Religious communities in Côte d’Ivoire have received state operating FM radio frequency concessions. Thus appear in the Ivorian media space and especially in Abidjan, Radio Espoir and the Voix de l’Evangile of the Catholic Church, Radio Al Bayan of the Muslim Community of Côte d'Ivoire and Fréquence Vie of Protestant and evangelical churches. With varying opportunities, the three radios will evolve in two specific socio-political contexts. The first '90 to 2000 is marked by the quest for democracy. The second, from September 2002, is marked by a political and military crisis. These two periods also correspond to two generations of leaders and managers. In this situation of social crisis and widespread political, religious radios become spaces of collective expression and distribution channels appreciated by the population.
This article explores the Islamic dynamics of the Yoruba community in Ivory Coast drawing on the activities of two associations operating on Ivoirian soil, NASFAT and NAMFAT. The first is the counterpart of the eponymous organization created in Nigeria in 1995. The second was born in 2005, in Ivorian territory. Both are linked to the personal work of Adeniran Ramon who imported Lagos-based NASFAT to Abidjan where he was living. Despite internal dissension which led to the creation NAMFAT, a distinct religious-based organization, both associations have operated rather similarly and by promoting cosmopolitan values, both have played the role of creating a space for the socialization of Nigerian Muslims. This has involved the organization of religious activities and actions promoting common goods. In a context of increased visibility in the public space of the Muslim religion in Ivory Coast, in recent decades, this article explores the patterns of these two transnational organizations, through their organization model, their use of the religious terrain, and their involvement in common goods services.
This article analyzes the career path of Aminata Kane Koné, a highly educated Ivorian Muslim woman, who has emerged as a female figure of success. A prominent activist of the Association des Élèves et Étudiants Musulmans de Côte d'Ivoire in the 2000s, she has become a self-made religious entrepreneur through media and social initiatives. She has overcome social constraints to establish herself as a highly mediatized Muslim public intellectual, influential not only in Islamic circles, but within the broader society. Her case illustrates ways in which relationships between gender and Islamic authority are changing in West Africa. She embodies a uniquely hybrid feminism, influenced by her secular education and her Muslim faith.
This essay is an ethnographic response to Habermas’s estimation of the place of religion in the political public sphere. It examines a network of initiated hunter-healers, called dozos, in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. Since the 1990s, they have drawn on their ritual practices to integrate themselves into Ivoirian public life, often to controversial effect. Their success in this regard, mitigated as it has been, has seen them transform into semi-official security agents and, subsequently, rebel soldiers. These developments follow a history of participation in a precolonial, West African public sphere that oriented dozos toward difference, an openness that continues to infuse their rituals. Because dozos drew on ritual practice to define their security-related and military roles, they introduced religion into the Ivoirian public sphere in unexpected and innovative ways. But because their ritual practices have long mediated their devotion to both Islam and their professed encounters with spirits and other invisible forces in the forest, dozos’ so-called “religion” contains within it dialogical elements that have contributed to broadening the political public sphere in Côte d’Ivoire. Their activities ultimately inspire an alternative definition of religion that concedes the possibility of the public sphere’s encompassment within religion as much as religion’s potential integration into the public sphere.
Based on fieldwork beginning in 2008, this text addresses the manage- rial strategy adopted by young people, organizing themselves within a bureaucratic structure – The Union des talibés de Matié Boiké Samassi (UTMBS) –, to supervise and support a religious enterprise initiated by social seniors in the North of Côte d’Ivoire. This project, started in the village of Kélindjan, is an annual meeting organized by a Qadiri Sheikh – Matié Boiké Samassi – and his talibés to carry out acts of devotion to the Prophet Muhammad on the occasion of Maouloud. Halting at first, these celebrations, given the reputation of its organizer for the benefits of his baraka, began to gain social visibility thanks to the involvement of young people. In a context of return to normality, at the end of the decade of military-political crisis that the country experienced, these religious occasions took on new forms and propelled the Maouloud (including its rituals) beyond this region.
Sous la révolution sankariste, des centaines de scolaires musulmans burkinabè, auparavant militants de l'Association des élèves et étudiants musulmans de Côte d'Ivoire (AEEMCI), ont commencé à rentrer de ce pays pour poursuivre leurs études à l'université, au Burkina Faso. Dotés d'une expérience en gestion d'associations islamiques en milieu académique, ils trouvent sur place une association islamique non officielle de scolaires, basée à Ouagadougou.
Ce retour a coïncidé avec la création de l'Association des élèves et étudiants musulmans au Burkina (AEEMB) en 1985. Comment le retour de cette diaspora burkinabè a-t-il influencé l'évolution de l'islam en milieux scolaire et estudiantin ? En quoi les autres associations musulmanes en ont-elles été influencées ? Quels sont les signes manifestes de l'impact de la diaspora musulmane sur tout le territoire burkinabè ?
Pour y répondre, nous avons adopté une approche qualitative, en menant des enquêtes de terrain et en faisant immersion dans de nombreuses activités de l'AEEMB dans plus de quinze villes, dont Ouagadougou, Bobo – Dioulasso, Ouahigouya et Koudougou. En outre, des recherches documentaires ont permis d'approfondir notre investigation.
