Religious Life of Great Zimbabwe and Kilwa

In Kilwa, Muslim traders brought the religion of Islam. They had mosques built in every town. Most merchants and government officials were Muslim, but most of the common Kilwans however kept to their traditional religions. When Zimbabwe was excavated, researchers found a large cross on site of where the city was. We can infer that missionaries made it to Great Zimbabwe and may have converted some of the mostly Muslim population to Christianity. Kilwa was a major location for some of the greatest mosques built in that time period because of their wealth and power.

Great Zimbabwe was the religious center of its empire. They took religion very seriously and some historians believe that the big tower had religious symbolism. They practiced the Shona religion, in particular the god Mwari, who was the supreme god of the shona. Since the population was the mostly same race, religion helped unify the people of Great Zimbabwe as rulers were believed to be godly and have supernatural powers. To help sustain his power the king told his subjects and prophets to make up stories about his divine power.

This was one of Kilwa's major mosques'. 👇