Which social group in East Africa was most involved in the adoption of Islam?

The option that identifies the middle-class traders as the social group most involved in the adoption of Islam in East Africa is correct because the spread of Islam in the region was significantly influenced by trade and commerce. Middle-class traders, who engaged in extensive trade networks across the Indian Ocean, facilitated cultural and religious exchanges between the Arabian Peninsula and the East African coast.

Islam offered various benefits for traders, including a common set of values and practices that fostered mutual trust among merchants from diverse backgrounds. As these traders established coastal towns and trading posts, they often settled in areas where they further integrated their Islamic practices into daily life. This establishment of trade routes not only led to economic prosperity but also the communal adoption of Islam as it became associated with successful trade and a means to enhance their social standing within the broader community.

By contrast, while agricultural workers, craftsmen, and nomadic tribes had interactions with Islamic culture, their adoption of the religion was less directly tied to trade dynamics and the socio-economic motivations that drove the middle-class traders to embrace Islam.