21/10/2022
In THE NAME OF Allah
In 1416 CE, Al-Maqrizi told of how pilgrims coming from Takrur (near the Senegal River) had brought 1,700 slaves with them to Mecca. This was during the peak era of Arab slave taking that was ushered in through Islamism ideology that began with a revolutionist, Muhammad Ibn Adul'Mutalib of Saudi Arabia in 622 CE. The violent ideology stemmed from ancient Nabataean worship of the idol, dusharra that was represented in a cubic shape in the masjid al haraam(the forbidden gathering place) in Petra as well as the worship of 'alat' which became 'allah' in the 5th century CE. Initially, the sect was sacked out of the Arabian peninsula for its violent nature. It Moved into Aethiopia, through Yathrib, but returned again after gaining followers in NE Africa. Slavery became an enterprise for the sect.
In North Africa, the main slave markets were in Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli and Cairo. Slaves were held in public places or in souks. Potential buyers made a careful examination of the “merchandise”: they checked the state of health of a person who was often standing naked with wrists bound together. In Cairo, transactions involving eunuchs and concubines happened in private houses. Prices varied according to the slave’s quality. In the slave market in Zanzibar, where, the alter of the Anglican cathedral stands today, the slave trader who brought the captured person to the slave market often dragged the "merchandise" and slit the person's throat, if a price could not be gotten for the 'merchandise.' And this was 'normal' for all involved.
People were captured from iberia, Sicily, mostly coastal towns in Europe, north Africa and India. At least 80% of those captured by the Muslim slave traders were calculated to have died before reaching the slave markets.
In 1189 CE, during the raid of Lisbon, by Almohad caliph, Abu Yusuf Yaqub Al-mansur, 3000 female and child captives were taken. In 1191, governor of Cordoba under the Muslims took 3000 European slaves. This was the 'religion of peace' that part of N. Africa began to embrace in 634 CE: by 662 CE, it had reached the Senegal River through a 'slavery or the sword' mode of propagation. Those that were later born into it followed the followers. For the African chiefs and kings(like Mansa Musa), it was a way of gaining acceptance into the world of the Mediterranean. For those in North Africa, it was a ticket to freedom from the earlier Roman domination and taxation that Islamism eclipsed.
The History of Africa Magazine
