A Comparison of Muslims as Minorities in the Volta Region, Ghana, the Côte d'Ivoire and Among the Yoruba of Nigeria in West Africa
There are many ways one might approach the study of Muslims as minorities in a given region. One theme of this paper on Muslim minorities in West Africa is Muslim involvement in artistic traditions both on an individual and a group level. This is illustrated with the case of Lamidi Fakeye, a Muslim Yoruba carver living in Nigeria. Fakeye is adamant that maintaining and enriching the artistic traditions of his people need not be incompatible with life as a pious Muslim. A second theme of this paper is stability and transformation in communities where Muslims as minorities live either in orthopraxis (upright practice) or in a 'mixed' state. This theme is illustrated with the cases of the city of Bonduku, located in the Akan State of Gyaman which today lies in eastern Côte d'Ivoire, where Muslim minority communities moved towards orthopraxis, and Bole, located northeast of Bonduku in the Gonja State, which is today in northern Ghana. Bole is an example of a Muslim community which sought to establish orthopraxis in an independent community, but failed. Attention is paid to one other pattern of relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims which is known today in the area west of the Black Volta region, where Muslims are involved in masking cults ('gbain'), which are used as mechanisms for controlling antisocial behaviour.
Secular States, Muslim Law and Islamic Religious Culture: Gender Implications of Legal Struggles in Hybrid Legal Systems in Contemporary West Africa
This article sets out the differing approaches of three West African states (Niger, Senegal, and Nigeria) towards reconciling the multiple legal systems (Islamic, western, military) they have inherited as ostensibly secular states in regions with prominent Muslim populations. While Senegal has adopted a Family Code that appears to modify and regulate some of the perceived injustices of Islamic law in family life, a number of states within Nigeria have gone in the opposite direction, expanding Islamic law beyond family law into the criminal domain. In Niger, on the other hand, multiple systems of law co-exist uneasily, without any effective hierarchy or definitive conclusion to legal disputes carried into different legal domains. In all three cases the state does not have the capacity to effectively enforce a single coherent legal system, nor does it succeed in controlling the «justice» that so commonly occurs in extra-legal settings. Throughout West Africa legal reform must contend with the dual problems of weak state capacity to impose a unified legal system and of the vigilantism of pressure groups that may have limited mastery of the Islamic juridical tradition in an atmosphere that is nevertheless heavy with the rhetoric of a return to Islamic purity.
Cet article expose les différentes approches de trois États ouest-africains que sont le Niger, le Sénégal et le Nigeria en vue de concilier les divers systèmes juridiques (islamique, occidental, militaire) dont ils ont hérité en tant qu’États ostensiblement laïques dans des régions majoritairement musulmanes. Si le Sénégal a adopté un Code de la famille qui paraît modifier et réglementer les dites injustices du droit musulman dans la vie de famille, un certain nombre d'États du Nigéria sont allés en sens inverse, en élargissant le droit islamique au-delà du droit de la famille en l’étendant au domaine pénal. Au Niger, d’autre part, plusieurs systèmes de droit coexistent de manière précaire, sans hiérarchie réelle et sans aboutir à la résolution définitive des conflits juridiques. Dans les trois cas, l’État n’a ni la capacité d’appliquer efficacement un système juridique unitaire et cohérent, ni ne réussit à contrôler la « justice » qui a lieu si souvent dans des milieux extra-légaux. Partout en Afrique de l’Ouest, les partisans des réformes juridiques affrontent deux épreuves : la faible capacité de l’État à imposer un système juridique unitaire, et la coercition des groupes de pression qui maîtrisent mal la tradition juridique islamique dans une atmosphère chargée d’un discours sur le retour à une certaine « pureté islamique ».
