Islamic NGOs in Chad
Kaag, M.M.A.
Citation
Kaag, M. M. A. (2005). Islamic NGOs in Chad. Isim Review, 16, 30. Retrieved from
https://hdl.handle.net/1887/9546
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Leiden University Non-exclusive license
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At the Grassroots
, r-jh&a&'v?' ~ '
Islamic NGOs
in Chad
Stude
in Inde
MAYKE KAAG The image of an European development worker sittmg under a tree m an African village conversmg with members of the local population is a familiär scène Much less familiär is the scène of a Saudi aid worker m a similar situation On an after noon m April 2004 a team of the Makka al Mukarrama Foundation (Foundation of the Holy City of Makkah) visited the village of Koumi in southern Chad The
Foundations director addressed the assembled men and expressed his satisfaction that a large number of the population had turned to Islam As a reward the Foundation was wiihng to finance the building of a mosque and a madrasa The men from Koumi and the surroundmg villages ex pressed their gratitude most eloquently while the women and children followed the event from a distance After the afternoon prayer the team departed in their 4x4$
The Makka al Mukarrama Foundation is one of the eleven transna tional Islamic NGOs—which include one übyan three Sudanese one Kuwaiti and six Saudi organizations—that have been workmg in Chad over the last two decades While transnational Islam is often written about with a focus on migration networks or questions of belongmg based on being Muslim m Europe thèse Arab NGOs provide a good ex ample of alternative ways m which transnational islam ts being shaped In combining matenal aid with proselytizing activities their work is embedded m ideas about transnational solidanty and thé importance of enhancmg thé ummah thé global community of the faithful They
Transnational Islamic NGOs have recently
become targets m the War on Terror for
their allégea rôle in supporting terronsm
by channelling funds to terrorist groups.
Yet for a long time these organizations have
been workmg on the ground m Africa and
eisewhere combining charity with proselytizing
a et i vi 11 es, as illustrated by thé case of Arab
Islamic NGOs m Chad.
A team of generally dissemmate a Salafist "brand" of Isiam and m so domg link thé Makka local believers to other parts of the Muslim world These organizations al-Mukarrama can therefore be constdered both an expression of and a vehicle for Foundation transnational Islam
visits thé village As far as matenaf aid is concerned most organizations mvest m the care ofKoumim of orphans by etther sponsoring orphanages or through programmes southern Chad, for orphans who live with their relatives They build mosques sponsor April 2004. schools and teachers and intervene m health care activités such as or
ganizing health caravans or running hospitals Their missionary activités are directed towards Muslims who m thé eyes of thèse organizations hâve only a very hrnited knowledge of Islam This implies a kind of re Islamtzation with an accent on proper" dress and behaviour and on knowledge of thé Quran and thé Arabie language In thé south of Chad
which is predommantly Christian and ammist thé missionary activées are first and foremost directed towards thé non Muslim population Organisations such as Makka al Mukarrama trie Ku waiti Agence des Musulmanes d Afrique (AMA) and al Muntada al Islamiyya (Is lamic Gathermg) hâve centres for récent convertis. One of the stratégies involves sendmg preachers to thé villages Those village men who show an interest m becoming Muslim are brought to their centres where they receive room and board for one to mne months while they take a course on Islam After thé course they return to their villages and start spreadmg thé message themselves Another strategy is to approach local power holders as it is assumed that if they convert their family and partisans will foliow suit Part of the incentive process can include the offering of présents or money thé promise of an airlme ticket to Makkah or a community project
In Chad Arab islamic NGOs may benefit from thé fact that since thé Northerners seized power m thé 1980s thé Muslims have corne to domi nate thé political social and économie situation and state authorities are likely to receive them favourably The fact that Islam is associated with power and success means that there is a category of people who are open to their Islamizing message On thé other hand m a situation m which re ligion is highly politicized and where a sharp polanzation exisîs between thé Muslim North and thé Christian South their intervention is a sensitive issue and may add to thé tensions between thé différent groups partie ularly in thé south Rivalry between Christian and Islamic NGOs is par ticuiarly acute m îhis région The Chadian Muslim establishment which predommantly belongs to theTidjamyya Sufi order is not always happy with thé Arab NGOs while thé latter are welcomed as helpmg to further thé Muslim case their interventions are aiso partly perceived as a threat to Sufi authority Rivalry isusually not overt or confrontational andsome collaboration between thé Muslim Council and thé Arab NGOs exists
Transnational islamic NGOs hâve become mcreasmgly visible m Chad as they build large clearly marked educational centres and mosques and raise their banners whenever they organize activities This visibil ity however must not be taken at face value In thé capital N Djamena smoothly running centres do exist but in thé countryside many mosques are never open and integrated centres often suffer from a lack of staff and fmancmg Conversions tend to be rather superficial since thé reinforcing mechamsms needed to make thèse conversions last are not in place By themselves thé activities of thèse NGOs hâve a hmited impact The rea! importance of Arab Islamic NGOs relates to thé fact that they are part of broader processes of Islamization and Arabization Through their visibil S ity and finançai and other opportunités they provide thèse NGOs enlist £ supporters who profit from them and ride thé wave Their ultimatelypo =. litical importance relates to the fact that they represent and are part of a
larger phenomenon of Islamization and Arabization that dependmg on ones point of référence is either dangerous or désirable
Note
1 R Grlto Islam and Transnat onal sm
Journal ofEthn c and M grat on Stud es 30
no 5 (2004) 861 878
Mayke Kaag s a researcher at the African Studies Centre m Leiden the Netherlands Email kaag@fswleidenununivnl
RobertW Hefnerinarecentarticle f1
hm democrats and Islamist violenc post Soerharto Indonésie laments fact that Indonésie s democratie achi ments may never be widely recogn because the movement for a democ Muslim politics was soon overshado by a rash of sectanan violence"2
main challenge for Indonesias mode and democratie Muslims accordin Hefner has been the move topacify es of the Mushm community One w for educated Mushrns to demonstr« racy and pluralism and pose as rok esses of democratization occur une different segments of society, but st vanguard of social and political cha a prominent rôle in the struggle for
Plurality m a student assc
One exampie of what a democi practice can be found among the m gest Islamic student association tr HM1 wasfounded inYogyakarta tn issue of whether to give in to the | Islamic basis of the organization wi HMI MPO is the fraction that stood conséquence was forced to go une is a cadre training organization th and mtellectual training of mem!: ing courses and informa! discussie try with thirty eight branches spre branch is the biggest branch with forty two secrétariats (komisanat} The sheer number of members giv the fact that Yogyakarta has a repui spinted and mtellectually innovatn the expectation that the Yogyakart the political and ideological leade
HM! MPO has a decentrahzed s my at the branch tevel where a gre are known for their mtellectual o better known for their reltgious o large degree of expérimentation and it is generally understood tha ous reasons Some are in search o whereas others are attracted by t cal leadersh p training or the soc of the organization has two unsta abie students to reflect on politica neo capitalism social injustice rr socialism and to endow them wit present their viewpomts The orga art of critical reflection and argurr cuit to acqu re alone within the no authontanan"yes rnan culture stil The notion that HMI MPO func cal and rel gious discussions is no this to be a dominant aspect of a f1
the idea of HMI MPO as a place of students and givesthem a chana dents of different religieus or poi
