William andrew kopwe the open university of tanzania

4.5 Influence of Sharī’a Discourses in Christian-Muslims Relations

Muslims’ demands for Sharī’a implementation in the Country and the discourses surrounding it have affected Christian-Muslim relations in the Country. This part of the study answers the question posed earlier in the study: How has the demand for Sharī’a implementation in the Country and the discourses surrounding it, influence Christian-Muslim relations in the Country? This chapter aims at finding out the impact of Sharī’a discourses on Christian-Muslim relations in the Country.
Christians and Muslims in Tanzania have been living on close proximity with each other in family, clan, tribe or ethnic groups, forming social or political associations together and sometimes renting the same houses in the urban settings as stated elsewhere in this study. This means in Tanzania, Christian-Muslim mingling is something real. Anything touching one of the two communities in the Country reciprocally touches the other community positively or negatively. This tells how Sharī’a discourses, more or less, influence their relations. Since religion and Sharī’a in particular is a multifaceted issue with influence that has never been the same to all people in the Country. Therefore, analysis of the influence should be done in two major levels, the sociological and practical level on one hand and the level of elites on the other. Sociologically and practically, the study concerns with the historical and current state of affairs of the relations in the daily life of ordinary people. On the level of elites, the analysis takes into consideration the action and reaction of religious leaders, academicians who are not religious pundits and politicians but who are religiously passionate.

4.5.1 Christian-Muslim Relations in History

Christian–Muslim relations in the world are characterized by ambivalence. Goddard (2000) traces the history of Christian-Muslim relation in the world from the verge of Islam and its encounter with Christianity to date. Goddard shows that relationships between the two religions have been full of ambivalences. His thesis is that the current suspicions and mutual accusations between these two religious blocks in the world is a result of the past history of encounters and clashes. This has been fostered by the swing of balance of power between the two religions. Therefore, apart from exclusivist stands found in both religions, Goddard takes the past history of Christian-Muslim encounters into consideration. According to him, religious aspects must be set in a wider discussion of social, economic, political and religious factors. His analysis is truly in consonant with the Tanzania milieu as far as Christian-Muslim relations are concerned.
This has also been a characteristic of the Christian-Muslim relations in Africa South of the Sahara Desert, including the Tanzania mainland. Even at the best of times, the relations have been full of suspicion, accusations and counteraccusations over interpretations of history and experiences (Kukah, 2007). In Tanzania, this situation is a legacy of colonialism. Because of such ambivalences, in his valedictory address in 1985, Julius Kambarage Nyerere, the founding Father of the Nation, warned of possible religious conflicts in the Country. He regarded this danger as greater than any threat of ethnic conflict (Ludwig, 1999). Nyerere’s prediction was due to his pre- and post-independence experience of Christian-Muslim relations in Tanzania is marked by apprehensions between the two communities. Suspicions, accusations and prejudices are the major causes. Historically Christian-Muslim relations in the Country are ambivalent.
Christian-Muslim relations in the Country seem good currently. Yet there are several underground apprehensions between the two communities. Wijsen & Mfumbusa (2004) argue that there is a growing tension between Christians and Muslims. Also, there is a negative attitude of Muslims to the government. The Muslims take the government to be Christian oriented, hence favors Christian. The Christians on their side think that there are moves pioneered by Muslims to make Tanzania an Islamic state. This state of affairs affects the current non-Muslims’ perception of Sharī’a and Islam in general. Generally the two scholars are of the opinion that since 1985, religious (especially Christians and Muslims) misunderstanding has been increasing. For them, this is a seed of conflict which needs special attention.
On the other hand Rubanza (2001) says that there is a growing religious intolerance in the country. For him intolerance can be viewed in three aspects the inter-religion, intra-religion and state vs. religion aspects. According to him the intolerance is due to the syncretocratic nature of the Tanzanians whereby their outlook is informed by more than one religion. On the other hand Tanzanian syncretocracy is a result of long period of interaction between African traditional religion, Islam and Christianity. He further says that there are some observers of Christian-Muslim relations in the Country who view the relationship between the two major religions as being characterized by rivalry and conflict. Consequently socio-economic and political problems are given religious expression. Inequalities and injustice are now viewed through a religious lens. Rubanza says that though there is a growing religious intolerance among Christians and Muslims in Tanzania, there is very little awareness of people on the issue.
Although Tanzania has earned fame internationally for its peace and quasi-tranquillity, there have been stories of latent fears in the relationship between Christians and Muslims in the Country. In fact, the current Sharī’a discourses have actually come to fan the historical latent apprehensions between Christians and Muslims in the Country. The current relations are surfacing of the long existing ambivalent relation between the two religions in the Country and translating this into a present day context.
To understand the current Christian-Muslim relations which result from Sharī’a debate there is a need to briefly look at the history of Christian-Muslims relations in the Country. The first Christian-Muslim encounter was during the advent of Christianity in the coast of East African in the 16^th century. Relations at that time were absolutely hostile. Christian Portuguese and Arab Muslims killed each other brutally. Firstly the Christian Portuguese killed the Arab Muslims in the name of a crusade and occupied their territory. Later with the aid of the Sultan of Oman, the Arab Muslims killed the Portuguese Christians in the name of Jihad.¹⁶³ The Arab Muslims drove the Portuguese from the East African coast and managed to reclaim their territory. This experience laid a very shaky foundation for later Christian-Muslim relations in the region. Later, in the 19^th Century, Christians and Muslims clashed again when Muslims fought against German and British colonial rule (Mbogoni, 2004). During this clash, the Muslims fought not only against colonialism but also Christianity and its domination.¹⁶⁴
Christian-Muslim relations were not very harmonious in the interior of the Country either. For instance, in 1933 Muslims and Christians fought in Morogoro. A group of Muslims was passing a Roman Catholic mission station while chanting loudly, Allāhu akbar (Allāh is great). The missionaries in the station were irritated and regarded this action as derogatory because the group had been silent in other areas, but immediately started to chant when they reached the mission station. One Muslim lost his eye in the fight, which caused the Muslims to circulate a letter to mobilize Muslims in Tanganyika for jihad against those Christians. This created tension in the Tanganyika colonial territory which could have had consequences for the colonial rule. The colonial Government appeased Muslims by charging the Father Superior, the instigator of the fight, to pay sh.600/= to the Muslim who had lost his eye (TNA 1933, 21715).

