Role religion in African conflicts
Religion in Africa
In the recent past, it has been noted that religion has played a major role in the Africa struggle for independence in the last century. This was not necessarily the African traditional religion but also the conversion of many Africans to Christianity and Islam, which manipulated the Africans to rise against their colonialists. Those who wanted to gain political power would always use the religious leaders to obtain authority. This trend has been observed in the whole of African continent both in history and in the recent past. It has been observed that those in political power always run to the religious element whenever their political influence in the land is threatened by others. This therefore suggests a very strong link between the political and civil conflict in African communities and religion. This is because the political elites will always seek for sympathy from the people they share the same faith with which has been seen to work in many African communities. Religion in Africa has therefore played a major role in the political structures of the societies before and after the colonial period (Kempkey, 2009).
A very good example of the influence of religion on the social structures of a community is in Nigeria which is very rich in culture, Christianity and Islamic religion. For many years, pressure of religion influence on the politics of Nigeria has been evident. This has been as a result of different political elites using different understanding of the doctrines of the society s religion to gain political mirage. Before the rise of colonization in Africa, the Nigerian political system and religion was entwined. However, the interaction of the Nigerian communities with the Europeans has had several consequences on the political structures of the communities (Kempkey, 2009).
Islam has played a major role in Nigeria for many years. The Muslims politicians were more privileged compared to the non Muslims in some parts of Nigeria. It is also believed that this religion was the main architect of the rebellions in the northern parts against the colonialist. Before the whites settled in Nigeria, Islam was well established and was very influential on the politics of the land. Political leaders would use the religious doctrines such as the Muslims Holy War to develop their political careers. The building of schools based on the Muslim religion ensured that education had some effects socially and politically to the people in the region. Therefore, the politics of the land were highly controlled by the religious believes and practices of the people. This led to the institutionalization of Islamic state in Nigeria by Fudi, which resulted into uprising against the other pagan states who were considered to be nonbelievers. When the European came to Nigeria, they established their colonial rule in the community based on these states which were established on religion. The British first extended the Muslim based states to other areas that were not under the Muslim state (Hunwick, 1992).
The British administration in Nigeria was quick to note the influence of religion in Africa and the possibility of conflict if necessary measures were not taken. For this reason, the administrators did not allow the Christian missionaries in the Muslim states especially in the north. They feared of the political impact of trying to convert the Muslims into Christianity which could bring about conflicts. These conflicts, incase they emerged could have been a threat to the stability of British rule in Nigeria. This is because the Muslims viewed Christianity as hostile and as infringement of the religious believes. They related it to culture imperialism and as an outsider s invasion of their land (Kempkey, 2009).
The polarization of Islam and Christianity is believed to be the main cause of all the conflicts and uprising which have been experienced in Nigeria for many decades between the northerners who are generally Muslims and the southerners who are mainly Christians. The British rule however favored the Muslims in the north politically since they had well established political systems based on their religion which was necessary for easy establishment of indirect colonial rule. The British administration s restriction of the Christian missionaries from entering the northern parts of Nigeria was a disadvantage to the north since they were not able to access the western education provided by the missionaries in the south. Moreover, the southern part had an economic advantage over the north due to the interaction with the rest of the world. This growing gap between the two regions has resulted into continuous wave of civil conflicts and uprisings between the north Nigeria and south Nigeria (Kempkey, 2009).
It is however noted that the British special treatment of Muslim in north Nigeria was not uniform. This is when the details of indirect colonial rule in these parts are analyzed. Different colonial administrators differed on their attitude on the religious affiliation of the colonies. Some administrators such as Lord Lugard believed that an attempt to convert Africans into Christianity will bring about disorder and conflict while at the same time viewed Muslims as fanatics of religion. Therefore, the British had a guiding principle of supporting the Muslim they perceived to be good while not recognizing the bad ones.
Though very important, Christianity in Nigeria is not as old as Islam. However, the Christian religion is a major factor in the political structures in Nigeria and politically related conflicts. This is because the missionaries education system had a big impact on the Christian converts. Those educated in this missionary education system have had a big impact in Nigerian history. These educated Nigerians from south dominated the work force of the Nigerian economy as civil servants while the northerners who had no access to western education occupied political positions in the government due to the preferential political treatment by the British administrators. Although the influence of Christianity in the south was not as much as the Islam influence in the north, the conversion of Nigerians into Christianity brought about major changes in the ideas of the people. The Christian missionaries created institutions and legacies which favored the southerners at the expense of the northerners. This indirectly made the polarity between the Muslims in the north and Christians in the south which was created by the colonial administrators even worse. Therefore, the main effect of religion in Nigeria s conflicts is to create political division between the north and the south which has resulted into the recent wave of conflicts (Kempkey, 2009).
The conflict in Rwanda which resulted into genocide is one of the most published massacres in the recent past. However, most scholars are convinced that race was the main cause of the Rwandan conflict and religion was not a major determinant. Recent studies on the possible causes of the massacre indicate that these assumptions were wrong. Religion (that is Christianity) was a major contributor in the conflict that resulted into mass killings of innocent people. It is undisputable that different classes of individuals obtained political influence in Rwanda through the religion which was much politicized. However, it is clear that the church at the time was not a government institution. More over assuming that the church did not play a role in the conflict make it difficult to understand the claims that the Tutsi were more superior compared to the Hutu (Kempkey, 2009).
The establishment of European rule in Rwanda was based on the white missionaries understanding of the African society in the country. The missionaries could assist the administrators in understanding the communities social organization and structures from which they could introduce their indirect rule. Some social scientists argue that the missionaries created ethnic myths and the wrong interpretation of the social structures to the colonialists and the Rwandese which resulted into social misunderstanding. Therefore, the colonialist approached Rwanda as an ethnic society which transformed the originally flexible and accommodative groups into hostile ethnic societies.
By the time the colonial administrators were establishing indirect colonial rule in Rwanda, the catholic priests working as missionaries within the community had brought out the idea that the Tutsi were superior to the Hutu. Therefore, the missionaries were the major architect of the ethnicity in Rwanda which resulted into genocide. The church is believed to have caused the instability of the previously complex and diffuse society living harmoniously. The church is accused to have led to the generation of social classes structured community. On the other hand, the colonial administrators are responsible for the racial identity of the social classes as a result of treating them differently. The administrators could give the presumed more superior Tutsi preference over the less superior Hutu (Kempkey, 2009).
It is evident that the missionary priests were the creators of the social structures and environment which the administrators used to introduce the indirect European rule to the harmonious society in Rwanda. The missionaries together with the European colonizers made the famous Hamitic myth legitimate. The two groups of Europeans, the missionaries and administrators promoted ethnic institutions by dividing the previously harmonious society. This division along ethnic line brought about genocide which left many Hutus and Tutsis dead. As in the case of Nigeria, political power and wealth was as a result of being in control of the government. The Christian church was used by different competing groups in Rwanda to access the government in order to gain power and riches. The schools established by the missionaries all over the country were the main avenues used by different individuals to rise to power. Moreover, the church and the central government worked together where the church provided education while the central government established the quotas based on ethnic groups and the church was expected to strictly abide to them. The church also provided medical care to the communities on behalf of the state. Similar to the situation observed in Nigeria, the church promoted perception of being subjugated and angered between the Tutsi and the Hutu (Hintjens, 1999).
In the first decades of missionary activities in Rwanda, the Tutsi who were less in numbers compared to the Hutu had access to western education. This enabled them to gain power and control within the church and the state. Decades later, other missionaries and colonialists from Belgium arrived in Rwanda and started promoting the Hutu majority. They believed that the other missionaries and colonial administrators were unjust to the Hutu and therefore, their aim was to provide them with means of accessing power which was dominated by the minority who were the Tutsi. On the other, hand the Tutsi had occupied the political position in the state. This resulted into conflict which removed the minority from the political seats. The Tutsi however still believed that the church had an influence in Rwanda and therefore could not let it just go. As the majority Hutu took over political power from them, they dominated the leadership of the church (Kempkey, 2009).
From these two scenarios, it is evident that religion is major factor in major conflicts in Africa. There are many other areas in the continent where religion is considered a major player in the emergence of conflicts. This includes the conflicts currently being experienced in Somalia and Sudan in the eastern part of Africa. The uprisings in Sierra Leone and Liberia were also linked to religion. In some case, religion has been used by militia groups to cause suffering to a rival group in the name of tradition religion practices. This has been observed in the southern Sudan where the Sudanese People Liberation Army has manipulated religion to use it to defend homicide and make it acceptable. The efforts by the international community have however not been successful which has resulted to the established of a Muslim state in Sudan which is the main enemy of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (Bolaji, 2007).
In the above case of Nigeria and Rwanda, the different ways in which the religion of people or a foreign religion can cause animosity between two harmonious communities are observed. In the first scenario, the people of northern Nigeria practiced different religion from the southerners. This was due to the missionaries being restricted from attempting to convert the Muslim into Christianity which could have resulted into instability. In this case the main cause of conflict is the different religious practices which do not accommodate the other religion. The missionaries and the church in general played a major role in the promotion of polarity between the two societies. This is also a major cause of the conflicts experienced in Southern Sudan.
In the second scenario, the Rwandese practiced the same religion. They had same religious believes and values and therefore they are expected to live in harmony. However, the missionaries upon arrival in Rwanda created myths of ethic community and promoted the misconception that one community was superior to the other. These resulted to preferential treatment of one community which in turn institutionalized the ethnic divisions. In an attempt to fight back against the oppression created by the church, the majority Hutu rose against the minority resulting into a massacre.
In both cases, religion is used as an avenue to access power politically. The conflicts in most African countries are as a result of struggle for political powers and influence in the land. These struggle for influence has been greatly influence by religious believes and leaders. Christianity and Islam have manipulated conflicts all over the world, Africa included.
Many people believes that in any community with diverse religious believes and practices, the society is faced with threats of conflicts based on religious believes. This is especially so if the individual members of the society are ignorant or have little information on the religious practice of the other group. However, diverse religion believes and practices do not necessarily cause conflicts. The religion of different grouping may result into conflict in the same way difference in ethnicity or race can cause conflicts. In a community with diverse religion, the minority religious groups will always be less powerful politically. Therefore, the group will most likely concentrate on the threats perceived to be from the more powerful religious group rather than the privileges given to them.
With religion being a possible source of conflict, any event that could activate the animosity should be avoided. Conflicts which are motivated by religious beliefs are very difficult to come up with an amicable solution to solve the underlying problem. This has been the case in some parts of Africa such as Sudan and Somalia. This is because of the establishment of militia group and liberal groups affiliated to religious groups which have caused mass homicide in the name of religion. The role of religion in the structuring of the politics and political leadership of a country under conflict is worth considering in the resolution of conflicts. In many African countries especially those with Islamic religion, the state and the religion are related where the religion of the majority plays a major role in the structures of the state (Seid, 2009).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the religion in Africa has played a major role in the armed conflicts which have been experienced in the past and today. This is because of the linkage of religion to the state. During the colonial period, the colonial administrators were introduced to the African cultures by the missionaries. In the case of the Rwandan genocide, the missionaries created myths about the ethnicity in Rwanda and promoted animosity between the Hutu and the Tutsi community leading to one of the worst homicides in the modern world. However, animosity between communities can be as a result of different religious believes and practices. Therefore, the role of religion in armed conflicts should never be underestimated. The interventions in the African conflict such as the current conflicts in Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and other African countries should reconsider the role played by the religious community.
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