this hidden history and bring it out to the world.
		
00:17:44 --> 00:18:28
			It is well known, as we've mentioned earlier, that the Arabs from the first century AD penetrated
deep into the East African coastline. What is not so well known is that they actually made it deep
into the south, and they reached below Tanzania, and they were trading Of course, for with using
iron and glassware. They were getting ivory and rhinoceros horns, Elon Musk Rudy actually wrote
about merchants coming from Southern Arabia, who sail down to what is now known as cape Delgado
province in northern Mozambique. And so they had reached deep into the South.
		
00:18:30 --> 00:18:52
			What we recognize now is that number one, what we know as most Mozambique during the Islamic period
came from the colony of Musa Eben bank. So Musa Eben Baig becomes Mozambique, Yusuf Ali, becomes
sofala. And so far Allah
		
00:18:53 --> 00:19:27
			develops into one of the important cities on the East African coastline, deep south, it is also
known as sofala, the golden by 511 ad, a traveler named Antonio Fernandez traveled along a well one
trade route from sofala to what is now known as Zimbabwe. And he trades with and interacts with King
shittaka of Zimbabwe.
		
00:19:28 --> 00:19:59
			The indigenous people within that region had developed a very high culture. And what is coming out
now is that the Arabs were actually writing about this. And when they spoke about the indigenous
people, they gave a general name they also used Zen as a name, but the actual names which are coming
to the surface, but Sanga Vata hunga, wa karenga, whatever and different groupings
		
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03
			There are parts of South Africa today.
		
00:20:04 --> 00:20:53
			One of the groups especially what Amber, they are described as people of a ruddy complexion, who
spoke a language similar to the Maus, and they wore linen and cotton. And they all wore caps on
their heads. And so what develops here in this part of the world, is a culture that is based upon
the movement coming from the coastline, into the interior of the Great Zimbabwe. And this is where
gold was being mined. And so the Southern African gold was coming out in large quantities. And
between the 14th to the 16th century, Trade Centers was set up all along between Mozambique and the
Zimbabwe plateau.
		
00:20:54 --> 00:21:30
			So that we see within the 14th to the 16th century, the Great Zimbabwe is built a massive structure
there in Africa, and some people said it was built by non Africans. This is not the truth, it was
African people who built it, but it was as a result of the trade going on from the coast into the
interior. What we also recognize is that the region's being passed through by the merchants who are
leaving sofala. And then going into the Great Zimbabwe include what is now known as Limpopo
province.
		
00:21:31 --> 00:22:14
			Also, m Puma Langa profits. And these two provinces are important regions within South Africa, South
Africa now has come to the forefront as one of the leading powers in the southern hemisphere, on the
African continent, South Africa, sets the trends for economic development, for political unity of
the people and Muslims had entered into South Africa from an early time and had influenced the
people in that region. We are now also finding because of recent studies, and interaction with the
people in that region, that there are tribes
		
00:22:15 --> 00:22:51
			that we find with Arabic names. So we find tribes with the name for instance, Salim, we find the
word Basha, being used as a tribal name in the south. And when our historians and and our contacts
went into the the regions and talk to the people, they knew that they had Arabic names, they related
to the history as being not the same as people who were unaffected, you know, by the the the Arab or
Swahili culture of the coast, but the history was lost.
		
00:22:52 --> 00:23:31
			What is important coming out of this discussion and understanding is that Islam was not an is not a
new religion in southern Africa. But Muslims have played an important role in the economy of that
region. For the past few centuries. Muslims also have clear roots in South Africa, and in the
southern region, long before the coming of the Dutch colonial people. And then the British forces
who set up the present day, South Africa, Rhodesia, and the countries that we know of the South.
		
00:23:33 --> 00:24:24
			This is important for national identity. This is important for the connection between the people of
South Africa and the Muslim world, that Islam was actually part of the culture. You take it a step
further, and you find within the culture of the people whatever, and down into the Zulu and the
suit, you find tawheed the belief in one God, you find that many of the concepts that Muslims use,
were actually practice by the people in the southern region. We find that people in South Africa, it
is a common practice amongst the people, that when a person dies, that they bury that person in
cloth in white cloth, they bury that person straight into the earth. There's a natural separation
		
00:24:24 --> 00:24:59
			between the males and the females, in social gatherings in the household, and within the society
itself. Also, many people of the South have a great respect for those who cover their bodies, and
are very much concerned with the virginity of their daughters. And many of the aspects within
Islamic culture are found in the people of the South. This then confirms to us the presence of Islam
from an early age and the fact that Muslims are not a foreign force coming into the region.
		
00:25:00 --> 00:25:20
			But Muslims had something to give to East Africa. And this example is an example that that that
should be taken as a lesson to the world. The example of the Swahili These are people now, who come
in contact with each other. There are African people living living in the eastern part of Africa.
		