Christian-Muslim tensions entered the political arena during the Country’s struggle for independence. Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), the party which managed to bring about the nation’s independence was Muslim dominated. The incorporation of Julius Nyerere and other Christians in the party was taken by some founders, commonly known as elders of the party, as an abomination of desolation. Those elders vehemently repudiated the Christian element in the party. Muslims suspected that Christians would be the ones to form the first independent Government because they were more educated than Muslims. Therefore, they would use Church influence to suppress Islam as a political force (Said, 1998). This threatened the party with schism. However, through its internal mechanisms TANU managed to settle the issue. Nevertheless, some elders like Sheikh Takdir seceded.

In 1959, filled with suspicion and prejudice, Muslims outside TANU formed a Muslim political party, All Muslim National Union of Tanganyika (AMNUT). Its aim was to oppose TANU (Imtiyaz, 1990). AMNUT went so far as to call for a postponement of independence until enough Muslims were educated to hold important positions in the Government of independent Tanganyika. This party and several others were abolished after independence when the Country adopted a single party system.
Reciprocally, after independence suspicions overwhelmed Christians as well. Christians regarded Islam as a threat to Christianity. Roman Catholic priests in Bukoba town campaigned against a Muslim candidate on the basis of religion. This caused President Nyerere to write a very fierce letter on 8^th May 1963 to warn those Roman Catholic priests who divided people on the basis of religion (Sivalon, 1992). Father Robinson, the then secretary of the Tanzania Episcopal Council (TEC), met with Nyerere to respond to the letter. Robinson said that the Roman Catholic priests were ready to co-operate with Muslims. But their fear was the announcement made by the Muslims that they wanted to turn Tanganyika into a Muslim nation. Nyerere responded that he suspected that this merely reflected the opinions of a minority of Muslims (Sivalon, 1992). This was an indicator that there were suspicions and accusations between Muslims and Christians in the Country.
Colonialism in Tanzania left a legacy which resulted in socio-political disparities among Christians and Muslims. This state of affairs is clearly seen in the levels of education among those who belonged to the two religions. Christians in Tanzania had more access to education during colonialism because they felt free to go to the missionary schools, whereas Muslims were reluctant. Muslim Parents feared that their children would be converted to Christianity if they sent them to a Christian school. Instead Muslims put more emphasis on Madrasa than Western schools. Mbago comments that:

