Islam and Muslim Politics in Africa

Islam and Muslim Politics in Africa

This page intentionally left blank

Islam and Muslim Politics in Africa Edited by Benjamin F. Soares and René Otayek

ISLAM AND MUSLIM POLITICS IN AFRICA Copyright Benjamin F. Soares and René Otayek, 2007. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 ISBN 978-1-4039-7963-6 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-4039-7964-3 ISBN 978-0-230-60710-1 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230607101 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Islam and Muslim politics in Africa / edited by Benjamin F. Soares and René Otayek. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1 4039 7963 4 (alk. paper) ISBN 1 4039 7964 2 (alk. paper) 1. Islam and state Africa. 2. Islam and politics Africa. I. Soares, Benjamin F. II. Otayek, René. BP64.A1I835 2007 322.1096 dc22 2006103220 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: October 2007 10987654321

Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction: Islam and Muslim Politics in Africa 1 René Otayek and Benjamin F. Soares Part I Between the Local and the Global 1. Islam in Mauritania between Political Expansion and Globalization: Elites, Institutions, Knowledge, and Networks 27 Zekeria Ould Ahmed Salem 2. Global Concerns, Local Realities: Islam and Islamism in a Somali State under Construction 47 Marleen Renders 3. Transformations of Islam and Communal Relations in Wallo, Ethiopia 65 Jan Abbink 4. Aid, Umma, and Politics: Transnational Islamic NGOs in Chad 85 Mayke Kaag 5. New Religious Actors in South Africa: The Example of Islamic Humanitarianism 103 Samadia Sadouni Part II The Question of the State 6. Muslim Reformists and the State in Benin 121 Denise Brégand 7. Perceptions of Marginalization: Muslims in Contemporary Tanzania 137 Roman Loimeier

vi / contents 8. Kenyan Muslims, the Aftermath of 9/11, and the War on Terror 157 Rüdiger Seesemann 9. Politics and Sharia in Northern Nigeria 177 Sanusi Lamido Sanusi 10. Political Islam in Sudan: Islamists and the Challenge of State Power (1989 2004) 189 Einas Ahmed Part III New Ways of Being Muslim 11. Islam in Mali in the Neoliberal Era 211 Benjamin F. Soares 12. Islamic Associations in Cameroon: Between the Umma and the State 227 Hamadou Adama 13. Negotiating Futures: Islam, Youth, and the State in Niger 243 Adeline Masquelier List of Contributors 263 Index 267

Acknowledgments This book began as part of a collaborative research project entitled Islam, Disengagement of the State, and Globalization in Africa between the African Studies Centre (ASC) in Leiden and the Centre d Études d Afrique Noire (CEAN) in Bordeaux that the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs generously funded. The project culminated in an international conference ( Islam, Désengagement de l État et Globalisation en Afrique Subsaharienne ) held at UNESCO in Paris on May 12 13, 2005, during which versions of the papers in this volume were presented. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided additional support for the conference. We are grateful to the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the funding that made this project and publication possible and for allowing the academic researchers to retain control of the actual content of the project and the definition of its themes. We owe special thanks to Norbert Braakhuis of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was the driving force behind this project. We also thank Yvette Daoud of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and François-Xavier Léger of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their support. We are grateful to Gerti Hesseling for her contributions to the project from its earliest stages and to Leo de Haan for his support. Jean-Michel Dolbeau, Joop Nijssen, Paul Schrijver, Elizabeth Vignati, and Marieke van Winden provided much-needed organizational support, and they helped to ensure the project ran smoothly. We thank the individual chapter authors, as well as John Chesworth, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Éric Morier-Genoud, Hassan Mwakimako, Fabienne Samson, and Abdoulaye Sounaye, who also participated in the project. Although Rüdiger Seesemann did not participate in the conference, we are pleased to include his paper in this volume. Abdullahi An-Na im was the invited keynote speaker at the conference, and we are grateful to him for sharing his work with us and for his suggestions about how to improve the volume. As discussants during the conference, Christian Coulon, Stephen Ellis, David Robinson, and Leonardo Villalón provided stimulating commentary that has helped to improve the individual papers and the volume as a whole. In a roundtable discussion at the conference, Abdullahi An-Na im, Penda Mbow, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Abdulkader Tayob, and Mahmoud Zouber debated some of the conference themes, helping us to sharpen our own views. Dale Eickelman, Rosalind I. J. Hackett, Roman Loimeier, Rüdiger Seesemann, and Leonardo Villalón provided valuable assistance to us in the preparation of the volume. Robert Launay did an excellent job translating the chapters written in French into English. Finally, we owe special thanks to Shoshanna Green for her editorial acumen and most judicious copyediting.

viii / acknowledgments Some of the material presented here has been previously published. Parts of the introduction have appeared earlier in French as Religion et globalisation: l islam subsaharien à la conquête de nouveaux territoires, La Revue internationale et stratégique, n 52, hiver 2003 2004, pp. 51 65, and are used here with permission. An earlier version of Chapter 11, Islam in Mali in the neoliberal era, by Soares, appeared in African Affairs, vol. 105, pp. 77 95, and it is reprinted here by permission of the Royal African Society. Parts of the Introduction and Chapters 1, 5, 6, 10, and 12 have been translated from the French.

Locations of case studies in this book.