AFRICANEWS

AFRICA

Islam's Challenge

Islam is on a steady resurgence taking advantage of its simple hierarchy unlike Christianity where senior members of the church reign supreme. Our correspondent explains why Christians have an inbuilt fear of Islam's resurgence and what they should do to match.

The resurgence of Islam in East Africa cannot be overlooked. It is visible not only in traditional Islam lands but also in countries where only recently it was virtually unknown. Even where the actual number of Muslims is tiny, Islam is everywhere highly visible and audible. Throughout East Africa there are thousands of mosques, in villages and towns, amplifying the call to prayer; Islamic universities, schools, dispensaries and cultural centres; Islamic TV programmes, video and newspapers; Islamic political parties or organisations; Islamic banks and institutions and Islamic dress.

Muslims take new pride in their religion and way of life. They claim a greater role in society and display great zeal to convert others to Islam. The proclaimed aim of the Islamic Mission Call, Da'wa Al-Islamiya, is to make Africa Islamic by the year 2000.

Islam is a very complex reality containing many opposing elements. Fundamentalists preach a literal return to the strict interpretation of Shari'a and reject all Western values. Most moderate Muslims seek to accommodate modernity into their religious belief. Nor do all Muslims agree on missionary strategies. Some aim at an immediate and violent political take-over; others want to make the Muslim community grow through conversion. All want Islam to become the leading force in Africa and the world in the next millennium.

Christians have an in-built fear of Islam and their reactions go from anxiety or panic to explaining Islamic revival away in terms of petrol-dollars. Neither fear nor illusion is a good guide to creative action. If anything, Islamic revival is a challenge to Christianity's complacency and shows up the weakness and shortcomings of our evangelising efforts.

A realistic survey of the situation will help determine more effective strategies of evangelisation.

Factors favouring Islamic Revival

Western economic domination has replaced political and military domination. In many African minds "West" (wrongly) equals "Christian" and Christianity can be portrayed as a part of Africa's problems.

The combination of imposed neo-liberal economic policies and domestic political corruption has produced a small pampered elite, a depressed middle class and misery for the mass of the population. The starving are a ready prey to anybody offering an alternative to their plight.

A young secularised generation in the West dismisses a century of missionary effort in Africa as cultural domination and are unwilling to support it financially. Meanwhile petrol-dollars have put immense wealth into the hands of Arab rulers ready to invest lavishly in Islam's missionary effort.

Traditional taboos have disappeared, replaced only partially by Christianity. Highly publicised sexual or financial scandals involving Christian leaders have lessened Christianity's moral credibility. In the face of moral chaos Shari'a can be effectively presented as an attractive alternative to social and moral collapse. Foreign TV and video tend to alienate Africans from their cultural roots and destroy a personal and communal sense of identity. Islam projects itself to the culturally and spiritually uprooted as the religion of Africa battling against Western cultural domination who often fail to recognise Islam itself is used to promote Arab cultural domination.

Western secular values have separated the secular and the sacred. Islam, fusing religion and politics, is nearer to the traditional African concepts of society.

Under the impact of the West political and family solidarity have been greatly weakened. Islam promises to restore a sense of belonging. Islamic fundamentalism, like fundamentalism of any kind, "returns to basics" and offers security to the anxious.

The young want freedom. Our highly centralised form of Christianity appeals less than Islam, which has fewer structures, no priestly class, and offers a superficially strict code but one which, in East Africa at least, is only leniently and tolerantly enforced.

Contrary to public opinion Islam offers a fair amount of rights to women, though in practise women can be extremely oppressed. Some women see Islamic culture as a protection from Western promiscuity and commercialisation of sex.

But the dice are not necessarily loaded in favour of Islam.

The African Synod: A Powerful Pastoral Response

Education has been a pillar of missionary activity in East Africa, but must deepen our students' religious knowledge and commitment. Under the Structural Adjustment Programmes education in East Africa is no longer free or well subsidised. Islamic Institutions offer temptingly free education, including the dream of education overseas while our own Catholic universities have to charge high fees to survive. The same is true of our health care system and other social services. Are we fully a sharing church ready to live up to our commitment to social justice?

Against the background of the political threat from Islam, catholics must shake off their inherited passivity and become politically aware and involved in the struggle for democracy. The best contribution the church can make is to give the example of involving the whole community in decision making.

In the financial field we need to examine how we use the available funds, to show more accountability in our development projects. Money is not always the answer to problems but rather educating Catholics to a sense of responsibility, co-operation and hard work. Poverty at times forces catholics to get married into better-off Muslim families. Helping Catholics to be economically more independent increases their margin of choice.

The African Synod was on the right lines when it called for evangelization to begin from within, showing how the Gospel can become a transforming power in our homes, communities, schools and colleges. It calls for a shift from "sacramental maintenance of individuals" to building up living and outgoing Christian communities, training a responsible, gospel-based laity. Seminaries should produce evangeliser, not just theologians and administrators. We must move beyond theorising about inculturation. We have to involve qualified lay people as well as theologians.

The Church is now more deeply involved in social and economic and political issues. As these problems affect everybody they offer the opportunity to work with Muslims for social justice and prove our sincerity by defending Muslim minorities, especially in Europe. But where Muslims themselves are oppressing other religious minorities we have to defend human rights and religious rights following the example of the courageous Sudanese bishops.

The Synod calls us to go beyond more tolerance and to initiate respectful dialogue with other religions. Here we must encourage the "dialogue of life", respecting rites and ceremonies and feasts. Our catechesis must be reformed and stress what is common to both faiths while making christians aware of the depth of their own faith. True dialogue can come only from the conviction that the Spirit of Jesus is at work in every human person.

Finally, what are we to think of the religious revival of Islam, so visible in the courage of Muslims as they pray in public, in the crowd flocking to Friday prayers, in their missionary zeal? Why should this worry us? Should we not rather be glad to see people finding their way back to prayer and worship and moral living?

The Muslim commitment to prayer and fasting could make us question our own lax and lukewarm religious and moral attitudes, and help us to be more wholehearted Christians. A genuine Islamic revival can be a challenge and a grace for Christians.

| CONTENTS | AFRICANEWS HOMEPAGE |

AFRICANEWS - Koinonia Media Centre, P.O. Box 8034, Nairobi, Kenya
tel/fax: 254.2.560385 - e-mail: [email protected]
AFRICANEWS on line is by Enrico Marcandalli