Pride, Faith and Fear

Abstract

Islam is spreading rapidly in sub‐Saharan Africa, home of more than 150 million Muslims. African Islam is local Islam, responsive to local histories in cultures as diverse as the countries considered in this study – Nigeria, Sudan, Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa. Islam provides a source of communal identity to those experiencing rapid change, populations affected by secularization, unemployment, corrupt and ineffectual governments, and the intrusions of global media. The spread of Islam ascends as respect for the state declines. Ironically, the same Muslim believers who rail against Western materialism are keen on adopting the most modern technologies to communicate with members, and to find access to employment and economic opportunities in the West. As for Islamic fundamentalists (Islamists) the danger is that given Africa's porous borders and weak state structures, such groups can move about easily, feeding on popular discontent. Often more political than theological in aspirations, there is no certainty that the Islamist position will advance in Africa. Opposition includes central governments, many of them with Muslims in key positions, and numerous traditional Islamic rulers and brotherhoods, more moderate in outlook. The extent to which imposition of Sharia, traditional Islamic law, is introduced in a country can be a barometer of the extent of Islamic influence. This timely study is based on extensive field research, including oral interviews, the study of contemporary local sources, and historical research by two scholars with long familiarity with the subject.

Afrika – Kontinent der Extreme

“…With each conflict between Muslims and Christians also its perception changes and "religious identity moves up the scale of importance." 61 The ideological positions harden, with fatal consequences in a country with small arms relatively easily available and great numbers of young people without any perspectives at all. If Nigerian politics does not succeed in achieving considerable changes, conflicts will continue and are likely to increase in number and intensity.…”

“…We resolve to preserve the unity of purpose and action in international affairs which we have forged among ourselves in this historic Conference; to safeguard our hard-won independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and to preserve among ourselves the fundamental unity of outlook on foreign policy so that a distinctive African Personality will play its part in co-operation with other peaceloving nations to further the cause of peace. 61 Zahlenmäßig hätte der Casablanca-Entwurf bei der Abstimmung keine Chance gehabt. Die meisten Stimmen wären wohl auf den Monrovia-Entwurf gefallen (19 der 31 anwesenden Staaten waren in dieser Gruppe).…”

“…In Makanna; or, The Land of the Savage, 60 which Pringle criticises as displaying "considerable powers of imagination" and taking "liberties […] with history and geography", 61 Makanna features only as a supporting character in an adventure-driven historical romance centred on the handsome French colonial agent Paul Laroon and Bertha Falkland, the beautiful daughter of the retired Major Falkland. It is precisely Makanna's relegation to the fringes of a story that carries his name -he does not appear until well into the second volume of the narrative -that raises him to the level of a mysterious power secretly pulling the strings in the background.…”

Pre-language cognition, motion event semantics, and the transition from single words to first sentences

“…Quinn (2003) found that by 3 to 4 months of age infants reacted with a novelty preference to visual displays where an object was depicted as above versus below a horizontal line, as long as object identity was constant across trials. By 7 months infants were able to overcome this limitation, reliably distinguishing above versus below even when the object depicted varied (dot, dollar sign, plus sign, etc.…”

“…Because of the capacity for mental representation, a child who has eaten a cookie can imagine that another might be given to replace it. Children's perceptual development begins at birth, research has demonstrated changes in the ability to interpret spatial events over time (e.g., Quinn 2003). The capacity to process absent events requiring mental representation has a later developmental trajectory (e.g., Hakke and Somerville 1985;Piaget and Inhelder 1969).…”