Answer:
Here are some ways Christianity and Islam influenced Africa in the 7th century and how African cultures adapted these religions:
1. Christianity spread to northeast Africa in the 1st century and grew under the Axumite Kingdom. African cultures incorporated Christian beliefs and practices into existing traditions, forming unique syncretic forms of Christianity.
2. Islam also spread to Africa in the 7th century through Arab traders and merchants. African Muslims adapted Islamic teachings and customs to suit their lifestyles, harmonizing them with indigenous beliefs.
3. Both religions often assimilated elements of traditional African religious practices like use of sacred places, ritual sacrifices, healers and ancestor veneration. They became infused with African spiritual and cultural meanings.
4. Christianity and Islam provided new ethical frameworks and moral guidelines that shaped African societies but were interpreted through African worldviews that valued community, harmony and spiritual interconnectedness.
5. As hubs of trade and learning, Christian monasteries and Muslim centers of study helped spread education, literacy and new cultural and technological influences from the Mediterranean world. Yet African disciples shaped how knowledge was disseminated.
6. Religious leaders and rulers used their ties to powerful Christian and Islamic political/economic networks to further African interests, gain influence and acquire wealth for their communities.
7. African conversion to the new faiths occurred gradually, with space allowed for syncretism, adaptation and gradual change. Forced conversion was largely unsuccessful.
Overall, Africans selectively integrated elements of Christianity and Islam that worked for them while maintaining what was core to their own cultures and traditions. This blend of the foreign and familiar characterized religious and cultural exchange on the continent.