Yoruba people

==== Islam ====
Islam came into Yorubaland around the 14th century, as a result of trade with  [[Soninke Wangara|Wangara]] (also Wankore) merchants,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nKXOThUEpcC&dq=wangara+yoruba&pg=PA440|title=Arabic Literature of Africa: The writings of central Sudanic Africa|date=1994|publisher=E.J. Brill|author1=John O. Hunwick|author2=Rex S. O'Fahey|page=440|isbn=978-978-2347-29-9}}</ref> a mobile caste of the Soninkes from the then [[Mali Empire]] who entered Yorubaland (Oyo) from the northwestern flank through the Bariba or Borgu corridor,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nigerianfinder.com/islamic-education-in-nigeria-how-it-all-began/|title=Islamic Education in Nigeria: How It All Began|date=10 August 2019 |publisher=Nigerian Finder}}</ref> during the reign of [[Musa I of Mali|Mansa Kankan Musa]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ha_bmASvRIC&pg=PA168 |title=Mission Et Progrès Humain (Mission and Human Progress) Studia missionalia |page=168 |language=fr |publisher=Gregorian Biblical BookShop |year=1998 |isbn=978-8-876-5278-76}}</ref> Due to this, Islam is traditionally known to the Yoruba as Esin Male or simply Imale i.e. religion of the Malians. The adherents of the Islamic faith are called Musulumi in Yoruba to correspond to Muslim, the Arabic word for an adherent of Islam having as the active participle of the same verb form, and means "submitter (to Allah)" or a nominal and active participle of Islam derivative of "Salaam" i.e. (Religion of) Peace. Islam was practiced in Yorubaland so early on in history, that a sizable proportion of Yoruba slaves taken to the Americas were already Muslim.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQwcAlYxP7sC&pg=PA157 |title=Unfree Labour in the Development of the Atlantic World |author1=Paul E. Lovejoy |author2=Nicholas Rogers |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |page=157 |isbn=978-1-136-30059-2}}</ref>

The mosque served the spiritual needs of Muslims living in Ọyọ. Progressively, Islam started to gain a foothold in Yorubaland, and Muslims started building mosques. [[Iwo, Osun|Iwo]] led, its first mosque built in 1655,<ref name="White 2015 97–110">{{Citation|last=White|first=Julie|title=Learning in 'No Man's Land'|date=2015|work=Interrogating Conceptions of 'Vulnerable Youth' in Theory, Policy and Practice|pages=97–110|publisher=SensePublishers|doi=10.1007/978-94-6300-121-2_7|isbn=978-94-6300-121-2}}</ref> followed by [[Iseyin]] in 1760,<ref name="White 2015 97–110"/> [[Lagos|Eko/Lagos]] in 1774,<ref name="White 2015 97–110"/> [[Shaki, Nigeria|Shaki]] in 1790,<ref name="White 2015 97–110"/> and [[Osogbo]] in 1889. In time, Islam spread to other towns like [[Oyo, Nigeria|Oyo]] (the first Oyo convert was Solagberu), Ibadan, [[Abẹokuta]], [[Ijebu Ode]], [[Ikirun]], and [[Ede, Nigeria|Ede]]. All of these cities already had sizable Muslim communities before the 19th century Sokoto jihad.<ref>{{Citation|last=Beek|first=Walter E. A. van|editor1-first=W. E. van|editor1-last=Beek|title=Purity and statecraft: the Fulani jihad and its empire|date=1988-12-31|work=The Quest for Purity|pages=149–182|publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110860924-008|isbn=978-3-11-086092-4|hdl=1887/9002|hdl-access=free}}</ref>