They were from Gambia which is about 90% Muslim. During the 13th-16th centuries, Gambia was a part of the Mali and Songhai Empires, both of which were Islamic Empires. Kunta Kinte was part of the Western African ethnic group called the Mandinka. Many of the Mandinka converted to Islam during the Fula jihads in the early 1700s. Islam would have been well established in Kunta Kinte's community by the time he was born.