"Examining Islamization, Arabization, Africanization and the Muslim societies of Africa over the last thousand years, David Robinson reveals the complex struggles of Muslims throughout the continent. His study ranges through Morocco, the Hausaland region of Nigeria, the "pagan" societies of Ashanti (Ghana) and Buganda (Uganda), and the ostensibly Christian state of Ethiopia."

I. The historical and institutional background. Muhammad and the birth of Islam -- The basic institutions of Islam -- II. General themes. The islamization of Africa -- The africanization of Islam -- Muslim identity and the slave trades -- Western views of Africa and Islam -- III. Case studies. Morocco: Muslims in a "Muslim nation" -- Ethiopia: Muslims in a "Christian nation" -- Asante and Kumasi: a Muslim minority in a "sea of paganism" -- Sokoto and Hausaland: jihad within the Dar al-Islam -- Buganda: religious competition for the kingdom -- The Sudan: the Mahdi and Khalifa amid competing imperialisms -- Senegal: Bamba and the Murids under French colonial rule -- Conclusion.