00:25:21 --> 00:25:26
			They are coming into contact with the Arabs who are moving along the coastline.
		
00:25:28 --> 00:25:53
			Instead of living in conflict, they intermarry with each other. They share their vocabularies, they
share their food, they share their cultures. So those aspects of East African culture that were
important the medicines and how to live within that region, was taken in by the Arab Muslims who
came to the coastline.
		
00:25:54 --> 00:26:20
			those aspects of high culture where Muslims had made great progress in science and technology, and
also in different household goods. And so there you see the Arabic language coming in, and Arabic
loanwords, developing within Swahili culture, until a blending comes about. And the Swahili is able
to relate to the African
		
00:26:21 --> 00:27:06
			parents, African predecessors and the Arab predecessors. And that is a beautiful lesson to the world
today, that we are all part of one human family, and that we need to learn to share with each other,
to blend our cultures and to look at other races and ethnic groups, not in a negative way, but take
the best from other people, and integrate come together within a world culture that can reach the
heights of civilization. This is the story of the Swahili youth. This is the story of how this
culture even reached present day, South Africa, another gem of wisdom of the untold stories of world
history. I leave you with this thought. Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullah.
		
00:27:40 --> 00:28:08
			The journey of seven brothers from Shiraz, they entered into the East African coastline. And they
succeeded in doing business with the people of the area. They even married the people of the area
and we know that Shiraz is in present day Iran. So this connection is now coming about between the
people of East Africa and not only Arabia, but also Persia.
		
00:28:09 --> 00:28:29
			Following this, in the 10th century, our famous geographer and historian, Elon Musk early in his
marriage of the hub, he wrote somewhere around 945 ad, he wrote about a trade that was going on
between Africa, China, India, and the Gulf of Arabia.
		
00:28:30 --> 00:28:41
			And he also wrote a very interesting point he mentions for the first time in recorded history, the
presence of a language and he called it a Zen language. It was called Swahili.
		
00:28:43 --> 00:29:03
			Following this, another famous geographer, well known throughout the world, Al idrisi, looked at the
world and he placed in East Africa, Zanzibar and muskat in Roman, and he wrote that this was a very
powerful, important part of the world.
		
00:29:04 --> 00:29:53
			Following this, there's another report, and this is in the journey of Ibn battuta rahima, who lauded
the great traveler, and he went down into the East African coast, he visited Mogadishu in present
day Somalia, he visited kilowatt in Tanzania. And he recorded that the the Amir of kilowatt was
visited by a group of allama of scholars from the Hejaz from Saudi Arabia. And they will not they
will known at that time as extremely pious and knowledgeable people, they will following following
the method, the school of thought of your mama Shafi, Rahim Allah and they brought out the
importance of kilwa and at that point really killer reaches the height. Now what we are getting from
		
00:29:53 --> 00:30:00
			this is a blending that comes about it is a blending of Arab culture and African
		
00:30:00 --> 00:30:10
			Can culture and Persian culture and Indian culture and what develops out of this is what is known as
the people of a Swahili
		
00:30:11 --> 00:30:31
			in the Arabic language, Sahil is a coastline, the plural would be Swahili. So, what develops is a
language Kiswahili that we would say in English what Swahili language so, Swahili becomes Swahili,
the people of the coastlines.
		
00:30:33 --> 00:30:49
			kilwa becomes the center becomes the base where the culture reaches its highest point in the history
of that region. And so Kiswahili is the language. m Swahili means the people of the coastline.
		
00:30:50 --> 00:31:47
			What happens here is a beautiful blending between Bantu languages these are Central African and East
African languages. So, the foundation of Swahili, the roots of the verbs, and terminologies are
Bantu roots. But the vocabularies are mostly Arabic vocabularies. So, for instance, if they say a
Ma'am, in Arabic, they would say imamo. in Swahili, if you say Amir, they would say a meeru in
Swahili, so, abantu base Arabic vocabulary words, also there is a presence of Hindi and some
Portuguese loanwords that are coming also into the Swahili language, the next period coming in, and
this is in the 15th century, it's after the formation of Swahili culture. After that beautiful
		
00:31:47 --> 00:32:40
			blending is developed. And after kilwa itself reaches a height in civilization, the Portuguese come
into the region, we have understood that Vasco de Gama came in using maps from the Muslims. He also
hired Ahmed bin magid, who was a Muslim to show him how to get into the Indian Ocean. And they came
in with the pretext that they were fighting the crusades, they came in with it with with the
understanding that by going around Africa, in what they call the Cape of Good Hope, because they
were hoping to get around the middle of the Muslim world, that they would be able to reach India,
without going through the lens of the caliphate, to Turkey to Iraq, through the center of the Muslim
		
