 The arrival of the Arab trade in Mozambique dates to the fourth Hijri century when Muslims established small emirates on the coast of East Africa.Links between Islam and the chiefly clans in Mozambique have existed since the eighth century, when Islam made inroads into the northern Mozambican coast and became associated with the Shirazi ruling elites.Since the founding of the Kilwa Sultanate in the 10th AD century by Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi, Islam had become a major religion in the region.