Islam in West African Politics : Accommodation and Tension between the 'ulam?' and the Political Authorities. - article ; n°71 ; vol.18, pg 333-345

Nehemia Levtzion

Description

Cahiers d'études africaines - Année 1978 - Volume 18 - Numéro 71 - Pages 333-345
13 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique

Informations

• Publié par: CAHIERS_D-ETUDES_AFRICAINES
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1978
• Nombre de lectures: 19
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

M. Nehemia Levtzion
Islam in West African Politics : Accommodation and Tension
between the 'ulamā' and the Political Authorities.
In: Cahiers d'études africaines. Vol. 18 N°71. 1978. pp. 333-345.
Résumé
N. Levtzion — Islam et politique en Afrique occidentale : compromis et tensions entre les ulémas et l'autorité politique. L'influence
islamique en Afrique occidentale a rencontré peu d'opposition parce que l'islam se présentait initialement comme un complément
aux religions traditionnelles plutôt que comme un substitut de ces religions. Le plus souvent, les musulmans observaient une
sorte de neutralité politique et guerrière à l'égard des sociétés où ils étaient installés. Les tarikh soudanais relatent cependant
une forte tension entre les souverains songhai, surtout le sonni Ali Ber, et les ulémas de la mosquée Sankoré de
Tombouctou. Les causes en sont vraisemblablement la volonté de ces ulémas de préserver le statut particulier de la ville, ce que
le souverain songhai ne pouvait accepter pour des raisons économiques. Plus généralement, il apparaît que l'islam traditionnel
maraboutique se prête mieux au compromis avec l'autorité politique que ne le font les tendances réformistes, telle celle d'Othman
dan Fodyo.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Levtzion Nehemia. Islam in West African Politics : Accommodation and Tension between the 'ulamā' and the Political
Authorities. In: Cahiers d'études africaines. Vol. 18 N°71. 1978. pp. 333-345.
doi : 10.3406/cea.1978.2380
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/cea_0008-0055_1978_num_18_71_2380TUDES ET ESSAIS
NEHEMIA LEVTZION
Islam iû West African Politics Accommodation
and Tension between the ulamc
and the Political Authorities*
Early Islamic influences were more readily accepted in West Africa
because beliefs and practices had at first been accommodated as
supplement to existing religious systems rather than as substitute
Similarly Islam and its early representatives traders and clerics
presented no threat to social structures and values Muslims were
integrated into chiefly courts without undermining the political system
Islam which is prophetic and therefore an exclusive religion maintained
symbiotic relationship with African religions and indeed adopted
something of their tolerance and open-endness Adaptation to the local
environment in the process of Islamization emphasized parochial and
particularistic aspects at the expense of Islamic universalism During
the early stages of the process there had been greater emphasis on the
magical and ritual than on the legal aspects of Islam and there was
little or no articulation of the political content of
The adaptability of Islam however was counterpoised by another
basic feature of Islam which helped maintain the unity of Islam in the
presence of many local forms emerging as Islam spread across cultures
of great diversity Islam has nxed stable core engraved into the rock
of doctrinal and legal literature It reached the farthest Muslim commu
nities through the widespread network of Islamic education Trade
pilgrimage and affiliation to sûfî masters and brotherhoods contributed
to continuous communications between the centre and the periphery and
radiated the message of Islamic universalism gradually reducing the
parochial aspects of Islam the periphery Such influences increased
the commitment of the individual and the community to Islam by
renouncing traditional beliefs and rituals and by adhering more closely
to the At the political level there was greater awareness of
The present paper has been written at the University of Manchester during
my appointment as Simon Senior Research Fellow This paper has been discussed
at the African History seminars at SOAS London and the University of Bir
mingham am grateful to members of these seminars for their comments and
in particular to Dr H.J Fisher Most of the references in the paper are to primary
sources and have kept to minimum references to scholarly studies on related
topics These will be dealt with in greater detail in forthcoming book on Islam
in African Politics Past and Present
Cahiers tudes africaines JI XVIII- pp 333-345 NEHEMIA LEVTZION 334