Nous avons constaté que l'AEEMB est présente dans toutes les provinces du pays, dont les lycées publics de ses principales villes et ses universités publiques disposent d'une mosquée en lien avec cette structure. En outre, des milliers de ses militantes portent le voile et fréquentent la mosquée. Enfin, l'Association a des relations avec les autres associations islamiques nationales et sous-régionales.
Le renouveau démocratique que connaît le Bénin depuis la conférence des forces vives de la nation de février 1990 a ouvert la voie à la démocratisation de l'éducation avec au centre des débats, la question des in put et des out put des formations. Dès lors, aux côtés des structures publiques d'enseignement, émergent des établissements privés aussi bien profanes que confessionnels rivalisant les uns les autres sur la qualité des formations dispensées. Les établissements d'enseignement islamiques participent-ils à cette dynamique d'ajustement et de restructuration du système éducatif ? En essayant de répondre à cette question fondamentale, le présent article s'inscrit au cœur de l'un des débats qui ont lieu dans les pays ouest-africaines à majorité musulmane : la question de l'éducation en milieu musulman. L'objectif principal est de montrer le rôle social des écoles coraniques traditionnelles face aux écoles arabes contemporaines dans un contexte socio-économique marqué par le chômage et le fondamentalisme. Des données collectées et traitées par le biais de la double approche historique et socio-antroplogique et des techniques/outils appropriés sur un échantillon représentatif de 21 personnes, du décryptage des ouvrages en arabe et en français, ont permis de tenter de répondre à la question. Il en ressort que les écoles coraniques ont constituées d'importants creusets séculaires d'éducation et de reproduction des agents polyvalents de développement en milieux musulmans sous la bannière des alfas soufis. Sans soutien et victimes d'une compétition déloyale de la part des écoles arabes portées par une élite arabisante d’obédience wahhabite, elles disparaissent progressivement comme une peau de chagrin. Les écoles arabes par contre, d'émergence récente, apparaissent comme des établissements de formation d'une nouvelle catégorie d'intellectuels délaissés et promoteur d'un islam fondamentaliste. Elles connaissent un rayonnement spectaculaire grâce au soutien financier des pétrodollars arabes.
The minority status of the Ahmadiyya is linked to the doctrine of this movement, described by some as heterodox, by others as non-Islamic, but also in connection to their minority demographics, whether in Burkina Faso, the country under scrutiny here, or within the overall Muslim population. The article examines the special case of the Ahmadiyya to answer general issues regarding the transnational expansion of Muslim minorities and their use of media in the struggle for recognition and participation in national public spheres. The description of the iconographic aesthetics of this Muslim missionary minority, in particular the use of the portraits of the charismatic leaders, is used to analyse the challenges of its self-representation towards the Muslim majority worldwide. The analysis of Ahmadiyya's iconographic discourse highlights that the charismatic aesthetics makes individuals sense the power of the caliphate in their intimacy. It also emphasises the tensions related to their mediatised selfrepresentation.
Les travaux récents sur les ONG mettent en lumière la présence croissante des regroupements religieux, notamment chrétiens et musulmans. La littérature relève le fait qu'en tant qu'importants acteurs de l'aide humanitaire, les ONG confessionnelles ont une influence notable sur les politiques globales de développement. À la lumière d'enquêtes ethnographiques menées au Burkina Faso en 2010 et 2011, nous proposons dans cet article d'analyser le rapport entre le volet humanitaire et la part du prosélytisme dans l'action de diverses ONG chrétiennes et islamiques. L'intégration des ONG dans les structures de professionalisation est modulée par le bénévolat et l'action militante qui sont mis en exergue. Les ONG catholiques semblent tirer davantage leur épingle du jeu.
La présente contribution porte sur Islam Solidaire, une association d'étudiants musulmans fondée par des descendants de migrants burkinabè en Côte d'Ivoire, venus à Ouagadougou pour étudier et désormais installés dans cette ville. Créée à partir de deux référents identitaires communs à ses fondateurs, l'expérience migratoire en Côte d'Ivoire et l'islam, cette structure s'inscrit dans le dynamisme des associations estudiantines du début des années 2000 et dans la pluralité religieuse burkinabè. L'article propose d'analyser les problématiques rencontrées par ces étudiants souvent appelés « diaspos » et la façon dont ils trouvent leur place dans le contexte actuel de la société burkinabè en mettant au premier plan l'islam comme une ressource dans leurs trajectoires marquées par des mobilités sociales et géographiques.
The article describes and analyse the paratextual elements (annotations) in Soninke and Manding languages in the manuscripts from modern-day Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Burkina Faso. It focuses on specific layout of the annotations in relation to the main text, the linking and tagging/labelling techniques applied to connect them to the source text, their linguistic features and other peculiarities.
Three stories of individual conversion in the north-west of Burkina Faso, in the Yatenga province are used to analyze some aspects of the concept of conversion. The study points out that the mechanisms of « conversion » can be very diferent depending on whether this is a conversion to the religion of the majority (islam), to the religion of a minority (charismatic protestantism) or the cult of one's ancestors. The conversions presented are reversible and « adaptables » to the circumstances and the status of the individual. They are not presented as a final break-up.