00:32:40 --> 00:32:42
			world. They wanted to
		
00:32:43 --> 00:33:37
			circumvent this, and go straight to India, and to benefit from China, and those regions. And so the
Portuguese came into East Africa. And we find from this a period of destruction. They came,
unfortunately, in the name of the religion, in the name of Jesus, the son of Mary. And they, they
reached out their hands to the people and traded at first, and then they received it. They set up
lighthouses and special marking points. And by 1505, they returned, and they attacked the main
cities in East Africa, although they had found kilowatt as one of the most beautiful cities in the
world. And they write in their memoirs, that kilowatt, and Mombasa and the cities of the East
		
00:33:37 --> 00:33:51
			African coastline were more beautiful than anything they had in Portugal. But still, their intention
was destruction. The people were Muslims, or models, as they would say. And so the same
		
00:33:52 --> 00:34:20
			struggle, the same confrontation continued. And they began to destroy the ports, using their
technology, using their military skills that they had developed in their crusades, and in their
conquest of Al Andalus. They were able to to sack the city of Mombasa and to push the people into
the interior. They also destroyed much of kilowatts.
		
00:34:21 --> 00:34:59
			And they built forts to meet their boats at the shore. They built fort also in Mombasa, they called
it fort Jesus. And they set up these military structures all over the coastline in the US and in
hermas, Southern Arabia. They continued on into India to go in Gujarat, they made it all the way to
Calcutta. And they set up a complex network in order to control that region. But this could not
continue because the people of the region were discontented by the rule and
		
00:35:00 --> 00:35:15
			were upset at the way they came into their lives and destroyed what had taken centuries to build.
Let us take a break and returned to what happened to the East African coast after the period of the
Portuguese.
		
00:35:33 --> 00:35:44
			Welcome to this new episode of focus point, the new generation is has the good the habit of reading
more than before.
		
00:35:46 --> 00:35:54
			Your question was named basically the problem of Jews who lost their function in society.
		
00:36:08 --> 00:36:58
			In the 17th century, the East African coastline and the Indian Ocean went through a major change.
And that was that the Portuguese fleets the power of the Portuguese who had dominated the coastline
was diminished by the coming of the British. Not only this, but also a combined force of the local
people of East Africa, along with a new group entering into the scene, the Romanies coming from
southern part of Arabia, were able to defeat the Portuguese and drive them from all of their forts.
When we look at the effect of Portuguese culture, we find that it had almost no impact in the
language, there are very few Portuguese words being used. All that is left are a few forts that are
		
00:36:58 --> 00:37:59
			abandoned or being used along the coastline from this period, we then find that the Romanies who
originally came in to assist the Muslim brethren against these Crusader forces, that man is then
start to dominate the region. And by 1812, we find that the Salton Sea inside comes into the area.
And he stops fighting, which is going on between Mombasa and llamo. And then by 1840, he subdues the
whole Swahili coast. And the woman is then move their capital, from a man from musket, they move it
then down into Zanzibar. So the island of Zanzibar off the coast of what is now known as Tanzania,
becomes the capital of the Omani Empire, huge plantations were developed. And slave labor was being
		
00:37:59 --> 00:38:48
			used to grow the spices and the sugar, and the different products, which were being sold all
throughout the Muslim world. This is a sad period for Swahili history. Because it is during that
period, that slavery comes into the forefront. And hundreds and 1000s of people were taken from the
interior, and were sold in slave markets in Zanzibar. And then also in other parts of the of the
Muslim world. It is important to understand, number one, that slavery was not the beginning of
Swahili culture, that Swahili culture really was developed from an ancient trade that was going on
between the people of the north and the people of the East African coastline, those who were moving
		
00:38:48 --> 00:39:38
			all around the Indian Ocean. Swahili culture was a beautiful blending of African languages, African
culture, and Arab culture and Persian culture. But what happened during the Romantic period was, in
a sense, another form of imperialism. And so the problem we are facing today, looking at history is
that usually when people speak about East Africa, they speak about Romanies and slavery, as though
this is the only contribution that East Africa has made to history. The reality is, this was a short
period of time. And the first generation of romantics, who came into this region, were actually
freedom fighters, and they help the local people to liberate themselves. To add to this some new,
		
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			interesting information is now coming into the arena. And we want to open up these gems this hidden
history and bring it out to the world.
		
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			It is well known, as we've mentioned earlier, that the Arabs from the first century AD penetrated
deep into the East African coastline. What is not so
		
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			Well known is that they actually made deep into the south, and they reach below Tanzania. And they
were trading Of course, for with using iron and glassware. They were getting ivory and rhinoceros
horns. Elon Musk Rudy actually wrote about merchants coming from Southern Arabia, who sailed down to
what is now known as cape Delgado province in northern Mozambique. And so they had reached deep into
the South.
		