the political content of Islam with the emphasis on the State as the
necessary framework for the accomplishment of true Islamic life
Accommodation to the existing political system gave way to tensions
between the ulama and the authorities as the former pressed
for radical restructuring of the State according to Islamic models
The foregoing is an analysis of the process abstraction as it were
but historical realities were more complex The interaction between the
ulama and the political authorities was conditioned not only by the level
of learning of the former or the degree of islamization of the latter In
the next part of this paper we shall elaborate still general and compar
ative approach some features and variants in the relationship between
Muslims and chiefs in the pre-jihad States We shall then proceed with
more detailed study of one of the best documented cases of the role of
ulama in politics that of the Sankore ulama of Timbuktu and their
relationship with the political authorities of Songhay Towards the end
of the paper we shall briefly follow the theme of accommodation and
tension between the ulama and the political authorities in the post-jihad
and the colonial periods
It is often said that in Islam religion and politics are one as it is
also attested by the example of Muhammad who was Prophet and
Statesman But subsequent political developments prove that even
during the time of the first Righteous Caliphs and more so since the
accession of the Umayyad the political authorities left the ulama with
little real political power Ulama who cooperated with the political
authorities did so in subservient role whereas other known
for their piety preferred to withdraw from active political life Some
played the role of the intellectual critics while others renounced all
interest in politics For the latter any association with the political
authorities implied compromising their religious piety as rulers were
equated with tyranny and injustice.1
Such an attitude was adopted by the strictest Muslim scholars in
Bornu which by the loth century had taken the outward forms of an
Islamic State These scholars who criticised their colleagues for holding
institutional offices of the State as imam qâdî or voazîr withdrew away
from the centres of political power and established autonomous religious
communities.2
The Jakhanke might have followed the same scholarly traditions
There are many specific and general studies on religion and politics in Islam
among them GIBB The Evolution of Government in Early in
ID. Studies on the Civilization of Islam London 1962) 34-36 ID. Religion and
Politics in Christianity and in PROCTOR ed. Islam and International
Relations London 1965) 3-23 LAPIDUS The Separation of State and Religion
in the Development of Early Islamic International Journal of Middle
Eastern Studies 1975 363-385 AL-BADR Al-Isläm ïà ulamä l-huk-
käm Islam between the ulama and the Medina 1966)
LAVERS Islam in the Bornu Odu 1971 32-33 ISLAM IN WEST AFRICAN POLITICS 335
when they established autonomous communities in Bambukhu Bondu
and on the Gambia Among the Jakhanke the principle of non-involve
ment in politics was raised to doctrinal level which they considered
essential to their communal cohesiveness and their clerical practice The
Jakhanke adhered to this principle not only when they lived in the midst
of non-Muslim society and under the auspices of non-Muslim State
but also when they established their centre at Touba in Futa Jallon
which was then considered där al-Islâm But as Lamin Sanneh says
the Jakhanke who jealously maintained their pacifism and non-invo-ve-
ment in politics did not refuse to render religious services to their
chiefly patrons by blessing their arms when they went to war and by
offering prayers and amulets for their personal protection and the welfare
of their States.3 In this respect the Jakhanke represent an adjustment
of the general Islamic tradition of withdrawal from politics to the
West African situation in which Muslim clerics had to strike the
balance between the need to establish communications with the domina
ting non-Muslim society and the desire to maintain autonomy and
immunity
The principle of neutrality and non-involvement politics which is
most clearly epitomised in the clerical ethos of the Jakhanke has more
general application throughout West Africa Muslims clerics and traders
were expected to avoid taking sides in political competition within
State and to be strictly neutral when two States were at war.4 It is
because of this neutrality that Muslim traders and itinerary clerics could
move freely across political boundaries even in times of war It was
because of their non-involvement in politics that the Muslims enjoyed
immunity of life