III

PAN-ISLAMISM IN AFRICA

REV. FREIDRICH WÜRZ, BASEL

N speaking of the spread of Islam in Africa we nat

I

urally think at first of the tropical part of the con

tinent, for there Islam is now making its great conquests and there also we can best observe the laws of its progress.1

In two huge fronts, one from the north and one from the east, Islam is advancing to embrace the southern and western parts of Africa. Both are backed by countries where Islam has been at home for more than a thousand years. Behind the eastern front stands Arabia, the very cradle of Islam. There always has been much intercourse between the coasts of Arabia and those of Africa, and today it stretches from the Mediterranean down to Mombasa and Zanzibar, the two widely open doors of East Africa. Both of these places are on the southern side of the Equator, and so almost two-thirds of the whole African east coast are under the influence of Arabia, not to mention the countries farther east. The northern front extends from the shores of the Nile to those of the Atlantic Ocean. It covers almost the whole of the Sudan and is backed by the large countries of Mohammedan North Africa which are among the oldest and most impregnable strongholds of Islam. If we draw on the map a dividing line between Mohammedan and heathen Africa, we find

'Compare the author's article, “Die Ausbreitung des Islam in Afrika," Allgemeine Missions Zeitschrift, 1910, pp. 16-30 and 74-82.

that it stretches from the Atlantic Ocean at Sierra Leone to the Indian Ocean at the mouth of the Zambezi River. Corresponding with the two fronts Islam is advancing in, the line runs in its first part from the west to the east, but in its second part it turns to the south. Of course we must not think that on one side of the line the population is entirely Moslem and on the other side heathen. Instead of speaking of a dividing line we might as well speak of a dividing zone of considerable breadth. And within this zone, roughly speaking, the conquest of Islam is taking place to-day. Behind it in Mohammedan territory, there still remain some heathen peoples which are practically of no importance, while in front of it we find amidst the heathen tribes many colonies of Moslem traders, some of them making scarcely any propaganda, but all of them marking the route for time to come. The proceedings going on within the zone itself are of a very different nature. For instance, in Adamaua, in the north of Kamerun, there are districts where heathen and Mohammedan peoples are living like enemies, the heathen keeping aloof from the Moslems. It is only natural that in cases like this Islam is not making many converts. On the other hand, in Sierra Leone, in Southern Nigeria, in German East Africa and other parts Mohammedans and heathen are living in friendly intercourse and here Islam makes most rapid progress.

The general impression is that Islam is advancing on the whole line. In some parts Islam seems to have reached the limits of its extension, the heathen population knowing of it but declining to adopt it; but this does not prove much. As in Christian missions there are times of preparatory work, showing no palpable success and yet being of the utmost importance, so it is in the spread of Islam. It has not only its time of rapid conquest, but also its time of quiet infiltration. Other

wise it would be impossible to explain the rapid advance among heathen populations the world has seen so often.

It is not only its splendid geographical position that gives Islam its great power; there are other advantages. The races living in the Sudan, almost all of them being Moslems, are more vigorous and more highly developed than the heathen negroes. Among some of them we find great energy, a political creative power, an ability of cooperation, that makes us still think of their great ancestors living centuries ago under the brazen sky of the great Sahara.

It is only natural that the heathen African recognizes the Mohammedan as superior. Next to the European he is the one that brings culture and fortune and higher position to those connected with him. This influence is strongly nourished by the fact that almost all trade of the interior is in the hands of the Hausa, Mandingo and other Mohammedan peoples, living in the countries of the Niger, the Benue and Lake Chad. We are apt to think lightly of the inland trade, being concerned primarily with the European commerce of the African coasts, but it holds its independent position and even now is of considerable importance. It includes everything African peoples are giving each other; formerly slaves, now gold, salt, iron and leather wares, and last not least the much-sought cola-nut. The transport of that fruit alone occupies thousands of people. It is evident that the continual communication between the Mohammedan tradesman and the negro tribes is not only a mercantile one. In importing his goods, he is also giving his higher culture and his religion. While this is true of the Western Sudan and adjacent countries, we find similar conditions in tropical East Africa. Here the inland trade does not take a very important position. Islam has not been able to win and use for its purpose

strong native races like those of the Western Sudan. Its chief representatives have been foreigners, such as Arabs and Indians. Nevertheless on the whole the Mohammedan holds the same position as in the West. He is respected by the natives as the wealthy, self-confident, influential man, although it never yet has been proved that Islam really has an uplifting force as far as material or mental culture is concerned.

In looking about for another ally of Islam, we find the European colonial governments. Strange as this statement may sound, we must still add to its strangeness by confessing that we are already so much accustomed to the fact that it hardly causes any astonishment to hear of the partiality governments are showing to Islam. Of course when first taking possession of the country, they had to overcome the political ascendency of the Moslem rulers, such as the Fulbe in the Western Sudan and the Arabs in the East, or else they would not have become masters of their colonies; but later on, under the peaceful rule of Great Britain, France, and Germany, it became clearer and clearer that the new order of things was very advantageous to the spread of Islam. The Mohammedan was no longer the feared and hated slavehunter. He was able to deal with the heathen in a free and friendly manner, and so, although the times when he might have forced the African to accept his creed had passed, the influence of Islam was not subdued but rather strengthened. It is a fact that Islam is now coming into contact with countries and tribes which were formerly barred to it.

The favour of government towards Islam is not always involuntary. Colonial governments often prefer to employ Moslems. At the Fourth German Colonial Congress held at Berlin in October, 1910, Missions Inspector Axenfeld, speaking of East Africa, said: "Wherever the

European goes, Islam is following. There is no military post without Mohammedan soldiers, hardly a place of government without Mohammedan subalterns and servants, hardly a plantation where the Mohammedan tradesman does not open his shop." As to the partiality of the government of Northern Nigeria against missions we need but refer to the report of Commission VII of the World Missionary Conference, 1910.' As a further illustration we add an incident that happened in one of the government schools in the hinterland of Sierra Leone. The scholars of that school belong to different tribes; some of them are already Mohammedans while others doubtless pagans. Because of neutrality no lectures on Christian doctrine are given, but there are lessons in Arabic. We do not need to ask to what purpose. The school committee consists entirely of Moslems. It happened that some of the Mohammedan fathers felt uneasy about pictures of living creatures shown in object lessons. To remove this stumbling-block the government of the colony did not fail to lay the matter, through the Colonial Office at London, before high Mohammedan authorities in Constantinople, Cairo and India, upon whose approval the Mohammedan fathers found their peace of soul again! Everybody will understand how proceedings like this will strengthen the self-conceit of the Moslems.

So far we have been speaking of outside influences promoting Mohammedan propaganda. The question now arising is, whether that propaganda is intentional. The answer is difficult. The living forces of Moslem propaganda are so different from those in Christian missions, that we easily commit the fault either of overvaluing or of underrating their power. Of organization there is probably less than we imagine. These people know lit1 Vol. VII, p. 59.