Which africans tended to practice islam

Mazrui Ali A. Politics and the three strands. If we look more closely at the three strands of Islam Christianity and African traditional religion and assess their potential responsiveness to the forces of politics important differences do emerge have already referred elsewhere to the recurrent correlation between support for radical causes in Africa and Islamic affiliation When in the initial years of independence decade ago Africa was divided into the radical States of Casablanca and the conservative group of Monrovia the radical States were disproportionately Muslim The group consisted of six countries and five of those were Guinea Mali the United Arab Republic Morocco and Algeria then represented by government in exile.

THE SACRED AND THE SECULAR established both in Senegal and in Tanzania capacity to follow Chris tian leader without blaming him for his religion Political toleration in this sense in Africa is least exemplified among Christians whose capacity to follow leadership other than their own is often relatively limited The related factors emerging from this analysis imply that traditional African religion is socially conservative but politically tolerant that Islam is socially conservative but politically radical and that Christianity is socially innovative and progressive but inclining towards political conservatism All these are over-simplincations but they provide traffic indicators in our long journey towards understanding the role of religion in African life and experience.

On culture and conscience. In charts where there is an even number of countries in the list and there is no country exactly in the middle, the median is computed as the average of the two countries at the middle of the list e. To help readers see whether Muslims and Christians differ significantly on certain questions, separate medians for Christians and Muslims also are shown.

The median for Christians is based on the survey results among Christians in each of the 16 countries with a Christian population large enough to analyze.

The median for Muslims is based on the survey results among Muslims in each of the 15 countries with a Muslim population large enough to analyze.

In most countries, fewer than half of Christians say they know either some or a great deal about Islam, and fewer than half of Muslims say they know either some or a great deal about Christianity. Moreover, people in most countries surveyed, especially Christians, tend to view the two faiths as very different rather than as having a lot in common. And many people say they are not comfortable with the idea of their children marrying a spouse from outside their religion. People throughout the region generally see conflict between religious groups as a modest problem compared with other issues such as unemployment, crime and corruption.

And in many countries, sizable numbers express concern about both Muslim and Christian extremism. Across the sub-Saharan region, large numbers of people express strong support for democracy and say it is a good thing that people from religions different than their own are able to practice their faith freely.

In most places there is no significant difference between Muslims and Christians on this question. At the same time, there is substantial backing from both Muslims and Christians for basing civil laws on the Bible or sharia law. This may simply reflect the importance of religion in Africa. But it is nonetheless striking that in virtually all the countries surveyed, a majority or substantial minority a third or more of Christians favor making the Bible the official law of the land, while similarly large numbers of Muslims say they would like to enshrine sharia, or Islamic law.

Similarly, the survey finds considerable support among Muslims in several countries for the application of criminal sanctions such as stoning people who commit adultery, and whipping or cutting off the hands of thieves.

Support for these kinds of punishments is consistently lower among Christians than among Muslims. The survey also finds that in seven countries, roughly one-third or more of Muslims say they support the death penalty for those who leave Islam. While the survey finds that both Christianity and Islam are flourishing in sub-Saharan Africa, the results suggest that neither faith may expand as rapidly in this region in the years ahead as it did in the 20th century, except possibly through natural population growth.

There are two main reasons for this conclusion. First, the survey shows that most people in the region have committed to Christianity or Islam, which means the pool of potential converts from outside these two faiths has decreased dramatically. Second, there is little evidence in the survey findings to indicate that either Christianity or Islam is growing in sub-Saharan Africa at the expense of the other. Although a relatively small percentage of Muslims have become Christians, and a relatively small percentage of Christians have become Muslims, the survey finds no substantial shift in either direction.

One exception is Uganda, where roughly one-third of respondents who were raised Muslim now describe themselves as Christian, while far fewer Ugandans who were raised Christian now describe themselves as Muslim. Many Christians and Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa experience their respective faiths in a very intense, immediate, personal way.

For example, three-in-ten or more of the people in many countries say they have experienced a divine healing, witnessed the devil being driven out of a person or received a direct revelation from God. Moreover, in every country surveyed that has a substantial Christian population, at least half of Christians expect that Jesus will return to earth during their lifetime. Many of these intense religious experiences, including divine healings and exorcisms, are also characteristic of traditional African religions.

Within Christianity, these kinds of experiences are particularly associated with Pentecostalism, which emphasizes such gifts of the Holy Spirit as speaking in tongues, giving or interpreting prophecy, receiving direct revelations from God, exorcising evil and healing through prayer.

About a quarter of all Christians in four sub-Saharan countries Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria now belong to Pentecostal denominations, as do at least one-in-ten Christians in eight other countries. But the survey finds that divine healings, exorcisms and direct revelations from God are commonly reported by African Christians who are not affiliated with Pentecostal churches.

In nearly all the countries surveyed, large majorities believe it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values. Clear majorities in almost every country believe that Western music, movies and television have hurt moral standards. South Africa and Guinea Bissau are the only exceptions to this finding, and even in those nations a plurality of the survey respondents view Western entertainment as exerting a harmful moral influence. On the other hand, majorities in most countries say they personally like Western TV, movies and music, with Christians particularly inclined to say so.

And in many countries, people are more inclined to say there is not a conflict between being a devout religious person and living in modern society than to say there is a conflict. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Christians and Muslims alike express strong opposition to homosexual behavior, abortion, prostitution and sex between unmarried people. There are, however, pronounced differences between the two religious groups on the question of polygamy.

Muslims are much more inclined than Christians to approve of polygamy or say this is not a moral issue. Sub-Saharan Africans commonly cite unemployment as a major problem. In most countries, more than half of the people surveyed say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country. And compared with people surveyed in in other regions of the world, somewhat fewer sub-Saharan Africans today indicate they are highly satisfied with their lives.

And yet, many sub-Saharan Africans say their lives have improved over the past five years. In fact, the percentage of sub-Saharan Africans who indicate in that their lives have improved over the preceding five years rivals or exceeds the number of people in many other regions of the world who said the same in And people in the African countries surveyed are more likely than people in many other regions to express optimism that their lives will improve in the future.

These and other findings are discussed in more detail in the remainder of this report, which is divided into five main sections:. This report also includes a glossary of key terms , a description of the methods used for this survey, and a topline including full question wording and survey results. The survey was conducted among at least 1, respondents in each of the 19 countries.

In three predominantly Muslim countries Djibouti, Mali and Senegal , there were too few interviews with Christian respondents to be able to analyze the Christian subpopulation.

In four predominantly Christian countries Botswana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia , there were too few interviews with Muslims to be able to analyze the Muslim subpopulation. This leaves 12 countries in which comparisons between Christians and Muslims are possible. Readers should note that the 19 national polls on which this report is based were not designed to provide detailed demographic profiles of households in each country.

An appendix PDF provides comparative estimates of religious composition from some recent surveys and censuses. About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions.

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