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			What we recognize now is that number one, what we know as most Mozambique during the Islamic period
came from the colony of Musa Eben bank. So Musa Eben Baig becomes Mozambique, Yusuf Ali, becomes
sofala. And so fala
		
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			develops into one of the important cities on the East African coastline, deep south, it is also
known as sofala, the golden by 511 ad, a traveler named Antonio Fernandez travelled along a well
worn trade route from sofala, to what is now known as Zimbabwe. And he trades with and interacts
with King Shi Taka of Zimbabwe.
		
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			The indigenous people within that region had developed a very high culture. And what is coming out
now is that the Arabs were actually writing about this. And when they spoke about the indigenous
people, they gave a general name, they also used Zen as a name, but the actual names which are
coming to the surface, but Sangha vada, hunga, waka, Ranga, whatever. And different groupings that
are part of South Africa today.
		
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			One of the groups especially whatever
		
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			they are described as people have a ruddy complexion, who spoke a language similar to the Maus, and
they wore linen and cotton. And they all wore caps on the heads. And so what develops here in this
part of the world, is a culture that is based upon the movement coming from the coastline, into the
interior of the Great Zimbabwe. And this is where gold was being mined. And so the Southern African
gold was coming out in large quantities. And between the 14th to the 16th century, Trade Centers was
set up all along between Mozambique and Zimbabwe plateau.
		
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			So that we see within the 14th to the 16th century, the Great Zimbabwe is built a massive structure
there in Africa, and some people said it was built by non Africans. This is not the truth. It was
African people who built it, but it was as a result of the trade going on from the coast into the
interior. What we also recognize is that the region's being passed through by the merchants who are
leaving sofala. And then going into the Great Zimbabwe include what is now known as Limpopo
province.
		
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			Also, m Puma Langa profits. And these two provinces are important regions within South Africa, South
Africa now has come to the forefront as one of the leading powers in the southern hemisphere on the
African continent. South Africa sets the trends for economic development for political unity of the
people and Muslims had entered into South Africa from an early time and had influenced the people in
that region. We are now also finding because of recent studies and interaction with the people in
that region, that there are tribes
		
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			that we find with Arabic names. So we find tribes with the name for instance Salim we find the word
Basha, being used as a tribal name in the south. And when our historians and and our contacts went
into the the regions and talked to the people, they knew that they had Arabic names, they related to
the history as being not the same as people who were unaffected, you know, by the the the Arab
Swahili culture of the coast, but the history was lost.
		
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			What is important coming out of this discussion
		
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			understanding is that Islam was not an is not a new religion in southern Africa. But Muslims have
played an important role in the economy of that region. For the past few centuries, Muslims also
have clear roots in South Africa, and in the southern region, long before the coming of the Dutch
colonial people. And then the British forces who set up the present day, South Africa, Rhodesia, and
the countries that we know of the South.
		
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			This is important for national identity. This is important for the connection between the people of
South Africa and the Muslim world, that Islam was actually part of the culture, you take it a step
further, and you find within the culture of the people what amber and down into the Zulu and the SU
two, you find tawheed the belief in one God, you find that many of the concepts that Muslims use,
were actually practice by the people in the southern region, we find that people in South Africa, it
is a common practice amongst the people, that when a person dies, that they bury that person. In
class in white class, they bury that person straight into the earth, there is a natural separation
		
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			between the males and females, in social gatherings in the household, and within the society itself.
Also, many people of the South have a great respect for those who cover their bodies, and are very
much concerned with the virginity of their daughters. And many of the aspects within Islamic culture
are found in the people of the South. This then confirms to us the presence of Islam from an early
age, and the fact that Muslims are not a foreign force coming into the region. But Muslims had
something to give to East Africa. And this example is an example that that that should be taken as a
lesson to the world. The example of the Swahili
		
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			These are people now who come in contact with each other. There are African people living living in
the eastern part of Africa.
		
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			They are coming into contact with the Arabs who are moving along the coastline.
		
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			Instead of living in conflict, they intermarry with each other. They share their vocabularies, they
share their food, they share their cultures. So those aspects of East African culture that were
important, the medicines and how to live within that region, was taken in by the Arab Muslims who
came to the coastline.
		
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			those aspects of high culture where Muslims had made great progress in science and technology, and
also in different household goods. And so there you see the Arabic language coming in, and Arabic
loanwords, developing within Swahili culture, until a blending comes about. And the Swahili is able
to relate to the African
		
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			parents, African predecessors and the Arab predecessors. And that is a beautiful lesson to the world
today, that we are all part of one human family, and that we need to learn to share with each other,
to blend our cultures and to look at other races and ethnic groups, not in a negative way, but take
the best from other people, and integrate come together within a world culture that can reach the
heights of civilization. This is the story of the Swahili youth. This is the story of how this
culture even reached present day, South Africa, another gem of wisdom of the untold stories of world
history. I leave you with this thought assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullah