Islam in Rwanda

Islam was first introduced into Rwanda by Muslim traders from the East Coast of Africa in the 18th century. Since its introduction, Muslims have been a minority in the territory, while the Roman Catholic Church, introduced to Rwandans during the Belgian Invasion, occupation and colonisation by French missionaries in the late 19th century has considerably more adherents.

For the first time in its history in Rwanda, Islam is accorded the same rights and freedoms as Christianity. Estimates show that there are equal numbers of Muslims amongst the Hutus as there are amongst the Tutsis. cite web
last = Klusener
first = Rainer
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Islam in Rwanda
work =
publisher = United States Institute of Peace
date = May 2005
url = http://www.usip.org/muslimworld/bulletin/2005/may.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = ] The estimates can't be verified since in the wake of the genocide, the government has banned all discussion of ethnicity in Rwanda.

History

Compared to east African countries like Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, the history of Islam in Rwanda is relatively modern. While a few written sources are available regarding its origins, it is claimed that Islam came through Arab merchants who first entered the country in 1901. Others say that Islam came when Europeans brought in Muslim clerks, administrative assistants, and merchants, from the Swahili-speaking coast of Tanzania. Islam was also bolstered by Muslim merchants from India, who married local Rwandans. Rwandans built their first mosque in 1913. cite web
last = Klusener
first = Rainer
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Islam in Rwanda
work =
publisher = United States Institute of Peace
date = May 2005
url = http://www.usip.org/muslimworld/bulletin/2005/may.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = ] This mosque is known as the al-Fatah mosque. [Rodrique Ngowi. "Rwandan Muslims". Associated press.]

During its history, many efforts were made to impede the spread of Islam in Rwanda. These efforts generally exploited anti-Arab sentiment, and presented Muslims as foreigners. Catholic missionaries often went to great lengths to counter what they perceived influence of rival religions, such as Islam and Protestantism.cite journal
last = Kubai
first = Anne
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Walking a Tightrope: Christians and Muslims in Post-Genocide Rwanda
journal = Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
volume =18
issue = 2
pages = 219–235
publisher = Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group
location =
date = April 2007
doi = 10.1080/09596410701214076
id =
accessdate = ]

Muslims were further marginalized by the fact that most Muslims settled in urban areas, whereas 90 percent of the population was rural. As neither Arab nor Indian merchants ever attempted to further their faith, there was little spirit of preaching amongst Muslims. Only a few conversions took place, mostly amongst the marginalized urban population: women who had married foreigners, illegitimate children and orphans. Even these conversion were sometimes superficial, motivated by desire for social and economic security that Muslims provided, than for religious conviction in the Islamic faith.cite journal
last = Bulabubi
first = S. Bakatu
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Review: L'Islam et les "Swahili" au Rwanda
journal = Journal of Religion in Africa
volume = 21
issue = 2
pages = 176–177
publisher =
location =
date = May, 1991
url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4200%28199105%2921%3A2%3C176%3ALEL%22AR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2
doi =
id =
accessdate = ]

Under the Belgian administration, Muslims in Rwanda were to some extent marginalized. Since Muslims had no place in the Catholic church, which maintained great influence over the state, Muslims were often excluded from education and important jobs in the government. As a result Muslim employment was largely confined to engaging in petty trade, and taking up jobs as drivers.cite journal
last = Kubai
first = Anne
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Walking a Tightrope: Christians and Muslims in Post-Genocide Rwanda
journal = Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
volume =18
issue = 2
pages = 219–235
publisher = Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group
location =
date = April 2007
doi = 10.1080/09596410701214076
id =
accessdate = ]

In 1960, the former government minister Sebazungu ordered the burning of the Muslim quarter and the mosque in Rwamagana. Following this event, Muslims were terrified and many of them fled to neighbouring countries. It is alleged that the Catholic Church was involved in these events, which aggravated the bitterness between Muslims and Christians.

Before the 1994 Genocide, Muslims were held in low regard, because they were seen as traders, in a land where farmers are highly regarded. The Muslim population before the genocide was 4% which was unusually low compared to that of neighbouring countries.

Rwandan genocide

During the Rwandan genocide, Muslims were not the main target of the genocide and they were also able to shield some non-Muslim Tutsis. According to Marc Lacey of "The New York Times", the safest place during the genocide was a Muslim neighborhood. In Kigali, many of Rwanda's Muslims crowded together in the Biryogo neighborhood. When Hutu militias surrounded the place, Hutu Muslims did not cooperate with the Hutu killers. The Hutu Muslims say that they felt far more connected through religion than through ethnicity, and Muslim Tutsi were spared.cite news
last = Lacey
first = Marc
coauthors =
title = Ten Years After Horror, Rwandans Turn to Islam
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = The New York Times
date = April 7, 2004
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/international/africa/07RWAN.html?ex=1396756800&en=e0838186e9f4832f&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
accessdate = ] While some Hutu Muslims saved most Muslim Tutsis, they also saved the lives of thousands of Christian Tutsis as well. Most Imams spoke out publicly against the killings, urging their congregations to not partake in the . Nevertheless, one Muslim, Hassan Ngeze, incited Hutus to violence and broadcast names of Tutsis to murder.

There were only a few incidents in which Tutsis in mosques were attacked. The most widely known example occurred at Nyamirambo Main Mosque, where hundreds of Tutsi had gathered to take refuge. The refugees in the mosque fought off Hutu militias with stones, bows and arrows, putting up stiff resistance against the soldiers and militiamen of the Interahamwe. Only once the soldiers attacked with machine gun fire were the Interahamwe able to enter the mosque and kill the refugees.

In some cases Hutus were afraid of searching Muslim quarters for Tutsis. The widely believed myths that both Muslims and their mosques were protected by the power of highly efficacious Islamic magic, and the fear of the jinn (creatures of fire mentioned in the Qur'an), turned out to have saved the lives of Tutsis who sought refuge with Muslims. In one case, a mosque was set ablaze in Cyangugu, but the arsonists ran away instead of destroying the mosque and its inhabitants because they believed jinn were inside the mosque. In some cases when a Muslim was inclined towards killing, one Tutsi testifies : "If a Hutu Muslim tried to kill someone hidden in our neighbourhoods, he would first be asked to take the Qur'an and tear it apart to renounce his faith. No Muslim dared to violate the Holy Book and that saved a lot of us."

Post-genocide

"See also Aftermath of the Rwandan genocide"

The Western media and Muslim websites have reported that the number of Rwandan Muslims increased substantially after the 1994 Genocide due to the conversion of Christians. Personal accounts explain the conversions as being due to the sheltering of refugees, both Hutu and Tutsi, in Muslim villages and suburbs, and the general refusal by Muslims to take part in the killings, in contrast to many cases of Catholic priests who abandoned their parishes, the slaughter that often took place in churches where people had sought shelter, the support the Catholic hierarchy gave to the government during the genocide, and in some cases the active involvement of both Catholic and Protestant clergy in the genocide, though there has been at least one case of a Muslim leader inciting genocide. Many Hutu converted to avoid the stigma they felt after the genocide. Conversions tapered off in 1997 once the new government was able to guarantee security, but Islam still attracts smaller numbers of converts. The Catholic Church is attempting to attract Muslim converts back, but admits that it has lost the trust of many Rwandans.cite news
author = Emily Wax
title = Islam Attracting Many Survivors of Rwanda Genocide
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53018-2002Sep22.html
publisher = The Washington Post
location = Washington, D.C.
page = A10
date= 2002-11-23
accessdate = 2007-12-04] cite news
author = Robert Walke
title = Rwanda's religious reflections
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3561365.stm
publisher = BBC
date= 2004-4-01
accessdate = 2008-08-23] [ [http://www.islamawareness.net/Fastest/rwanda2.html Times Daily] ] Tiemessen, Alana (2005) " [http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2005/tiemessen.pdf From Genocide to Jihad: Islam and Ethnicity in Post-Genocide Rwanda] ." Paper presented at the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, London, Ontario.]

Activities

Many Rwandan Muslims are engaged in efforts to heal ethnic tensions after the genocide, are Islamic groups are reaching out to the disadvantaged, for example by forming women's groups that provide education on child care. Western governments have worried over the growing influence of Islam, and some government officials have express concern that some of the mosques receive funding from Saudi Arabia. However, there is little evidence of militancy. Pakistani militants who have attempted to take over one mosque were kicked out.

The Muslim religious holiday Eid al-Fitr is observed by the government as one of the four religious official holiday (alongside Christmas, All Saints' Day, and Assumption). Muslims also operate private Islamic schools. In 2003, the US Embassy oversaw the renovations of an Islamic secondary school in Kigali. Embassy leaders also met with Muslim leaders, alongside members of Catholic and Anglican Churches, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, to hold interfaith talks. [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2003/23746.htm Rwanda - International Religious Freedom Report 2003] , "2003 Report on International Religious Freedom".]

Rwanda used to have a religious political party, the Democratic Islamic Party (PDI), with non-Muslim members. However, it changed its name to Ideal Democratic Party, after the constitution mandated no party may be formed on the basis of religion.

Population

There is a considerable range in the estimates of the Muslim population of Rwanda. No accurate census of the Muslim population has been done.cite news
last = Lacey
first = Marc
coauthors =
title = Ten Years After Horror, Rwandans Turn to Islam
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = The New York Times
date = April 7, 2004
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/international/africa/07RWAN.html?ex=1396756800&en=e0838186e9f4832f&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
accessdate = ]

ee also

* Religion in Rwanda

References