Before, when the Arabs ruled the coast of East Africa the Muslims were dominant because of the influence of the Arabs. But when the Germans came and subdued the Arabs and Muslims their political influence was reduced. Then education became the major factor in increasing the gap between Christians and Muslims because health and educational facilities were started by Christian missionaries. Therefore, relatively Christians got more education compared to the Muslims.¹⁶⁵

Fredrick Mleli, a person who has engaged extensively in Christian-Muslim relations in the Country gives another reason for Muslims not to bring their children to the Christian schools. Before European colonialism, Islam-Arabic civilization was the superior civilization in the East African coast. The Kiswahili term for being civilized is kustaarabika (this may loosely be translated as to follow Arabic life style or civilization). It was prestigious for one to undergo those Islamic and Arabic studies. Hence they looked down at the Western culture, ‘religion’ (Christianity) and its education.¹⁶⁶

As a result, by the time of independence, there were more Christians than Muslims who had acquired a Western education. This fact more or less determined Christian-Muslim socio-political positions in the post-colonial Governments. In post-colonial Governments the number of Muslims with Government portfolios was relatively smaller than that of their Christian counterparts.

Ignoring the historical aspect of Muslims’ levels of education in Tanzania, some Muslims accuse Christians in Government positions of conspiring to keep the educational level of Muslims low. The late Kigoma Ali Malima, who was Minister of Education during Ali Hassan Mwinyi’s regime, can be cited as a good example of such people. Malima was the first Muslim Minister of Education in the Country after independence. Malima wrote a secret letter to President Ali Hassan Mwinyi stating that after he assumed the position as Minister of Education, he realized that his predecessors who were Christians had purposely barred Muslim children from higher education. Unfortunately Mwinyi gave in to Malima’s allegation without investigating it further. By chance the letter fell into the hands of the media and was published in the newspapers. The letter caused considerable debate among Christians and Muslims. The issue was quietly settled by the Government, resulting in Malima losing his position.
Tension between Muslims and Christians in the Country took a different form in the mid-1980s throughout the 1990s. During this time there was an upsurge of both Christian and Islamic revivalism, which was characterized by hostile public polemical preaching from both sides.¹⁶⁷ Furthermore, Frieder Ludwig (1999) gives accounts of the impact of the charismatic movement and the increasing tensions between Christians and Muslims and their relation with the state. According to him Ujamaa (a policy which was promulgated in the 1967 Arusha Declaration with its twin principles: socialism and self-reliance principle was a strong unifying factor for Tanzanians. It served as a blueprint for Tanzania’s socio-economic development until 1989. But after the end of Ujamaa religious revivalism has proved to draw people of the same religion together, which created some kind of cleavage between people of different religious affiliations. Ludwig indirectly questions Tanzania’s secularity. He contends that the Country becomes religious through a new formed religion which he terms as ‘civil religion’. He shows different activities which endangers Christian-Muslim relation in the Country, which includes polemical preaching and religious fanaticism among Muslims and Christians.
Reciprocally, while Ludwig considers Ujamaa as an important factor for unity of the Country some Muslim scholars in the Country look at it differently. For instance, Imtiyaz (1990) says Ujamaa policy, failed to address the welfare of Muslims in Tanzania. This is similar to Njozi (2000) who says that Ujamaa Philosophy was in consonant with the Gospel. He says that what Nyerere did was to further Roman Catholism in Tanzania. This is an influence which is still prevalent in the ruling party and the government at large that his influence is still felt to date. Therefore, Christian-Muslim relations in Tanzania are full of ambivalences as it is explained elsewhere in this study.
This is similar to the comment given by the international Religious Freedom Report released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour of U.S.A. The Department of State that “Generally there are stable relations between the various religious communities [in Tanzania]; however, there is some tension between Muslims and Christians, and some tension between secular and fundamentalist Muslims” (U.S. Department of State, 2001).
On the other hand the latent Christian-Muslim apprehensions in the Country came to surface on Good Friday of 1993 when a group of Muslims attacked pork shops in Dar-es-Salaam under the auspices of the Baraza la Uendelezaji wa Kuran Tanzania (BALUKTA) (Council for the Promotion of the Koran in Tanzania).¹⁶⁸ Muslims were complaining of purposeful defilement of their mosque by Christian selling pork close to that area. They that say they had brought their grievance to the responsible authorities, but no tangible measures were taken. Therefore they decided to take the matter in their own hand by plundering the pork shops. On the other hand, Christians took that action as against the law and the Country’s Constitution. They were given legal licences by the Government to run the business in the area for several years before that day (Wijsen & Mfumbusa, 2004).
There are implicitly ongoing political suspicions and allegations among Muslims and Christians of each side to be partisans of particular political parties. Some Christians suspect that Muslims are partisans of the Civic United Front (CUF) party. These Christians say that CUF is an Islamic party and its hidden agenda is to try to make Tanzania to be an Islamic state. Meanwhile there are some Muslims who see the ruling party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) as a Christian oriented party and its hidden agenda is to oppress Muslims and Islam and to uplift Christians and Christianity. In fact, some go further saying that CCM is a hidden abbreviation of Catholic Crusade Mission (Chesworth, 2005). Some Muslim scholars like Yusuf Imtianz, Hamza Njozi, Mohamed Said and DUMT cite the banning of the East African Muslim Welfare Society in 1968 and the establishment of BAKWATA as a purposeful move of the ruling part to disempowering Muslims in the Country and impair their efforts toward their emancipation¹⁶⁹ (Imtiaz, 1994; Njozi, 2004)¹⁷⁰. The above are but some selected few examples of historical encounters and clashes among Christians and Muslims in the Country and which show that the relations were sometimes shaky. The current Christian-Muslim relations are a result of Christians and Muslims perceptions of Sharī’a implementation in the Country are a ‘balance carried forward’ of the above mentioned scenarios.
Summarizing the current Tanzania’s relative peaceful coexistence regardless of the latent religious, social and political tensions, Mpangala (1999) comments that Tanzania can be classified as, Country with relative peace. For him there is a tendency for most of scholars and researchers on peace and conflict resolution to capitalize on violent conflict. Less emphasis has been put on the nonviolence conflicts. Tanzania has been a Country with latent and conspicuous conflicts, which characterized the religious, social and political sphere of the Country. For him the existing peaceful coexistence of Tanzania has not been that smooth. It has encountered several clashes. Several instances in the Country may better present this status quo, “some conflicts which have taken place in Tanzania include the army mutiny and the Zanzibar Revolution of 1964, a number of unsuccessful coup d’état attempts, the Mwembechai conflict of February 1998, and the non-violent conflict between CUF and CCM political parties from the general election of 1995 to June 1999”.

