Islam in Africa Islamic Law

Islam in Africa

Islamic Law

In order to understand Islam, it is necessary to look at all aspects of the religion, as they are woven together. Most people know that the religion of Islam was begun in the 7th century when Mohammed wrote down religious truths that had been revealed to him. This book, called th eKoran or Qu'ran, is the primary holy text of the Islamic religion. The Qu'ran states in great detail now a person who follows Islam is to live his or her life including numerous details about how to dress, what to eat, and how often and how to pray.

Shari'a, sometimes spelled Sharia or Shariah, is the traditional legal beliefs of the religion of Islam. In fact, Shari'a is tightly interwoven with the religion, and Islam provides no way to separate the two. In Islam, there is no line drawn between religious and secular life. The law of Shari'a covers both civil law and religious practices (Wikipedia, PAGE).

Although the basiis of Shari'a is the Qu'ran, there are also other influences. In addition to Mohammed's teachings, based on his time in Medina and Mecca, the body of knowledge called Hadith is included. Hadith is not Mohammed's writings, which are believed to be the word of Allah. Instead, Hadith is based on second hand reports of things Mohammed and those who were with him said and did. Hadith is not as important as the Qu'ran in Shari'a, but is a significant second source for information on which to make a judgment of law.

Another secondary influence is Ijima, or the cultural values of the community. When neither Hadith nor Ijima gave people the guidance they needed to decide what was the right way to act as a Moslem, they would use Qiyas, or reasoning by analogy (Wikipedia, PAGE). Because Shariy'a involves cultural influences as well as the absolute laws laid down in the Qu'ran, different cultures can come to different conclusions on various issues. In addition, interpretation of the Qu'ran itself may vary. We have seen this in the United States when the Supreme Court makes a ruling. Those rulings are rarely unanimous. All the judges are highly qualified, and yet they don't always come to the same conclusions when looking at the same set of facts. Thus, the Qu'ran and Shari'a have had multiple interpretations over the centuries.

History of Islam in Africa

Sometimes people think of the spread of religion as fanning out in a logical way over time, with larger and larger areas influenced over time, like ripples on a lake, but that is not what happened in Africa. The first Africans to be influenced by Islam were for centuries long before European colonizers there, Timbuktu, a city south of the Sahara, had extensive contacts with Arab traders. Because they were able to help the Arabs cross the Saharan desert, the two cultures worked well together. Timbuktu and Mali gradually converted to Islam (Roach, PAGE). While Mohammed taught that Islam was the only true religion and Allah the one true God, they tolerated other religions in the areas they conquered and did not force people to convert. The gradual spread of Islam was based on the cultures' contacts with Moslem traders, and in fact, a significant number of Moslem Africans did not become Moslem until well into the 20th century. Often when this happened it was based on practical matters and not theology (Clark, PAGE).

Records kept by colonizing countries, particularly France, demonstrate some ways Islam intertwined itself with the local culture and government. French records from Senegal and Mali from the early 20th century report the Moslem brotherhoods that dominated Moslem culture. Because of these well-organized groups, sometimes tribes could not be guaranteed trade opportunities unless they converted to Islam (Clark, PAGE). In another example, rural populations in the country of Cameroon converted to two religions. Some tribes chose Islam while others chose Christianity (Gausset, PAGE). Again, these choices were based on practicalities. When the Moslem religion came to that region, in the early 19th century, one tribe aligned themselves with them to defeat the sultanate of Banyo. They did this to protect their members from being taken into slavery. However, another group fled the area to get away from the slaving raids. Those people chose Christianity. Just as Western explorers said they traveled to the New World to save souls but had strong economic incentives, the Moslems who came to Cameroon said they came to convert people to Islam, but had strong economic goals as well, including slavery. The Africans who converted were not given full status. They were employed as servants and not allowed to study the Qu'ran, so when they finally returned to their home villages they did not have much incentive to convert their family and neighbors (Trimingham, PAGE). All these non-secular influences have played a role in how Islam has developed among the various countries of Africa.

Islam in Present-Day Africa

Although the idea of Islam and state government as being separate is the opposite of what the religion teaches, often that is the case to one extent or another, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the many tribal alliances are at least as important as religion. This can cause friction, because the Islamic religious leaders often want the state government to conform to Islamic law and principle. They often feel that secular governments should realign with the Moslem religion (Trimingham, PAGE). The issue of separation of church and state became a serious issue in 1960 in Senegal and Mali after they both became independent states. The politicians used Moslem cultural organization such as the brotherhoods not only to keep the order but for economic purposes as well (Clark, PAGE). For their part, the religious leaders found ways to compromise as a way to build and maintain their power bases within the Moslem communities. These practices have been blended with tribal alliances to build both economic and religious power, not always in obvious ways (Clark, PAGE).

An example of these complex relations ships is seen in the tribe called the Hausa. When Africa was carved up into colonies by Europeans, little or no attention was paid to the geography of tribes. As a result, some tribes find themselves living in two different countries. The Hausa live on adjacent land in Niger and Nigeria, with the border between the two countries running between them. This fact has created an interesting scenario regarding Shari'a.

The Hausa have a long custom called "praise-singing." Praise-singing is more than just song, however. It includes music and group dancing. Its elaborate practices have been a part of Hausa culture for centuries. The singer, called a maroke or griot, approaches the person to be praised and sings the praises of him, his ancestors, his wealth, his power, his reproductive skills and other praiseworthy accomplishments. The song may also include negative observations about his disposition, how he treats his family, his occupation, and other negative traits (Miles, PAGE). The use of the maroke includes musical instruments and celebrations and has its own rules about how praise-singing should be properly performed.

The Hausa of both Niger and Nigeria practiced this custom. However, while Western countries originally divided the Hausa, now it is Shari'a that has divided the group, because the regional government ruling the Hausa in Nigeria has declared that the elaborate practices surrounding praise-singing violate Shari'a. Praise-singing is now a crime in that part of Nigeria. While the Hausa on both sides of the border are Muslim, the two governments - Niger, and the regional government of northern Nigeria - have interpreted Shari'a differently, causing a divide between the once united Hausa (Miles, PAGE).

The situation with the Hausa tradition highlights difficulties seen in some African countries as they attempt to form stable governments. Nigeria, which also gained its independence, this time from Great Britain, in 1960, has had a difficult time settling on a government (Tsai, PAGE). Since the country is not entirely Moslem, creating a Moslem-state is not a universally popular idea. The country went through an extended period of turmoil. Its first independent government was overthrown in January of 1966 in a military coup. The general who led that coup. By July of that year he had been killed in another coup. The government was overthrown again in 1976, 1979, and 1985 (Tsai, PAGE).