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. THE SECOND OF A FIVE-PART SERIES ON ISLAM IN AFRICA, TAKES A LOOK AT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ISLAM TO AFRICA.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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
01-Apr-97
Source: Voice of America