According to Mpangala the current peace in the Country is an inheritance from the Country’s ancestor early from pre-colonial time and early post colonial era. He is of the opinion that even if there were ethnic groups during pre-colonial times, Tanzanians had not developed ethnicity with forms of ethnic ideology and consciousness among most societies. This tells why the post independent Tanzania Mainland has not been engulfed in ethnicity and ethnic conflicts.

Mpangala goes on saying that the German direct rule removed ethnicity because the tendency of imposing administrators from the German central government helped people of different ethnic background to come together. But the British indirect rule of using local chiefs to rule on their behalf consolidated ethnicity and sometimes even religiosity in some areas because people had no chances of mixing up together.
The Tanzanian Mainland post independence non-ethnicity, non-racial and non-religiosity is traced back to the Tanganyika National Union (TANU), the party which brought independence to the Country. TANU managed to go beyond racial, ethnic and religious orientation, a trait that was not found in other nationalistic parties. For instance UTP (United Tanganyika Party) was racial in the sense that it was mainly a party of the whites. The ANC (African National Congress) had racial tendencies because it segregated whites and people of Asian origin, for instance, AMNUT (All Muslim National Union of Tanganyika) was Muslim political party, and thus it was religious-based. But TANU incorporated not only people of all ethnic groups, but also of all races and religions.
Being the most popular and powerful political party, and given the fact that it was the party that took over power at independence, in non-racialized and non-religionalized politics in Tanganyika after independence TANU facilitated peaceful coexistence unity and tranquility among Tanzanians. Several factors contributed to the state of peace in the Country. These factors include the use of Kiswahili as a national language. Also one-party system, which is non-ethnical, non-racial and non-religious party contributed to the state of peace. Also post independence policies of ujamaa and self-reliance which aimed at creating an egalitarian society was great factor for peace in the Country. Furthermore, strong and charismatic leadership of Julius Nyerere was a strong unifying factor in Tanzania. On top of that, abolition of chieftainship, which removed tribal leaders and religious leaders for the case of coastal people whose tribal leaders were more or less religious leaders. These factors contributed to the current peaceful coexistence among people of Tanzania.