What distinguished these preachers—the traders—was their love of Islam and their goodwill toward the continent’s inhabitants. They were eager to teach people everything they knew, whether right or wrong, and were neither exploitative nor self-serving. May Allah reward them most generously for their good intentions and efforts.

We now leave this category of preachers—the traders—hoping that Allah will reward them, and turn to another category of preachers, as they claim to be: the Sufis.

They worked in the name of Islam in eastern, western, and northern Africa.

Before I begin discussing them, their stance and conduct remind me of the title of a book by a contemporary writer: “Islam Maligned.” I would then say that we can summarize the work of the Sufi shaykhs as follows: they called people to everything except Islam correctly understood.

As for the pure Islam brought by the Messenger of Islam, the master of mankind, their preaching has no connection with it. I hope I shall neither burden you nor embarrass anyone by making a brief digression so that we may learn something about the Sufis’ preaching. For some people commonly say that the Sufi shaykhs played a prominent and important role in calling people to Islam. They claim that Islam entered certain regions of Africa and elsewhere through their efforts.