Muslim Religiosity in Times of Covid-19 in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire: A Dialogue between Health Norms and Religious Practices. — The Covid-19 pandemic led to the adoption of exceptional measures that significantly transformed religious practices at the end of the first quarter of 2020. These transformations included the closing of places of worship, and later the adoption of strict sanitary measures (physical distancing and the limitation of people allowed in public spaces, ban on physical contact) led to the adoption of creative religious practices by Muslim religious leaders in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire. However, these practices were diversely appreciated by Muslims: while organizations catering to Muslim civil servants and political and administrative elites strictly adhered to the rules, Muslim traders and youth from popular classes strongly contested the measures.
Dieser Aufsatz beschreibt einige Veränderungen des religiösen Feldes in Burkina Faso, insbesondere in der Provinz Yatenga im Nordwesten des Landes. Eine kurze Einleitung skizziert die historische Entwicklung des religiösen Pluralismus in der Provinz Yatenga seit den 1960er Jahren. Die individuellen Konversionen, die sich in diesen Kontext einfügen und anhand derer aktuelle Tendenzen des religiösen Feldes interpretiert werden, stehen im Mittelpunkt der Analyse.
Religioser Pluralismus und individuelle Konversionen werden aus zwei Perspektiven dargestellt. Im ersten Teil geht es um eine historische Betrachtung, die sich auf den Forschungstand stützt, im zweiten Teil um eine zeitgenössische, die auf Feldforschung beruht. Durch beide Teile zieht sich der Vergleich von Entwicklungen, die im Islam, im Katholizismus und Protestantismus sowie in der lokalen Religion der Provinz Yatenga zu beobachte.
This article is based on the results of a qualitative doctoral research study conducted with 124 Muslims living in Djougou at the time of the survey, ranging in age from 15 to 60 years. The commune of Djougou in Benin is composed of a large majority of Muslims whose identity and social behaviors are determined by Islamic norms. Conducted between 2017 and 2020, and based on ethnographic observation data and individual semi-directed interviews, this research aims to understand the dynamics of Islamic plurality in the commune of Djougou. Thus, a "logbook" and an interview guide are used for data collection. The different data collected allowed us to determine that the Tijaniyya and Sunni branch of Islam are the most visible and practiced branches of Islam in the commune of Djougou. The actors of anti-innovation in Islam are called "people of the Sunna" and claim to be practitioners of "true" Islam, unlike the practitioners of confreres (Tijaniyya, Ahmadiyya) and Shi'ism.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the money market is one of the most important components of the banking institution. This article proposes viable Islamic money market instruments from the experience of Malaysia and Nigeria for the nascent Islamic banking institution in the Republic of Benin. The money market is the mechanism for the management of the required liquid asset and statutory reserves in the banking system. It serves the purpose of the maintenance of minimum liquidity ratio and statutory reserve that represents the daily requirement of the banking institution. It is how the Central Bank passes monetary policies to the subordinate banks. The role of the money market in the banking system as a keeper of liquid assets rate it above other branches of the financial market. The proposal is derived from the experience of Malaysia, which is a leading Islamic banking jurisdiction, and Nigeria, which is a relatively new African Islamic finance regime. The study adopts a qualitative method.
The Islamic State's emergence in the Sahel region has triggered violence resulting in a large-scale refugee crisis. This paper focuses on the instability and refugee situation in Burkina Faso, which has received less attention than other Sahel countries such as Mali and Nigeria. In academic debates, IS-instigated terrorism tends to be examined as a multi-layered conflict with non-religious reasons in the background. However, religion is a key factor fueling terrorist activity in the Sahel region and determining its outcome, as the idea of creating an Islamic State or caliphate is inherently religious in nature. Islamic insurgents target all non-compliant community members and Christians in particular.
Sensitive to repeated calls from the ruler of the great Jamahirriya – the new champion of African Union –, over the past decade some people from Burkina Faso have not hesitated to set forth on the perilous trek across the desert territories of the Sahara. Some hoped especially to improve their living conditions by finding short-term but money-earning work in Tripoli or Sebha; other, more adventurous migrants planned to continue their journey towards Europe from this entry point. Still others, more recently, have fled from the Ivory Coast conflict, without taking the time to alter their migration plan, following in the footsteps of their well-informed compatriots. And while new diplomatic relations are being forged between Libya and the European countries, other migration strategies are emerging. Although the embargo has been lifted, M. Kadhafi's government is accepting the role of “advanced guard” for the EU Schengen states primarily preoccupied with defending “fortress Europe”, contributing not only to the spread of the frequent confounding between illegal migratory status and criminality but also to the slide into extreme social insecurity of the migrants most recently arrived.
This article introduces and analyses concepts and interpretations of piety among Muslim women in urban Burkina Faso and compares them with the understanding of these same concepts in other parts of West Africa. Through personal histories of chosen informants it observes the gap between the discourse and the practice and attempts to understand why these individuals, who most often operate within the same conceptual frames, in practice often do not see or do the things in the same way.
