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ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS The majority of Africans today consider themselves either Christian or Muslim. Christianity and Islam have been adapted to African cultural contexts, incorporating elements of indigenous belief systems. There have been several communities of African Jews dispersed across the continent, including the Beta Israel of Ethiopia and Abayudaya of Uganda . Christianity See Also: Christianity in Africa Christianity has existed in Africa for two millennia. The Coptic Church , today prominent in Egypt , Ethiopia and neighbouring countries, was according to Christian tradition, established by the Apostle Mark approximately AD 42. Missionary activity during the colonial period, together with modern Evangelism from PentecostaЂl groups have firmly established Christianity, particularly around the coast of the Guinea region, and Central and Southern Africa . Islam See Also: Islam in Africa Islam has been practiced in Africa since the inception of the religion by Muhammad . In fact, one of the most important figures in the early history of Islam, Bilal Ibn Ribah , was an African who resided in South Arabia (being that many Africans lived there since time immemorable). It is the dominant religion in north Africa, the Sudanese Belt, and East Africa. Even so, it also has a large amount of adherents in the Great Lakes Region as well as the West African Forest Belt, particularly in the Ivory Coast , Northern Ghana , Southwest Nigeria and northern Nigeria . During the life of Muhammad, a group of Muslims escaped Mecca n persecution by fleeing to Ethiopia and seeking the help of the Christian rulers. The spread of Islam in Africa began in the 7th and 8th centuries with the Umayyad s, who brought the religion to the Middle East and North Africa. Islam spread along the coast among the Berber s and also across the Mediterranean into Europe . Islam has been interwoven into many African cultures such as the Mandé , the Wolof , the Songhai , the Hausa , and the Swahili . Therefore many Africans practice Islam as supposed to Christianity because of its longer presence in the African and it not being a means through colonial rule may be spread and imposed. TRADITIONAL RELIGION See Also: African traditional religion Traditional African religion encompasses indigeneous religons with a very wide variety of traditional beliefs, including Ancestor Veneration . They are many times henotheistic and polytheistic in worldview. There are traditional religious customs and beliefs that are shared by many African societies, but many customs and beliefs are unique to specific ethnic groups. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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