Islam in North Africa

As the fall-out from the Arab Spring continues to hit North Africa, the Arabic Section of Vatican Radio has issued a statement to assess the situation. The analysis looks at the role of Islam in the changes in the region, and how it will affect the Christian minority.

Below is the full text:

Islam in North Africa
The West looks with great concern towards North Africa, with the changes in the countries marked by the so-called “Arab Spring”. This has led to the downfall of totalitarian regimes which once seemed untouchable! All this is about very complex movements, not only in the societies where it happens, but also involves struggles regarding international interests. Will the populations be able to “control the situation” and direct the changes to their common good? The situation is very complex. These very young democracies have entrusted the power to parties of Islamic matrix, and have come out with new realities causing alarm, especially among the youth, and in the Christians locally. One only needs to look at the results of the last elections in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco (a country not rocked by the Arab Spring but advancing seriously on the paths of reform through the will of King Mohammed VI).
These scenarios lead us to look at Islam and its spread in North Africa, taking into account the fact that the Christian presence goes back to six centuries before the birth of Islam, and that the Christian communities (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) are part and parcel of the local social fabric, a significant part of the cultural richness of the Countries and of the Region, and cannot be considered as a “foreign” body, or a “presence” affiliated to “something” western, as often seen by fundamentalist Islamic movements, motivated by ignorance or political interests!
North Africa is a land of very ancient evangelisation. In particular, what is modern Algeria has given rise to outstanding figures of Christianity like Tertullian, Cyprian, Saint Augustine, Fulgentius and Facundus. All this will disappear in 1152 with the Muslim conquest begun in 709. The Maghreb became predominantly Islamic, while in other zones in Africa, Islam has coexisted with other systems of local religion, albeit not always in a peaceful mode.
Islam has a predominant place in the African continent, even south of the Sahara, with its capacity to create a religious climate in such a way as to induce one easily to convert. Furthermore, such a religion is not only a religious phenomenon, but also cultural, because it opens the doors to the rich Arabic-Muslim culture. On top of this, at a time when the ties between individuals and big families are becoming more and more distant, Islam plays a significant social role, where the Muslim easily finds support and assistance from fellow Muslims since social class distinction is practically absent in this religion.
Islam has developed its original and “personalised” profile to enter various local contexts: The Egyptian region, where Arabic-Islamic culture has been nurtured for so long, becoming a model for so many other countries, even though Christians, particularly Coptic, are very well present. The Maghreb region, where the laborious Arab-Berber merger and the decisive colonial encounter-confrontation with the French have given rise to an Arabic westernised Islam, open and conservative at the same time, with a tendency to intransigence, with a religious solidarity either in the classic confraternity model or in modern associations. The Nile region, where the research of fusion between the Arabic and African cultures continues to generate religious and political turmoil.
In Morocco. The majority of Moroccans belong to Islam. Apart from the Muslims in Morocco, there are some 60 thousand Catholics, mostly French, and 15 thousand Jews. Even though the king is considered as a descendant of the Prophet and “Commander of the Faithful”, the legislation is secular enough, in particular with a code of family law (Mudawana), modified in 2004, which gives far greater protection to women than other predominantly Muslim States with Islamic law as their legal basis. The same can be said for alcoholic consumption, which although forbidden under Quran law, is not punished by Moroccan law. Furthermore, the western calendar is used in more important or touristic cities: for example, Sunday is the day of rest, not Friday.
In Algeria, the population is mainly Muslim (about 99%). The remaining 1% is made up of Catholics and Jews. The Catholic Church has one Archdiocese and three dioceses, and there are about five thousand Catholics.
In Tunisia, about 98% of the population is of Muslim faith. Apart from the Jews (1%), there exists a small group of Christians (1%), mostly French and Italian descendants.
In Libya, Islam has been declared State religion in 1970. The Muslims (mostly Sunnis) are about 97%, and the Christians about 3%, of whom there are about 40 thousand Catholics. The majority of the Arabic and Arabic-Berber population is Sunni.
In Egypt, the majority of the population is Muslim, with a percentage between 90 and 80%, depending on the sources of information; the remaining 10-20% are mainly Christian, of whom the major part belongs to the Coptic Church; there are tiny minorities of Jews (what remains of a very ancient flourishing community until mid-20^th Century), of Bahá’ís, and of atheists or agnostics. In Egypt, there is also a Catholic community, belonging mainly to the Catholic Coptic Church which cut itself from the Orthodox Coptic Church and is in communion with the Church of Rome. The Catholic communities are the fruit of the work of Franciscan friars, then of Capuchins, who founded a mission in Cairo in 1630, followed by the Jesuits in 1675. In 1824, the Holy See created a Patriarchate for the Catholic Copts, but this was only on paper. The Ottoman authorities allowed the Catholic Copts to build their own churches as from 1829. The Muslim population in Egypt is mainly Sunni with a Shiite minority. According to the Constitution, a State Minister controls the mosques, the formation of imams (following the Hanafi Sunni School) and Al-Azhar University, the most famous in Sunni Islam; on the other hand, no new civil law can be contrary to the laws of Islam.
Africa can become an example for the rest of the world in terms of peaceful coexistence and interreligious dialogue, especially with Islam. The experience of dialogue between religions is a daily one in Africa, in all spheres and at all levels. Religion in Africa, “is not something separate from the other activities of life. It is a way of life”, thus underlined Msgr. Isizoh, member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The dialogue is based on life and collaboration, “in which every person expresses the ideals of his religion: be good neighbours, honest, show concern for those in difficulty, put money and skills to serve the common good of the village, participate in decision-making for the progress of society, strive to fight against criminality”.
In the Post-Synod Apostolic Exhortation “Africae Munus”, Pope Benedict XVI focuses on interreligious dialogue in the continent and writes: “I call upon the Church, in every situation, to persist in esteem for Muslims, who “worship God who is one, living and subsistent; merciful and almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, who has also spoken to humanity.” If all of us who believe in God desire to promote reconciliation, justice and peace, we must work together to banish every form of discrimination, intolerance and religious fundamentalism. In her social apostolate, the Church does not make religious distinctions. She comes to the help of those in need, be they Christian, Muslim or animist. In this way she bears witness to the love of God, creator of all, and she invites the followers of other religions to demonstrate respect and to practise reciprocity in a spirit of esteem. I ask the whole Church, through patient dialogue with Muslims, to seek juridical and practical recognition of religious freedom, so that every citizen in Africa may enjoy not only the right to choose his religion freely and to engage in worship, but also the right to freedom of conscience. Religious freedom is the road to peace”.
The position of the Catholic Church is clear. But the challenge facing the various components of society is to elaborate a model of civil society rooted in the riches of culture and religious traditions, that express the dignity of every person, which is part of the larger civil society and of the structures of the States of the Region.
From the Arabic desk of Vatican Radio