Final answer:
The contact between Africa and the Islamic world led to the spread of Islam across the continent, influenced by trade and cultural diffusion, and often brought about changes in societal structures and religious practices. The introduction of Islam provided some incentives to convert, such as avoiding enslavement, but it also resulted in unique Africanized Islamic practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The consequences of contact between Africa and the Islamic world were profound and multifaceted, reshaping various aspects of African societies. One major impact was the spread of Islam, diffused primarily through merchants, traders, scholars, and missionaries, rather than through military conquest alone. As Islam traveled along trans-Saharan trade routes, it reached influential trading towns and kingdoms, such as those in West Africa, leading to adoption by some ruling elites who sometimes blended Islamic practices with traditional beliefs.
Furthermore, the imposition of harsh terms on non-Muslims, including exorbitant taxation and demands for enslaved people, incentivized conversion to Islam to avoid enslavement, since Islamic law forbade the enslavement of fellow Muslims. This led to the spread of Islam also being a method to avoid becoming part of the trans-Saharan or East African slave trade. The influence of Islam significantly grew as rulers from regions such as Mali to Hausaland converted, completing an encirclement of sub-Saharan Africa with Islamic influence.
Nevertheless, the integration of Islamic practices with African traditions resulted in a unique form of Islam on the continent, particularly among peoples of the Swahili coast, who incorporated ancestor worship and spirit appeasement into their religious practices. In some regions, such as the Horn of Africa, Islamic sultanates rose, while elsewhere, resistance to Islamic expansion could occur, such as revolts against perceived corrupt Muslim rulers.