Mussa Bin Bique ( ar, موسى بن بيك), other names ''Musa Al Big'' or ''Mossa Al Bique'' or ''Mussa Ben Mbiki'' or ''Mussa Ibn Malik'', was ruler of the

Island of Mozambique The Island of Mozambique ( pt, Ilha de Moçambique) lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its r ...

and wealthy merchant, before the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

took over the island in 1544.

Background

Islam in Mozambique has a history that goes back to at least the tenth century. The records show that the region was known and well frequented by Muslim travelers and traders. Mussa Bin Bique was considered to be a shaykh, i.e a person with authority in Islamic knowledge. The name of the island, and subsequently the entire African nation of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, was derived from his name. With Islam came the literacy into this land in the fields of poetry, history, commercial transactions, and other literary genres. By the middle of the fifteenth century, permanent and flourishing commercial and religious sultanates had been established along the coast and some had penetrated up the Zambezi.

Legacy

As colonial history is erased from many landmarks and regional names, there is a university in

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,0 ...

bearing the name of Mozambique's ruler Mussa Bin Bique from five hundred years back called "''Mussa Bin Bique University''", established in 1998.

References

{{reflist History of Mozambique 15th-century Arabs Arab politicians African people of Arab descent