On the one hand, I was somewhat surprised by Sperling’s essay, “Islam and the Religious Dimension of Conflict in Kenya” (Sperling). On the other hand, I found many similarities between the internal “religious” conflicts in Kenya as described by Sperling and numerous conflicts throughout history.
My prior impression of Islam in Africa was that Islam was the state religion, one that controlled the government and in turn was centrally administered. This impression was formed by my knowledge of the status of Islam in countries such as Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. However, these countries differ from Kenya in that they are North African, while Kenya is located in eastern central Africa bordering the Indian Ocean. More importantly, the other countries mentioned are overwhelmingly Muslim, with Islam as the state religion, whereas Kenya is religiously pluralistic, with Muslims being in the minority.
However, I was not surprised by Sperling’s description of disputes between differing Muslim sects. Sperling noted that the control of Islam in Kenya is more of a local affair than the centralized control in Arabic Muslim nations. The struggle to control a mosque committee and the right to appoint the imam is not very different from that seen in many Christian denominations in the United States where control of the church or parish is decentralized. Significantly, these internecine struggles are seen much less frequently in the Roman Catholic Church, which has a powerful, centralized administration in Rome. However, doctrinal differences are only a small part of these disputes, since there is ethnic diversity among different Muslim sects in Kenya. For example, different languages, ethnicities and secular customs exist between the Somali and Swahili communities. Different organizational structures of Islam exist between those Muslims on the Indian Ocean coast, who present more of a united front, and those of the interior, who are more scattered.
It was also not surprising that Sperling noted that the disputes, whether between Islamic sects or between Islam and Christianity or Islam and the government, while called “religious” conflicts, were motivated to only a minor degree by theological or doctrinal differences and to a larger degree by economic, ethnic, cultural, political or ideological considerations. The English civil wars in the seventeenth century, ostensibly pitting Puritans against Anglicans, were actually struggles between parliamentarians and monarchists over the preferred form of government. The centuries-old conflict between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Ireland was more motivated by the struggle for jobs, land, and the right to hold office than by theological doctrinal differences. The interminable struggle between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, while in part motivated by that portion of Islamic theology that brands non-Muslims as infidels, currently involves land carved out of Muslim states in 1948 to form the nation of Israel.
Struggles with government, while ostensibly concerning what are perceived as laws limiting the practice of Islam, concern matters that have a secular aspect as well, such as dietary laws, dress, places to pray, marriage laws, laws concerning inheritance and the right to follow a separate Islamic law. Sperling also noted that land disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims, while they may involve sacred ground upon which mosques and Muslim cemeteries may stand, are also not solely theologically based, since land disputes are endemic in Kenya.
Strangely, while there have been clashes between Islamic and Christian factions
in Kenya, even some involving the burning of churches by Muslims, Muslim and Christian leaders have found common ground. Both groups support a number of charitable endeavors, while opposing family planning initiatives.
Finally, it appears that there is no strong support for the Islamic Party of Kenya, which has received most of its support from the disenfranchised, such as the unemployed and the youth. The party has so little national support that it has not even managed to become registered.
In conclusion, Islam as a theological doctrine does not appear to be the driving force behind disputes among Muslim sects, Muslims and Christians or Muslims and the government. Rather, cultural, social, ethnic, political and other secular differences that collaterally attach to the various groups are the major factors behind these disputes.
Works Cited
Sperling, David C. “Islam and the Religious Dimension of Conflict in Kenya.” Tulane
University Law School’s Payson Center for International Development. 16 Feb. 2012. Web.
