DATE=4/1/97
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-36086
TITLE=ISLAM IN AFRICA - PART II
BYLINE=HILLETEWORK MATHIAS
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
UN-VOICED:
INTRO: ISLAM IS ONE OF THE MAJOR INFLUENCES ON THE POLITICAL AND
CULTURAL LIVES OF AFRICANS. ITS LAWS, TRADITIONS, AND VALUES
HAVE HAD A VAST IMPACT ON THE CONTINENT SINCE THE PRE-COLONIAL
PERIOD. IN THE SECOND OF A FIVE-PART SERIES ON ISLAM IN AFRICA,
V-O-A'S HILLETEWORK MATHIAS, TAKES A LOOK AT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF
ISLAM TO AFRICA.
TEXT: HISTORIANS AGREE ISLAM HAS PLAYED A NOTABLE ROLE IN THE
HISTORY AND LIFE OF AFRICANS. THEY SAY AFRICAN PRE-COLONIAL
RULERS OFTEN LOOKED TO ISLAMIC TRADITION FOR MODELS OF
STATE-BUILDING, GOVERNANCE, AND EDUCATION. MUSLIMS HAVE BUILT
TOWNS AND CITIES, ESPECIALLY ON THE SAHARAN FRINGES AND THE EAST
COAST. THE PORT CITY OF MOMBASA WAS BUILT BY MUSLIMS WHO TRADED
IN IVORY AND GOLD IN THE REGION FOR MANY CENTURIES.
IN THE AREA OF EDUCATION, ISLAM INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF
CURRICULA IN MANY PARTS OF AFRICA. THE ARRIVAL OF MUSLIM
TEACHERS IN AFRICA LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF KORANIC SCHOOLS,
CALLED -- MADRASSEH -- THE ARABIC WORD FOR SCHOOL. THESE SCHOOLS
CO-EXISTED WITH, OR GRADUALLY REPLACED TRADITIONAL EDUCATIONAL
CENTERS. STUDENTS WHO ATTENDED KORANIC SCHOOLS GRADUALLY
ASSIMILATED ISLAMIC CULTURE.
JURISPRUDENCE IS AMONG THOSE AREAS WHERE HISTORIANS SAY ISLAM HAD
PARTICULAR RELEVANCE FOR THE AFRICAN POPULATION. ISLAMIC SCHOLAR
ALI MAZRUI IS A NOTED PROFESSOR OF AFRICAN HISTORY AND POLITICS
AT STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BINGHAMTON.
// MAZRUI ACT //
ISLAM HAS AN ELABORATE SYSTEM OF LAW AND THOSE AFRICANS
WHO ARE CONVERTED TO ISLAM ATTEMPTED TO IMPLEMENT IT IN
THEIR DAILY LIVES, AND IN THEIR BEHAVIOR TOWARDS THEIR
FAMILIES, AND IN THE WIDER SOCIETIES' PRINCIPLES
ENUNCIATED BY ISLAM. THOSE AFRICANS WHO ACTUALLY
ESTABLISHED STATES, AND AT THE SAME TIME WERE MUSLIMS,
PROMOTED ISLAMIC THINKING AND JURISPRUDENCE AND LEGAL
THEORIES. PLACES LIKE TIMBUKTU WERE FAMOUS BECAUSE
PARTLY THERE WAS A LOT OF STUDYING THAT COMBINED
INVESTIGATION INTO JURISPRUDENCE AND INTO LEGAL THEORY
PARTLY DERIVED FROM ISLAMIC CULTURE.
// END ACT //
ISLAM HAS ALSO PLAYED A LINGUISTIC ROLE ON THE CONTINENT. THE
TWO MOST WIDELY SPOKEN LANGUAGES IN EAST AND WEST AFRICA --
SWAHILI AND HAUSA -- HAVE BORROWED EXTENSIVELY FROM THE ARABIC
LANGUAGE. SULEIMAN NYANG, A PROFESSOR OF AFRICAN STUDIES AT
HOWARD UNIVERSITY, IS AN EXPERT IN ISLAMIC STUDIES.
// NYANG ACT //
ISLAM HAS PENETRATED A NUMBER OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND
CULTURES BECAUSE OF ONE-THOUSAND YEARS OF COHABITATION.
