islam was introduced into west africa by\nmissionaries.\nprophets.\ntraders.\nnomads.

Brief Explanations:

Islam was introduced to West Africa mainly through traders. Traders traveled across regions for business, and along with their commercial activities, they also spread their religious beliefs. Nomads were more about a lifestyle of moving from place to place for pasture etc. and not the main group for this religious introduction. Prophets in the Islamic context are more about the religious figures in the origin and early development of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. Missionaries came later in some cases but traders were the primary early spreaders as they had extensive contact and movement in West Africa for trade - related purposes.

Answer:

traders.