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Colonialism in north africa and the middle east
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Through my studies of Religion and also through my work in Africa, my primary concern has always been a reductionist approach to the conflicts that face our world. Reductionism is a philosophical framework in which theorists take a complex system, like Religion, and reduce it to its simpler counterparts. While I don’t reject this way of thinking, I discovered that due to the complexities of these issues, more is to be gained by studying ways in which these issues seem to interact with one another. Therefore, I will take a comparative approach using this reductionist framework.
Africa and the Middle East comprise a vast number of countries who all differ greatly in culture and history. Previously, I have studied the ways in which colonialism has had a negative impact on Africa and the Middle East. I looked at the British reign in East Africa, with regards to poverty and development issues. I also studied the ways in which colonialism has had an equally damaging impact the Middle East with regards to conflict resolution and westernization. However, there exists an anomaly when discussing the impact of colonialism in regards to Islam and its various sects. I will examine the inverse effects of colonialism in North Africa and the Middle East, historically, but more importantly, in the present.
In present day Middle East and North Africa, geographic locations in which most of the colonization took place, are in areas which practice more liberal forms of Islam. Morocco is one of these countries. Being a central location to all of the European powers that were matriculating North Africa in the late 19th century, Morocco was influenced by several cultures simultaneously. At this time, the French were aiming to conquer West Africa (Senegal) eastward to the Nile, while the British were aiming to conquer all of South Africa, East Africa and through Sudan (they had already occupied Egypt.) Morocco and the surrounding lands were where their expansions would meet. Over the years, Morocco has absorbed traditional Sunni beliefs as well as Islamic trends from around the world, such as Sufism. In Morocco, Islam has adopted many variations in philosophy and practice and also allows the practice of other religions.
By contrast, areas where there is mostly desert and little contact with the outside world is where some of the most conservative forms of Islam still exist. In Saudi Arabia, the majority of the people follow Wahhabi Islam. This sect enforces a strict code of behavior, modeling what they believe to be the earliest form of Islamic Law, (or Shariah.) This form of Islam was practiced by the ummah, or religious community, dating back to Muhhamad's time. However, the roots of the inhabitants of Saudi Arabia can be traced to the Bedouins, which were nomadic tribe’s people who wandered the desert far before Islam became expansive and powerful. While the Bedouin lifestyle slowly died out, the conservative Wahhabi Islam remained the same for centuries. Because of Shariah and harsh capital punishments in the form of public executions and torture, Saudi Arabia is said to be in the top ten authoritarian regimes in the world.
Many will argue that colonialism has done horrible things for the economy of Africa and created many conflicts in the Middle East. I am not denying this, nor am I saying that colonialism has done positive things for the development of a more liberal Muslim society. I will say that it’s possible that colonialism is one factor which contributed to the splitting off of so many sects of Islam, thus dividing the Muslim world into the liberal Maliki and Sufi movements and the more disreputable conservative Wahhabi, of which, so much of the world associates with Islam.
