Call of the Muezzin

As we’ve ridden east across Africa the frequency of minarets has lifted and now our dawn is welcomed by the call of the muezzin. Historically it was the Europeans – specifically the Portuguese that brought religion to the west coast of Africa while it was the Arabs that brought it to the East. Of course both powers had more than religion on their agendas – indeed slave trading was the main game. As we wandered through the former slave clearing house in Zanzibar today, it seemed ironic that today this is powerhouse of Islam devotion – as is Dar Es Salam just across on the coast – when it was the religion of the captors not the captees.

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