Les avancées de l'islam au sud du Sahara
Dans le présent article l'auteur examine le 'danger' islamiste dans plusieurs pays africains au sud du Sahara, à savoir le Sénégal, la Somalie, le Niger, le Nigeria et l'Éthiopie. Il convient de ne pas dramatiser la situation sénégalaise. L'islamisme local n'a pas encore à sa tête un leader charismatique capable d'entraîner les grandes masses. Cependant, si la politique de rétablissement socioéconomique du pays du président Abdoulaye Wade devait échouer, l'islamisme pourrait progresser de manière plus sensible. Au lendemain des attentats du 11 septembre, la Somalie a retenu l'attention des Américains. Washington a exprimé sa préoccupation devant les liens possibles entretenus entre la Somalie et le réseau Al Qaïda d'Oussama Ben Laden, en dépit des démentis du gouvernement national de transition somalien, qui d'ailleurs ne contrôle qu'une partie de la capitale, Mogadiscio. Un autre pays est dans le collimateur de Washington:le Niger. Il serait cependant erroné de conclure à une islamisation prochaine du Niger. Pourtant, la stabilité de son territoire est menacée au sud, le long de sa frontière commune avec le nord islamique du Nigeria. Dans ce dernier pays, le pouvoir central n'a pas de stratégie pour contrer les prétentions islamistes, et le Nigeria est guetté par le risque d'effondrement. En Éthiopie, bien que l'islam ne soit pas la première religion, on observe des conditions d'un possible basculement dans le fondamentalisme. Faut-il se montrer embarrassé par le développement islamiste en Afrique noire? Plutôt que de répondre à cette question, il importe davantage de s'interroger sur les causes de son expansion dans le sud saharien.
Actualité du cheikh Uthmân dan Fodio (1754-1817) : un héritage convoité. essai d'une analyse des discours religieux et historiques relatifs au concept de la bonne gouvernance
L'Afrique politique. Islams d'Afrique : entre le local et le global
Gender and Religion in Hausaland: Variations in Islamic Practice in Niger and Nigeria
Women in Muslim Societies: Diversity Within Unity
The structure and organization of Boko Haram up to 2015
Transnational Islam: Circulation of Religious Ideas, Actors and Practices between Niger and Nigeria
Boko Haram along the Nigeria-Niger borderlands: Influences, scope, and management
Boko Haram's recruitment processes: Ideological and pragmatic considerations
The spread of jihadist insurrections in Niger and Nigeria: An analysis based on the case of Boko Haram
Pastoralism and Islamic practice in Fulɓe communities of northern Nigeria and Niger
‘Rapping Islam’: The Nigérien music scene and the challenges of religious reformism
Islamic legal radicalism: The cases of Katsina and Maradi
Reformist Islam, the state, and Muslims of Nigeria and the Republic of Niger
Introduction: Studying Islamic dynamics from a Niger-Nigeria transnational perspective
Performing Religiosity: Protest and Prayer Performance in a Nigerian University
This chapter focuses on campus religiosity at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, by exploring the connection between labour activism and spiritualities. It examines the convergence of prayer practices of Christianity, Islam and African traditional religion as political praxis. It considers the sacred space and some practices that allowed three ideologically distinct religions to stay simultaneously connected. The study relies on materials gathered from in-depth interviews, participant observation and media reports. It utilizes Welsch’s (1999) transculturality and FitzGerald’s (2012) prayer performance as frameworks to bring to light religious tolerance and harmonious relationships among the three religions on the campus. The study discovers that multi-religious prayers were largely ennobled by the protesting non-academic staff’s shared identity of transcultural values. The non-teaching staff unions of Nigerian universities comprise the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT). The study concludes that the paradigm of traditional African religion, with its obsession with rituals and sometimes malicious purposes, may have a polemical purpose.
Religiosity on University Campuses in Africa: Trends and Experiences
Communautés islamiques et collectivité nationale dans trois États d'Afrique occidentale
Après la "balkanisation" de l'Afrique sud-saharienne la société musulmane locale s'est regroupée en fractions nationales. Elles se constituent en groupes de pression, contre-pouvoirs, forces politiques influentes. Les gouvernements composent avec elles ou cherchent à les utiliser en vue de renforcer une autorité parfois chancelante. Ce faisant, ils leur concèdent des créneaux d'autonomie qui les constituent parfois en "État dans l'État". De tels processus sont loin d'être uniformes, exclusifs ou immuables. Les phénomènes de politisation ou de repolitisation de l'Islam interfèrent avec d'autres processus, économiques, régionaux, ethniques, etc., et changent d'aspect selon les lieux, les groupes, les conjonctures, les stratégies des partenaires nationaux. La cohésion et la mobilisation des communautés islamiques en question sont également loin d'être assurées en toutes circonstances. L'auteur analyse le cas du Nigéria, du Niger er de la Haute-Volta.
