User:PearlRing

Emily Dyar-December 9, 2010-HIST 261-Dr. Carmichael-Wiki Final

The Character of Islam in Africa

East Africa

Sudan

In the Sudan, there is no central Islamic body; rather each Muslim looks to his individual brotherhood for guidance. For the Sudanese, the pilgrimage to Mecca is less costly due to its closer proximity to the coast. However, the practice of saving money and sending someone in one's place is frequently practiced by the Sudanese. Muslims in Sudan do not eat pork or shellfish but are less strict on drinking and gambling than the more orthodox Muslims are.

Before 1983, modern criminal and civil law prevailed in the north, while Sharia governed family and personal law. Nimeiri made Sharia law dominant over all others in 1983. The Sudan has its struggle with “popular” versus orthodox Islam. The Sufi orders practice the cult of the saint and believe in spirits that inflict illnesses.

In the Sudan, Sufis and the Ulama rarely disagreed and were essentially the same. This is in stark contrast to the majority of the Muslim world. Sufi doctors of the law combined fiqu (jurisprudence), tawhid (dogmatic theology), and tasawwuf (mysticism) together in order to create their form of a "true religious life." ^[1] According to Martin van Bruinessen's article, "The Origins and Development of Sufi Orders," al-Samman influenced Sufism greatly in the Sudan. He advocated for the Khalwati tradtion, which called for all members of this Sufi order-no matter where they lived georgraphically-to be united under in this tradtion under the founder's family name, and by the use of the same prayers and rituals. This "network" of Sufists became known as the Sammaniyya. The Khalwati tradtion is still quite prevalent in the central Nilotic Sudan.^[2]

Mosques in the Sudan are generally open spaces where a large group of people can gather. The mosque square in Omdurman is a typical Sudanese mosque; while one may find an enclosure made of straw and grass for a mosque in the central Sudan. In the North, mosques are mainly made out of mud.^[3]

Oral culture is very strong in the Sudan especially in education. Knowledge is transmitted primarily orally: "Throughout the Sudan can be seen circles of boys around a feki reclining on his anqarib. All chant together in monotone, swaying back and forth in rythm, droning the sections indefinately until they are memorized. The feki dictates from memory and the sections are copied out on wooden slates with a pointed stick dipped in an ink solution of soot, gum, and water. For most Sudanese the Quran is a closed book; they are not taught the meaning of the language because the chanting itself is a meritorious work. As Ibn Khaldun says, the North Africans 'place more emphasis on the Qur'an and its memorization by chlidren with the variant readings and its mode of recitation, than on anything else.'" ^[4] Sudanic bards contributed greatly to the oral culture of the Sudan. Their main purpose was to recite the accounts of local rulers and characteristics of their reign. On the topic of education, the local language was usually used when teaching the Qur'an at the elementary school level; however, in the Sudan, Arabic was used in formal literacy. Oral literature was further developed into entertainment in coffehouses and at special events through the recitation of Arabic epics. These epics always referenced figures from pre-Islamic Arabia with some connection to Africa.^[5]

Ethiopia

Günter Schröder’s chart below shows the religious composition of the Ethiopian population:^[6]

According to Braukämper, Christians account for sixty percent of the population, Muslims thrity- three, and all the other religions seven percent. Most of these Muslims are found in southern part of Ethiopia.

Ulrich Braukämper, Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia, 2nd ed. (Münster: Lit Verlag, 2003), 6.

The numerous shrines dedicated to Muslim saints in the Harar plateau of Ethiopia point to the religion's dissemination there. Although Islam strongly prohibits the cult of ancestors and sacrificing at their graves, these practices were still prevalent in Harar.^[7] These shrines were and still are used as starting points for Muslim missionary endeavors. The cult of saints is now accepted as a necessary tool for conversion, even though it does not confrom to Muslim orthodoxy. The Sudanese pray to saints for: rain, fertility of women, herds and crops, protection, commercial activities, etc...^[8]

Eritrea

According to Oxford Islamic Studies Online, more than half of the population in Eritrea is Muslim. Nineteenth-century reformers changed Islamic practices and founded the first Islamic schools and courts in Eritrea. The eastern and western lowlands of Eritrea are primarily composed of Sunni and Sufi Muslims, while Christians compose most of the highland regions.

In Eritrea, many Christian nomads were converted to Islam through the performances of "ritual, clerical, and magical duties" by Arab immigrants.^[9] Orthodox Christianity and Islam are the official religions of Eritrea, and Sufism is the main form of Islam there.^[10]

Djibouti

Ninety-six percent of the 490,000 people living in Djibouti are Sunni Muslims. They adhere to the Shafi legal tradition and certain Sufi orders.

In order to monitor religious radicalism in Djibouti, their government requires all religious groups to register with the agencies responsible for monitoring such religious activities.^[11]

Somalia

In Somalia, Sunni Sufists attempt to strengthen their relationship with god through poverty, seclusion, and other forms of self- denial. Whirling dervishes are also common in this area to promote communication with the spiritual world.

Arab clans migrated from Yemen to Mogadishu, Somalia and helped create a prominent city of commerce and fame their. In the thirteenth century, Mogadishu became an important center for Islamic learning; therefore, it is home to three of the earliest mosques ever to be built on the east African coast.

All three of these mosques are built of stone which again shows the wealth and Islamic influence of the area. The fact that trade brought wealth and Islam to East Africa in the twelfth and thirteenth century is exemplified by the trend of mosques and tombs left behind. These tombs further serve as Islamic visual culture because they were all built facing Mecca. footnote:Randall L. Pouwels, Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam on the East African Coast, 800-1900 (African Studies) (Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press, 1987), pgs. 22-24.

The Salihiyya and Dandarawaiyya Sufi orders are both prevalent in Somalia. The figurehead of Somalian Salihiyya was Muhammad 'Abd Allah Hasan. These two orders called for hijras away from the coast to establish separate communities that "transcended tribal/ethnic boundaries and recruted from hitherto marginal groups (ex-slaves), and practiced a stricter form of Islam."^[12]

Almost one hundred percent of the populations is Sunni, and Islam is the official religion of Somalia. Somalian Muslims are characterized by local traditions and practices. One such tradition is the "duco," which is intercessory prayer in a mosque. Others practices include "digri" ceremonies, the "siyaaro" (pilgrimages to the tombs of saints), and the Mawliid celebration (Muhammad's birthday). The very conservative Wahhabi sect oppose these practices.

In pre-colonial Somalia, two sources of law were Somali customary law (xeer) and Islamic law (shari'a). If they contradicted themselves, customary law would prevail. The three most prominent Sufi orders in Somalia are the Qadiriyya, Ahmadiyya-Dandarawiyya, and the Salihiyya.^[13]

Demographics

Islam by Country Muslim populations

References