- Arab Muslim merchants played an important role in spreading Islam throughout their trade networks.
- Trade facilitated religious exchange between Muslim traders from the Arabian Peninsula and the indigenous merchants of Africa.
- The influence of Islam grew as trade routes into and across Africa expanded.
- Islamic communities developed alongside trade networks, and trading cities along the routes became important centers of learning and scholarship.
- As Muslim merchants and traders settled in Africa, they established commercial networks and spread Islamic ideas further into the continent.