The " balkanization " of Africa south of the Sahara was parallel to a reorganization of local moslem society which reconstituted itself into national groupings corresponding to the new states. These new groupings enjoy international support. They have given themselves a new framework which is better integrated into the modem structures than were the traditional moslem frameworks. They have formed pressure groups, opposition groups and influential political forces. Governements negotiate with them and try to use them to shore up their sometimes shaky authority. In doing so the groupings obtain certain areas of autonomy and they thus sometimes develop into a " state within the state ". This process is far from being uniform, exclusive or unchanging. The phenomena of the politicization or repoliticization of Islam interfere with economie, regional, ethnie or other processes and vary according to place, the groups involved, the economic situation and the strategy of their national partners. Cohesion and mobilisation of the moslem communities concerned are also far from being certain under all circumstances. We intended to analyse three States in West Africa : Nigeria, Niger and Upper Volta. By taking together these different situations and the way they evolve we may obtain some pointers towards a deeper, broader and more systematic analysis of the politicization process of Islam, of national construction and of a plurality of political allegiances.
The Political & Economic Effects of Nigerian "Shari'a" on Southern Niger
Shari'a as De-Africanization: Evidence from Hausaland
Terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 overlapped with ongoing movements of Islamic fundamentalism in sub-Saharan Africa; however, these movements have not been identical, nor have they encountered uniform responses from the governments overseeing them. This is evident in the Hausa borderlands of Niger and Nigeria, where I conducted fieldwork (first begun in the early 1980s) two months after the attacks. Differences in the application of shari'a (Islamic law) on both sides of the border accentuate differences in Hausa culture and society along national (i.e., Nigérien vs. Nigerian) lines. Traditional Hausa customs that have flourished for centuries (praise-singing, drumming, group dancing, and singing) are now proscribed in the northern Nigerian state of Katsina, where shari'a is tantamount to de-Africanization. In contrast, Zinder, a neighboring state in the Republic of Niger, has so far resisted a comparable Islamization of its legal code. Cultural differentiation across the Niger-Nigeria boundary persists along religious lines, despite the status of Islam as the common faith. This inflected globalization of Islam highlights the significance of national boundaries in delimiting the influence of religious revivalism. Other differences relating to Islamization are inferred from comparing the extent of pilgrimage to Mecca and the incidence of wife seclusion in neighboring Hausa villages on each side of the Niger-Nigeria boundary.
Of Headhunters and Cannibals: Migrancy, Labor, and Consumption in the Mawri Imagination
The Strength in the Song: Muslim Personhood, Audible Capital, and Hausa Women's Performance of the Hajj
Projecting Life: Boko, Learning and Religiosity at a University in West Africa
Walter Rodney Lecture hosted by the Boston University African Studies Center, on April 26, 2021.
Boston University African Studies Center
Religious actors and politics in Nigeria, towards which post-covid-19 trend?
The subject of religion and the behavior of religious actors in the COVID-19 crisis appear at first glance to establish either just marginal issues or factors which have a tendency to be negative. On the other hand, there is far less public discussion on the strategic role played by religious communities as civil society partners of governments or the World Health Organization, as agencies providing charitable and pastoral assistance, and as a resource for hope and emergency management so as to successfully cope with the pandemic. This study analyzed the ambivalent role of actors in the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria within the framework of a theory-based empirical analysis, presents the most important developments, learning effects and problem areas yet to be addressed and finally, based on this, draws up policy recommendations for action.
The Projection of Saudi Arabian Influence in West Africa
Islam and Muslim Life in West Africa: Practices, Trajectories and Influences
The Politics of Islam in the Sahel: Between Persuasion and Violence
‘Ideologies need enemies to thrive, religion does not'. Using the Sahel as a source of five comparative case studies, this volume aims to engage in the painstaking task of disentangling Islam from the political ideologies that have issued from its theologies to fight for governmental power and the transformation of society. While these ideologies tap into sources of religious legitimacy, the author shows that they are fundamentally secular or temporal enterprises, defined by confrontation with other political ideologies–both progressive and liberal–within the arena of nation states. Their objectives are the same as these other ideologies, i.e., to harness political power for changing national societies, and they resort to various methods of persuasion, until they break down into violence. The two driving questions of the book are, whence come these ideologies, and why do they–sometimes–result in violence? Ideologies of Salafi radicalism are at work in the five countries of the Sahel region, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, (Northern) Nigeria and Senegal, but violence has broken out only in Mali and Northern Nigeria. Using a theoretical framework of ideological development and methods of historical analysis, Idrissa traces the emergence of Salafi radicalism in each of these countries as a spark ignited by the shock between concurrent processes of Islamization and colonization in the 1940s. However, while the spark eventually ignited a blaze in Mali and Nigeria, it has only led to milder political heat in Niger and Senegal and has had no burning effect at all in Burkina Faso. By meticulously examining the development of Salafi radicalism ideologies over time in connection with developments in national politics in each of the countries, Idrissa arrives at compelling conclusions about these divergent outcomes. Given the many similarities between the countries studied, these divergences show, in particular, that history, the behaviour of state leaders and national sociologies matter–against assumptions of ‘natural' contradictions between religion (Islam) and secularism or democracy. This volume offers a new perspective in discussions on ideology, which remains–as is shown here–the independent variable of many key contemporary political processes, either hidden in plain sight or disguised in a religious garb.
At the crossroads of major trade routes and characterised by intense human circulations, the area that encompasses northern Nigeria and southern Niger is a privileged space to study transnational religious dynamics. Islam is, indeed, an essential feature of this region assuming today new forms in terms of discourses, practices, and modes of dissemination. In order to capture their changing complexity and diversity, regional Islamic dynamics need to be observed from both sides of the Niger-Nigeria border, where religious patterns echo each other but also obey different socio-political injunctions. While studying the processes of religious renewal and mutation, it is necessary to pay attention to the varied forms these processes take, to their direct and indirect effects and to the channels of transmission used. An interdisciplinary team of seven researchers from Niger, Nigeria, France and the United Kingdom was set up to conduct this transnational study; all authors carried out ethnographic fieldwork in both countries while constantly exchanging, comparing and discussing their respective findings with each other. Thus, this book provides first-hand material collected in the field, that contributes to enrich the reflexion on contemporary transformation dynamics in the Islamic landscapes of Niger and Nigeria, but also reflects the relevance of a transnational and comparative approach of these phenomena. Finally, it showcases the collaborative work of African and European scholars from Francophone and Anglophone countries - a type of scientific partnership unprecedented in this field.
Le phénomène Boko Haram : au-delà du radicalisme
Que sait-on de ce mouvement obscur qui est parti des milieux islamistes modestes du nord du Nigéria pour prendre de l'ampleur en réussissant l'exploit d'exporter la terreur dans les foyers des pays environnants ? Trempé dans l'univers religieux dont il revendique une certaine exclusivité, le mouvement parle un langage outrageusement hostile à la raison. Il veut se fonder une légitimité inhérente à une fausse transcendance qu'il mêle à un pragmatisme violent. A qui pourrait bien profiter cette tourmente instaurée par une des pires sectes qu'ait connues le continent africain ?
Islamic Reform in Twentieth-Century Africa
Based on twelve case studies (Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar and the Comoros), this book looks at patterns and peculiarities of different traditions of Islamic reform. Considering both Sufi- and Salafi-oriented movements in their respective historical contexts, it stresses the importance of the local context to explain the different trajectories of development. The book studies the social, religious and political impact of these reform movements in both historical and contemporary times and asks why some have become successful as popular mass movements, while others failed to attract substantial audiences. It also considers jihad-minded movements in contemporary Mali, northern Nigeria and Somalia and looks at modes of transnational entanglement of movements of reform. Against the background of a general inquiry into what constitutes ‘reform’, the text responds to the question of what ‘reform’ actually means for Muslims in contemporary Africa.
À l'instar de Boko Haram, le fondamentalisme s'appuie sur des supports variés, dont le ressort sociologique, qui lui assure un ancrage territorial. L'ancien empire de Kanem Bornou, (espace de vie des Kanouris), la forêt de Sambisa et les versants des Monts Mandara, érigés en proto-État, constituent le centre névralgique de Boko Haram. Tel est le défi qui interpelle les forces armées nationales du Nigéria, du Niger, du Cameroun, du Tchad et depuis peu la Force Multinationale Mixte.
Islam, sociétés et politique en Afrique subsaharienne : les exemples du Sénégal, du Niger et du Nigeria
Les auteurs de cet ouvrage, spécialistes du fait religieux ou islamique en Afrique de l'Ouest, d'origines et de générations différentes, proposent une série de relectures en islam subsaharien. Les évolutions en cours modifient progressivement les repères mis en place par la littérature scientifique des cinquante dernières années et obligent à une remise en chantier des analyses. Trois pays ont été choisis comme témoins privilégiés de l'évolution de la question musulmane en Afrique de l'Ouest : le Sénégal, le Niger et le Nigeria, qui, par leur histoire, représentent de véritables laboratoires en matière d'islam. Dans l'Afrique d'aujourd'hui, nulle part la séparation entre le politique et le religieux n'est jugée acceptable. Nul État de droit n'est jugé possible s'il n'est consacré par la sharî'a du côté musulman, et par la référence à la Bible du côté évangélique et pentecôtiste. L'islam prend donc toute sa place dans ces réveils religieux en chaîne, qui constituent sans doute, de façon paradoxale pour le spécialistes de sciences sociales, un mode d'accès imprévu à la modernité.
Les routes de l'Islam : anthropologie politique de l'islamisation de l'Afrique de l'Ouest en général et du pays Hawsa en particulier du VIIIè au XIXè siècle
Ce livre s'adresse à tous ceux qui souhaitent comprendre sans à priori, comment il y a eu diffusion de l'Islam en Afrique de l'Ouest en général et dans le pays hawsa (Niger et Nigeria) en particulier. Il s'agit d'un travail original, basé sur de longues recherches à la fois historiques et anthropologiques, qui montre quelles sont les relations politiques et économiques entre le Maghreb et les sociétés au sud du Sahara, quels sont les différents groupes de commerçants qui islamisent ces pays, à quel courant religieux ils appartiennent, dans quelles circonstances ils sont amenés à y diffuser leurs conceptions religieuses et quelles sont les conséquences de leur avènement dans les Etats subsahariens. Tout au long de cet ouvrage, l'auteur a le souci de replacer les situations singulières propres à chaque Etat en fonction du contexte général africain : ainsi, il arrive à montrer que la création, l'islamisation et les problèmes politico-religieux des sociétés africaines, telles que les Etats hawsa, sont souvent liés à la mise en place de nouvelles routes commerciales par des groupes musulmans concurrents.
This volume examines religiosity on university campuses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Focusing on both individuals and organized groups, the contributions open a window onto how religion becomes a factor, affects social interactions, is experienced and mobilized by various actors. It brings together case studies from various disciplinary backgrounds (anthropology, sociology, history, religious studies) and theoretical orientations to illustrate the significance of religiosity in recent developments on university campuses. It pays a particular attention to religion-informed activism and contributes a fresh analysis of processes that are shaping both the experience of being student and the university campus as a moral space. Finally, it sheds light onto the ways in which the campus becomes a site of a reformulation of both religiosity and sociality.
Vivre sa foi Tabligh au sein des campus de Côte d'Ivoire : ethnographie du cheminement de la religiosité des étudiants