Islamic Movements in Sub-Saharan Africa
Radicalization and reform of Islam in Africa: Knowledge and institutionalization in a global context, Bergen, 18-19 September 2008.
Religious revival movements have attracted great attention in the study of religion in Africa. Until recently, much emphasis has been placed on Christian institutions, their organisation and their political influence, while there has been rather limited focus on the paralleling expansion of Muslim movements: interest in the way in which individuals experience their religious involvement, in how their involvement comes about, and in the consequences this has for Muslim engagement in ‘modernisation’ processes. Furthermore, the studies made have generally stressed the need to come closer to an understanding of the ‘practitioners’, i.e., the views of African Muslims on the role of Islam in contemporary Africa.
Within the last 5-6 years, studies on the rising Islamic movements have taken up an even greater space in European, North American and African research. Studies of Islam in Africa have concentrated on educational reforms within the Muslim communities and the consequences of these for the development of the civil society, for example, in Mali, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire. The consequences of the rise of Islamic related political engagement has also attracted great interest, for instance, in studies of new Islamic related institutions in Nigeria, Tanzania and Sudan. Other studies, again, have been especially concerned with the opportunities and hazards that young people meet up with when they establish and engage in Islamic institutions, for example, in Senegal and in Nigeria. Within the last few years it has become obvious that the study of Islam from a perspective of social movement, i.e., focusing on recent mobilisation, agency and practices rather than on texts, offers the possibility of understanding why and how contemporary Muslim communities in Africa south of the Sahara relate to modernisation. Thus, from studies already carried out in Europe, Africa and the US, it appears that Islam's role in influencing societal developments in Africa south of the Sahara is far greater than is often assumed. It certainly seems clear that Islamic movements play a variety of significant roles in many contemporary African societies, and hence, in Africa’s modernisation.
Unfortunately, the growing academic interest in Islamic social movements in Africa south of the Sahara has thus far resulted in limited research in the Nordic countries, especially among newly established researchers. Studies on Islam in West Africa have concentrated on women and their engagement in the Sufi Mouride Brotherhood in Senegal, where some substantial studies on Muslim upbringing and educational practices have been conducted. Islamic mobilisation in Ghana has given reason for a study on the relation between young Muslims’ growing interest both in the religion and in their being part of the modernisation project. In East Africa, studies relating to Islamic groups and mobilisation have focused primarily on the relationship between the rise of Islamic mobilisation and the political developments taking place in Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania. Unfortunately, only limited research in the field "Islamic movements in Africa south of the Sahara" can be traced back to Nordic academic institutions.
Members of the network
Contact person: Annette Haaber Ihle ahi@hum.ku.dk