SWAHILI IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF THIS COHABITATION
BETWEEN AFRO-ISLAMIC CULTURE ON THE ONE HAND AND THE
TRADITIONAL CULTURE ON THE OTHER. LINGUISTICALLY,
SWAHILI IS A BANTU LANGUAGE IN TERMS OF STRUCTURE. BUT
THERE ARE MANY LEXICAL UNIT, AS LINGUISTS WOULD LIKE TO
SAY, THAT HAVE ARAB DERIVATIVES. IN TANZANIA AND KENYA
THEY CALL THEIR PRESIDENT -- RAIS -- WHEN THEY SPEAK
LOCALLY WITHOUT USING ENGLISH. WHEN MUSICIANS SING
ABOUT BEAUTIFUL GIRLS THEY CALL THEM ANGELS, LIKE ELVIS
PRESLEY USED TO SAY. YOU GO TO WOLOFS IN SENEGAL, THE
WORD FOR 'MINE' IS OF ARABIC DERIVATION.
// END ACT //
BUT DESPITE SUCH POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS ANALYSTS SAY ISLAM ALSO
HAS HAD NEGATIVE INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT, WITH MUSLIMS
DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE SLAVE TRADE ACROSS THE SAHARA. PROFESSOR
MAZRUI OF STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK SAYS MUSLIMS -- NOT ISLAM
-- TOOK PART IN THE SLAVE TRADE.
// MAZRUI //
THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT ARABS PRACTICED SLAVERY IN
EASTERN AFRICA. THERE WAS A SLAVE TRADE THAT WENT FROM
EASTERN AFRICA. THE BIG ISSUE IS -- SHOULD IT BE CALLED
ISLAMIC SLAVERY -- IF IT IS, SHOULD WE NOT CALL
TRANSATLANTIC SLAVERY, CHRISTIAN SLAVERY, RATHER THAN
WESTERN SLAVERY. I HAVE NO PROBLEM CALLING IT
ARABO-ISLAMIC SLAVERY PROVIDED WE CALL THE OTHER ONE
EURO-CHRISTIAN SLAVERY. AND WE CAN ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY
WHERE THE TWO CONVERGE AND ARE SIMILAR, AND IN WHAT
RESPECT THEY WERE DIFFERENT IN THEIR EXPLOITATION OF
AFRICA.
// END OF ACT //
SOME HISTORIANS CONTEND A COMMON EXPERIENCE UNDER COLONIAL RULE
HAS HELPED TO ALLEVIATE AFRICANS' BITTER MEMORIES OF THE ARAB
SLAVE RAIDERS. IN A BOOK ENTITLED "INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF
THE CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST", ARAB SCHOLAR TARAQ ISMAEL WRITES
-- UNDER COLONIALISM THE ARABS, INSTEAD OF CONQUERORS, BECAME
FELLOW SUFFERERS.
IN THE POST-COLONIAL ERA, ISLAM HELPED TO FACILITATE COOPERATION
BETWEEN AFRICANS AND ARABS. SINCE THE EARLY 1960'S, THE
ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY HAS HAD CLOSE RELATIONS WITH THE
ARAB LEAGUE. COUNTRIES SUCH AS ALGERIA, LIBYA, TUNISIA, AND
EGYPT MAINTAIN MEMBERSHIP IN BOTH ORGANIZATIONS.
THE O-A-U SUPPORTED THE PALESTINIAN QUEST FOR SELF-DETERMINATION
AND SOME ARAB COUNTRIES, IN TURN, PROVIDED SANCTUARY, TRAINING
AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR AFRICAN LIBERATION MOVEMENTS. ANALYSTS
SAY TO THAT EXTENT, ISLAM HAS PROVIDED A BASIS FOR THE
STRENGTHENING OF RELATIONS BETWEEN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND THE
MIDDLE EAST.
SINCE THE LATE 1970'S THE EMERGENCE OF SO-CALLED ISLAMIC
FUNDAMENTALISM IN NORTH AND EAST AFRICA HAS BECOME A MATTER OF
CONCERN TO POLICY MAKERS AND SCHOLARS IN AFRICA. WHAT ISLAMIC
FUNDAMENTALISM MAY BE IS THE TOPIC IN PART THREE OF OUR SERIES ON
ISLAM IN AFRICA. (SIGNED)
NEB/HM/RAE
01-Apr-97 2:57 PM EST (1957 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
