Question

Traders and merchants brought a number of religions to Africa, but smaller African societies generally practiced a. Islam. b. Christianity. c. ancestor worship. d. Judaism.

Answer 1

The smaller African societies generally practiced ancestor worship as their religious practice.

Step-by-step explanation:

The smaller African societies generally practiced ancestor worship as their religious practice, rather than Islam, Christianity, or Judaism.

Traders and merchants brought a number of religions to Africa, but the adoption of Christianity or Islam was often the product of adaptation to the traditional practices and rituals of African peoples.

Answer 2

Although traders and merchants introduced Christianity and Islam to Africa, smaller African societies largely maintained their traditional practices such as ancestor worship. So the answer of this question is option c. ancestor worship

Step-by-step explanation:

While traders and merchants did bring monotheistic religions like Christianity and Islam to Africa, smaller African societies generally continued their practice of c. ancestor worship.

The spread of these religions throughout Africa was complex and often involved blending these new monotheistic belief systems with traditional African practices and rituals.

Islam especially found a receptive audience due to cultural compatibilities such as the practice of polygamous marriages in both Islam and many traditional African societies.

For instance, the Africanization of Islam on the Swahili coast yielded a unique blend of monotheistic worship with traditional aspects like ancestor worship, appeasing spirits, and unique grave-marking habits.

It's important to remember that even as new religions spread, they did not erase traditional beliefs but instead often amalgamated with them, especially among the rural communities.

This resulted in these emerging religious practices fit within the cultural, social, and political contexts of these African societies.

Learn more about Islam to Africa here: