Thesis
Christianity, Islam and Rwandan Traditional Religion: Perspectives on Memory and Reconciliation
NDAYIZEYE, Munyansanga Olivier
Abstract
This thesis seeks to clarify the root causes of anti-Islam attitudes in predominantly Christian Rwanda. First it focuses on the thinking of the first missionaries (White fathers) in their enterprise of sheer rejection of both Islam and Rwandan Traditional Religion. Surprisingly, the influence of Rwandan Traditional Religion on the two other faiths remains significant. Second, it reviews the role played by Western missionaries in reinforcing anti-Islam attitudes in connection with their struggles against Arab slave trade in East Africa in the second half of 19th century. It is necessary to revisit the violent, often hidden history of Christianity, Islam and their relations in Rwanda; after mass atrocities, it is also necessary to undertake a reconciliation of memories. The commemoration of tragedy and suffering informed by reconciliation of memories may be a significant contribution to the healing of the nation and may at the same time contribute for preventing religion-based violence.
Reference
NDAYIZEYE, Munyansanga Olivier. Christianity, Islam and Rwandan Traditional Religion: Perspectives on Memory and Reconciliation. Thèse de doctorat : Univ. Genève, 2017, no. Théol. 620
DOI : 10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:144124 URN : urn:nbn:ch:unige-1441244
Available at: http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:144124
Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version.
1 / 1 University of Geneva Autonomous Faculty of Protestant Theology Ecumenical Institute of Bossey Part of the World Council of Churches and attached to the University of Geneva
Christianity, Islam and Rwandan Traditional Religion: Perspectives on Memory and Reconciliation
By NDAYIZEYE MUNYANSANGA Olivier
Thesis presented as part of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in theology (Ecumenism)
Supervised by: Dr. Jean Claude Basset (UniGE) Dr. Odair Pedroso Mateus (Bossey)
August 2017 i
I am a human being: and any injustice towards others makes me angry. I am a human being: any oppression offends who I am. Cardinal Charles M.A. Lavigerie (1825-1892)
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Table of Content
Table of Content ...... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... vii ABBREVIATIONS ...... ix ABSTRACT ...... x GENERAL INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1. GENERAL BACKGROUND ...... 1 2. RESEARCH AIMS ...... 3 SECTION I: RWANDA AND THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN TRADITIONAL RELIGION, CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM ...... 7 Chapter I. RWANDAN HISTORY AND POPULATION ...... 7 Introduction ...... 7 1.1. Origin of the Rwandan Kingdom ...... 9 1.1.1. Pre-colonial time ...... 10 1.1.2. The tragedy coup d‟état of Rucunshu in 1896 ...... 11 1.1.3. The social organization called “clan” ...... 12 1.2. Colonialism ...... 15 1.2.1. German colonization ...... 16 1.2.2. Belgian colonization ...... 17 1.3. Hamitic theory ...... 18 1.3.1. Educational discrimination ...... 22 1.3.2. Introduction of ethnic identity card...... 24 1.3.3. Divide for rule ...... 25 1.4. Rwandan social revolution of 1959 ...... 26 Conclusion ...... 29 Chapter II. Historical Perspectives on the Encounter between Traditional Religion, Christianity, and Islam in Rwanda ...... 31 Introduction ...... 31 2.1. Arab-Muslim trade of slaves ...... 33 2.1.1. Definition of slavery ...... 33
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2.1.2. Slavery in Africa ...... 35 2.2. Slavery and Islamic faith ...... 39 2.2.1. Slavery in Muslim African countries ...... 41 2.2.2. The theory of the curse of Ham ...... 43 2.2.3. Negative stereotypes ...... 44 2.2.4. Castration of young African boys ...... 45 2.2.5. Details of the operation ...... 46 2.3. Slavery in East Africa and in Rwanda ...... 48 2.3.1. White Fathers and the mission of fighting slavery ...... 48 2.3.2. The main routes of Arab trade of slaves between 1860-1890 in the Great Lakes Region ...... 50 2.3.3. Bagamoyo the terminus of slaves ...... 51 2.3.4. The indescribable pain of slaves ...... 53 2.4. Slave trade in Rwanda ...... 56 2.4.1. The Institution of Ubuhake ...... 56 2.4.2. Slavery in Rwanda ...... 59 2.5. Origin of Christian and Muslim mistrust in Rwanda ...... 60 2.5.1. Interreligious war in Uganda ...... 61 2.5.2. Inter-Christian war in Uganda ...... 63 2.6. The Arrival of the White Fathers in Rwanda ...... 64 2.7. King Musinga and religion ...... 65 2.8. Influence of Rwandan Traditional Religion on new religions ...... 68 2.8.1. What is IMANA? ...... 69 2.8.2. The role of spirits in Traditional Religion ...... 70 2.8.3. Spiritual beings called “jinn” in Islam ...... 71 2.8.4. The cult of kubandwa...... 74 2.8.5. Rwandan Traditional Religion and music...... 80 2.8.6. Christianity and music ...... 83 2.8.7. Islam and music ...... 83 2.8.8. Rwandan Traditional Religion and medicine ...... 85 2.8.9. Polygamy ...... 88
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2.8.10. Concept of Umma and Rwandan tradition ...... 93 2.8.11. Friendships between Muslims and Rwanda‟s Kings ...... 95 Conclusion ...... 96 Section II: Violence, Healing and the Reconciliation of Memories ...... 98 Chapter III. Religion and Violence ...... 98 Introduction ...... 98 3.1. Definition of violence ...... 99 3.2. Religious origin of violence ...... 101 3.2.1. Role of religious identity in violence ...... 103 3.2.2. Theocratic states...... 107 3.2.3. Holy war and violence ...... 110 3.3. Crusades and religious violence...... 114 3.3.1. Definition ...... 114 3.3.2. Islamic interpretation of crusade ...... 115 3.3.3. Causes of crusades ...... 117 3.4. Crusades and Colonialism...... 123 3.5. Jihad ...... 124 3.5.1. Minor or lesser jihad (al-jihad al-asghar)...... 126 3.5.2. Major or Greater jihad (al-jihad al-akbar) ...... 127 3.6. Jihad and Colonialism ...... 131 3.7. Jihadist movements in East Africa ...... 132 3.7.1. Al Qaida ...... 133 3.7.2. Al- Shabab ...... 135 3.8. Jihadist movement in Rwanda ...... 137 3.9. Islam and violence ...... 138 3.9.1. Some Qur‟anic references justifying violence ...... 140 3.9.2. Some Hadith references justifying violence ...... 141 3.9.3. Bible quotations justifying Violence ...... 144 3.10. Islamic conquest...... 146 3.11. Christian and Muslim positions on violence in Rwanda ...... 149 3.11.1. Role of Christian Church in Violence ...... 149
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3.11.2. Christian churches participation in politics...... 152 3.11.3 Inertia of the Church to prevent violence ...... 156 3.12. Strategies of fighting against Islam ...... 157 3.12.1. The Roman Catholic Church against Muslims ...... 158 3.12.2. Protestant missionaries against Islam ...... 161 3.12.3 Marginalization of Muslims ...... 162 3.12.4. Violence against Muslims ...... 163 3.12.5 Denigration of Muslims ...... 164 3.12.6. Muslim attitudes during genocide ...... 167 Conclusion ...... 170 Chapter IV. Healing and reconciliation of memories ...... 172 Introduction ...... 172 4.1. Remembering in Christianity and Islam ...... 173 4.1.1. Philosophy of remembering ...... 173 4.1.2. Remembering victims ...... 175 4.1.3. Remembrance in Christianity ...... 180 4.1.4. Remembering in Islam ...... 181 4.2 Transgenerational transmission of trauma ...... 182 4.2.1. Models of trauma transmission ...... 184 4.3. Rescuing Christians and Muslims from historical memory ...... 185 4.3.1. Commemoration of slavery day in Africa ...... 187 4.3.2. The Role of apology in the healing memories ...... 190 4.4. Christian-Muslim reconciliation ...... 200 4.4.1. The Rwandan model ...... 200 4.5. Apologizing in the name of an Institution ...... 204 4.5.1. Apology of political leaders ...... 204 4.5.2. Apology of Church leaders ...... 206 4.6. Healing and violence prevention ...... 209 4.7. PROCMURA and Healing of memories...... 212 4.8. The role of Gacaca courts in healing memories...... 213 4.9. The power of memorials in the healing of memories ...... 215
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4.9.1. Memorial and reconciliation in Rwanda ...... 217 4.9.2 Churches in Rwanda and memorials...... 217 4.9.3. Memorial Genocide Day ...... 219 Conclusion ...... 220 General conclusion ...... 221 Bibliography ...... 226 Reference‟s books ...... 226 Publication on Rwandan History ...... 228 Publications on religion ...... 230 Thesis ...... 233 Publication on East Africa Arab Slave Trade ...... 230 Articles ...... 235 Internet resources ...... 237
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis is a tribute to the memory of my father, Epaphrodite Munyansanga, who was killed during the 1994 Genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda. He struggled for my education and inspired me to serve the healing of memories and reconciliation.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Jean Claude Basset. This thesis would not have been possible without his guidance, help, and advices. My gratitude goes also to Professor Odair Pedroso Mateus for motivating and supporting me throughout my ecumenical studies.
I‟m extremely grateful to Professor Elisée Musemakweli, Vice Chancellor of the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences, in Huye, Rwanda, for supporting me morally, spiritually and financially during my studies. I‟m grateful to Fondation pour l‟Aide au Protestantisme réformé (FAP) and to the Vereinte Evangelische Mission (VEM), from Wuppertal, Germany, and in particular to Rev. Berend Veddeler for financially supporting my research especially during my stays in Geneva, Mombasa and Zanzibar.
I thank Dr André Karamaga for his empathy and support to my research, and Professor Amélé Ekué who was and remains my best model for an academic mentor and teacher.
I‟m grateful to all staff of the Autonomous Faculty of Protestant Theology of Geneva and the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey for providing me a rich and inspiring environment to study and to explore new ideas. I would like to thank Rev. Arnold Steiner, for welcoming me as a friend and helping me to develop many of ideas in this thesis. Thanks to Rev. Dr Kakule Molo for closely and patiently following my work, and for encouraging me to go forward.
I recognize the invaluable help and support from: Father Innocent Maganya, Professor of Missiology at Tangaza School, Nairobi Kenya; Professor Joseph Galgalo, Vice/Chancelor, and Professor Esther Mombo, Vice/Chancellor for Academic affairs and all staff of St Paul‟s University in Limuru, Kenya, for allowing me to do research in their institution; Rev. Dr Johnson Mbillah, General Adviser of the Program for Christian and Muslim Relations (PROCMURA) for
viii his helpful remarks; Professor Abdul Sherrif of the Department of History at State University of Zanzibar, and Professor Emile Mworoha of the Department of History at National University of Burundi for taking time to discuss with me the topic of my research; Dr Tharcisse Gatwa, Professor of Missiology at Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences in Rwanda, for his orientations; Rev. Catherine Day for proofreading my thesis and contributing to its English expression. Many thanks go to my friend Father Serge Moussa Traoré from Burkina Faso, and Catherine Rogers from South Carolina, for their support during my studies.
And finally, my deep gratitude to my wider family: to my mother-in-law Immaculée Milenge, to my daughter Joy, and my sons, Elvis, and Molo, it is hard to express in words how thankful I am for their understanding, faith, advice, support throughout the years in which I have worked on this thesis.
ix
ABBREVIATIONS
AU African Union CCEM Comité Contre l‟Esclavage Moderne CCIA Commission of the Churches on International Affairs CNLG Commission Nationale de Lutte contre le Génocide EPR Eglise Presbytérienne au Rwanda IFAPA Interfaith Action for peace in Africa IRDP Institut de Recherche et Dialogue pour la Paix IRRD Interreligious Relations and Dialogue ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda NURC National Unity and Reconciliation Commission LWF Lutheran World Federation PROCMURA Program of Christians and Muslims Relations in Africa WARC World Alliance of Reformed Churches WCRC World Communion of Reformed Churches WCC World Council of Churches UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
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ABSTRACT This thesis seeks to clarify the root causes of anti-Islam attitudes in predominantly Christian Rwanda. First it focuses on the thinking of the first missionaries (White fathers) whose missionary enterprise was also a sheer rejection of both Islam and the Rwandan Traditional Religion. Surprisingly, the influence of Rwandan Traditional Religion on the two other faiths remains significant. Second, it reviews the role played by Western missionaries in reinforcing anti-Islam attitudes in connection with their struggles against Arab slave trade in East Africa in the second half of 19th century.
This thesis argues that it is necessary to revisit the violent, often hidden history of Christianity, Islam and their relations in Rwanda; after mass atrocities, it is necessary to undertake a reconciliation of memories. The commemoration of tragedy and suffering informed by reconciliation of memories may be a significant contribution to the healing of the nation and may at the same time contribute to preventing religion-based violence.
Résumé en Français Cette thèse vise à clarifier les causes profondes des attitudes anti-islamiques dans le Rwanda à prédominance chrétienne. D'abord, elle se concentre sur la pensée des premiers missionnaires (les Pères blancs) dont l'entreprise missionnaire fut aussi un simple rejet de l'Islam et de la Religion Traditionnelle Rwandaise. Étonnamment, l'influence de la Religion Traditionnelle Rwandaise sur les deux autres religions reste importante. Deuxièmement, elle examine le rôle joué par les missionnaires occidentaux dans le renforcement des attitudes anti-islamiques dans le cadre de leurs luttes contre la traite des esclaves arabes en Afrique de l'Est dans la seconde moitié du 19ème siècle.
Cette thèse affirme qu'il est nécessaire de revoir l'histoire violente, souvent non dite du Christianisme, de l'Islam et de leurs relations au Rwanda; Après la violence et les atrocités de masse, il faut entreprendre une réconciliation des mémoires. La commémoration de la tragédie et de la souffrance, éclairée par la réconciliation des mémoires, peut contribuer de manière significative à la guérison de la nation et peut contribuer en même temps à prévenir la violence fondée sur la religion.
1
GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1. GENERAL BACKGROUND
Rwanda is a vastly Christian country with more than ninety-three percent of its population claiming to be followers of Christian churches, both Roman Catholics and Protestants. However the country has a very dynamic and vibrant Muslim community whose history goes back to the beginning of evangelization of Rwanda, even though it accounts for about five percent of the population. During and after the colonial era, the Protestant missions and Islam claimed that the Roman Catholic Church had become a King‟s maker religion, interfering in the State affairs, and mostly discriminating against the other religions. This created resentment within the minorities even in the post genocide context of Rwanda. Thus, different attempts have been made to bring all societal forces to engage in peace building and cohabitation.
Today Islam, a minority community, is taking advantage of the new political context of unit and reconciliation in Rwanda to increase its visibility. Since the post genocide period, Islam is considered on an equal basis as other religions. Some Muslims are official representatives of the government. In 2003, the Rwandan Constitution fixed “Aïd el fitr” which celebrates the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, as a public holiday. For the first time in 2012, in the Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on March 16th, the Rwandan government “appointed the Muslim Cheikh Habimana Saleh as Rwandan Government Board‟s head of NGOs, faith– based organizations and political parties.”1 It came as a surprise for Christian organizations including churches that they had a muslim as their government counterpart. But on the other hand, this can be seen as one of the results of interreligious dialogue and the other initiatives for reconciliation in Rwanda.
Interreligious dialogue is a new development in Rwanda. It has been pioneered from 1997, by the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda. Christians in the country have had different understandings of interreligious dialogue. One group is composed of people who think that the main target of dialogue is to convert people of other faiths, for which they feel strongly motivated. A second
1 See Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on 16th March 2012.
2 group thinks that there is no need for interreligious dialogue because “Christians are majority in Rwanda with more than 93%”2 of the population. A third group believes that with interreligious dialogue, may help Rwandans to build a peaceful and prosperous society for the common good of all in satisfying basic human needs and working towards overcoming violence and poverty. They recognize themselves in the words of a Lutheran World Federation document on religious pluralism in Africa:“With humankind menaced by all sorts of dangers, religious leaders can no longer think in terms of their faiths but of brothers and sisters who must help one another to preserve human dignity and to restore to individuals their rightful place in a society ever more marked by kinship.”3
The misunderstanding on the role of interfaith dialogue, in association with other factors such as poverty, religious and ethnic exclusion, and inequality in resource distribution… has been the causes of most violent actions in Africa and in Rwanda in particular. Surprisingly among the main actors, religious people are found as part of the group in a way or another.
The history of Rwanda, which has been marked by violence of all sorts, culminated in the 1994 genocide. Newspaper reports which portray violence in Africa, and particularly in Rwanda, are filled with images of weapons, diseases, famine, people fleeing their homes and thousand dying. Some of these conflicts which are throughout the continent are tribal and religious. One is led to raise some questions, how long time this slaughter will be ended and why is it still continuing? - Why is Rwanda in a permanent cycle of violence from: “1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965”4, 1973, 1990 and, particularly the paroxysm of violence, the 1994 genocide against Tutsi, which was “a modern example of a society collapsing tragically and dramatically?”5 - What are the underlying root causes of violence? - Why this happened to a faith based country like Rwanda where believers constitute more than 93% of the total population?
2 3rd Census of population and Housing in Rwanda on August 15th 2002, published by Ministry of Finance and Economic planning, February 2005, p:39. 3 LWF, Religious pluralism in Africa: Challenge and Response, LWF, 1996, p:76. 4 See the whole of International Red Cross Museum in Geneva, 2009. 5 Boudreaux Karol, Land conflict and genocide in Rwanda,
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- Which actions can be taken by Christians and Muslims to prevent such violence in the future? - What can be their contribution to prevent violence and to maintain peace in Rwanda? - Which message can be articulated to address the causes of violence? Which attitude can be taken to face violence?
2. RESEARCH AIMS
The research that undergirded this thesis pursued three main objectives: (a) to map the root causes a century of tensions between Christianity and Islam in Rwanda; (b) to explore Christian and Islamic principles for peaceful coexistence; (c) to offer perspectives of dialogue, healing and reconciliation of memories.
Chapter one offers a concise overview of the history of Rwanda and its population as well as the background of interreligious relations in Rwanda as it is marked by the taboo issue or what has been recently called “the untold story”6 of Arab slave trade. We contend that this trade is one of the root causes of tensions and conflict between Christians and Muslims in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also a cause of mistrust between black Africans and Arabs.
The second chapter of this thesis is entitled “Historical Perspectives on the encounter between Traditional Religion, Christianity, and Islam in Rwanda”, seeks to clarify the influence of Traditional Religion on the history of Christianity in relation to Arab slave trade; it also establishes a link between Arab traders, the expansion of Islam and the establishment of White Fathers in the areas where slave trade was intense and where were implanted important Muslim communities as a result of it. This was the case of Eastern African cities and villages such as Mombasa, Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, Tabora, Ujiji, Nyanza-lac, Rumonge. The Scottish missionary David Livingston 1813-1873 testified to the horror of slavery in East Africa in these words:
The spectacle that I had under my eyes, common incidents of this human traffic, it is a horror that I constantly endeavor to hunt from my memory, but in vain. The most painful
6 The Arab Muslim slave trade of Africans, the untold story,
4
memories blot out itself with me; but the atrocious stages that I saw come back, and in night they make me bound, horrified by the vivacity of the picture.7
Finally, the second chapter clarifies the circumstances in which the White Fathers missionaries fought and marginalized Islam in Rwanda: they arrived in Rwanda coming from Uganda, where they had experienced religious conflicts between Muslims and Christians, and between Catholics and Protestants; they had gained a long experience of resistance to Arab trade of slaves in Algeria and in the East African Region; they were working and moving with the Middle Age crusade memory. In the words of Gerard Van‟t Spijker, “the first missionaries who arrived in Africa had a heritage of the Middle Age conflicts in Europe and their first motive of evangelization was effectively the fight against Islam.”8 Professor Gerrie ter Haar admitted also that “Crusades and Arab slave trade are part of the historical memory which influences relations between Muslims and Christians up to this day.”9 This explains why one of the missionary priorities of White Fathers in Rwanda was to prevent the expansion of Islam in that small heart of African landlocked country. In their view, “Islam was inspired by the spirit of evil.”10
In this journey of research for peaceful coexistence between Christian and Muslim communities in Rwanda, we cannot overlook Rwandan Traditional Religion. It will be of paramount importance to bring out the tenets of the Rwandan practices in terms of reconciliation and peace building. Christianity and Islam arrived in Rwanda at the end of 19th century; they found that Rwandan Traditional Religion was already present. This research brings out its relation with both new religions in Rwanda and how Traditional Religion influenced both. It is important to clarify it because Traditional Religion was “a social trait which made cohesion of Rwandan society”11 It is always present in the mind of Rwandans with Christian and Muslim ideas and “exerts probably the greatest predominance upon the thinking and living of the people concerned.”12
7 David Livingstone, Last Journal, vol.11, p.212. 8 Cf. Conférence donnée au premier séminaire islamo-chrétien au Rwanda, Septembre 1998 à Kabusunzu. 9 Gerrie ter Haar and James J. Busuttil, Ibid, p.5. 10 J.-H. Kagabo, Ibid p. 21. 11 Gérard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, Ed. Fountain Publishers, Kampala, 1994, p.13. 12 John Mbiti, African religions and philosophy, Heinemann, London, 1969, p1.
5
I tried to understand why the Tutsi kings of Rwanda were close to Muslims and the consequences of such open defiance to a colonial system where the Roman Catholic Church was a dominant force both politically and religiously. In fact, this will be my second argument of the root cause of violence in Rwanda. When the Tutsi kingdom was abolished in 1959, the Tutsi ethnic group and Muslims were marginalized and oppressed by a new political system which was openly under the influence of Roman Catholic Church. The Primate of the Church, Archbishop “André Perraudin”13, was a government maker of Rwanda.
The chapter three, “Religion and violence”, I analyzed the crusades and Jihad, as part of the historical memory of people in the Muslim and the Christian worlds, influencing relations between believers of both religions even to this day.14 I inspected the statement of a White Father Serge Moussa Traoré, who argued that: “Religions failed in solving or preventing the conflicts in the world in large part because many perpetrators of violence and conflict are themselves, believers”.15 I included evidence of the violent role played by religions in the Genocide against Tutsi and other conflicts in Rwanda, and importance to clearly identify the presence of violence, its seeds, and its deepest causes in preventing future violence in Rwanda. In the analysis, I considered the importance of being careful in showing the link between the factors and positions of the two major religious communities, whether they were part of the problem or of the solution with regard in sources of these conflicts.
In chapter four, I demonstrated that from religious dogma, it is possible to raise a non-violent coexistence and reconciliation between religions, peoples, races and different ethnic groups. Thus, I entitled that chapter “Healing and Reconciliation of Memories.” Healing of memories is one of the tasks challenging various religious traditions.16 The first step to create a new life after violent atrocities where children, women and men were suffered and, were killed, is to heal
13 André Perraudin (1914- 1990) was born at Cotterg, Vallée de Bagnes in Switzerland. He worked in Roman Catholic Church of Rwanda as Bishop and Archbishop from 1950 to 1990. 14 Gerrie ter Haar, and James j. Busuttil, Bridge or barrier: Religion, violence and visions for peace, Brill, Leiden, Nederlands, 2005, p.5. 15 Traoré S.M., The truth in Islam according to the official teaching of the Catholic Church, Ed. L‟Harmattan, Paris, 2010, p.240. 16 Gerrie ter Haar, Ibid, p.5.
6 memories. That process of healing is an important instrument to use for overcoming any kind of violence and to prevent it in the future. Therefore the different religions have to work together on that real need of healing memory in a Rwanda where many people were traumatized by the 1994 genocide against Tutsi and its consequences. Coming together, as believers of faith, along with all organizations in charge of healing memories like the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide, and the National Commission of Unity and Reconciliation, can help to heal memories. For the major faith communities in Rwanda, it is “an act of courage and humility in recognizing the wrongs done by those who have borne or bear the name of Christian or Islam.”17 Interreligious dialogue “is one way of recalling together times of communities living in peace with each other but also offers space for listening people recounting their stories and experiences repleted with painful memories of controversy.”18
Finally, this study is to serve Rwanda, as a wounded society, and it will be looked from a Christian perspective. Although I am not educated in Islam but having had profound encounters with Muslims in many interreligious Christian-Muslim dialogues, I offer also some reflections from Islam and Christian perspectives on healing wounds and memories.
17 Traoré S.M., Ibid, quoted Jean Paul II, incarnationis Mysterium,11, p. 230. 18 Ucko Hans, When you get to the edge of the Abyss, step back, in Current dialogue No 49, July 2007, pp:23-26, p:23.
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SECTION I:
RWANDA AND THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN TRADITIONAL RELIGION, CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM
Chapter I. RWANDAN HISTORY AND POPULATION
Introduction
Rwanda is a small land-locked country situated in the Great lakes Region of Central-East Africa, with 11.5 million people living on 26.338 Square kilometers. “The population density has increased from 321 persons per sq.km in 2002 to 416 in 2012 at the national level. It is the highest density in the East African Region and quite high compared to other countries globally.”19 The Rwandan population is expected to increase to about 16 million by 2020.20 Rwanda is located in Central/Eastern Africa, and is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west,
19The provisional results of the 4th population and housing census of Rwanda, < http://www.gov.rw/The- provisional-results-of-the-4th-Population-and-Housing-Census-of-Rwanda-as-of-census-night-August-15th-2012- give-a-total-resident-population-of-10-537-222-people>, 30th March 2014. 20 Rwanda vision 2020,
8
Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, and Burundi to the south as it can be seen below:
Most of the Rwandans depend on subsistence agriculture, generally using a hoe as the main tool.21 The population of Rwanda is composed of three social groups: Bahutu, Batutsi, and “Batwa.”22 They speak the same language, Kinyarwanda which is closely related to Kirundi, spoken in Burundi, Mashi spoken in the South Kivu region of Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kiha, spoken in northwestern Tanzania, Kinyarwanda is part of “Bantu language”23. All three social groups practice the same religions, and live in the same territory with a same culture.24
Tharcisse Gatwa, a Rwandan author, explains that “these three social groups who belonged to the same culture and civilization began to be divided into ethnic and racial categories which led, many times during the twentieth century to unbelievable violence in 1959, 1963, and 1973.”25 However, in 1994, Rwanda had endured an unprecedented genocide of Tutsi where approximately 1 million people were killed in one hundred days.
This chapter seeks firstly to investigate the root causes and key roles of religions in violence from the perspective of external influences of Rwanda at the end of 19th century with explorers, colonizers, Arabs, and missionaries. “In the history of Rwanda, myths, historical legends, the
21 Rwanda hope,
9 cultural universe and religious of imandwa (spirits), and the dynamism of dynasties and clans played big roles in the affirmation of the kingdom of Rwanda.”26 Secondly, the first white peoples to arrive in Rwanda through colonization and evangelization, read the history of Rwanda through “the hamitic myth and with diagrams of the European feudal history.”27 Thirdly, as said Emile Mworoha, Professor of History at University of Burundi, it is not possible to penetrate the pre-colonial monarchical facts in Rwanda in ignoring the system of clans and the different social categories.28
1.1. Origin of the Rwandan Kingdom
The origin of the Rwandan kingdom is known through oral stories, myths, and legends. It is Gihanga Ngomijana who apparently begun and founded the Rwandan kingdom and the Banyiginya royal dynasty clan from a place called Gasabo near lake Muhazi in the western part of Rwanda. “It is him who introduced the cow and the drum, (Gihanga cyahanze inka n’ingoma) fire, and religion.”29 It was at the end 10th and beginning of 11th century. He ruled Rwanda from his palace in the forest of “Buhanga.”30 Ian Vansina confirms that, Gihanga never was an historical figure even if Rwandans believed, and still believe that he was a living king.31
According to one of the legends from Rwandan oral tradition, King Gihanga is the father of the three ancestors of all Rwandans: Gatwa, father of the Twa, Gahutu, father of the Hutus and Gatutsi, father of the Tutsis.32 In Rwandan tradition, “the king was treated as a semi-divine being, believed to have come from heaven. He was a source of life and symbol of unity for the
26 Emile Mworoha, L‟Etat monarchique et son emprise sur la société dans la région des Grands Lacs au XIXème siècle, in Histoire sociale de l’Afrique de l’Est (XIXe-Xxe siècle), Karthala, 1991, p. 37, pp.37-58. 27 Ibid 28 Ibid 29 Bernadin Muzungu, Histoire du Rwanda Pre-coloniale, Ed. l‟Harmattan, Paris, 2003,p. 72. 30 Scholars have said that Buhanga is in Musanze Distict (former Ruhengeri near the Mukungwa river) However, other reseach says that Buhanga was in today‟s Gicumbi District(former Byumba). There are a grave people in Nyamirembe where residents believe that is was a grave of a King. Gihanga was buried in Nyamirembe in the South of Buhanga II. See
10 nation.”33 The symbol of the royal power was a sacred drum called Kalinga which was accorded the same respect as the king.34
1.1.1. Pre-colonial time
In Pre-colonial times, Africa was divided into many kingdoms with diversified populations speaking more than 800 different languages. African kingdoms “favored oral tradition and few possessed written languages.”35 There were more than ten thousand states and kingdoms before the arrivals of Europeans. 36 In Rwanda, it was a similar reality;
From the 15th century, the clans began to coalesce into kingdoms. By 1700, approximately eight kingdoms existed in present-day Rwanda, the largest ones being Bugesera, Gisaka, the northern part of Burundi, and the early kingdom of Rwanda. The kingdom of Rwanda, ruled by the Tutsi Nyiginya dynasty, became increasingly dominant from the mid-eighteenth century, as the kings centralized power and expanded the kingdom militarily, taking control of several smaller kingdoms. The kingdom reached its greatest extent during the nineteenth century under the reign of King Kigeli IV Rwabugiri (1853–1895).37
The political structure of Pre-colonial Africa was decentralized in certain parts and centralized in other parts. But Rwanda in particular
Was a highly centralized kingdom presided over by Tutsi kings who hailed from one ruling clan. The king was supreme, he ruled through three categories of chiefs, cattle chiefs, land chiefs, and military chiefs. The chiefs were predominantly, but not exclusively, Batutsi, especially the cattle and military chiefs. While the relationship between the king and the rest of the population was unequal, the
33 Julius O. Adekunde, Culture and Customs of Rwanda, Greenwood Press, London, 2007, p.7. 34 Ibid 35 Toyin Falola and Tayler Fleming, African civilization,
11
relationship between the ordinary Bahutu, Batutsi and Batwa was one of mutual benefit mainly through the exchange of their labour.38
Working activities were well divided. Tutsi pastoralists were cattle keepers, aborozi, whereas Hutu were agriculturalists, abahinzi. Twa were pottery workers, ababumbyi. “For exchanging product through barter trade with one another, there were also wood workers, textile workers for bark cloth, metal workers, medicine men, magicians, musicians…”39 It is reported that, “Bahutu, Batutsi and Batwa, lived in symbiotic harmony in using same language, same culture, and same territory.”40 But the Rwandan historian Déogratias Byanafashe argues that history indicates some violent crisis of succession as the extermination of the Abagerekas 1868-1869, the murder of Murorunkwere 1876-1880, the death of Nyirimigabo 1885-1887/8. The one better known is the tragic coup d‟état of Rucunshu.41
1.1.2. The tragedy coup d’état of Rucunshu in 189642
This crisis intervenes as to close the crises of the old Rwanda; it is one of the last with the reign of King Kigeli IV Rwabugili. The“Rucunshu”43 crisis was opposed, in a classic case of rivalry and competition for the throne which ended up in favour of opponents to King Rwabugiri. It means that it opposed supporters of the throne, represented by Rutalindwa, son of Queen Murorunkwere, the first wife of the king,“who was chosen in 1889 to replace his father”44, and those of Queen Kanjogera, second wife King Rwabugili, who wanted to enthrone her son, Musinga.
The war of Rucunshu in December 1896 happened between two politically very influential lineages: the royal lineage of the Banyiginya-Bahindiro and the matri-dynastic lineage of the Bega-bakagara that mobilized each of the partisans in the whole Rwanda. It was of short length
38 Official website of Rwandan government,
43 Runcunshu is located in sector of Nyamabuye in Muhanga District. 44 Ian Linden, Chrsitianisme et Pouvoirs au Rwanda, 1900-1990, Ed.Karthala. Paris, 1990, p.46.
12 for about one afternoon, but extremely murderess and violent. It ended in favour of Queen Kanjogera and her son Musinga Umwega-umwakagara and Umunyiginya-umuhindiro after having finished by dividing Rwanda in two irreconcilable factions: the faction of the Banyiginya and the faction of the Bega.
The repercussions of this fratricide war will agitate Rwanda until 1912 with the revolt of the legitimate Ndungutse and even subsequently with the inexpiable enmities between chief Kayondo, brother in law of King Musinga and Rudahigwa (Musinga‟s son and king of Rwanda since December 1931). Ndungutse declared himself son of Rutalindwa and therefore true legitimate prince. He led some expeditions from the Ndorwa in the northeast of Rwanda. The revolt of Ndungutse was controlled by a German military expedition with several hundreds of the deaths and enormous material damages.
1.1.3. The social organization called “clan”
It has been observed that, the earliest form of social organization in the Great Lakes Region was the clan ubwoko. Around twenty clans existed in the area, and they still exist in Rwanda. The clans were not limited to genealogical lineages or geographical area, and most included Hutus, Tutsis, and Twas.45
Alexandre Kimenyi, Professor of Linguistics, Ethics studies and African languages says that, Rwanda has twenty clans, “namely Abanyiginya, Abagesera, Abega, Ababanda, Abacyaba, Abasinga, Abashambo, Abahinda, Abazigaba, Abungura, Abashingwe, Abenengwe, Abasita, Abatsobe, Abakono, Abanyakarama, Abarihira, Abahondogo, Abashambo, and Abongera.”46 He continues in confirming that:
Social groups consciously and voluntarily separate from each other to create a new collective identity like the Christian Church or the Muslims who split into distinct groups but kept the same symbols and rituals. In Rwanda there is no physical
45 History of Musanze,
13
symbol to designate the clan member. People know their clan membership and totem through oral tradition.47
The evidence which Rwandans didn‟t take into account during their past violent killings and genocide is that: “although Rwanda has three distinct separate ethnic groups, namely Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, the three groups share the same clans and totems.” 48 For all clans which have totems, they had the obligation to protect them.
It was a taboo, umiziro in Kinyarwanda, for a clan to kill its animal totem. A clan member couldn‟t cut down a tree if the tree was its clan‟s totem. Some cultural anthropologists have suggested that it was a way to protect the environment in adopting either certain animals or certain plants to prevent them from extinction. It is true that traditional societies in which clans and totems are still found, have great respect for the environment and is the only place where it is still possible to find a large biodiversity.49
Besides the deep respect for totems and other traditional rules, “the majority of the literature claims that clans consider totems as the incarnation of ancestors. These totems are thus not only the clans‟progenitors but also their guardians and helpers.”50The totemic thinking, the belief in the mythic and magic power of names, symbols and rituals, is still alive in modern societies, as evidenced by the choice of emblems and logos by different organizations such as sports teams, schools, civil society, governments, and businesses. 51
Until the eighteenth century, for example, ethnicity was less important than class and clan-based identities, which themselves coexisted alongside several layers of regional and social identities. Thus, each of the twenty major clans in Rwanda includes both Hutu and Tutsi, and among each ethnic group one can find poor, landless peasants as well as wealthier princes.52 “Clan was the
47 Ibid. 48 Ibid. 49 Ibid. 50 Ibid. 51 Ibid. 52 From clan and class to ethnicity in Rwanda,
14 most meaningful social organization in Rwanda and in the Great Lakes Region.”53This is justified, for instance when one asked a peasant whether from Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, “what are you?” In 1930s or in 1960s the immediate response was the mention of the clan.54 There has been unanimity among the ethno-historians that the clan was by far the most important social organization in pre-colonial society. Equally, scholars agree that the Bahutu, Batutsi and Batwa constituted socio-classes.55
Gatwa observes that, the meanings attached to the concepts of Bahutu, Batutsi and Batwa have been central to the studies of the formation of Rwandan ethnic identity. Neither the sources of oral tradition nor the various official and private writings on which most of the ethnological studies relied, nor other sources have been able to clarify the process that led to the present-day mixture of the population or the formation of the ethnic group. What has been demonstrated, however, is that on the eve of colonization, the terms Bahutu, Batutsi and Batwa meant social classes; that neither ethnic group, race, caste, nor the Hamite concept, were known by the Banyarwanda people.56 “A poor Mututsi who had not enough cows to pay the dowry would marry a girl of the common people and gradually fall into the peasant class. The reverse is also true. A Muhutu who has wealthy in cattle and other resources would marry a girl of a rich Batutsi family and become one of them.”57 The examination of ethnic ideology in Rwanda is inevitably linked to the confrontation between two realities: pre-colonial Rwandan society and colonialism together with Christianity.58
53Tharcisse Gatwa, Ibid, p.11. 54 The teaching of History of Rwanda,
15
1.2. Colonialism
Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) a psychiatrist and philosopher from Martinique asserted that colonialism was violence in three ways: First as physical violence. Throughout colonial history physical violence has been perpetrated by the colonizer to “pacify” the colonized and to force them to accept the laws and order of the colonizer. Second as structural violence which refers to the social injustice that one sees in colonized societies through the economic exploitation of the colonized. Third as psychological violence, the injury or harm done to the human psyche of the colonized decreased their sense of self-worth and integrity. In the colonial context the imposition of the colonizers language on the colonized is a form of psychological violence.59 Besides these forms of violence, “colonialism completely destroyed what remained of the political, economic and socio-cultural achievements of Africa and left in its place „nothing of compensatory value‟. Colonialism is „violence in its natural state.”60
The post-colonial civil violence observed in Africa as the genocide in Rwanda, political rebellions, and interethnic conflicts are a common legacy of colonialism, for example in Eastern DRC at the boarder of Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, where an arbitrary partition of the region was made by European powers without taking into consideration the population. This created the unsolved question of identity and citizenship of Banyarwanda and Banyamulenge which generated violence in the Great Lakes region of Africa.61 After the decolonization process, this influence continues to permeate the social and cultural identities of the populations formerly involved in the colonial experience, still deeply affecting inter and intra group dynamics.62
59 Nessa, Colonialism as violence in its natural state, in Cure curious,
16
1.2.1. German colonization63
The Berlin Conference held between December 1884 and February 1885 “sliced Africa into Portuguese Africa, British Africa, German Africa, Italian Africa, Spanish Africa, French Africa and Belgian Africa.” 64 Both Rwanda and Burundi formed the territory called „Ruanda-Urundi‟, the Berlin conference “assigned it to Germany and marks the beginning of the colonial era.”65 It was then united with the German territory of Tanganyika to form German East Africa. Explorer Gustav Adolf von Götzen (1866-1910), who later became Governor of German East Africa, was the first European to significantly explore Rwanda in 1894; he crossed from the south-east to Lake Kivu and met the King Rwabugiri at Kageyo in Ngororero District in Western Province. Germany appointed Richard Kant as the first Resident governor for Rwanda in 1907, and German missionaries and military personnel began to arrive in the country shortly thereafter. One of the differences between German and Belgian colonization is that:
The Germans did not significantly alter the societal structure of the country, but exerted influence by supporting the king and the existing hierarchy and placing advisers at the courts of local chiefs. They also observed and perpetuated the ethnic divisions of the country; they favored the Tutsis as the ruling class and aided the monarchy in putting down rebellions of Hutus who did not submit to Tutsi control.66
63 History of Musanze,
17
1.2.2. Belgian colonization
“When Germany invades Belgium, at the start World War I, Belgian troops move east from the Belgian Congo to occupy Ruanda- Urundi in 1916.”67 After defeating German troops, “on 31st August 1923, the League of Nations passed a resolution granting Belgium the right to govern Rwanda and its southern neighbor Burundi, as the territory of Ruanda-Urundi,”68 which was attached to the portion of the German East Africa colony. Then after, “a colonial military campaign from 1923 to 1925 brought the small independent kingdoms to the west such as Kingogo, Bushiru, Bukunzi and Busozo, under the power of the central Rwandan court.”69 Belgian colonizers replaced Germans. “They portrayed Tutsi as natural rulers, with superior intelligence and morals.”70 White Fathers and Belgian administrators “reinforced many of the ideas of strict ethnic separation and Tutsi political dominance.”71 At the same time, they allowed the King to govern indirectly as stated by Timothy Longman:
The policy of indirect rule implemented by both the Germans and Belgians left the Rwandan monarchy in place, using the existing political structures to administer colonial policies. The system lost much of its complexity, as power became increasingly centralized. Since indirect rule required identifying indigenous authorities, the Belgian administration registered all of the population in the 1930s and issued identity cards that designated each person's ethnicity.72
This classification into ethnic groups intensified the ethnic division between the Tutsis and Hutus With the institution of national ID cards in 1933, “the Tutsis went from being the naturally superior race, to being the marginalized minority. Rwandan leaders used the ID cards to
67 History of Rwanda,
72 Ibid
18 construct two separate races, thus their usage by colonial and postcolonial governments nevertheless helped to transform the manner in which Rwandans regarded identity.”73
On that new identification system,
Words: "Tutsi", "Hutu" and "Twa" were indicated on identity cards. However, because of the existence of many wealthy Hutu who shared the financial (if not physical) stature of the Tutsi, the Belgians used an expedient method of classification based on the number of cattle a person owned. Anyone with ten or more cattle was considered a member of the Tutsi class. The Roman Catholic Church, the primary educators in the country, subscribed to and reinforced the differences between Hutu and Tutsi. They developed separate educational systems for each, although throughout the 1940s and 1950s the vast majority of students were Tutsi.74
In 1960, the Belgian government agreed to hold democratic municipal elections in Ruanda- Urundi. The Hutu majority elected Hutu representatives. Such changes ended the Tutsi monarchy, which had existed for centuries. A Belgian effort to create an independent Ruanda- Urundi with Tutsi-Hutu power sharing failed, largely due to escalating violence. At the urging of the United Nations, the Belgian government divided Ruanda-Urundi into two separate countries, Rwanda and Burundi.75
1.3. Hamitic theory
For centuries, the issue of ethnic identities or racial origin of the inhabitants of Rwanda has been a source of debate among historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and ethnologists. Moreover, some scholars set up several theories of the Bantu migrations to indicate particularly that in Rwanda the three ethnic groups are distinct and come from different areas. According to one of the most well-known theories,
73 Jacklyn Nardone, Intolerably Inferior Identity, quoted Timothy Longman, pp.347-354, < http://www.monitor.upeace.org/archive.cfm?id_article=707>, 05th March 2016. 74 Rwanda,
19
The Twa were the original inhabitants of Rwanda (700 BC), the second settlers were Hutus, while the Tutsis migrated later in the 14th to 15th century and formed a distinct racial group, possibly of Cushitic origin. An alternative theory is that the migration was slow and steady, with incoming groups integrating into rather than conquering the existing society. Under this theory, the Hutu and Tutsi distinction arose later and was a class distinction rather than a racial one.76
Furthermore, they represented the Batutsi as “a class of smart people that was naturally fit to rule. A chronological order of land occupation by the three ethnic groups was later used as an intellectual basis for the exclusionist ideology and the denial of citizenship to Tutsi.”77 And then, the major formulations of the Hamite myth were drawn up from the 1880s. According to Gudrun Honke, Captain Speke (1861) and Henry Morton Stanley (1871) were the first explorers who, from travelers, heard about the Banyarwanda people. Two major sources were used:
- The first source was the Ugandans who told of the images left by King Rwabugiri, the warrior king of Rwanda, who had occupied their country.
- The second source was Arab slave traders. These described a people who resisted strongly and prevented them from entering Rwanda. Captain Speke described Rwanda as a country in the hands of foreign invaders, of Galla origin from Abyssinia and Asia.78
Dr Oscar Baumann, an Austrian was the first European to live in Rwanda from 1892 to 1894. He sets the tone for what was going to become a systematic application of the theory of race supremacy as follows: Everywhere Watutsi who stood out by their slenderness and their near European type. Some were hardly brown and were doubtless the origin of the legend about the white negroes. Their style of dress recalls the description of the royal figures of ancient Assyria.79
76 History of Musanze,
20
According to Gatwa, the second European to enter Rwanda in 1894, Gustav Adolf Duc Von Goetzen, gave a description that would be repeated again and again: “A strange Semitic or Hamitic aristocratic caste, whose ancestors originated from Gallaland, in the South of Abyssinia, and had occupied the regions of the Great Lakes. Their gigantic stature, with a height of more than two meters, reminds one of the worlds of fairy tales.”80
Jean Joseph Gobineau (1853-1855) affirmed that the Hamites descended, 5000 years before, from the white race in Mesopotamia. Confronted by the black African masses, non-Adamic from the south, they would have mixed and become diluted.81
In 1926, Mary Hastings Bradley, an American traveler and author, spoke of sophisticated Tutsi who had a precise theology and a number of biblical sounding stories. These, she explained, came down from the north with these tribes of pronounced Hamitic and Semitic origins. New scientific racial theories started to circulate suggesting that the Tutsi and also Masai came from a primordial red race. Some thought they came from India. A certain Dominican Father Etienne Brosse (1892), suggested that they originated in the Garden of Eden, while others suggested that the Tutsi were survivors of the lost civilization of Atlantis.82
This created a wrong awareness in Rwanda that Tutsis were invaders, foreigners with no right to live in the country as citizens. Later, after independence, this ideology supported by religious and political authorities led to killings, marginalization and ultimately the genocide of the Tutsis. Churches and colonial powers also reinforced the existing class system in promoting Tutsi superiority. They considered Hutus and Tutsis as different races with different origins.
80 Ibid., pp.97-110.
81 Ibid., p.65, quoted Baron d‟Eckstein in 1854, and the Dominican Vicwa-Mitra in 1892, both referred to in Chrétien, J.P., Burundi, Histoire retrouvée. 25 ans de métier d’historien en Afrique (Paris:Karthala, 1993), p.339. 82 Tudor Parfitt, Black Jews in Africas and Americas,
21
In 1902, Father Léon Classe, future bishop, wrote that the Batutsi are men of superb physique, with delicate and regular features and with something of both Aryan and Semitic types. In 1917, Father Francois Menard wrote that the Mututsi were an European persons in a black skin.83
The use of the ethnic phenomenon in political affairs by the colonizer resulted in segregation in schools. The Tutsis, a superior group by definition became the natural candidates for assisting colonizers.84 In the period from 1910 to 1940, the White Fathers, led by Bishop Léon Classe, developed this Hamitic ideology in all their activities. Hamitic ideology legitimized a rigid pseudo-racial hierarchy which had profound and long-reaching political consequences.85 “The elevation of the Tutsi meant the relegation of the Hutu to the status of bantu servants, and of the Twa to the lowest position of aboriginal "pygmoids", supposedly remnants of an earlier stage of human evolution.”86
After World War II, the political relation between Belgium and Tutsi elites changed. King Mutara III Rudahigwa (1912-1959) and his collaborators “grew impatient and became more aggressive in their pursuit of independence. The Belgians feared their colonial rule was coming to an end. Some colonial rulers felt that by favoring the Hutu and trying to take back some power from the Tutsi, they might remain in power longer.”87
The 1990‟s, the historian Ferdinand Nahimana, one of the founders of the Radio Télévision des Milles Collines, developed a PhD thesis in which the Tutsi Hamite figure was reduced to pejorative terms, of invader, and colonizer, and the Hutus were given positive terms, of revolutionary, and good people. According to Nahimana‟ the Hutus were the Marxist revolutionaries who would overcome the Tutsi invader.88
83 Tharcisse Gatwa, Ibid., p.70, quoted Classe, L., in Missions d‟Afrique des Pères Blancs, Septembre, 1902, p.385. 84 Anastase Shyaka, Rwandan Conflict,
22
1.3.1. Educational discrimination
In 1900, missionaries formed the first schools, in which only Tutsi children were allowed to join the classrooms. “Then, they put into place a discriminative educational system, which allowed only the children of Tutsi chiefs to have access to formal education, oriented towards administration.”89 Ethnic separation and distinction between Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa became intense and increasingly violent. Gerard Prunier mentions that: “to obtain any kind of post- secondary education, the Hutu had no choice but to become theology students at the Kabgayi and Nyakibanda seminaries.”90
This discrimination; created a deep frustration because after independence in 1962, “the first republic led by Grégoire Kayibanda (1924-1976) a former seminarist at Nyakibanda, used the quota policy as justification to instigate a mass purge of Tutsis from the University of Rwanda and other public posts.”91As one Rwandan interviewee educated during the colonial period explained:
The education system in Rwanda contributed and went deeply into fostering an inter-Rwandan cleavage during the colonial period because the Catholic missionaries and the German administrators deemed that the best collaborators were Tutsi, not Hutu. They even came up with a theory that Tutsi were born with a sense of organization, a gift for governing that was innate. And colonials really collaborated with missionaries to disempower Hutu chiefs… and to admit Tutsi, not all Tutsi, but the children of important chiefs and also exclude Hutu from schools.92
89 IRDP, History and conflict in Rwanda,
23
With the support of colonizers, “the Tutsi were allowed to monopolize the political, economic and educational spheres of society.” 93 The consequence of these privileges was that
By the late 1930s, the hamitic myth had been firmly implanted in the souls of Rwandan people, and had become ultimately perceived by the players themselves as the new reality. The growing awareness among the Hutu of the imposition of Tutsi oppression led to the 1959 revolution which drove the Tutsi from power and established the first Hutu Republic.94
After the Rwandan independence, Belgians left “the country in upheaval with an inverted power structure of a small group of Catholic-educated Hutu elite. Two thousand Tutsi were killed in 1962 and 10.000 more were massacred in 1963; between 1963 and 1964, about 15.000 to 20.000 Tutsis were killed.”95
During the second Republic, 1973-1994, under the military regime of General Juvénal Habyarimana, iringaniza, or the policy of quotas was codified in regional quotas, ethnic quotas and gender quotas. This exclusionary policy exposed the Hutu government to the possibility to discriminate against Tutsi students and other Rwandans not belonging to the president‟s region. It created animosity within the country.96
The Hamitic theory promoted and emphasized by missionaries, colonizers, and later by Rwandans politicians until 1994, influenced the educational system. It contributed to strengthen the Hutu-Tutsi antagonisms, initially in favoring Tutsis and later Hutus.
93 Raf Goovaerts, The Rwanda crisis: History of a genocide,
24
1.3.2. Introduction of ethnic identity card97
“Most writers on the 1994 Rwandan genocide note the introduction of group classification on ID cards by the Belgian colonial government in 1933, an action most significant because it introduced a rigid racial concept of group identity where it had not previously existed.”98
The Belgians introduced identity cards labeling each individual as either Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa. While it had previously been possible for particularly wealthy Hutus to become honorary Tutsis, the identity cards prevented any further movement between the classes.99 The Identity cards became an instrument of discrimination in accessing to education and employment. Later in 1994 “The prior existence of ethnic Identity cards was one of the most important factors facilitating the speed and magnitude of the 100 days of mass killings.”100 Below the example Rwandan Identity card before genocide 1994:
97 "Ethnicity" ("Ubwoko" in Kinyarwanda and "Ethnie" in French) appeared immediately beneath the cardbearer's photograph as the uppermost item on page two of the Rwandan ID card. Four possible "ethnic" categories appeared with the issuing official striking a line through all but the applicable category, for example "Ubwoko (Hutu , Tutsi, Twa, Naturalisé)" . The term "Naturalisé" applied to naturalized citizens. ID cards facilitated the identification of victims during the genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda. (See Prevent genocide international,
25
These same Identity cards told modern-day killers whom to kill and whom to spare. A prominent Hutu ideologist, Dr Léon Mugesera, arrested in Canada, was transferred to Rwandan justice court in 2012 for being charged with crimes against humanity, “he repeatedly incited Hutu peasants to send the Tutsi "back" to Ethiopia. Showing contempt for geography equal to his disregard for history, Dr Léon Mugesera enjoined his followers to throw the Tutsi in the Nyabarongo river.” 101 The order was not taken metaphorically because in April and May 1994, “perhaps 40,000 corpses made the watery journey from Rwanda to Lake Victoria.”102
1.3.3. Divide for rule
Divide and rule is a strategy well known and used in many countries by different leaders and authorities who defend their own interests. It is seen as “a mechanism used throughout history to maintain imperial rule.”103 Slowly if it is maintained as a policy in ruling system “it creates division and polarization in society and strengthens the position of small elite and allows it to exploit political and economic power.” 104
German and Belgian colonizers exploited the historic division of labor between the Hutus and Tutsis and incorporated the Tutsis into ruling elite.105 In addition to that they “used the Tutsi administration in order to control the country and even helped it in expanding its region of influence.”106 And behind this policy of divide and rule “most of the missionaries were part of the colonial project whose motto was divide and rule”107
101 Rukiya Omar and Alex de waal, Genocide in Rwanda,< http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2000/2000- October/018826.html >, 18th July 2016. 102 The ungodly missionary legacy,
26
In Rwanda this strategy of divide and rule “led to a strong association of the sharpened ethnic distinction with social status and a notion of inferiority of the Hutus.” 108 This polarization of Rwanda through dividing people along ethnic lines had a persistent effect on the relationship between Hutu and Tutsi. It repeatedly led to large scale conflict over several decades in Rwanda and in its neighboring countries.109 At the end the strategy of divide and rule created the ideology of division and hatred which continued after independence and it was one of the major causes of the genocide against Tutsi in 1994.
1.4. Rwandan social revolution of 1959
King Mutara III Rudahigwa suspected of being a communist and supported by the Russians, died in under mysterious circumstances in Burundi on 25th July 1959. He was replaced by Kigeli V Ndahindurwa until 28th January 1961. “King Rudahigwa had already begun to seek full independence and the end of the Belgian colonial occupation. He followed other African leaders as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, and Louis Rwagasore of Burundi. In the eyes of colonizers and Roman Catholic Church who had inducted him, he appeared ungrateful in seeking independence of Rwanda.110
On 3rd November 1959, because of a physical aggression of Dominique Mbonyumutwa a sub chief Hutu of Ndiza, by Tutsis young men, “hundreds of Tutsi were killed and thousands displaced and forced to flee to neighboring countries. This marked the start of the so called „Hutu Peasant Revolution‟ or „social revolution‟ lasting from 1959 to 1961, which signified the end of Tutsi domination and the sharpening of ethnic tensions.”111 Finally, at the insistence of the United Nations Trusteeship Council, Belgium granted Rwanda independence on July 1, 1962, with President Gregoire Kayibanda, as the leader of PARMEHUTU or Parti de l’Émancipation du Peuple Hutu was exclusively ethnic-based. It was renamed later, the Democratic Republican Movement (MDR). “When Rwanda gained independence, 120,000 people, primarily Tutsis, had
108 Simon Alder & Yikai Wang, Ibid. 109 Ibid. 110 Bernardin Muzungu, Le Rwanda, ce pays qui traverse le feu et en est sorti plus tranchant, les Editions Cahiers Lumières et societes, 2014, p.8. 111 Rwanda genocide, < http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/education/rwandagenocide.shtml>, 27th April 2016.
27 taken refuge in neighboring states to escape the violence which had accompanied the gradual coming into power of the Hutu community.”112 Ten such attacks occurred between 1962 and 1967, each leading to retaliatory killings of large numbers of Tutsi civilians in Rwanda and creating new waves of refugees. By the end of the 1980s some 480,000 Rwandans had become first refugees in Africa, primarily in Burundi, Uganda, Zaire and Tanzania.113
Colonizers of Rwanda will continue to be accused as direct cause of violence from 1959. For example, in January 2014,
Speaking at the 5th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region on Peace and Security in Luanda, Angola, President Museveni made the following remarks about Rwanda: The Belgian sponsored genocide of 1959 in Rwanda created a Tutsi Diaspora that dispersed in the region.114
Habyarimana Coup d’état
It is known as a coup d‟état of 5th July 1973 prepared by Juvenal Habyarimana, Alexis Kanyarengwe, Aloys Nsekalije, and Theoneste Lizinde. “The stimulus for Habyalimana‟s coup d‟état was a failed effort on Kayibanda‟s part to reactive the Hutu-Tutsi rivalry beginning the previous months in 1973.”115
In 1973, on the night of 15th February, a list with 24 names of Tutsi students was released asking them to vacate the university. Later, more names were added to the list of students supposed to leave the university. At midnight, Tutsi students who hadn‟t left the campus were attacked by Hutu students with clubs, metallic objects and knives. One hundred and ninety (190) Tutsi students and those who were thought to be part of that ethnicity left the university leaving 329 Hutu students at the varsity.116
112 Ibid 113 Ibid. 114 Revolution in Rwanda, < http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Commentary/1959-revolution-in-Rwanda-was-not- genocide-at-all/-/689364/2158912/-/88hihs/-/index.html>, 29th April 2016. 115 Lowell Barrington, After independence, University of Michigan Press, 2006, p.90. 116 Dean Karemera, How acaedemia played a critical role in the promotion of genocide ideology,
28
The movement spread in many secondary schools, in the public and in the private sector. The Habyarimana‟s regime exercised a quasi-totalitarian control over the movement and political activities of its citizen and even required peasant to provide two days of free labor per month. The regime also enjoyed the support of the Roman Catholic Church.117This is justified by the fact that Archbishop Vincent Nsengiyumva became the chairman of the unique ruling political party from 1976 to 1990 until the Vatican requested him to renounce the membership. On Protestant side, “when Michel Twagirayesu became president of the Presbyterian Church in 1977, he assumed a seat in Kibuye prefecture committee of the MRND.”118 Leaders such as Vincent Nsengiyumva, Adonie Sebununguri Archbishop of the Anglican Church, and Michel Twagirayesu President of the Presbyterian Church “maintained close personal relationships with the president Habyarimana and often dined at the president‟s home.”119 Most importantly of all, President Juvenal Habyarimana retained the policy of issuing identity cards that listed each citizen‟s ethnicity and quota policy that restricted Tutsi to no more than 9 percent of the positions in any school, government agency, or business.120
In 1979, Rwandan refugees mainly from Uganda and Kenya created the Rwandese Alliance for National Unity (RANU). In 1987, RANU became the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). On 01st October 1990, “the RPF launched an armed liberation struggle that ultimately ousted the dictatorship in 1994 and ended the genocide which cost more than one million lives of Tutsi and moderate Hutu who opposed the genocidal regime.”121
29
Conclusion
The complexity of the history of Rwanda led many times to killings and finally to genocide caused by the Hamitic ideology supported by colonialists, missionaries, and state authorities in formulating inequality between the different Rwandan social groups.
The practice of elevating one tribe or one ethnic group to assist in the governance of the colony was common to all colonial governments in Africa; for example, in South Africa, the Zulus were elevated to semi-European status; in Nigeria, the Ibos were elevated to quasi-European rank, and in Liberia the re-settled American slaves received the status of "African-Aryans" - and all with the same result as in Rwanda: jealousy and hatred on the part of the tribes which had been left out.122
In order to deconstruct the Hamitic theory, the government led by President Paul Kagame, launched in 2013 a program called ndi umunyarwanda, meaning “I‟m Rwandan.” This initiative is inspired by the desire to build a strong, united society in valorizing the spirit of “Rwandanness”, rather that of Hutu, Tutsi or Twa. In the long run, this process may bring a national cohesion and unity with the purpose of avoiding suspicion and distrust among citizens. It anticipates the prevention of other ethnic, group, and religious conflicts. According to Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, former Prime Minister of Rwanda (2011-2015), “the program is inspired by the desire to build a strong, united society after it was torn apart during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. No Rwandan will get loans, fertilizers, scholarship or medical insurance based on being Hutu, Tutsi or Twa”.123
In ndi umunyarwanda program, Rwandan identity prevails above any other identity. Seeking the truth, expressing the remorse for what happened during the Genocide, encouraging apologies and forgiveness and taking measures to ensure that what happened never happens again are the foundation of the initiative. It also creates the space for Rwandans to reflect on their past in an open and genuine way.124 It is possible to rebuild a peaceful country because, contrary to the Hamitic theories, Rwandans themselves had their own myths explaining their origin. The three
122 S.H. Shearer, The hamitic hypothesis,
30 social groups, Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, believed they had a common ancestor called Gihanga who founded the Kingdom of Rwanda. This myth was shared by all of them.125
125 Josias Semujanga, Ibid, p.123.
31
Chapter II. Historical Perspectives on the Encounter between Traditional Religion, Christianity, and Islam in Rwanda
Introduction
The history of Rwanda has complex social roots in the interrelationship, marked by with controversies and all sorts of violent conflicts between Hutus and Tutsis. From a religious point of view, there has been an impassive encounter between Christian missionaries and other religions. This second part looks especially on Christian-Muslim relations which are characterized by mistrust and misunderstandings throughout history. Their social interaction has been made difficult even if they were both influenced by Rwandan Traditional Religion.
The history of Christians and Muslims in Rwanda cannot be understood without reference to the Arab trade of slaves in East Africa and to the history of the White Fathers in Uganda at the end of 19th century. According to Jean Pierre Chrétien, a French historian “it is difficult to speak about European penetration in Eastern Africa at the end of the nineteenth century without taking into account the question of slave trade practiced between the Indian Ocean coast and the interior of the continent.”126
When the phenomenon of slavery is described in the Eastern region of Africa, what is noticed is the absence of reliable sources because for most of the authors, slavery constitutes an embarrassing theme.127 The majority of Muslims are uncomfortable in discussing about it. For some of them, the Arab trade of slaves is a very shameful issue when it is related to Islamic religion because the Arab traders of slaves were the ones who brought the Islamic faith to East and Central Africa. Others simply deny the involvement of Arabs in the trade of human beings. But, the fact is that, everywhere Arab traders of slaves passed, they built houses, and small cities were established. Today in East and Central Africa it is where you find the majority of Muslim communities and towns. “History must be taken seriously if people want to look to the future.”128The call to take history seriously is therefore crucial if we are to understand,
126 Henri Médard &Shane Doyle, Slavery in the Great lakes region of East Africa, Longhouse Publishing Services, Cumbria, UK, 2007, p.210. 127 Ibid, p.2. 128 John A. Azumah, The legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa, One world publications, Oxford, 2001, quoted Joseph
32 appreciate and better deal with contemporary interreligious difficulties, tensions and conflicts in today‟s world and particularly in Rwanda.129
The history of Islam and Christianity influences today‟s encounter between Christians and Muslims in Rwanda. One of the main objectives of the Roman Catholic White Fathers in evangelizing the Eastern African region was to stop slavery practiced by Arab Muslims, which was widespread throughout the region at the end of 19th century. It is important to remember that Western Christian countries were also involved in the slave trade in West Africa. In this regard, there is any justification for “the traffic of Africans across the Atlantic into Christian Europe and the Americas, and across Sahara, Red Sea and India Ocean into Muslim North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and India.”130 Elikia M‟Bokolo, a historian from the Democratic Republic of Congo, asked himself how slavery was possible. How could it have gone on so far so long, and on such a scale? A tragedy of such dimension has no parallel in any other part of the world.131
For the trans-Atlantic slave trade there is great documentation but for the history of the Arab slave trade, sources are far more limited. Fewer books and other publications were dedicated to the topic. The memory of this traumatic and sad trade is still transmitted from generation to generation because there was no healing of memories. More than 50 million African slaves were taken from their families, their countries into extreme sufferings, and for many deaths. This caused emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds. And the African memory is not yet recovered. That is why Professor L. Magesa from Hekima College, a Jesuit School of Theology in Kenya insists in saying that “Africa must not forget the slave trade which was a genocide, to remember it, is a fundamental obligation.”132 It is a way of combatting it, and also resisting to other many forms of slavery. “If you want to combat effectively a so common practice in history,
Hajjar, Christian-Muslim consultation in Chambésy, p.97. 129 Ibid. 130 Ibid, p.110. 131 Elikia M‟Bokolo, The impact of the slave trade on Africa,
33 you must strive to understand what has favored it, and why it has itself imposed, and how it was accepted.”133
2.1. Arab-Muslim trade of slaves
2.1.1. Definition of slavery
“Being a slave is a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, fortune and forced into work.”134 In other words, “slavery is a condition in which one human being is owned by another.”135 The essence of slavery is the destruction of the human personality, meaning the human natural sovereignty of a person, which makes her or him a moral being accountable, and capable of virtue.136
According to The New Encyclopaedia Britannica “a slave is considered in law as property, or chattel. He is deprived of most of the rights ordinarily held by a free person. Slavery has existed in various forms throughout almost the whole of recorded history.”137
Photo Usslave blogspot.com
133 Olivier Grenouilleau, Qu’est-ce que l’esclavage? Ed. Gallimard, Paris 2014, p.13. 134 Collins Dictionary,
34
“In slavery, violence is used to maintain control over the slave, he is exploited, normally in some sort of economic activity, but possibly for sex or even as an object of conspicuous consumption.”138 Olivier Pétré Grenouilleau a French historian specifies that “a slave was sometimes a carrier, sometimes merchandise, sometimes a producer.”139 The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 -322BC) defines a slave as a human who by law of nature doesn‟t belong to himself but belongs to another.140 “Slavery is one of the foundations of ancient societies before Christianity. Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, and some other philosophers regarded slavery as a natural and necessary institution.”141
Slavery existed at the beginning of human history and has taken many forms over the past five thousand years.142 It is old as the war and the old war as human nature. For a long time, the war between two nations ended in the enslavement of the vanquished. The strongest people grabbed the lower and took him captive.143 It exists in a wide range of forms such as “bonded labor, forced labor, slavery by descent, human trafficking, child labor, plantation, urban slaves, and slaves that worked in the mines.”144
All these forms of slavery are contrary to human dignity. Specifically, in pre Islamic Arabia, slavery was also in institution rooted in the culture. According to Malek Chebel, “slavery has taken considerable dimensions throughout the history of this region and it is still present in the
138 Defining and measuring slavery,
35 daily lives of hundreds of millions of people.”145 Nearly every culture and historical period has known slavery, and it has been "packaged" differently at each time and place. There have been religious justifications for slavery in many different cultures, and racial differences have been used to rationalize slavery as well.146
In reality, slavery is a human institution. From time immemorial, it “has been rife throughout all of ancient history. Most, if not all, ancient civilizations practiced this institution and it is described and defended in early writings of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Egyptians. It was also practiced by early societies in Central America and Africa.”147 Slavery in other parts of the world had typically involved prisoners of war, and was considered as a human alternative to being put to death.148 That aspect was practiced in many societies since prehistoric times.
2.1.2. Slavery in Africa
The African slavery is the one known by contemporary people. “Between the years 1650 and 1900, historians estimate that around fifty million Africans were forcibly removed from Eastern, Central, and Western Africa as slaves, although the numbers involved are controversial,”149 because there is not yet a scientific research on the number of African slaves deported. The world African slave trade was truly a “Holocaust.” “Arab traders exported as many as seventeen million slaves to the coast of the Indian Ocean, to the Middle East, and to North Africa. African slaves deported via the Red sea, trans-Sahara, and East Africa/Indian Ocean to other parts of the world between 1500-1900 may have been as many as five million.”150 The number of Africans deported to the Americas by the Europeans counted: about ten to fifteen million. To these should
145 Malek Chebel, Islam et esclavage un tabou bien garde, < http://archives- lepost.huffingtonpost.fr/article/2010/12/02/2326608_malek-chebel-islam-et-esclavage-un-tabou-bien-garde.html>, 25th November 2015. 146 Defining and measuring slavery,
36 be added some thirty to forty million who died before reaching the Americas.151 In other words African slave trade has been called “black Holocaust.”
The Black Holocaust makes reference to millions of African lives which have been lost during centuries of slavery, colonization and oppression. It is one of the more underreported events in the annals of human history. The Black Holocaust makes reference to the horrors endured by millions of men, women, and children throughout the African Diaspora.152
A “large numbers were killed, while others died of starvation, disease, committed suicide or died from the consequences of being forced to work long hours.”153 In some areas in Africa, the population was nearly decimated by the slave trade. This is confirmed by Henri Morton Stanley who said that: “When he visited Congo it was a country such as Ireland with an estimated population of one a million. During his second visit in this country a few years later, he found a devastated country.” 154 “The slave trade in East Africa was violent, chaotic, and totally out of control.”155 Slaves were not men; they were like things and instruments. “The sale and exchange of slaves constituted the biggest abuse ever made to human dignity because it included all sorts of violence, rape, torture… The sale and the exchange of the slaves had disastrous consequences on numerous families and on the African continent in general.”156
To put a human being on the level of livestock or things is to exclude him or her from human society. Slavery, whatever its form, stops the human being from growing, surpassing himself, from existing, from achieving, and from organizing his or her life. It maintains the person in misery and poverty; it eliminates aspirations of the soul, and discourages the most audacious; it separates the most energetic from initiative.157
151
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Georgina Vaz Cabral, a former coordinator of the non-governmental organization “Comity Against Modern Slavery” notes that slavery is an inhuman and degrading crime driving to the social destruction of the person and to the progressive loss of the person‟s identity and humanity. The victims undergo violence and humiliations that have a direct impact on their physical and moral integrity.158 The international seminar organized by UNESCO and the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization, in Nigeria in 2012; urged scholars to break the silence over slave trade, considered as one of humanity‟s greatest tragedies and to promote pluralism and intercultural dialogue among nations on the subject.159 Along the same line, Professor Abdul Sheriff, Director of the Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute, said that slavery and slave trading are one of the most tragic chapters in the history of humanity, and it had a specific role in the history of Islam in the Indian Ocean region. For him,
Historians are challenged not to reduce the history of the slave trade to a paragraph in commercial history. He urged them to introduce the human dimension of it, to give a voice to those deported, to inquire into lives of the people who left and those who arrived; in short there is a need to study it as part of the total history of civilizations.160
On this issue of slavery, Professor Wole Soyinka, Nobel price of literature 1986, is septic; he says that, “slavery and colonialism are two sad monumental events, two vital elements, and twin evils in the history of Africans. He adds that African leaders have failed to respond to these elements. For him the history of slavery was largely unwritten and therefore lost.”161 He adds that “without the cooperation and active participation of African kings and chiefs, the slave would not have been possible.”162 Africans, who are victims of unspeakable abuse which has not been equaled in the history of humanity, must search and look for the truth in history. “You can
158 Georgina Vaz Cabral, La traite des Etres humains, La Découverte, Paris, 2006, pp.5,6.
159 Tunde Fatunde, scholars focus on the Arab transaharan slave trade,
38 keep silent, you can burn the history, you can break it, you can falsify it, but the human memory refuses to forget, the past time continues to be present. The best relation of people with his history is the same as a child with her mother.” 163
In East Africa, the Arab slave trade is unknown to many people for two reasons. Most of the people fear to admit that it existed because they are afraid of those Arabs who do not want people to raise the issue. The second reason is ignorance; few books have been written about it. “The civil rights movements of the 1960's left many people with the belief that the slave trade was exclusively a European/USA phenomenon and only evil white people were to blame for it.”164 This can be seen in a book by the Rwandan theologian André Karamaga, where he talks about slavery led by western countries, starting in 1442.165 He does not mention the human traffic practiced by Arabs in sub-Saharan countries. He is not the only who does not mention it, “the Encyclopedia of history, Michel Mourre, 1986, devotes more than four pages on slavery in antiquity and the Atlantic slave trade, and nothing about the Arab slave trade.”166 The Arab trade started much earlier than the transatlantic trade and went beyond 19th century.
Hugh Thomas sheds new light on centuries of slave trade. He shows that the modern slave trade flourished in the early middle ages, as early as 869, especially between Muslim traders and Western African kingdoms.167 This shamed trade of human being lasted for more thousand years. And over many centuries, African lost several millions of people, “uprooted forcibly taken far from their lands, they lived under the thumb of foreign masters, practicing an unknown language, submitted to laws and foreign customs to the point of losing sometimes through generations, the memory of their origins.”168 Slavery was a negation of the humanity of the African people. The traumatisms it caused disorientated individuals and groups, their human dignity was deeply shaken and a fundamental crisis appeared in the African human being.169 It was a “process of
163 Dieudonné Rincon, La traite et l’esclavage des Africains par les Européens, Ed. COCADI, 2008, P.3. 164 Pierrot Scaruffi, The origin of African slave trade,
39 depersonalization.”170 In the trade of slaves there is a realistic awareness a fragile situation in which history placed African peoples, delivered to a world without mercy for the weakest.171 According to Motsoko Pheko:
African people all over Africa must reflect deeply on their history as it relates to their present life conditions and to their future. History is a clock that tells a people their historical time of the day. History is the compass that wise people use to locate themselves on the map of the world. A peoples‟ history tells them who they are. What they have been, where they have been, where they are now, but most importantly, where they still must go.172
2.2. Slavery and Islamic faith
Slavery is a vast subject in Islam; many writings, including Qur‟an, “Hadith,”173 talk about it. “Slaves are mentioned in at least twenty-nine verses of the Qur'an. Most of these verses are Medinan and refer to the legal status of slaves. There are hundreds of Hadith that deal with slavery because Muhammad began to take slaves after he moved from Mecca to Medina in 622.”174 They were taken in raids on nearby Arab tribes, or wars, either through offensive or defensive actions.175 Slavery “existed in pre-Islamic times and it was accepted by many ancient legal systems.”176 For example “Islamic law recognizes slavery as an institution within society, and attempts to regulate and restrict it in various ways.”177
It “clearly recognizes that slaves are human beings, but it frequently treats slaves as if they are property, laying down regulations covering the buying and selling of slaves.”178 Finally, it
170 Ibid, p.69. 171 Ibid. 172 Motsoko Pheko, Effect of colonialism on Africa’s past and present,
40 presents universal freedom and human dignity as its ideal society. Its recommendation that slaves be freed is on the same plane as its recommendation that the poor be clothed and the hungry be fed.179
In Islamic law free Muslims “cannot be made slaves but slaves who convert to Islam are not automatically freed, children born to legally enslaved Muslims are also slaves, and non-Muslims protected by the state called dhimmis.”180 Professor Jean Allain specialist in issue of slavery and human trafficking at Queen‟s University of Belfast wrote that Qur‟an and other Islamic texts exhorted the adoption of an enlightened and emancipatory attitude toward slavery.181 With Islamic law and other regulations, Muslims leaders were supposed to be against slavery but it continued many years after the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in eighteen century.
Muslim slavery was not just economic as it was the case in the western slave trade. There is a distinction because;
Slavery in Islam was not wholly motivated by economics. Although some Muslim slaves were used as productive labour it was not generally on the same mass scale as in the West but in smaller agricultural enterprises, workshops, building, mining and transport. Slaves were also taken for military service, some serving in elite corps essential to the ruler's control of the state, while others joined the equivalent of the civil service. Another category of slavery was sexual slavery in which young women were made concubines.182
< http://civics.sites.unc.edu/files/2012/05/EasternSlaveTrade_MiddleEastNorthAfricaEastAfrica.pdf>, 14th March 2016. 179 Ibid, quotation from Jacob Neusner, Tamara Sonn, Comparing Religion through Law: Judaism and Islam, 1999. 180 Ibid. 181 Jean Allain, The legal understanding of slavery: From the historical to the contemporary, Oxford University Press, 2012, p.41. 182 The Eastern Slave Trade between the Middle East, North Africa and East, Ibid.
41
2.2.1. Slavery in Muslim African countries
John Azumah, a Ghanaian lecturer in Islamic Studies, observes that “slavery in Muslim African countries was not necessarily an indigenous African practice that underwent internal transformation but had deep and independent roots in Islamic tradition”.183 It was not a new phenomenon as is mentioned above. “In pre-Islamic times, slavery was well known in the whole of the Mediterranean region and the Arabian Peninsula. Slaves were mainly captured during wars”.184 “Hard evidence for black slaves outside tropical Africa dates back to about 200 BCE in North Africa, and especially in Egypt.”185
According to Azumah, slavery persisted for a long time because it is not condemned in either the Qur‟an nor in Hadith.186 Islam accepted slavery as a practice which was not forbidden by God; but gave the slaves basic rights in the Muslim society. “What Islam tried to do was to ameliorate the conditions through regulations and exhortations on the treatment of slaves.”187 The early Muslim collector of Hadith, Bukhari quotes the prophet Muhammad with these words: “your slaves are your brothers. God himself put them under you. Now you have to give them food which you are eating and cloths you are wearing. Do not order them a work to do which is too heavy for them and if you are doing it do yourself the work as well.”188 Azumah observes that “the traditional Muslim ideology of slavery is closely linked to the doctrine of military „jihad‟189. Just as jihad is directed against non-belief in Islam (kufr), so the unbelievers, kuffar captured in a jihad are the legally and religiously enslavable in Muslim society.”190
183 John A. Azumah , Ibid, p.109. 184 Ibid, p.124. 185 Ibid, p.141. 186 Ibid, p.124 187 Abdul Sherrif, Ibid., p.219. 188 Johannes Henschel, 19th century, Humans as Merchandise, DeskTop Productions limited, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2011, p.15, quoted Buchari, you slaves are your brothers; in TH.W.Juynvoll:E.J. Brill‟s First Encyclopedia on Islam, Leiden 1987. 189 There are two meanings of Jihad: the first meaning is an effort to practice religion in fighting the evil in your own heart. There Jihad has no link with the war. This form of Jihad was professed between 610 and 622. The second meaning was acquired during the history of Hijra after 622. Date on what Muhammad moved from Mecca to Medina. "It is a fight against infidels named by the Qur‟an and against all those that contravene the law and all Muslims judged rebels.
190 John A. Azumah, Ibid, p.125.
42
There are other many prescriptions which help to monitor slavery: Alistair Evans, a history and science writer mentions some of them:
Free men could not be enslaved, and those faithful to foreign religions could live as protected persons, „dhimmis‟191, under Muslim rule (as long as they maintained payment of taxes called Kharaj and Jizya). However, the spread of the Islamic Empire resulted in a much harsher interpretation of the law. For example, if a dhimmis was unable to pay the taxes he could be enslaved, and people from outside the borders of the Islamic Empire were considered an acceptable source of slaves. Although the law required owners to treat slaves well and provide medical treatment, a slave had no right to be heard in court (testimony was forbidden by slaves), had no right to property, could marry only with permission of their owner, and was considered to be a chattel, that is the moveable property of the slave owner. Conversion to Islam did not automatically give a slave freedom nor did it confer freedom to their children.192
In addition the “Qur‟an also instructs Muslims not to force their female slaves into prostitution (24:34), and even allows Muslims to marry slaves if they so desire (4:24), and to free them at times as a penalty for crime or sin (4:92, 5:89, 58:3) and even allows slaves to buy their liberty, if they meet certain of their master's conditions (24:33).”193
Azumah notes that, “the black Africa, considered the bastion of unbelief, became a major source of slaves for Muslim lands such as North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and South Asia, starting as early as the seventh century through the waging of jihad (the main sources of slaves were war), raiding, kidnapping and purchase, reduced millions of traditional African believers into slavery on account of their non-belief in Islam”.194 He continues in affirming that, another crucial feature of the classical Muslim ideology of enslavement is “that blacks became legitimate slaves by virtue of the colour of their skin. The justification of the early Muslim equation of blackness with servitude was found in the Genesis story popularly called: the curse of Ham, one
191 Dhimmi is an Arabic word referring to non-Muslim citizen of an Islamic state or conquered Islamic land. 192 Alistair Boddy Evans, The role of Islam in African slavery,
43 of Noah‟s sons.”195 Some trading of slaves continued even into the beginning of 20th century in the horn of Africa and in Sudan and Mauritania during the whole 20th century. These traders were ruthless in getting captives. For Africa, it was a devastating trade, extremely shocking in what has been done to black people.
2.2.2. The theory of the curse of Ham
The notion that black Africans were by nature slaves appears to have persisted in the Arab popular view.196According to Arab culture and also to some Christian traditions, the black “are the descendants of Ham, the son of Noah, and they were characterized by black color as a curse put upon him by Ham‟s father Noah, which manifested itself in Ham‟s color and the slavery that God inflicted upon his descendants. Concerning this, they have transmitted an account arising from the legends of the story-tellers.”197 “The children of Ham had dark skin and lived in eastern Africa. The curse of Noah upon his son is there in Torah but there is no reference made there to blackness.198Unfortunately, some Arabs believe that “black equals slave.”199 Slaves are considered on the same level with any other kind of commodity, and as such are continually passing from one merchant to another. 200
The legend of the black race cursed since Noah, has no biblical foundation. It was developed in the course of history, relayed by those who wanted to justify their violence against people of a different skin color. This legend has unfortunately affected the blacks themselves, who sometimes begin to see their failures through historical glasses. We cannot rewrite history; we can only become aware of past mistakes, to start on the right foot. And no people on earth is cursed or condemned in advance.201
195 Ibid, p.128. 196 John Hunwick and Eve Troutt Powel, The African diaspora in the Mediterranean lands of Islam, Markus Wiener Publishers, Princeton, 2007, p.43. 197 Ibid, p.38.
198 Ibid.
199 Ibid, p.42.
200Ibid, p.90.
201 Guerchon Nduwa, Blacks are the descendants of Ham, the cursed?,
44
The curse of Ham served also to justify racial slavery in Europe and America. Even after the abolition of slavery, it continued to provide an argument for segregation, apartheid and other forms of racial discrimination for instance in South Africa. In history, he was identified to an Egyptian, heretic, sinner, and sodomite, Jew, Muslim, Mongolian, Black, Asian, and African. 202 Today, most research on human variation disagrees with such interpretations, because in the biblical text, Ham himself is not cursed, and race or skin color is never mentioned.203
2.2.3. Negative stereotypes
In Arab culture many stereotypes have been given to black people “a black is always a slave.” 204 Françoise Verges noted that “in 17th century, words Negro and slave are synonyms in English and French languages. Excluded from humanity, the Negro race can be traded.”205 One Hadith (al-Maydani D 1,124) says that when blacks are hungry they still, when they are satiated, they fornicate. “Mas'udi who died in 956 wrote that black man has a deficient brain, in which comes a lower intelligence.” 206 Black men and women walk around almost naked, with a small loincloth to hide their sex! In short, they are immoral people and this is not a sin to wish them God's curse and chase them into their villages, for capturing.207 Ibn Butlan, a Christian physician of Baghdad in the 11th century gave stereotypical characterizations of women of the various races. Here he refers to “zanj”208 women, female slaves imported from East Africa:
The blacker they are, the uglier they are, the more pointed their teeth are, the less use they are and the more it is to be feared they will harm you. They are generally of bad character, and much given to running away. Their dispositions know no gloom. Dancing and rhythm are inborn in them and natural to them. Because of their inability to speak Arabic correctly, people turned to them for music and
January 2013. 202 Benjamin Braude, Cham et Noe. Race et esclavage entre Judaism, Christianism et Islam,
45
dancing. It is said that if zanji fell down from heaven to earth he would surely do so to a beat. Their women have the most sparkling front teeth because of the abundance of their saliva produced by their bad digestions. They endure drudgery. A zanji who has been well fed can stand hard beating without feeling pain. No sexual pleasure is to be had from their women because of their smell armpits and coarse bodies.209
In the thirteenth century, Nasir al-Din Tusi, a Persian writer said that a “zanj” 210 differ from animals only because his both hands are up. He adds that many have noticed that a monkey learns more easily than a zanj, and it is more intelligent.211 The denigration of black people for long time served to “legitimize his slave status.” 212 A century later, even Ibn Khaldun did not hesitate to write that the Negro nations are generally docile to slavery, because they inferior humanity and they possess close attributes to stupid animals. 213
2.2.4. Castration of young African boys
The practice of castration is recorded in the Arab slave trade history in East Africa. In more than thirteen centuries of Arab slave trade in Africa, million Africans were enslaved and shipped to the Middle East where “young boys, victims from raids and wars were subjected to the horrid monstrous inhumane process of castration without anesthesia.”214 Castration was also practiced by the Gallas peoples in southern Ethiopia on boys from ten to fifteen years, wound were healed with butter.215 It caused an inhuman pain and affected the psychology of those who underwent the surgery and also those who saw it. Bornou, Haoussa areas and Soudan were the main producers of eunuchs. Many young peoples died because of infections. The governor of Karthoum considered that one boy mutilated out of 200 who were mutilated, survived and the
209 John Hunwick and Eve Troutt Powel, Ibid, quoted, Yawanis (al-Mukhatar b.al-Hasan b. Abdun al-Baghdadi), generally known as Ibn Butlan, a Christian physician of Bagdad in 11th century; Risala fi shira al –raqiq wa- taqlib al- abid,ed.Abd al-Salam Muhammad Harun in Nawadir al-makhutat, vol.4, Cairo, 1954, p.384.
210 Zanj is an Arabic word which means land of the blacks. It is the origin of Zanzibar. 211 Olivier Petre-Grenouilleau, Ibid. 212 Ibid, p.38. 213 Ibid, p.83. 214 Alik Shahadan, The History of Arab slavery in Africa,
46 price of one eunuch was very high.216 The latter method provided the majority of slaves, and at the borders of the Islamic Empire vast numbers of new slaves were castrated, ready for sale. Because the Islamic law did not allow mutilation of slaves, the castration was done before they crossed the border into Islamic countries.217
One Hadith concerning the castration says that a man came to complain at the Prophet about his celibacy and asked him do I castrate myself? The Prophet answered to him: "The one who castrates and the one who lets himself castrate doesn't belong to us, they are not Muslims. For him who castrates slaves must be also castrate. But even if the castration is forbidden in Islam, the first “muezzin”218 of Islam called Bilal Ibn Ribah from Ethiopia was a eunuch.219 Castrated men were given and received as valuable gifts among the wealthy. They were regarded as unusually trustworthy, and were employed not only to guard harems, but also as administrators and family stewards. In holy cities of Hejaz, they formed special elite to guard mosques and other religious sites.220 “The holiest city of Islam, Mecca, became one of the centres of the slave- trade in the world and remained so well into the twentieth century; from there slaves captured and brought from East Africa and Sudan were distributed to all parts of Arabia and Muslim world.”221
2.2.5. Details of the operation222
The details of castration are brutal. The operator seized the penis, the scrotal sacs and the testicles and tied them together tightly with a thin but tough cord. Then, with a single razor stroke, he cut off everything below the ligature. The huge wound was then covered with ashes to stop the bleeding, the boiling oil was poured on it and finally, if the first two methods had proved ineffective, it was cauterized with a red-hot iron. This having been done, a crude probe of metal,
216 Bernard Lugan, Histoire de l’Afrique, des origines à nos jours, Ellipses Editions, Paris, 2009, p. 376.
217 Alistair Boddy Evans, The role Islam in African slavery,Ibid. 218 Is a caller man for prayer(salat) through the minaret five daily times. He is chosen at the mosque.
219 Castration, eunichisme en terre d’Islam,
47 usually of lead, was inserted in the urethra right up to the bladder to facilitate the flow of urine. This probe was held in place until healing was complete.
When all these measures had been taken, the patient was immersed to the waist in the muddy silt of the Nile and left there for five or six days to help the formation of scar tissue. The Nile was a supreme god that was thought to heal all ills. These details are horrible, but true. Therefore, I have no fear of exposing them in all their hideousness and fearfulness.
General appearance of eunuchs after operation.223
This is the appearance most generally presented by the genitals, or rather their place, after the operation: a huge broad scar of very irregular shape, with raised edges, the scar tissue being of a lighter colour than the surrounding skin, full of folds and wrinkles. There was purulent discharge, mixed for a long time, often several months, with a great deal of matter tinged with blood. There is almost continuous pain in the perineum, sharp and stabbing at first, later dull. Then come loss of appetite, nostalgia, strange dreams, terrible nightmares; the brain became empty, ideas fled, thought was wiped out. The eunuch turned into brute. The humanity had disappeared in the castrated man because of the pain.
Incontinence, especially at the night during sleep, was almost always one of the inevitable results of castration. From the accursed day, henceforth, the wretched eunuch always had with him, at home or on his person, a probe which he uses to project his urine to a distance. Sixty percent died during the operation or as a result of it. Those who survived received assiduous attention and usually attained to more or less complete healing towards the end of the third month after the operation. From then on, they were merchandise having a value and were soon sent off to Cairo to become the property of beys and pashas, or towards Alexandria from where they were sent to Syria and Turkey. A young eunuch was then sold for about 25 purses, the value of a purse being 80 francs. “This is how the operation was carried out, on children of seven to nine years old, and sometimes on much older boys.”224 The majority of “castrated male slaves were purchased
223 Ibid, pp.100-101. 224 John Hunwick and Eve Troutt Powel, Ibid, pp.100-101.
48 by rich Arab kings, princes, and employed as security agents to protect harems where their wives, and concubines were caged.”225
2.3. Slavery in East Africa and in Rwanda
2.3.1. White Fathers and the mission of fighting slavery
Cardinal Charles Lavigerie the founder of White Fathers order had installed its first mission in Northern Africa in May 11, 1868 with three objectives: (1) Restoring the headquarters of St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage in the third century; (2) Being the successor of the African Church of St. Cyprian and St. Augustine who was suppressed by the invasion of the Muslims in 698 and (3) Evangelizing indigenous people. But the obstacle was that since the late 18th century North- East Africa was a Muslim area and it was ravaged by the intensity of Arab slave trade. Gradually, as the White Fathers moved to the south and on the Eastern Indian Ocean Coasts, they found that slavery is about to annihilate an entire population. Cardinal Lavigerie wrote:
In reading what my sons wrote, there is not a single day goes on Lake Tanganyika without caravan of slaves. Ten years ago, the borders of Maniéma, was the most populous province, it was completely covered with villages and different crops. Arab slave traders of Tippo Tip made the most of this region, as big as the third of France, a barren desert where there is no longer, traces of the ancient inhabitants, but bones of the dead‟s. 226
Because of the intensity Arab slave trade he saw, Cardinal Lavigerie changed his vision because for him, firstly, slavery must be stopped in combatting the spread of Islam in other regions of Africa. He strongly condemns Muslims who were heading the slave trade and he decided to combat it. “He launched a new crusade, which no longer aims to deliver the Holy Land but to bring new souls into the Church, whose crusade enemy remains a Muslim.”227 He recruited in 1879 and in 1880 Belgians, Scots, French, Dutch and their weapons were solemnly blessed in
225 Tunde Fatunde, scholars focus on the Arab transaharan slave trade,
49
Algiers.228He began also a vast campaign of explaining in Europe the mischief of that trade of human beings in East Africa. In his lecture at Saint Sulpice in Paris on 1st July 1888, the Cardinal proposed to set up “a European army of five or six hundred soldiers”229 for fighting against the Arab slave traders. According to Cardinal Charles Lavigerie, “the Christian evangelization within Africa itself was reluctant to pronounce and declare unequivocally that the Arab Slave Trade and slavery were intrinsically evil, and therefore, immoral, a sacrilege against the image of God in man and woman.”230
228 Jean Pierre Chrétien, L’invention de l’Afrique des Grands Lacs, une histoire du XX eme siècle, Ed. Karthala, Paris 2010, p.83. 229 Jean Cellier et François Richard , Nés égaux et libres,
50
2.3.2. The main routes of Arab trade of slaves between 1860-1890 in the Great Lakes Region
The hunting, kidnapping, purchase and traffic of Africans into servitude went on throughout the centuries but increased greatly in the nineteenth century after Said Ibn Sultan, ruler of Muscat, moved to Zanzibar and established plantation farming in 1832.231
Zanzibar became the world‟s biggest producer of cloves and the largest slave trading centre on the East African coast. Slaves were used for the cultivation and harvesting of cloves or were shipped to other parts of Africa, Persia and India. The greatest development of the slave trade
231 John A. Azumah, Ibid, p.142, quoted Beachey, A collection of documents, pp. 38-66.
51 was when sugar and clove plantations in Mauritius and Reunion were established in the 18th century.232 In East Africa region, men like Tippo-Tip (1840-1905) and Rumaliza (Mohamed ben Khalfan 1850-1894) organized well-armed gangs of slave raiders in the region.233
Bustling slave markets emerged in Zanzibar and along the East African coast, with eyewitness reports of young men, women and children being arrayed, inspected and sold like animals until the intervention of European colonial anti-slavery policies. Zanzibar become the capital of the Arab slave trade. The port of Bagamoyo in present Tanzania was one such slave market where slaves were shipped to Zanzibar.
2.3.3. Bagamoyo the terminus of slaves
Bagamoyo is a small town at the Indian Ocean, located at 60 Kilometers from Dar es Salaam.“The caravan porters named the town Bwagamoyo meaning throw off your melancholy. Later from 1884 to 1907, Bagamoyo became the terminus for thousands of slaves who gave a new name to the town Bwagamoyo meaning crush your heart.”234 It was known to be a center for collecting slaves from Maniema (DRC), Burundi, Mozambique, Tanganyika, and Uganda. Father Johannes Henschel in his book: 19th century, Humans as Merchandise, called Bagamoyo, “the town of slaves.”235
The number of people who lived in East Africa at that time cannot be exactly determined. The number of people who lost their lives during the enslaving or the journey from the centre of the country to the shore, which took from 4 to 6 months, stayed veiled. Therefore it can be assumed that broad parts of the East African land were no longer inhabited.236 With Zanzibar‟s mission founded in 1860 and Bagamoyo in 1868, Catholic Parishes today remain smaller than most others in modern eastern Africa. Often this is invoked to explain the present day minimal profile of these first places of Catholic evangelization in Eastern Africa.237 It is easy to understand the
232 History, < http://www.zanzibarkawatours.com/history.html>, 5th October 2011. 233 John A. Azumah , Ibid, p. 142. 234 Roman Catholic Museum of Bagamoyo, 06th May 2013. 235 Johannes Henschel, 19th century, Humans as Merchandise, DeskTop Productions limited, Da es Salaam, Tanzania, 2011, p.4. 236 Ibid 237 Paul V. Kollman, The Evangelization of slaves, Maryknoll, New York, 2005, p.15.
52 feeling of the missionaries who arrived on the scene in 18th century, and their concern with doing something about the system of slavery which was the cause of all these horrors. They did the only thing they could in the circumstances. They bought the slaves. They bought them in larger number at left and right, with all the money could get their hands on. They bought them by the hundreds and the thousands and they Christianized all they bought. 238
The evangelization of slaves was an essential part of the establishment of the Catholic Church in eastern Africa. The earliest missionary efforts did not follow from a desire to do something about the horrors of slavery in Zanzibar. They recognized the suffering of those enslaved and sought to ameliorate it, but their purposes and practices with former slaves did not derive from a desire to ransom as many slaves as possible, nor from an abolitionist sentiment.239 The name of the town, Bagamoyo, “which means vomit or crash out your heart, tells the horrors of the East African slave trade by Arab Muslims.”240 The Bristish explorer, David Livingstone estimated that 80,000 Africans died each year before ever reaching the slave markets of Zanzibar.241
In Zanzibar, there is a site of memory below St Monica's guesthouse, where dozens of slaves, women and children, were imprisoned for days in crowded cellars with little air and no food or toilets. Even after two minutes down there, under the low roof, the atmosphere seemed poisonously oppressive. Slaves were led outside and lined up in order of size. They were tied to a tree and whipped with a stinging branch to test their mettle. Those who did not cry or faint fetched a higher price at market. Africa has its share of cruelty and suffering, but such stories bite our conscience as if for the first time.242
238 Ibid, p.16. 239 Ibid, p.17. 240 John A. Azumah, Ibid, p.143. 241 Would it be time to get an apology from the Arabs,
53
2.3.4. The indescribable pain of slaves
After a long walk of four to six months between 1500 and 2000 km, from Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Ujiji, Tabora, to Bagamoyo, black slaves sang this song:
My heart is bleeding; bleed my heart!
On the fields at home we worked, joking and singing.
Cruel men surrounded us, caught us like animal;
Chaining us, one to one, like animals
My heart is bleeding; bleed my heart.
My heart is bleeding; bleed my heart.
Where are you, my father, my mother?
Where are you, my brothers, my sisters?
Are you caught like me? I am so lonely!
My heart is bleeding, bleed, my heart!
My heart is bleeding; bleed my heart!
They forced us to march, miles and miles.
Not knowing, where they take us!
No hope anymore in my life!
My heart is bleeding, bleed my heart!
My heart is shivering; shiver, my heart!
I see water which I never saw!
54
Water, water, up to the horizon!
They push us into the water, on the Dhows!
I crush down my heart- no hope anymore243
Azumah urges that, the hard and painful historical facts and contemporary realities made an integral part of interreligious dialogue.244But some argue that Arab-Muslim enslavement of blacks is past history and as such it is not an important contemporary issue.245 It is true that societies cannot afford to become prisoners of the history but they need to look ahead if they are to progress meaningfully into the future. However, it is equally true that we cannot afford to look meaningfully into the future without full knowledge of the past. Hence both the past and future are two sides of the coin of life-journey. We cannot afford to focus entirely on one to neglect of the other. Moreover, contemporary relations between communities are rooted in the historical past.246
Azumah‟s book asserts that, “history is very much the mistress of our lives. We must take history very seriously if we are to look to the future.”247There is no doubt that the issue of Muslim slavery, for instance, constitutes one of the sharp, if not the sharpest, cutting edge issues in any discussion of the encounters between Islam and Africa, it left extreme bitterness against the Arabs.248 It became a taboo history; it seems that; politicians don‟t want to come back to that pain full history. On the other side, academicians avoid writing and talking about the issue of slave trade, because it can lead to the French Historian Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau called “the sacrifice your carrier.”249
“The same feeling of bitterness, scornfulness and resentment towards Islam in general and Arabs in particular is apparent in the Sudan and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa as direct result
243 Johannes Henschel, 19th century, Humans as Merchandise, Ibid, pp.7-8. quoted Song in the Bagamoyo-Musical about the slave girl Siwena. 244 John A. Azumah, Ibid, p. 171. 245 Ibid, p.172, quoted Ali Abu Sinn, Comments, in Haseeb (ed.), The Arabs and Africa, p.51 246 Ibid. 247 Ibid, quoted Joseph Hajjar, comments at a Christian-Muslim conference, Chambézy, cited in Christian Mission and Islamic Da‟wah, p.97. 248 Ibid, p. 173. 249 Antoine Baecque, Il s’est fait traiter, article of “Liberation 15th March 2006”,
55 of Arab-Muslim enslavement.”250 “Equally, on the Muslim side any mention of slavery is generally met with knee-jerk responses. When, in 1992, Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi, publicly made references to Muslim involvement in slavery in East Africa, immediately Kenyan Muslims were incensed, interpreting it as an affront to Islam.”251
It is not uncommon to hear Muslims in general and Arab Muslims in particular dismiss any mention of Muslim slavery as part of western anti-Islamic propaganda. These reactions only demonstrate how the difficult and sensitive issue of Muslim slavery has contributed to near imposition of taboos on this rather important historical part of Muslim and non-Muslim history.252Slavery is the stories and life experiences of slavers and their history. Muslim sensitivities alone, important as they may be, cannot and should not be allowed to impose taboos on the subject.253 So history and faith have become fused in Islam to the extent that criticism of the Islamic past and its inherited traditions by non-Muslims is seen as an attack on Islam. Muslims who take a critical view of the historical past are viewed as traitors.254
Because of “the solemnity and cruelty of this Arab-Muslim trade in East Africa, it is time to talk and to have a close look on this genocide and to pour it in debate”.255 In the more than 200 years since slavery ended, it stills no commemoration. The Slave Route from Ujiji- Tabora- Bagamoyo is protected by UNESCO. Thousands of Africans died and crossed this route from Congo, Rwanda, Burundi. The route is for remembering and facing “the consequences of this odious traffic which are still present in our societies today.”256
250 Ibid, p.174 251 Ibid. p.174, quoted KNCC Newsletter, JPR News Analysis and Reports, 30 June, 1993, p.3. 252 Ibid, 253 Ibid, p.175. 254 Ibid,p.177. 255 Bernard Lugan quoted Ndiaye, 2008 :1, Ibid, p. 374. 256 History in dialogue on memories of the slave trade and slavery,
56
2.4. Slave trade in Rwanda
The majority of historians affirm that the trade of slaves did not reach Rwanda. Others say that it happened but it was not practiced openly. Some maintain that the attempts of Arabs and strangers to penetrate the country were relentlessly repulsed. However, there is evidence that in the case of raids, and famines, starved parents gave up their children as slaves. The British explorer H.M.Stanley (1841-1904) attempted to enter in Rwanda in 1876 but he was stopped in his enterprise by the hostile attitude of the population. In his book, the historian Bernard Lugan mentions that Stanley reported that:
An Arab trader named Hamed informed him that Rwandans never allowed Arabs to enter in their country. Hamed and Habib had often tried to enter into Rwanda but in vain. Arabs kept this in their memory; the caravan of ivory traders never came back after once failed attempting to enter in Rwanda. In addition, Muhammad, the brother of Tippo Tip, also tried to penetrate into Rwanda and his 600 weapon rifles didn't serve him to anything.257
This is to confirm that the systematic organized trade of slavery did not reach Rwanda.
2.4.1. The Institution of Ubuhake
Ubuhake is a name given to the social order in Rwanda and Burundi from approximately the 15th century to 1958. It has been frequently compared to European feudalism, based on cattle distribution.258 First European explorers, missionaries, and some authors have compared the institution of Ubuhake with the feudal regimes of Middle Ages in Europe where there was a dominating class of Tutsi lords and a dominated class of Hutu serfs.259 Gérard Prunier defines Ubuhake as a form of unequal clientship contract entered into by two men, the shebuja, patron and umugaragu, client, was a form of quasi-slavery enabling the Tutsi master to exploit the poor
257 Olivier N.M., Chrétiens et Musulmans pour une coexistence pacifique au Rwanda, Thesis at Theology Faculty of Butare, 2002, p.6. 258 Ubuhake,
57 downtrodden Hutu.260 It means a system by which Tutsi lords exploited Hutu clients through inequitable cow or land rental.261 R.W. Beachey shows also that Tutsis dominated Hutus through the Institution of Ubuhake.262 Very recently in 2013 in the court, „Dr Léon Mugesera‟263 said that in the Rwanda kingdom when you said „Umuhutu wawe‟ meaning your Muhutu man, it signifies that the Muhutu is your slave.264
“Rwandan school books represented the contract of Ubuhake as a shape disguised of slavery which benefited the owner cowhands, the Tutsis. In other words, it was a form of slavery of Tutsi against Hutus.”265 That is why some historical writings said that Ubuhake was a feudal system that existed in Rwandan society, under which an inferior party, generally a Hutu, provided services to a superior party, usually a Tutsi, in exchange for protection.266 Other authors went far as saying that Hutu were slaves of the Tutsis. Dominique Mbonyumutwa, first president of Rwanda says that Ubuhake “is a form of slavery exploitation.” 267 This form of understanding slavery became an ideology which has been repeated and emphasized during several years by the Rwandan Hutu politicians.
For Louis Jaspers, a Belgian colonial administrator of Rwanda, it is an exaggeration to use the word “slavery” in relation to Rwanda. He admits that there was a service to one another but the advantage of the system was taken by the “Shebuja” meaning „patron‟ in Kinyarwanda.268 He asserts that from the definition of the word slavery, slaves do not have freedom and identity. A
260 Gérard Prunier, Ibid, p.13. 261 James Gasana, New hope for Rwanda,
58 slave is the property of someone else. He can be sold at any moment. To clarify it, Alexandre Kimenyi, Professor of Linguistics, Ethnic Studies and African Languages at California State University, writes that:
The institution of Ubuhake was used by offering one's services to somebody to receive cows from him. Called „feudalism‟ by Europeans, it was not seen as being necessarily bad by Rwandans because it was the only way at that time that one could accumulate wealth. Cows had a very important value in the Rwandan society and represented wealth. Ubuhake was also the only schooling system that existed. 269
The institution of Ubuhake was a highly personalized relationship involving reciprocal bonds of loyalty and exchange of goods and services. In the system, “patrons were mostly Tutsis but the client could be Hutu or Tutsi of inferior social status. One person could be a client as well as a patron. Even Tutsi patrons of Hutu could be clients of yet another Tutsi.”270 The Tutsis possessed land and wealth that was mainly livestock. The expectation of the Hutu was to have a cow, a sign of wealth, and to fix a contract with the breeder that could be summarized like this: “I give you a cow but in counterpart, you are on my service, you must work in my household to maintain the coffee plantation.” 271 It is in that way, the contract was viewed in Rwandan society. At the end, the institution of Ubuhake as a system was officially abolished on 15th April 1954 by king Mutara III Rudahigwa.272
The double presence of the colonizers and the Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda in the 20th century through White Fathers begins to strongly shake this Rwandan institution, but without affecting the daily life of the population.273 According to the White Fathers, “Tutsi feudalism
269 Alexandre Kimenyi quoted Jacques Macquet, The premise of inequality in Rwanda, London, Oxford University Press and Catherine Newbury, The cohesion of oppression : Clientship and ethnicity in Rwanda 1860-1960, New York, Columbia University Press, in Trivialization of Genocide, the case of Rwanda,
59 must collapse” 274, because the institutional system enslaved the majority of people. They worked on that purpose until 1959 when the Tutsi monarchy was replaced by Hutu revolution.
2.4.2. Slavery in Rwanda
There was no market known for slave trade in Rwanda. Déo Byanafashe, professor of History at the University of Rwanda noted that expect the sector of Save in Huye District this trade was allowed but on the sly because the king did not support the idea of the trade. “A true slave trade from the whole of Rwanda did not exist except in time of famine, when people sold their close relatives.”275 However, in her 1983 thesis, “Commerce des Exclaves au Rwanda 1890-1918”, Eugénie Mujawimana wrote, that there was a market of slaves in Rukira and Kivumu, in the East of Rwanda and she confirmed that “some slaves who were exported from Rwanda, were liberated by the White Fathers in Tabora, Tanzania before reaching the Arab market of Zanzibar.”276Most of them were children and women.
Bernard Lugan, in his book “La Traite de Noirs sous le Régime Allemand 1896-1916” affirms the existence of slave trade but not at the same level as it was the case in Zanzibar. According to other writings of White Fathers; “in the centre of the country, Rwanda was being devastated by the slave trade, the total number of victims reaching 20.000-25.000 per year.”277 According to Jean Pierre Chrétien, “the Catholic Church clearly used all its networks to put pressure on the government in Berlin to work more efficiently against slavery.”278 At the end of Rwabugiri‟s reign in 1895, there were black people allowed to enter in Rwanda for doing business, beside Arabs from Zanzibar. He perceived that this slave trade was denounced by the arriving of the Germans in Rwanda.279 But “the real European who denounced deeply the „zanzibarist slavery‟280 and their networks in the African continent was “David Livingstone.”281 His
274 Josias Semujanga, Ibid, p.122. 275 Henri Médard &Shane Doyle, Ibid, p.216. 276 Eugénie Mujawimana, Commerce des esclaves au Rwanda 1890-1990, UNR, 1983, p.52. 277 Henri Médard &Shane Doyle, Ibid, p.214. 278 Ibid, p.215. 279 Emmanuel N. Hitimana, Abanyamateka bemeza ko ubucuruzi bw’abacakara bwageze no mu Rwanda rwihishwa,
60 different reports and stories provoked “a storm of protests and allowed the process of creation of anti-slavery movements in Europe.”282 The first missions of private organizations against slave trade started to be sent into the region, including the White Fathers at the end of nineteen century. In 1867 one of the kings, Kabaka Mwanga (1884-1897) of Uganda, was converted in Islam. This was unacceptable to White Fathers who were already present in Uganda. Later, the conversion originated interreligious killings and tensions in the entire region between Christians and Muslims.
2.5. Origin of Christian and Muslim mistrust in Rwanda
The history of Christianity and Islam in Rwanda which is characterized by a deep suspicion and mutual incomprehension was affected by interreligious violence in Uganda. The memory of Christian and Muslim antagonism of the Middle Ages, political misunderstanding, and economic interests originated the religious wars at the end of the 19th century in Uganda. It is difficult to comprehend Christian and Muslim relations without considering the Arab trade of slaves which “caused deep scars in East Africa”283 and their overall relationship before their advent in Rwanda. It is important to bear in mind these historical antecedents of interreligious and “intrareligious” 284 wars in Uganda, because, these wars substantially influenced the future relations between Christians and Muslims in the neighboring country Rwanda.
282 Bernard Lugan, Ibid, p. 381. 283 Johannes Henschel, 19th century, Ibid, p.11. 284 A word used by Shafique Keshavjee, Les religions: causes de violence ou facteurs de paix,
61
2.5.1. Interreligious war in Uganda285
The White Fathers played an important role in evangelizing the Great Lakes region of Africa, in particular Rwanda. The dream of their founder, Cardinal Charles-Allemand Lavigerie (1825- 1892) from France, was to create God‟s Kingdom in the region against a prospective Muslim expansion because the eastern coast of the Indian Ocean was occupied by Arab Muslim traders. For him, “the anti-slavery crusade”286 was also one way to protect the region against Islamization. But his project failed because the religious wars started soon after his arrival in Uganda in February 1879. The White Fathers did not expect impediments from Anglicans and Muslims. Uganda was colonized by England; it is understandable that its protestant missionaries didn‟t want a Roman Catholic influence. At the same time, Muslims also wanted to dominate the country.
In the 19th century, the Muslim community, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Church were well established in Uganda, which was then colonized by the British. The King of Uganda, Kabaka Mutesa (1856-1884), had difficulties in relating to Christian churches, because they induced to Ugandans a conflict of loyalty between the traditional system of leadership and the exclusive conversion to Christianity. However, King Mutesa needed support to strengthen his kingdom and to protect it against Arabs already established on the Eastern cost, particularly in Zanzibar, where different Sultans had lived since 1856. People were afraid of their army and more so, they felt threatened by their involvement in slavery. Such was the case with Ugandan kings, Kabaka Mutesa and his son Mwanga who had learned Arabic and studied the Qur‟an.
When Henry Morton Stanley, a British explorer, arrived in the 19th century, he promised British military support to King Kabaka Mutesa. Great Britain was considered capable of offering security and protection, to a much greater extent than Zanzibar, which was coming under Islamic influence. In order to secure his power status, legends report that King Kabaka Mutesa, after realizing the religious affiliation of the white man being Christian, invited his chiefs to choose between the Qur‟an and the Bible. But knowing the King preferences, the latter chose the Bible
285 Cf. also Gatwa Tharcisse, Cours sur l‟histoire des missions chrétiennes en Afrique, année académique 2000- 2001, un published document. 286 Henri Médard &Shane Doyle, Ibid, p.210.
62 and Christianity. After this event of pragmatic political stabilization and allegiance, the King started to oppress Muslims. In 1874, he started killings in the Muslim community where 70 Muslim leaders were burned and more than 1000 Muslim believers were killed.
King Kabaka Mutesa died in 1884287, and was replaced by his son Kabaka Mwanga, who was influenced by Muslim Arabs, and on his turn persecuted Christians. On 3rd June 1885, he burned 33 young Christians among whom was Saint Charles Lwanga in Namugongo, who was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964,288 and more than 100 Christians died on the same day. At that time the White Fathers had no illusions as to the threat which the Arabs, Swahilis and Islam posed to their missionary prospects. In their eyes Islam constituted a barrier to their work, to the introduction of Christianity, Christian values and Western civilization and to real progress. Convinced that paganism in Africa must yield either to Christianity or Islam, they tried to do everything in their power to counteract the influence and expansion of Islam.289
“In September 1888 Christians and Muslims felt threatened but the Muslims who took power after removing King Kabaka Mwanga and condemned Catholics and Protestants to exile.”290 That religious violence in Uganda affected Rwanda because some White Father missionaries including Bishop Jean Joseph Hirth, head of Roman Catholic Church in East Africa, took refuge in Tanzania. But two years later in 1900, they entered in Rwanda to establish the first mission of evangelization.
287 Cf. < http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Uganda-HISTORY.html>, 19th June 2009. 288 Cf. St. Charles Lwanga and companions, martyrs of Uganda,
63
2.5.2. Inter-Christian war in Uganda
The war between Catholics and Anglicans is well explained by Jean Claude Ceillier in his book “Histoire des Missionnaires d’Afrique” published in 2008.291 In October 1890 the King Kabaka Mwanga supported by the White Fathers and the Anglicans, came back to power. In the same year, 1890, “Bishop Jean Joseph Hirth 1854-1931”292 was appointed as Apostolic vicar in East Africa. His residence was in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Every religious community wanted to convert the King because the King had a great influence on his people. For Christian missionaries, it was one way through which they expected gaining more adherents to their religion. It is also important to note that in this period the missionary competition among the different denominations, mostly Anglicans and Catholics operating in the so-called missionary field, was tense.
The tense situation rapidly degenerated into open and violent confrontations with the climax in January 1891, when killings started between 2000 Catholic catechumens and 170 Anglicans. In 1892 the Catholics occupied the Mengo Mountain in order to combat the Anglicans on Namirembe Mountain. Anglicans reposted in burning the Catholic Mission of Rubaga. Cardinal Charles-Allemand Lavigerie who was expected to create a God‟s Kingdom in the region died in November 1892 after hearing that the properties of the White Father missions were burned and destroyed. For many years this war caused diplomatic tensions between France and England on the one hand and on the other hand between Catholics and Protestants. The conflict ended in 1900 by the Uganda agreement which “divided the kingdom of Buganda along religious lines.”293 The history of the Uganda at the end of the 19eme century is well known by its hegemony struggles in the
291 Ibid, p. 271. 292 John Joseph Hirt, is the founder of Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda. He arrived in Uganda in 188, and he was named General Superior of Kamoga mission where White Fathers ransomed many slaves and orphans converted to Christianity. On the same time in Buganda kingdom, Christians and Muslims were fighting. At Bukumbi mission chief leaders were also fighting and threatened by Muslims and supporters; the coast of Indian Ocean was on fire; near Dar-es-Salaam, the Bavarian Benedictines were massacred. See Hirt,
64 country between Roman Catholics, Protestants and Muslims. Kings of Uganda were also involved strongly in destabilizing peace during long years.294
2.6. The Arrival of the White Fathers in Rwanda
The White Fathers were members of the “Missionaires d’Afrique”, the oldest Catholic order in Rwanda, and were so called because of the long white robes they wore; this particular dress was based on the Muslim attire of North Africa where the order was founded.295 As indicated above, the first European known to have visited Rwanda was Oscar Bauman, an Austrian geographer on 11th September 1892. Two years later, on 30th May 1894, the German Count Von Goetzen accompanied by “Sharangabo”296 was received by the King of Rwanda, Kigeri IV Rwabugiri.297 He was followed by missionaries, notably the White Fathers. The first missionaries of Africa, the White Fathers, arrived to a lukewarm welcomed in Nyanza, Rwanda, in 1900. Therefore after, on 2nd February 1900, Bishop Jean Joseph Hirth, Fathers Brard, Barthélémy, and Brother Anselme arrived in Rwanda. Six days after, on 8th February 1900, they founded the first mission of Rwanda at Save in the south.298Bishop Hirth is the one who lived two bloody religion wars in Uganda. These wars deeply marked the rest of his life.299
As Rwandan society had strong root in Traditional Religion, it was not easy to convert Rwandans to Christianity. The first Christian Rwandans were persecuted; they were considered like "inyangarwanda" or traitors. Besides, Tutsis despised the first converts, by saying that they had gone to sell themselves for a medal.300 Rwandans valued and respected their culture, the first people to be converted in Christianity was a treachery of the tradition. These who accepted to be baptized, the majority of them were coming from Hutu social group. “Roman Catholic
294 Michel Twagirayesu et Jan Van Butselaar, Histoire de l’Eglise Presbytérienne au Rwanda (1907-1982), Ed. N.DeJonges, Bruxelles/Belgique, 1982, p.24. 295 Newbury 844-45 quoted by Lee Ann Fujii, Origin of power and Identity in Rwanda,
65 missionaries granted them a systematic support in their disagreement vis-à-vis to their traditional authorities. They began to create a new power in the country.”301
This is illustrated in the letter of Richard Kandt on September 03, 1911 addressed to the Catholic mission of Kabgayi, denouncing the interference of the missionaries in the political business of Rwanda while defending any Hutu against his legitimate chief. 302 This pushed some Hutu peasants to become sometimes refractory, disobedient and rebellious toward their chiefs. “Indeed, Catholic missionaries had seen Hutus come to them in thinking to find in them a way of shaking off the yoke of the local chiefs… For the majority of Tutsis, the adherence to Christianity was synonymous of treason.”303
2.7. King Musinga and religion
King YuhiV Musinga (1897-1931) had a phobia of everything which was Christian. He was surprised in trampling furiously on Christian pictures and crosses. He arrived to break some marriages of Rwandan and catechumen; he dismissed chiefs who were converted to Christianity.304 For King Musinga, the situation in Rwanda became intolerable because he saw Tutsis of the best families rejecting the traditional religion and sacred principle of the monarchy, which was the cement of Rwanda, to embrace Christianity. It was painful and disturbing.305 King Musinga wrote a letter on 05th January 1930 to his own daughter Thérèse whose husband Rwagataraka wanted to be baptized.
“Tu m’as fait dire que ton mari voulait se faire Chrétien et que, toi aussi, tu le voulais pour la raison que tu es sa femme. On m’avait dit que ton mari nous haïssait ; c’est donc bien vrai ! Il nous hait. Le motif qui me pousse à te dire cela, c’est qu’il va te faire accomplir un acte tabou (umuziro) pour lequel tu encouras à jamais ma réprobation. J’ai maudit quiconque parmi mes enfants se fera chrétien. Si l’un d’eux le devient, puisse-t-il être privé de tout avoir ! Qu’il meure sans postérité ! Qu’il soit abhorré par le roi d’en-bas-Musinga et par celui d’en-haut-
301 Ibid., p.35. 302 Ibid. 303 Ibid., p.46, 47. 304 Ibid., p.47. 305 Bernard Lugan, Ibid., p.47.
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Nkuba, le tonnere ; qu’il ne trouve de laitage ni chez le serf, ni chez le seigneur ! Qu’il soit maudit par tout homme qui sait maudire. Ne crois pas que je te joue comme fait ton mari ! Si tu t’instruis du christianisme, pour faire plaisir à ton mari, plus jamais je ne t’aimerai, je te jure. Que j’aie tué Rwabugiri, mon père, si ce que je te dis n’est pas vrai ! Tout le mal possible je te le souhaiterais en haine : je te le dis pour te retenir. Je te haïrai comme le poison qui a tué mon frère ainé, Munana ; je te haïrai comme la méningite cérébro-spinale qui a tué deux de mes enfants. Débouche tes oreilles, écoute bien ! Choisis entre m’aimer, aimer la vie et aimer ton mari. Je te jure, si tu deviens chrétienne, plus jamais nous ne nous reverrons. Dis-moi bien ce que tu penses. Dis-moi nettement ce que tu as dans le cœur. Sache que si ta plume cherche à m’en imposer, je saurai bien par mes gens; dis-moi la vérité. C’est le jour ou jamais de montrer si tu es mon enfant, ou si tu ne l’es pas. Et puis, si tu te fais instruire quand même, tu peux, à ton gré me brouiller avec les Pères blancs ; cela m’est égal. J’ai terminé. C’est moi ton père, le roi du Ruanda”306
This letter clearly shows how King Musinga was deeply sad to the people who abandoned the Rwandan traditional religion and how he was against Christianity. “The institution of royalty was entirely based on the customs and tradition. The king was the slave of the tradition, because what the ancestors announced must necessarily be achieved itself. Here the custom constitutes a religion; to ignore customs, it is a transgression of a sacred precept.”307 This is confirmed by Pascal Fossuo in his doctoral thesis:
Ruling systems in Africa have spiritual connotations. Rulers and nobles are religiously empowered by the sacral character of the African ruling system. The religious practices and spiritual experience which an African ruler undergoes and undertakes when he is in authority, links his office to God and gives a theological
306 Alexandre Arnoux, Ibid, p.158,159. 307 Bernard Lugan, Ibid., p.47.
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dimension to sacral rule. African kings claim their power from God. The success of their government depends on the spiritual forces with which they interact.308
King Musinga refused the request to convert to Christianity and this led to his deposition. In removing him from power, the Roman Catholic Church broke the backbone of Rwandan society in which the power of the King was sacred and his designation was surrounded by religious magical secrets.309 In Rwandan tradition, the king was the representative of God and he detained God‟s power and authority.310 In the exercise of authority, he was perfect, infallible, his decisions were unassailable, and his judgments were always right.311 Twagirayesu and Butselaar assert that, Bishop Léon Paul Class (1910-1940) knew the Rwandan traditions, knew that Musinga would not give up and he was the last obstacle preventing the massive conversion of Tutsis that is why he played district attorney's role in the trial against King Musinga.312 Byiringiro concludes that,
The destitution of king Musinga was a big victory taken back by the Roman Catholic Church but also the beginning of the conflicts and successive violence which culminate in genocide of Tutsis in 1994. The second reason of his destitution can also be explained itself by a dissatisfaction of Belgium because the King Musinga had concluded a pact of blood which placed Rwanda under the protectorate of Germany with the German officer Von Ramsay.313
308 Pascal Fossuo, African sacral rule and the Christian church : An investigation into a process of change and continuity in the encounter between Christianity and African tradition, with particular reference to Cameroon and Ghana, PhD Thesis at the University of Natal, South Africa, May 2003, P.34. 309 Ibid., p.44. 310 Pauwels M., Imana et le culte des manes au Rwanda,Bruxelles, 1958, p.5. 311 Ibid, p.8. 312 Michel Twagirayesu et Jan Van Butselaar, Ibid., p.46. 313 Emmanuel Byiringiro, L’initiation socio-religieuse traditionnelle africaine, mémoire de maitrise en theologie, MA Thesis,Yaoundé, Juin 2002, P.7. Quoted Hubert Deschamps, Histoire Générale de l‟Afrique, T.II, P.U.F, Paris, 1971, p.379.
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The Roman Catholic Bishop Léon Paul Classe had a candidate to replace King Musinga, Rudahigwa was enthroned on 16th November 1931, and baptized after under the name of “Charles Léon Mutara III.”314
No traditional ceremony was allowed. This marked a total rupture with Rwandan national tradition. In a society where the King‟s powers were sacred, the fate of King Musinga had significant repercussions on the country‟s socio-political and cultural authenticity. The heart of Rwandans was broken. From that time, the real power was in the hands of Roman Catholic Church.315
Three years after his baptism, the King consecrated Rwanda to Christ the King, and some authors attest that he established Catholicism as a state religion.316
The protestant missionary Friedrich Von Bodelschwingh (1877-1945) wanted to go farther in evangelization: he aimed for regions and areas where Islam did not have any followers. He hoped to precede the Muslims and their influence which he judged very ominous.317
2.8. Influence of Rwandan Traditional Religion on new religions
Apparently, a small number of Rwandan openly practices Traditional Religion today, but in reality this religion is still there and it influences the daily life of Rwandan religiosity.318 It is appropriate to call Rwanda a Christian country because Christianity has become a central part of Rwandan culture. More than 60 percent of the population is Catholics, and another 30 percent are Protestants divided into multi denominations including Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Free Methodists, Baptists, and New Evangelical Churches. Islam is a minority with one percent of the population.
314 Mwami Mutara III Rudahigwa was the first Rwandan ruler to be imposed by the colonial administration and the Roman Catholic Church and the first to be Christianized. He also abolished the much hated system of Ubuhake, which made him popular. After the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) seized power in July 1994, he was elevated to the status of Rwandan hero. See Aimable Twagilimana, Historical Dictionary of Rwanda, Scarecrow Press,2007, p147. 315 Oscar Gasana and Vern Neufeld Redekop, Implication of Religious leaders in mimetic structures of violence, in Journal of religion and society, Supplement series 2, 2007, pp117-137., p.125. 316 Aimable Twagilimana, Historical Dictionary of Rwanda, Scarecrow Press,2007, p146. 317 Michel Twagirayesu et Jan Van Butselaar, Ibid, p.20. 318
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With the demise of the monarchy between 1931 and 1959, most of the associated religious rituals ended, and Christian rituals have come to take their places. The Catholic bishops, the Muftis, and the leaders of Protestant churches are prominent national figures with considerable political influence. Priests, Pastors, and Imams are important local figures. But at the same time, most Rwandan Christians continue to participate in certain indigenous religious practices as well. “Veneration of ancestors remains widespread, with most Rwandans continuing to have traditional funerals and other traditional rites for the dead. Indigenous healers remain common as well.”319 The level of secrecy of Traditional Religion has increased because of the hostility they have faced, first from colonial authorities and subsequently from Christian officials. Many Christian churches penalize members who participate in one of the cult of Traditional Religion.
2.8.1. What is IMANA?
“Imana” in kinyarwanda language is Rugaba (the Leader), Rurema (the Creator), Rugira (the Possessor). These names are attributed to the functions of the only God. It is only God who gives life to each human being. Nothing can escape God, he is in control of everything in the universe. In Rwanda God has no temple, no sacrifices, no holy days, no liturgy. “He takes the place called High God.”320 The name Imana was rejected by missionaries. They replaced it by the Swahili word Mungu, to differentiate Imana from the God of Christianity. They were not sure whether Imana could be named God. “This extract God from Imana started in the statutes of the 1928- 1929 Synod. But Rwandans didn‟t recognize it. Mungu is not the God that the Burundians and Rwandans knew and Imana is ours as well as theirs.”321
There is a parallel between social aspects and religious aspects in Rwandan culture. Rwandans are claiming to be descendants from only one ancestor called Gihanga the founder of Rwanda
319 Culture of Rwanda, History, people, traditions, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social,
70 kingdom. Ancestors established norms, customs, and traditions which everyone has to respect for living harmoniously with Gihanga and Imana. Theses relations are established with precision and balance in the traditional social system.322 This is what André Karamaga calls “relational harmony.”
2.8.2. The role of spirits in Traditional Religion
After the last sigh, the body (umubili) takes the name of umurambo, the life disappears, the shadow becomes a spirit. A spirit (umuzimu, which is a kinyarwanda word for spirit), is not visible but he eats, drinks, cries, laughs sometimes loudly. The spirits are living inside in the soil.323 Spirits (bazimu in plural) continue to live as it was before with their good or bad habits. They have magical powers to act kindly or not. That why there is a need to appease them and to keep confident relationships and friendships with them.324 “Rwandans are not afraid of the dead body; they fear its spirit.”325 In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the mystic relation with the spirits of dead people monopolizes the spiritual life; it is a kind of religion.326
The umuzimu is incorruptible, imperishable, and immortal. He can move everywhere he wants and he knows everything. He can seep and possess an alive body and cause mental illness which can be healed by witchcraft. Some bazimu claim to get a living spouse.327 “The sterility is imputed to bazimu, but fecundity is a blessing from God.”328
Rwandans think that these spirits are for them one of continuous torments because they imagine that they are present around them, following them everywhere, spying on their conduct, and they inflict them various pains, for remembering them to require some marks of attachment. Spirits intervene to castigate when there is a violation even unconsciously few of the ancestral customs that governs the society, the family or the religious life. Rwandans believe that the bazimu are
322 Ibid, p.10 323 Alexandre Arnoux, Les pères blancs aux sources du Nil, Librairie Missionnaire 26, Rue de Vavin, Paris 6o, 1950, p.74. 324 Pauwels M., Ibid, p.82. 325 Ibid, p.50. 326 Aloys Bigirumwami, Imihango yo mu Rwanda, tome II, 1968, p.134. 327 Pauwels M.,Ibid, p.83. 328 Ibid, p.84.
71 rigorous and jealous guards of traditions; violating them is considered like a sign of contempt against the will of ancestors.329
2.8.3. Spiritual beings called “jinn” in Islam
In Islam, spirits are known as jinns. According to Gerard Van‟t Spijker, jinns are protector spirits in Islam, they are impersonal divinities related to Allah. In pre-Islamic Arabia, jinn was an imaginary being living in the desert and it was hostile to human being.330 In English, jinn rather than djinn, are not divinities, but spiritual or supernatural creatures taken from Arabic folklore.331This Muslim belief in spiritual beings is common with the African Traditional Religion. Western scholars in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and anthropology tend to interpret the phenomenon of spirit possession solely as a kind of psycho-physiological delusion or fantasy for a therapeutic purpose but do not admit it as reality.332
The origin of belief in jinn and the practices associated with jinn are one of the most notable phenomena of Islamic supernaturalism in all Muslim societies. Beliefs in jinn are a consistent, essential feature in the whole system of Islamic belief, although the degrees and variable in practice vary from people to people. For ordinary Muslims, the human world cannot be separated or insulated from the spiritual world. Activities of jinn are taken into consideration in every part of the everyday life of Muslims, especially in rituals such as birth, naming of babies, marriage, death, burial, sowing time, harvest, house moving, traveling, house building, and the like. First, the Islamic tradition itself provides ordinary Muslims with theoretical foundation for beliefs in jinn and related practices.
The second fact is that there is a psychological dimension in regard to Islamic beliefs in jinn. The major causes of such beliefs in the spirit world are related to the sense of insecurity in life.333 According to Caleb Chul-Soo Kim, frustrated by their inability to access God for help and made
329 Ibid, p.45. 330 Gérard Van‟t Spijker, Ibid, p.19. 331 Jinn,
72 responsible for their daily survival, Muslims have had to develop a variety of solutions that we encounter in the Muslim world today. Based on the Qur‟anic cosmology,
The ordinary Muslim mind that is instinctively of animistic predisposition has gravitated more toward other spiritual beings than toward God. Consequently, Muslims have considered dead saints, angels, and jinn as spiritual resources from which they can gain the baraka (blessings) necessary for their daily survival. Among these resources, jinn beliefs and practices present the most distinctive features and are widespread all over the Muslim world.334
He goes on to say that, what is apparent, is that jinn are real to the majority of Muslims; they not only believe in jinn but also have them in mind in their everyday lives. As far as ordinary Muslims are concerned, fear of jinn is one of the most notable feelings in Islam. Islamic traditional belief in jinn is based upon the Qur‟an and Hadith335.”It is well known that Muhammad was also accused by his contemporaries of being possessed or mad (Surah 15:6, 37:36; 44:14; 26:27; 54:9). Sorcerer and soothsayer seem to have been identified with the people who are possessed ( majnuun), Surah 51:39, 52: 52:29. 336 “Jinnah, which is the female form of jinn, refers to the whole group of jinn, and sometimes it also means possession by jinn or madness. This word appears ten times in the Qur‟an.”337
The female jinn is called jinniyah in Arabic. However, this word does not appear in the Qur‟an but in Hadith, and its existence is well known to Muslims. In the Qur‟an, these Arabic words for jinn refer to the invisible beings created from fire, while human beings and angels were created from clay and light (Surah15:27; 38:76; 55:15) 338 Jinn are intelligent, imperceptible to human senses, and as capable of salvation as human beings are. In Surah 46:29-32 and 72;1-7, some jinn listened to the Qur‟an and were converted to Islam, and they went back to their people to share the good news. 339At the Day of Judgment, Allah will judge both people and jinn that alike
334 Ibid., p.77. 335 Ibid., p.79. 336 Ibid., p.80. 337 Ibid. 338 Ibid. 339 Ibid.
73 according to their deeds. Therefore, Muslims cannot think of the human world without relating it to the spirit world. 340
Although jinns were created from flames of fires Surah 15:27; 55:15; unlike human beings, among Muslims many human qualities are ascribed to jinn rather than to angels. They have intellect, emotion, and will; they also have the power to choose between right and wrong and between true and false. Therefore, it is believed that jinn also eat, drink, marry, produce children, and die as human beings. Jinn have no limit to their satiety, however, and they will eat human bones and dung if they do not find food. If they do not have bodies, they use human bodies to manifest themselves. In this case, human bodies become the instruments through which jinn make their wills known to human society and demonstrate their superiority to human beings with supernatural power.341
Caleb Chul-Soo Kim, a Korean Missiologist notes that, jinn also have homes. The main headquarter of Jinn is said to be located in the Ocean. The chief devil orders his soldiers to move to the land to cause all chaotic troubles and immoral problems among people.342The jinn are believed to be able to have sex with human beings. A devil is most excited about human sexual intercourse. So Muslim parents should read Surah Al-Ikhlass 112 to their children and make a special du’a (prayer) before having a marital relationship.343
Muslims complain that they are afflicted with many attacks from devils in many different ways. For example, the jinn may cause people to have illness, both physically and mentally, to experience relational breakdowns, to get bitten by snakes or scorpions, or to fail in business; everything bad may be caused by devils. This is evident among Swahili Muslim practitioners called Waganga.344 (Waganga are traditional healers or traditional doctors.)345
340 Ibid., p.81. 341 Ibid, p.92. 342 Ibid. 343 Ibid, p.93. 344 Ibid., p.94. 345 Waganga are traditional healers or traditional doctors. Often they use herbs to heal and it believed that they are able to appease ancestral spirits. This is very evident in streets of East Africa countries where there are many posters pinned on the electric poles and stickers on wall‟s buildings. See website: Waganga and Sangoma-fake traditional
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2.8.4. The cult of kubandwa
In Rwandan Traditional Religion dead parents through spirits intervene in protecting their progeny against evils and bad spirits.346 These spirits, called Imandwa are creatures of God and they are representatives of all the races of Rwanda their chief leader is called “Ryangombe.”347 His is honored in the cult of kubandwa. “The cult of kubandwa started in the second half of the 15th century during the reign of the King Ruganzu Ndori II “from the clan of Abanyiginya”348 that the cult of kubandwa was introduced in Rwanda by Ryangombe; he is qualified as the powerful spirit and the king of imandwa (spirits). He probably originated from Gitara in Bunyoro district of Uganda.”349 The effect of kubandwa is to give to the adept an insurance of individual salute. The salvation has to be extended here in living earth, in a secular sense; it will help in a positive way against the pains of the present life.350 “In honoring Ryangombe, you protect yourself against abazimu.”351
Human being is oriented in search of happiness in avoiding the pain. This is the finality of different Rwandan rituals. The fundamental motive is to find a solution to his problems of life. “These rites are considered as techniques which can produce an effect or to remove a danger.”352 That is why evangelical churches which call people for miracles are gaining many members because of their techniques of healing and doing miracles. Rwandans are often attracted enthusiastically by these magical operations.
healers,
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The first missionaries did not understand or learned about Traditional Religion, to them at their arriving, Africa was a dark continent filled with savages who had no history, no past, no culture and therefore no religion.353 The Traditional Religion was called animism, paganism, idolatry; and this provoked a shame among Africans. Unfortunately today again, Evangelical Churches are calling Christians to burn instruments of traditional religion such as amulets, drums used, and other objects.
For Christian churches, mortal sins are: “joining the pagans in idol worship, invoking the spirits, sacrifices, keeping amulets and believing in them as God, dealing with charms, celebrating funeral rites in a pagan way or participating in such rites.”354 Traditional Religion is a culture. To understand the culture you need the traditional religion. “Most of early missionaries in Africa presented traditional religion and culture in a negative light. The result is that there are Africans today who still find nothing good in African traditional religion and culture”.355
Missionaries fought actively against Traditional Religion; in the period of Ernest Von der Heyden (1921-1933) at “Kirinda”356 in Rwanda, the disciplinary measures for all those practicing Traditional Religion was to be beaten with a stick publicly or to be detained temporarily in the tower of the temple. In the period of Marc Huart (1933-1952), they were excluded to the Holy Communion; it meant exclusion to the Christian community. 357 People refused to abandon their traditional religion, many preferring to mix it with Christianity. During the day when they were interacting with missionaries and other church members they were Christians. But after leaving the church they practiced their old habits of culture, for example in consulting witchcraft.
Today African Traditional Religion is still practiced by millions of Africans in our time and it is therefore a contemporary reality which exists objectively and in fact. It connects the present
353 Chinwe M.A. Nwoye, Continuing the conversation on the notion of mission as reconciliation : a critical review of Catholic Church’s dialogue with African indigenous religion,
76 with infinite time.358 That is why even when people talk about the Church, the discussion is typically related only to the spiritual issues and all other events and everyday happening are given spiritual meaning and importance only. This can be attributed to the overwhelming traditional perception in Africa where all natural events are viewed as ordered by the spirits, gods, and ancestors.359 Today in all Protestant Churches where prayer is often spontaneous, people respond to all prayers which put down, exclude, fight, and ban bad spirits in the name of Jesus.
The latest signs of this endurance of conviction by the people in the elements and rituals of African Traditional Religion is the now Africa Magic movies (channel of DSTV), particularly those authored and popularized by Nigerian actors, and those from Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.360 Those movies show how the natural magic and the fear of spirits are present in African daily life; also the role of elders and ancestors is very important and respected. According to the Nigerian Chidi Denis Isizoh:
Wherever the African is, there is his religion: he carries it to the fields where he is sowing seeds or harvesting a new crop; he takes it with him to the beer party or to attend a funeral ceremony; and if he is educated, he takes religion with him to the examination room at school or in the university; if he is a politician he takes it to the house of parliament. Although many African languages do not have a word for religion as such, it nevertheless accompanies the individual from long before his birth to long after his physical death.361
In Traditional Religion “spirits are more powerful than men. They can move freely between the highest realms where God is, in his service, but are also at the service of human beings in their
358 Chris Ampadu, quoted Opoku 78,9 in Correlation between African traditional religions and the problems of African societies today,
360 Chimwe Nwoye, Dominance of the trappings of African traditional religion in Africa Magic movie; a challenge for educating the Christian youth,
77 search to link with God. Evil spirits seem to come from wicked living people, from dead people, from magic practices and witchcraft, or from sorcerers”.362 By singing, sacrificing animals, and manipulating objects, witches and sorcerers are to communicate with the invisible world of spirits. That is why “people can consult them to receive messages from God, send their prayers to God and fight against evil”363 In traditional conception, the universe is composed by two interactive spheres, the sphere of the visible and the sphere of the invisible world. From the sky, Imana has a hand-stake on the inferior layers of the universe: the earth and the basement. The earth is the home of the living. Below the earth is the basement named as ikuzimu, the domain of the deaths dominated by a god called Nyamunsi.364
The deceased, abazimu stay in the inferior world named ikuzimu. The deceased continue to be interested in the life of the survivors and make themselves present. They can appear at the moment when their descendants are not following prescriptions that they gave them before dying. In setting up sanctions, they can attack, they can make someone feel their presence, or they can provoke illnesses or disasters in the family. It is then necessary to pacify them in returning them honor to which they have a right. One can solicit their intercession when one feels attacked by other spirits. It is possible to appease them in giving them food, beer, meat or what they liked in their time alive.365
Rituals appear in daily life of the Rwandan; for example, after urinating, some Rwandan spit down for avoiding and escaping adversities coming from witchcraft. The important moments of rituals in the Rwandan life are “the birth, the death, the passage of the childhood to the puberty, enthronement or consecration, purification or the atonement, engagements, pregnancy time, vital communion, rituals of divinations, and pluvial rituals.”366 These rituals penetrate the totality of the human activities. They unite communities, reduce social tensions, solve conflicts, regenerate
362 Pascal Fossuo, Ibid, P.190,191.
363 Ibid, p.191
364 André Karamaga, Ibid, p.120, quoted A. Karamaga, DIEU au pays des mille collines, Lausanne 1988, p.17. 365 Gerard van‟t Spijker, Ibid, p.18. 366 Emmanuel Byiringiro, Ibid, p.14, quoted Célestin Kiki, Le culte dans les sociétés traditionnelles africaines, Pré- thèse DETA, Yaoundé, 1994, pp.44-45.
78 collectivity, educate members on self-discipline and they control climatic risks, and reconcile frightening powers.367 To illustrate the control of climatic risks, “In 1909, the King Musinga asked the German residents of Kigali and missionaries to pray the Christian God for suspension of the fatal dryness because spirits of the Rwandan ancestors was not responding.”368
In practicing and believing in traditional religion, a Rwandan cannot be blamed because he understands that the universe is governed by a force and everything happens to him has a sense in life. It is this existence belief that our ancestors tried to explain in myths or in legends and to update it in cults or in traditional rituals. These practices of rituals and beliefs in spirits and in ancestors are taxed today of satanic by good disciple of colonialist and civilizing missionary,369 because Rwandans are more 90 percent Christians.
To justify the influence of traditional culture, the establishment of a central political regime in Rwanda wanted to modify and to transform a cemetery into a common public good place. People felt the decision like a menace against the right of real property and against the spiritual identity, this change provoked a strong reaction of defense of the Rwandan society and its traditions, to such a point that the observance of the traditional rituals became the expression to defend the traditional popular life and to resist against the outside civil and religious authorities.370Nobody is allowed to touch a cemetery and a funeral place. They are respectable and sacred places but also frightening places where people can‟t cross or visit during the night. Neglecting these places can affect and provoke consequences in the daily lives of people.
According Gerard Van‟t Spijker, “To put one leg in Christianity or in Islam and another one in a Traditional religion is interpreted by Claudine Vidal as a form of resistance against physical and economic insecurity which face peasants. It„s a defensive attitude face to their different projects which asking them for changing their life.”371 He continues, in saying that;
367 Ibid, p.14
368 Alexandre Arnoux, Les pères blancs aux sources du nil, Librairie Missionnaire 26, Rue vavin, Paris 6o, 1950, p.58. 369 Emmanuel Byiringiro, Ibid, p.11. 370 Gerard van‟t Spijker, Ibid, p.128. 371 Gerard Van‟t Spijker, Ibid, quoted Claudine Vidal, 1978, p.89.
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Maintaining the post-mortem rituals, explains itself the protest against the pressure of the central political and ecclesiastical régime. The peasant, despaired by the lack of perspectives for his future and for his children, become withdrawn, he prefers to join the world of the ancestral values because the fidelity to ancestors guarantees him the future.372
It is important to mention that for the Rwandan strict observation of rites and taboos, and total solidarity within the group are the best guarantee of group survival and the transmission of life to numerous descendants.373 The persistence of visiting traditional religion explains itself as an expression of defense by the population to one‟s own identity threatened by different Churches.374 Unfortunately, Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches were against Traditional religion. Some new Evangelical churches in Rwanda were proud to publicly burn some traditional objects which qualified as objects of evil during their campaign of evangelization against traditional religion. This proves how churches are weakened in assisting people “in preserving their own identity.” 375
The trained on kubandwa cult “must avoid all shame behavior and contempt. He must always appear honest and strong to surpass ordeals and to ask for help in case of absolute necessity.”376 It can be seen in the way of living in the Great Lakes region where people from different ethnic groups coexisted together in harmony. A large number of Rwandans and scholars say that if Rwandans had been able to preserve the traditional religion especially the cult of kubandwa, the genocide would not have taken place in 1994. This is affirmed because;
The cult of kubandwa is supra domestic, supra ethnic, supra national, it is more universal. Its universal character confirms the wish of Ryangombe when he formulated his last words before the death that all who want kubandwa; may all Mututsi, all Muhutu and Mutwa honors me; may children, adults and old men
372 Ibid, p.181. 373 Josef Stamer, Islam and African traditional religion,
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honor me; may all listen to my command; my spirits will reign on the spirits of death as they reigned on the living beings.377
At the moment Christianity rejected Traditional Religion and its practices as polygamy, traditional healing, and magical practices…, Islam took its color said Cheikh Ahmadou Hampaté Ba, a renowned Malian Muslim scholar. This explains why Islam succeeded in Africa.378“It remains true that Islam has been more accommodating to indigenous African custom and traditions than European Christianity has been.”379 Ravane Mbaye, Director of Islamic Institute of Dakar, confirms the idea in stating that Islamic “marabout”380 in West Africa is considered as African Traditional religion. That Islam practiced in West Africa, adapted its principles with mentalities and traditional beliefs of peoples.381
2.8.5. Rwandan Traditional Religion and music
It is not possible to separate music and African Traditional Religion because they are both linked. “In Africa, songs are always associated with life events: births, mourning, games, prayers, work, wars, love… Music, singing, dancing are presents at all key moments in a person‟s social life not only as a vector of participation with the group but also as a source of information on the nature of the gathering.”382 The African music took root in the long history of Traditional Religion that has been transmitted from one generation to the other. The drum is the commonest musical instrument in Rwanda.
Julius Adekunda observes that “Rwandan music can be classified into three main categories: First, indirimbo are songs, which are meant only for listening and for enjoyment. They are vocal and produced mainly in the Kinyarwanda language. Second, imbyino are songs for dancing. Third are the ibitekerezo, which are sung poetry or stories, songs about cows, dynastic poems
377 Ibid, p.28 378 John A Azumah, ibid, p.5, quoted V. Monteil, L’Islam noir (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1964), p.41. 379 Ibid, p.5, quoted Mazrui, Triple heritage, pp.142-143. 380 Marabout is Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa. 381 Ravane Mbaye, L’Islam noir en Afrique, in Tiers-Monde, 1982, tome 23 no92. L‟Islam et son actualité pour le Tiers Monde( sous la direction d‟Ahmed Moatassime), pp.831-838. 382 Religion in the African Diaspora,
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(ibisigo)”383 In singing you can communicate with the invisible world of spirit. In Rwandan traditional religion, the cult of kubandwa starts by singing until people are possessed by spirits. Often the master of ceremony is accompanied with music instruments like drum, tam-tam, whistle, bell, and horn. There is no doubt that every cult of kubandwa is accompanied by songs and dances. The influence is seen in African church worships where choirs and songs took the most part of the service. This can be observed in some black churches in USA where singing and dancing are a significant part of the worship.
That power of music appeared during the nonviolent African-American civil rights movement led by Rev. Martin Luther King (1929-1968), where songs strengthened it in different march demonstrations. Also one way “the African-American captives dealt with the trauma of slavery, was by using the music to tap into the spiritual realm for sustenance.”384 Like African Traditional Religion, African music has a long history that has been orally transmitted from one generation to the other and captured in written form by western explorers. 385
The relation between African people and music is emphasized by Stone who says that: “dance, music, and story-telling are parts of the ways of expressing the daily lives of the African people. Hence, it is difficult to separate music from the cultural context of the African.”386 Unfortunately;
A number of indigenous songs and instruments have been kept away from Western Christian church services until recently. Africans who decided to join Christianity were encouraged to disassociate themselves with the traditional musical practices, while others continued to practice African traditional beliefs in secret.387
383 Adekunde O. Julius, Culture and customs of Rwanda, Greenwood Press, London 2007, p.135 384 John Mbiti, African religions and philosophy, < http://ctl.du.edu/spirituals/Literature/time.cfm>, 18th March 2010.
385 Exploring Africa, < http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/teachers/curriculum/m13/notes.php>, 22nd December 2012. 386 Indigenous Music Modes of Communication and their Relevance in a Contemporary Times among the Boosi in Ghana
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The connection between African music and dance to African Traditional Religion has helped to sustain a number of ancient musical practices.388
In Rwanda and in other parts of the Great Lakes Region;
Traditional music is so diversified that each rhythm carries its own symbolically valuable significance. For example the tam-tam doesn‟t only incite dancing but is also able to speak and listen. Thus, during a festive occasion such as a marriage or the naming of a newborn, the sounds of the tam-tam spread the news. When there is mourning, that is broadcast too. The music also announces the steps to follow during a ceremony.389
Drums are punctuated by different rhythms: rhythms for calling to help, for joining in prayer, for announcing the death… Everyone learns of it by the sound of the tam-tam. From a distance, a Rwandan can interpret what happens in neighboring communities.
In Rwanda, drums carried importance beyond their socio-cultural context. The royal sacred drum called kalinga became a symbol of political power. A Rwandan saying explicitly states, he is the king who has the drums. The drum represents the king. And the shout of the people could not be louder than voice of the drum. Drums were beaten only on special occasions, such as the celebration marking the beginning of planting season to symbolize the rhythm of life, making public announcement or inviting people to public meeting. Royal drums were marks of identity and authority. Each ruler had royal drums, which were carried wherever the king went. In the case of war, the royal drums were often jealously guarded to prevent their capture by enemies.390
Singing and dancing are inseparable and they are part of Rwandan life in church and public activities, such as weddings, birth celebrations, worships, launching of new projects, political campaigns, or welcoming visitors. The traditional music is the most attracting for all categories
388 Exploring Africa, Ibid. 389 Music and religion in Africa,
390 Adekunde O. Julius, Ibid, p.135,136.
83 of ages. Traditional music accompanied by drums is considered as an important and valuable legacy of the ancestors.
2.8.6. Christianity and music
In Christianity, music plays an important role in the practice of religion. “It is an integral part in the performance of the worship and religious celebrations.”391 The Reformation fathers condemned the Gregorian in objecting to the distractions of elaborate vocal and instrumental music. The 16th century reformer John Calvin disapproved of the use of images, musical instruments, and he supported the psalm-songs in asserting their majesty and their high status as revelation, and they were sung for praising God.392 History gives evidence of the many ways music has been vitally employed in various religious. One of the more prominent examples of this can be found in the Psalms, where lyrics were merged with music to form a strategic voice for Israel's life.393
Today in some Christian churches, music attempts to take the most important part of the worship in praising, in praying, in creating choirs, and in preaching. People in Rwanda are attracted by churches which admit music to take the major part in liturgy and where instrumental music and dances are mixed.
2.8.7. Islam and music
In Islam, “music has always been a point of debate” 394 because some Muslims claim that Prophet Muhammad did prohibit music. But there is not a single verse in the Qur‟an that prohibits it. The music that he prohibited was the one that the infidels used to play which involved sexual activities by women. It was part of the pagan Arabs' custom. He wanted to
391 Music and religion,< http://www.octm-folk.gov.om/meng/musicology02.asp>, 25th January 2012 392 John Barber, Luther and Calvin on music and worship,
84 prevent Muslims to be anywhere near that type of music, because it was a sinful music which led to sinful activities.395 The misunderstanding of playing music in Islam caused the fact that:
Music has never been able to take a dominant place in Islam as it has in Christianity. In most cases, the use of music is limited to the recitation of the Qur‟an which is sung more than spoken when done in the company of others. Undoubtedly, this is why Muslim “religious music” remains dominated by the use of Arabic. Nevertheless, here and there, one finds the use of local languages in religious songs composed, not for prayer itself, but for gatherings of worshippers. In fact, outside of prayer where singing, strictly speaking, has little place, most socio-religious ceremonies like marriage, and circumcision… have religious songs that honor the glory of the Prophet. These songs and dances aren‟t made for their specific spiritual value but more so because they enhance the ambiance. As in the case of Christians, the songs are modeled on existing tunes and rhythms of the local culture, even if the Arab and Eastern influence is less perceptible.396
Every day at a specific time the muezzin calls to prayer in using a type of music melody. The Qur‟anic recitation is also based on well-studied musical meters, but in a way uncommon in worldly music. The same applies to Islamic religious celebrations, although they consist of free poetry rather than Qur‟anic words. Thus, different elements of music related to religious celebrations which differ according to place and occasion are found.397 Nowadays, Music is everywhere in and outside the religious sphere, there is no way of prohibiting it. Jerry Salomon asserts that:
Music is a pervasive part of contemporary life. This is seen with head phones, music is present in elevators, in restaurants, on telephones while we wait for our party to answer, in offices, in hotel lobbies, and in virtually every corner of contemporary life. Television and radio use music not only in musical programs but also in commercials and program soundtracks. Movies also utilize music to enhance the events shown on the screen.398
395 Is music prohibited in Islam
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That is why music is an imposing element in all religion which must be taken with attentiveness. For Lorenzo Candelaria Professor of musicology at Yale University in USA, “sacred music and art allow us to touch the face of God, through our perception of the world around us.”399
2.8.8. Rwandan Traditional Religion and medicine
The first missionaries build churches, schools and hospitals, in each mission there was a hospital. Until today many hospitals in Rwanda remain in the hands of churches and are managed by them. The government is not yet ready to finance and to manage all conventional hospitals. Hospitals and modern medicine has made a great contribution to the cause of healthcare for people in reducing infant and maternal mortality rates. But an important number of Rwandans believes in traditional medicines and healers.
Traditional Religion and healing are linked and they can‟t be separated because “many traditional healers are also religious leaders and vice versa. Traditional medicine is an integral part of the African culture, and a major African socio-cultural heritage”400 Further, the practitioners of African traditional medicine are quite numerous and live among the people, in such a way that the sick persons have easy access to them.401
The World Health Organization observes that it is difficult to assign one definition to the broad range of characteristics and elements of traditional medicine. 402 It is mixed with “diverse health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs, incorporating plants, animals, spirituals therapies, manual techniques and exercises applied singularly or in combination to maintain well-being, as well as to treat, diagnose or prevent illness.”403 The World Health Organisation estimates that up
04th June 2014. 399 Lorenzo Calanderia, Interpreting religion through music,< http://diverseeducation.com/article/6859/>, 25th January 2012. 400 A.A. Elujoba, Traditional medicine development, < http://www.bioline.org.br/request?tc05007>, 10th December 2011. 401 < http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=22724>, 05th December 2011. 402 Traditional medecine,
403 Shahzad Hussein and Farnaz Malik, Integration of complementary and traditional medecines in public health
86 to 80% of the population in Africa makes use of traditional medicine, and it recognizing the importance of collaborating with traditional healers in 1977.404
In Africa and in Rwanda in particular, “traditional healers are generally divided into two categories: Healers who serve the role of diviner, they are diagnostician through spiritual means, and herbalist healers.”405 Christianity and colonial powers in Rwanda discouraged the practices of both systems of traditional healers. Consulting them was prohibited. In traditional Islam there is proximity between traditional healers and some Muslim preachers and teacher of Qur‟an, named mwalimu in solicitation of Muslim magic. “To heal a complicated illness, for example the case of sterility, a Muslim will consult a traditional healer if the Muslim mwalimu is incompetent to heal it.”406
The tension between traditional medicine and Western medicine is first focused on the material causation, and “based on the dualistic Cartesian axiom”407 for understanding and curing an illness. The traditional medicine “looks often towards the spiritual origin such as witchcraft and displeasure by ancestors in order to cure an ailment.”408 The second element which causes tension is the fact that most traditional healers believe that they can treat all kinds of diseases. “There has been an array of media reports of traditional healers claiming to have a cure for HIV AIDS and some of them had submitted their patients to dangerous or ineffective treatments.”409
Curiously enough, even some who have easy access to modern medicine and can afford it, prefer to put themselves in the hands of traditional doctors. The number of patients who abandon conventional hospitals where they are hospitalized in search of help among traditional healers is constantly growing. It is not rare to see the luxurious cars of important persons – including ministers – approaching the humble “clinics” of local specialists. Those visits are often surrounded by an
care system,< http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/JMPR/article-full-text-pdf/5C0340241431>, 27th July 2016.
404 Traditional medicine, Ibid. 405 Ibid. 406 José H. Kagabo, Ibid, p.90. 407 Africa files,
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atmosphere of secrecy because the official position, inherited from colonial times, still maintains an attitude of mistrust and contempt towards the traditional practices, which the western mentality stigmatized as superstitions.410
Many researchers are still working on the efficacy and safety of herbal medicine: to set up processing protocols and methods of standardization of herbal medicines.411 That is why the Rwandan Institute of Scientific Research and Technology restored a forum of traditional medicine. It is demonstrated that some traditional practitioners can heal some illness in using herbal medicine. Before this forum there was “CURPHAMETRA (Centre de Recherche sur la Pharmacopée et la Médecine Traditionnelle) created by the Faculty of medicine in 1980 and it disposed a dispensary of traditional medicine”412. Later it became a Centre for Research on Pharmacopoeia and Traditional Medicine in Rwanda. An increasing number of Rwandans are still consulting traditional healers, and using traditional medicine for treating illness.
Many of the traditional doctors frequently mention “a calling from the spirits of the ancestors as the origin of their dedication to the healing activities. They developed their activities on two complementary levels, derived from the African concept of sickness: the supernatural or spiritual, and the corporal or physical level.” 413 Believing in traditional healers is deeply rooted in the culture in the mind of many Africans.
It is the mysterious aspect of the activities of the traditional healers which made Western missionaries to dismiss them as „witchcraft‟ and superstition. However, Hippocrates himself had already warned that one could not be a good doctor without being a good priest at the same time. African traditional medicine maintains a strong connection between healing and spirituality because the
410 Francisco Carrera, African Traditional Medecine: Healing of body and spirit,
412 Actahort, < http://www.actahort.org/books/331/331_30.htm>, 10th December 2011. 413 Francisco Carrera, African Traditional Medecine: Healing of body and spirit,
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population of the continent lives deeply the psycho-religious values of the human person.414
2.8.9. Polygamy
Polygamy is a practice generally rejected by Christian churches. However, some African administrations tolerate it. From 1950, the Rwandan constitution forbids polygamy. As a country with a Christian majority, monogamy is the official form of marriage. In Rwanda, political officers encourage the civil marriage, and in the last ten years, polygamy has been tracked rigorously. It was pointed out as main cause of conflict in family, land conflicts; “especially when it comes to matters of succession, land ownership and financial matters.”415
In April 2006, the mayors of districts committed before the president of the Republic to get married civilly the quasi-totality of all homes under their control and to give an official statute to these unions. The objective was also to valorize the monogamous marriage, the only marriage officially recognized by the constitution. In all over the country, couples are united in mass by political administrative.416
Christianity and Polygamy
414 Ibid. 415 Marie Brigitte Kabalira, Rwanda polygamy,
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Polygamy is the cause of a wide divergence between Traditional Religion and Christianity. But even if the majority of African Christian churches have refused to recognize polygamy within the African context, it stills a burning theological debate. Some African theologians like Chukwuemeka Nze from Nigeria, consider that “the insistence of Christianity on monogamy is an arbitrary imposition without adequate consideration of the raison d'être of the traditional institution of polygamy which sustains the extended family patterns and assures continuity, the bedrock of the traditional ancestral worship.”417
In Rwanda, Christian churches requested of their members to marry and to live with only one wife. Those who lived with more than one wife demanded to do the same instead of being excluded from different activities of the Church. A Rwandan Christian fallen in the polygamy delivered probably to a missionary this sincere reflection: “you ask me to repudiate my wives supernumeraries and, on the same time, you exclude me from the holy communion where would I find strength to accomplish the required separation; you are lack of logic.”418
Polygamy in Rwandan culture
Most of the time polygamy was practiced by rich Rwandans. They did not fear to have many children, because having children was a sign of richness, power and consideration in the society. In the case of conflict, a big family numerically inspires respect, fear, and intimidates rivals.419 In Rwanda there were various reasons for becoming polygamous: During a period of sickness, a witch could declare to the patient that, the big father, previously polygamous, suffers from nothing but the man didn't follow their habits and customs, so the family worries about it. If someone need to be healed, it is necessary to take to their intention another wife. Facing the death of a father or a brother, the family looks for husbands who are closer relatives for these widows. In Rwandan culture there were neither widows nor orphans.
417 Chukwuemeka Nze, The influence of Christian values on culture, < http://www.crvp.org/book/Series02/II- 3/chapter_x.htm>, 11th November 2011. 418 Alexandre Arnoux,Ibid, p.142. 419 Ibid., p.38.
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Having a large land, the rich landowner needs more people to work in the field and the way of solving the problem is to marry many wives to produce children who will work in the land. A handicap or disease which does not permit the wife to work and to take care his family, pushes the man to marry a second wife. A woman‟s sterility or the absence of a son who would perpetuate the family and who will assure the cult of ancestors, allows a second marriage. In this case sometimes it's the woman who takes the initiative to ask his husband for a second wife, because human sterility is a shame in Africa. Sterility is considered as a malediction on the African continent. A woman without children is neglected and constantly humiliated. The main objective of an African marriage is essentially to have children. The man who married a sterile woman sees himself advised by the surrounded people and the extended family to choose a new 420 wife. A man without child is also a malediction. Jean Marc Ela in his book Ma foi d’Africain emphases that an African doesn't fear death, but he is frightened to die without a child and the absence of boys is in particular the worse of the maledictions.421
An African will do wherever is possible, even if it is for contracting more than one marriages in the goal of obtaining descendants especially boys. The African culture forgets that a man can be sterile like a woman. There is also the wish of “some ancestor spirits who ask for mystic wives.”422In Rwandan culture, it believed that ancestor spirits satisfy their needs as it was in their living time. They eat, drink, and claim to get living spouses.
420 Ijere, Sembene Ousmane et l’institution polygamique,
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Polygamy in Islam
A lot of old literature confirms that “polygamy existed before the advent of Islam among several civilizations and religions.”423 King Salomon had 1000 wives (1Kings 11:3). One of the main reasons of Islam to authorize, restrict, and organize polygamy, is to take care of abandoned and widowed women who find a solution to their situation; however polygamy in Islam is submitted to some important conditions: The wife(s) has the full objection about polygamy during or before the marriage contract. And if the husband disregards that, the wife has the right to raise that to the Islamic court.424 Equitable and just treatment is for all the wives.425 The number of wives is not to exceed four.426
It is understandable that Islam did not react against polygamy which was one of the elements of the Rwandan culture. The first protestant missionaries in Rwanda and some Christian couples were destabilized because of the teachings of Islam on polygamy. It is reported that one Muslim trader, especially at Kirinda in Karongi District, who was living near the sacred forest at the beginning of 20th century, was making propaganda for the Islamic religion and ethics. He recommended polygamy to Rwandans. That is why the Protestant missionary named Roseler asserted that Islam would be destroying Christian ethics in supporting polygamy. For him, Islam has no respect for woman; it encourages men to marry many wives and to beat them if they do not want to obey their husband.427
This was one of the first contradictions that appeared in the Muslim and Christian coexistence. Polygamy in Islam is one of the important common elements shared with the African Traditional Religion. The Ghanaian Professor John Azumah confirms it in saying that “Islam has a lot of
423 Introduction to Islam,
92 similarities with the traditional African worldview, making it less difficult for Africans to convert to Islam.”428 Islam is more tolerant, accommodating and flexible to traditional African socio-religious values.429 “In the All African Conference of Churches (AACC) report on its 1969 assembly in Abidjan, observed that Islam is held in Africa to be an African religion, with almost no foreign missionaries, which tolerates African traditions.”430 The assembly stated this as a fact that should challenge the Church in Africa into a search for cultural and liturgical forms through which we can express our Christian faith.431 The statement continued, “There can be no disputing to the fact that African Muslim practices are replete with indigenous African elements like fetishism and animism. However, what we are not sure of is whether the initiative can be attributed to the generosity and flexibility of Arab-Islam.”432
Muslim women and polygamy in Rwanda433
Today Muslim women react against polygamy in Rwanda. The Muslim women of Rwanda, long time subjected to the polygamy have endured martyrdom in the name of the faith. They ask strong and high lobby for respect of the law which allows only a monogamous marriage. The implementation of the law will help them to blossom in their homes. It is Muslim women of Rwamagana, in Eastern Province of Rwanda, that have broken the silence. They asked their husbands to respect the Constitution of Rwanda which only recognizes the monogamous marriage. Behind this, Muslim women have fear of different sexual diseases. As the VIH/AIDS kills many people and where each is called to control the number births of Rwanda, polygamy cannot be supported anymore. Very often these women who live in situation of polygamy, are suspected to resort often to sorcery, either to move away a bothersome rival, or to attract themselves to their husband, without sharing, the husband's attention.434
428 John A. Azumah, Ibid., p.34, quoted Mazrui, Triple Heritage, pp.136-43. 429 Ibid., p.34. 430 Ibid, Quoted, Engagement: The second AACC Assembly-Abidjan 69 (Nairobi: AACC, 1970), p.117. 431 Ibid. 432 Ibid., p.7. 433 Archive,
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Polygamy constitutes one of the main sources of domestic conflicts. One Muslim woman said that: “A man who has sexual intercourses with three or four wives can easily propagate transmissible sexual diseases or give to unwanted births with a lot of consequences.” 435 The former Muslim representative of Kigali region, Cheikh Souleyman Byagusetsa, said in the same way that “the present standard of living in Rwanda doesn't permit to take more than one wife in respecting what the Qur'an recommends.”436 For him, the civil law which allows a monogamous marriage is clear for avoiding all attempt of dishonesty towards the women and the children.
2.8.10. Concept of Umma and Rwandan tradition437
The Arabic language designates the Muslim community by the term Umma. The Umma has a great importance, like the one of blood and of the ethnic group. It is a fundamental concept in Islam which played its role when Muhammad fled Mecca to Medina in 622 CE where he founded the Muslim community. The Umma contains the whole Muslim world in which the believers spoke different languages, coming from all horizons, and having multiple cultures. “A new solidarity within the Muslim community replaces the village and tribal solidarities without changing the laws and habits of life of the particular group.”438 Anyone who believes in the one God and professes that Muhammad is his messenger is part of the Umma, the community of Muhammad. It is a deep will of living together which fits well with the Rwandan tradition of living and sharing everything. “Living in community is a fundamental concept for anyone who wants to formulate the African conception of human.”439
The Umma implies solidarity and hospitality among Muslims. In all the country there are some cities recognized to be Muslim cities where Muslims live and work together in their daily life. This is also observable in other African countries. In Rwanda, many people were converted to Islam because they were welcomed into the Muslim community. “The primary motive in joining
435 Sixth Christian and Muslim seminar in Rwanda, 2006. 436 Ibid. 437 Ndayizeye M.Olivier, Chrétiens et Musulmans pour une coexistence pacifique au Rwanda, Mémoire de licence, Faculté de Théologie Protestante de Butare 2002, p. 21,22. 438 Josef Stamer, Islam and African traditional religion,
439 Gerard van‟t Spijker, Ibid, p.186.
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Islam is the desire to belong to a community,”440because “an African is a human existing in community.”441 For understanding of the African drives toward a community, and in most ethnic and cultural groups in the African continent;
There is an eloquent expression of the sense of interdependence between the community and the individual: I am because we are; and since we are, therefore I am. In traditional life, the individual does not and cannot exist alone except corporately. He owes his existence to other people, including those of past generations and his contemporaries. He is simply part of the whole. The community must therefore make, create or produce the individual; the individual depends on the corporate group. 442
The Umma insists on a unity given by faith in Allah revealed by the Prophet Muhammad. Every Muslim is supposed to be the guard of the community. For example, a Muslim can undertake a long journey in several regions and is to be welcomed, sheltered fraternally everywhere by the members of his community. This is what L.Gardet calls “values of unity and solidarity in Islam.”443 The fact of feeling united as children of a same “mother”, encouraged Muslims to not kill each other during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Bukhari states that in Umma a believer is the brother of a believer. He protects his loses and guards his flank. A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim. Do not oppress him or betray him. Whoever attends to the needs of his brother, God attends to his own needs, and whoever relieves the pain of Muslim, God will relieve him of his pains on the day of resurrection. 444 For strengthening the spirit of community, there are some laws insisting on the respect of not bloodshed. “The blood shed of a Muslim is forbidden except in three cases; the adulterer who is stoned, one who kills another, and one who apostatize.”445
440 Josef Stamer, Islam and African traditional religion, Ibid.
441 Gerard van‟t Spijker, Ibid, p.186, quoted G.M.Setiloane, “Christus heute bekennen aus der afrikanischen Sicht von Mensch und Gesellschaft”, Zeitschrift fur mission II, 1976, pp22s. 442 John Mbiti, African concepts of time,< http://www.spiritualsproject.org/sweetchariot/Literature/time.php >, 18th March 2010. 443 L.Gardet, L’islam Religion et Communauté, Ed. Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, 1967, p. 94.
444 Reuven Firestone, Jihad , The origin of holy war in Islam, Oxford University Press, NewYork, 1999, p.125-129, quoted Bukhari, K.al-mazalim, 4.622 (vol.3,p.373; Abu Dawud, K.Al-muákhat, 4893(vol.4, p.2750; Tirmidhi, K.al- hudud, 3.1425 (vol.4, p.26). 445 Reuven Firestone, Ibid, quoted Ibn Maja, K.al-hudud, 1.2533 (vol.2, p.847.)
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The institution of the Umma, the formal unification of the Medinan community, is a result of the social-spiritual leadership of Muhammad. As the result of these factors, the believer and their non-Muslim associates in the Umma felt a growing sense of solidarity, which transcended traditional kinship boundaries and the concept of Umma strengthened the leadership of Muhammad.446
2.8.11. Friendships between Muslims and Rwanda’s Kings
After Rwanda´s King Yuhi Musinga´s death in deportation in 1931, “enemy number one of Christianity”447 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, precisely in Moba/Shaba because he refused to become a Christian, his son King Mutara Rudahirwa maintained very close bonds with Muslims even after he had been baptized in the Roman Catholic Church of Nyanza on 27th October 1946.
In 1959 King Mutara Rudahirwa was assassinated in Bujumbura (Burundi) where he stayed for a short visit. His death was the beginning of what Rwandan people call the revolution of 1959, when killings of Tutsis and the burning of their houses started. Between 150.000 and 200.000 inhabitants of the Tutsi ethnic group exiled to neighboring countries of Rwanda, and some succeeded to escape death through the help of Muslims who accepted to hide them or to offer them transportation into safer regions, in their capacity as private taxi drivers. According to an analysis by Rwanda‟s Mufti, Habimana Saleh, several reasons explain this attitude of Muslims to help people in danger. “One is because Islam teaches that you must help a person who needs help and safeguard his/her life if that person does not threaten you.”448
The perception was propagated that Muslims are supporting Tutsis, which resulted in the marginalization of Muslims on two levels in the period between 1959 and 1994. Politically, both Hutu governments which succeeded one another in 1959 and 1973, discriminated Muslims from
446 Ibid. 447 Th. Gatwa, A.Karamaga, Les autres chrétiens rwandais, Ed.Urwego, Kigali, 1990, p. 32. 448 Jean-François Mayer, Poignant reportage du Génocide Rwandais, < http://www.mejliss.com/showthread.php?p=4031906>, 18th June 2009.
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1959 to 1994, a period in which no Muslim was represented in the government. Religiously, Muslims were denigrated by Christians in considering them as people who were lost because they do not confess Jesus Christ. Also they were officially denied admission in different Christian schools.
Conclusion
The slave trade influenced Christians and Muslims relations in all East African Region. Unfortunately there is a deep silence around the theme on both sides. Christians are uncomfortable to talk about the consequences of the White Fathers history of fighting against Islam. Muslims are also embarrassed about the history of Arab trade of slaves in East Africa. There is a need of healing of memories, which will be developed in the fourth chapter.
Converting Rwandans into Islamic and Christian believes was a complex task, because they were rooted in Rwandan Traditional Religion. Rwandan Traditional Religion cannot separated from Rwandan culture. According to Peter Sarpong, this means that:
It is not possible to study African culture in isolation from religion. Religion permeates the ideal African from cradle to grave. African Traditional Religion, therefore, comes into play in the shaping of the African's future. We have to know the past in order to understand the present and to be better equipped to plan the future. We cannot know the past of the African if we neglect his religion. Traditional Religion is part of the African's ethos and an understanding of it should go hand in hand with Christian evangelization.449
I parallel, the understanding of Traditional Religion should go also hand in hand with Islamic dawa, which is one way of spreading Islam.
Even after an intensive missionary work, Traditional Religion is still exerting much influence on Rwandans. Those who are converted to Christianity or to Islam return at certain moments of their lives to some aspects of the Traditional Religion practices. The spiritual richness of responding to the daily worries attracts many Africans. However the proximity between Traditional Religion
449 Peter K. Sarpong, Can Christianity dialogue with African Traditional Religion? < http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=20683>, 15th August 2011.
97 and Islam allowed people to join the Muslim community without any violence in imposing rules to follow, as was the case under Christian missionaries.
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Section II: Violence, Healing and the Reconciliation of Memories Chapter III. Religion and Violence
Introduction
After discussing on Arab slave trade and its impact on Christian and Muslim relations today in East Africa where Rwanda is located, we turn now to religion and violence and anti-Islam attitudes which lead to exclusion and marginalization of Islam in Rwanda. To understand the complex origin of religious tension, suspicion, and mistrust in Christian and Muslim relations, there is a deep preliminary need to understand what about Crusades and what about Jihad because of their legacies are violent on both sides.
Abbijit Nayak asserts that, the collective memory of Christian and Muslim believers contains many elements that find their origin in facts of the past linked directly to acts of violence committed in the name of a given religion. Atrocities perpetrated towards Christian and Muslim communities in past history are still present in memory and they can be revived at any time.450 Interreligious violence and tension created what a Swiss scholar and expert in interreligious dialogue, Professor Jean Claude Basset calls “a wall of mistrust and hatred”451 between the two religious communities.
It is an important task for Christians and Muslims to attempt to overcome the psychological impact of crusades and to be aware of some other violent events and issues involved in the history of the encounter between Christianity and Islam.452The memory of Crusade and Jihad history accompanied the first Christian missionaries and first Muslims who entered in Rwanda. These violent historical events are always a source of debate in some Christian and Muslim meetings.
450 Anank Nayak, Ibid, p.242. 451 Jean Claude Basset, Le dialogue interreligieux, Ed. du Cerf, Paris, 1996, p. 345. 452 Ibid, p.274.
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3.1. Definition of violence453
In order to assess the contextual challenges caused by violence for an interreligious dialogue in Rwanda, it is essential to base the discussion on a careful terminological analysis. In the academic discourse the study of violence has taken a prominent place in recent years. Interdisciplinary research, especially between social and political sciences, history, anthropology and religious studies has focused on the theoretical and practical implication of violence.454
More frequently this term describes forceful and intentional injury to people as well as verbal and emotional abuse toward others. Violence can be categorized in three main forms: physical violence, sexual violence and psychological violence. These three types of violence can be traced in every society. From the phenomenological perspective it has been evidenced that, war represents by far the largest scale of organized violence, in the course of which all aforementioned forms of violence can be observed. This is also valid for Rwanda during the genocide in 1994.455
Out of the findings of this scholarly discourse three prominent strands can be highlighted. First, violence manifests itself in a manifold manner and is subject to cultural and situational interpretation.
453 Olivier Ndayizeye M., Perspectves on interreligious dialogue and overcoming violence, Master thesis, University of Geneva/ Ecumenical Institute of Bossey, June 2012, p..37. 454 Cf. for an overview on the recent research: Wilhelm Heitmeyer/ John Hagan (Eds): International Handbook of Violence Research. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publisher, 2003. See also: Alf Lüdtke (Ed): Histoire du quotidien. Paris: Maison des sciences de l´homme, 1994; René Girard: The Scapegoat. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1989;Id.: Violence and the Sacred. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1979 and Wolfgang Sofsky: The Order of Terror. The Concentration Camp. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999. 455 Cf. for the genocide research, Irving Louis Horowitz: Taking Lives. Genocide and State Power. New Brunswick/ NJ,1997.
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“Violence takes many forms and is understood differently in different countries and among different cultures.”456 “The definition of violence itself, is ambiguous”457 because of various understandings.
While there is no universally accepted definition of violence, the World Health Organization report in 2002 has proposed the following as a working definition of violence: Violence is the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maladaptive development, or deprivation.458
This leads to the second finding that the broadening of the definitions, through the inclusion of divergent viewpoints, has contributed to blurring the contours of the notion of violence. Recent trends in social sciences to redress this tendency by paying close attention to the victims of violence, and thus to shift from a mere perpetrator perspective, have also been reflected in methodological approaches.
A third strand can be identified with the understanding of violence as part of the construction of a political context intrinsically linked with dominion and power: “Since the appearance of the state, the state has built itself upon violence and Max Weber asserted that the exercise of legitimate violence is one of the characteristics of the state.”459 It has become evident that when political problems are compounded with economic problems these create a favorable context for violence. In summary, I would like to make valid for the present contextual study that violence expresses itself as political, economic and ecological violence with repercussions on the physical and psychological integrity as well as the societal cohesion.
456 Ed.Manjit Singh and D.P. Singh, Violence: Impact and Intervention,
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3.2. Religious origin of violence
Today there is an anguish which can take over peace because religions are increasingly evaluated in a negative way. “Many, especially secular voices, say that religion is the main reason for fundamentalism and radicalism, blocking progress towards democracy and freedom, promoting even violence in some cases. Most of the conflict situations in our world are in one way or another related to religion.”460 There is also a big number of people which recognize the active religious positive way of taking care of people as attests Elise Boulding that “every religion contains two cultures: the culture of violence and the culture of peace.”461 This chapter is focused on religion and violence because resisting to violence is one of the options for building a sustainable peace.
Anand Nayak, a professor of missiology and religious sciences at the University of Fribourg argues that the history of the religions shows, on one hand that religions have the pretension to be born with a message of peace to sustain peace and to propagate it, but on the other hand, religions are cause of misunderstanding and conflict.462 It is true that human history is punctuated by mass murders justified in the name of religious. For example in 4th century, the Roman Emperors Constantine I (274-337) and Theodosius I (379-395) conquered in Christ's name. “Crusades and inquisition courts have been carried out in Christ‟s name.”463During the Holocaust 1939-1945, Rwanda 1994, Bosnia 1992-1995, in each of these genocides, Christian institutions, Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox were present with considerable influence even if they were not made in Christ‟s name.464
460 Hielke Wolter, Opening speech Noah celebration 2015, 26th October 2015, Ecumenical Centre,Geneva 461 Elise Boulding, The Hidden side of History, Syracuse University Press, NY, 2000, p.17. 462 Anand Nayak, Religions et violences, Editions Universitaires Fribourg, Suisse, 2000, p.32. 463 John MarcArthur, The truth war : Fighting for certainty in an age of deception,
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A Ukrainian soldier near the eastern Ukrainian town of Pervomaysk. Photograph, Gleb G
“Some people blame organized religion for most of history's killings.”465But Professor Shafique Keshavjee considers globally that religious traditions were for centuries more factors of peace than causes of violence. For him the Christian tradition was source of more violence than the Muslim tradition, towards Jewish, Amerindian, and countries of the South.466 This is true in observing Christian silence on different tragic human episodes of West African slavery, colonization, and Jew holocaust in 20th century. It is important to remember that “the history of humanity from its beginnings is characterized by violence, confrontations, fight between rival families, conflicts between tribes, and wars between states. Violence is in the heart of the human being in individual or collective actions. Violence is constantly present in the evolution of humanity. Every culture, every religion, sees violence written down in the beginning of its
465 Isn‟t religion to blame for most of history‟s killings,
103 existence.” 467 It can be said that “violence is an integral part of man‟s existence and a common occurrence in human societies.”468 Oommen emphasizes on the fact that the historicity of the link between religion and violence clearly demonstrates in saying that, in different parts of the world at different historical periods, all religions have seen to be sources of violence.469
From the middle age on it seems that behind many wars, there is a religion implication. Historically, if we consider some major known periods of war, and killings, their religious side is visible. - 7th Century, Islamic expansion begins
- 11th Century, Crusades start
- 16th Century, Reformation wars begins
- 20th Century, Israel-Arab wars from 1948 up to present days, seen as war over religion.470
The confrontation between Christianity and Islam in history remains a non-solved challenge for the Church. “Reflection on the encounter of the Church and Islam should take seriously account of 14 centuries of cohabitation marked by presuppositions, misunderstandings and quarrels.” 471 Arab Christian theologian Chawkat Moucarry approved this in saying that “there is a serious historical tension between Christians and Muslims, since Crusade till recent colonialism.” 472
3.2.1. Role of religious identity in violence
467 Anand Nayak, Ibid, p.5. 468 Sanusi Aliyou, Religious - based violence and national security in Nigeria, a thesis presented to the Faculty of the US Army command and General staff college, FortLeavenworth, Kansas, 2009, p.21. 469 T.K. Oommen, Religion as source of violence: a sociological perspective in The ecumenical review, 53 No 2 April 2001, pp.168-179, p. 177. 470 BBC world service, Tuesday, 24th February 2004, 09:46 GMT
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Heather Gregg contends that:
Religion often plays a key role in forming group identity in educating, informing, mobilizing, and organizing people. Each religion has material resources such as schools, buildings, hospitals, land and money. In each society we find six broads elements of religion: resources, beliefs, texts, religion authority, and practitioners. Independently, these elements are typical causes of violence because religion as a combination of all these elements in one entity which is uniquely situated for inspiring and mobilizing the mass including for belligerent end.473
When religious identity is “more critical than ethnic identity and in fact serves to activate ethnic violence,”474 it has been seen that religion plays a critical role in the mobilization of ethnic conflicts.475 Religious identity and cultural identity are interconnected and it is difficult to separate them. For example in “Muslim states, daily lives are circumscribed by religious doctrine; their schooling, their clothing, even what they eat and how they play are strongly influenced by their religion.” 476 It is not only in Muslim states but in many parts of the world, “religious identity is a strong part of cultural, family, and individual identity.”477
In this sense, the anthropologist Clifford James Geertz recognizes that religion is a powerful motivator of human behavior which means that it is an important and powerful force in human history for mobilization and possesses the ability to establish a general order of human
473 Heather Selma Gregg, The causes of religions wars: Holy nations, Sacred spaces, and religious revolutions, p. 34.,< http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/16639/56191324.pdf>, 20th August 2012.
474 Eghosa F. Osaghae, A History of identities, violence, and stability in Nigeria,
105 existence.478 In the human history, the first type of wars and violent conflicts are ones in which religion contribute to violent campaigns that have secular or non-religion goals.479
Among causes of interreligious violence are a multitude of factors including identity. Anand Nayak observes that “Muslim identity is always in conflict with Christian identity.”480In comparison with ethnicity, religious identity is more critical than ethnic identity and in fact it serves to activate ethnicity like in Nigeria where killings between Christians and Muslims are beyond understanding.481 We have seen also that “religious identity was at the heart of Balkan war.”482 In the case of the genocide in Rwanda, ethnic identity took place over the religious identity because Hutu Catholics killed Tutsi Catholics, and Hutu Protestants killed Tutsi Protestants. According to Timothy Longman,
An analysis of the historical role of Christianity in Rwanda reveals that, far simply adapting to and reflecting Rwandan society, the churches actively shaped the ethnic and political realities that made genocide possible by acting to define and politicize ethnicity, legitimizing authoritarian regimes, and encouraging public obedience to political authorities.483
One of the factors which singles out religion as source of violence is “when religion is seen as independent of states, nations and ethnicities.”484 But “when religion is connected with citizenship (state), nationality (nations) or ethnicity, it invariably becomes a source of inter religious violence.”485 Also differences in doctrines and beliefs often foment intra- religious violence.
478 Heather Selma Gregg, The causes of religions wars: Holy nations, Sacred spaces, and religious revolutions, p. 31.< http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/16639/56191324.pdf>, 20th August 2012. 479 Ibid, p. 35. 480 Anand Nayak,Ibid, p.35. 481 Eghosa F. Osaghae, A history of identities, violence, and stability in Nigeria,
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This is the case with: - Catholics and Protestants among Christians - Shias and Sunnis among Muslims - Hinayana and Mahayana among Buddhists - Swetambara and Digambara among Jains.486
With technological innovations in the world, religious identity is no longer static, it moves. “As a complex system of beliefs and rituals, Max Weber observed that the religion tend to change and develop in complexity overtime.”487 With the challenging proliferation of religious identities, Professor Jean Claude Basset, argues that “faith could no longer be considered as an inherited or an imposed set of values.”488
The identity evolution is already becoming part of our daily lives,489but even if technological, political, and economical factors are influencing new form of identities,
Religion identity is still present in policies for war and violent conflict. One example which can be given is when the former President of United States, Georges Bush, described the war against Osama Ben Laden and his followers as a crusade. This term of crusade, harkened back to the Christian offense against Muslims. For Muslims it brings up the memory of violent wars with Christians. The tension shows that the separation of Church and state in many Western constitutions does not mean that religion no longer plays a role in the policies of state.490
486 Ibid, p. 175. 487 Heather Selma Gregg, The causes of religions wars: Holy nations, Sacred spaces, and religious revolutions, p. 31.,
488 Consejo Mundial de Iglesias,
489 Identity R/Evolution,
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Michael Emerson, Senior research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), observes that: Tensions and violence involving people from minority groups of Muslim culture are the greatest source of societal tensions and violent conflict in contemporary Europe. People have been affected by the growing influence of radical Islam in recent decades, intensified by the aftershocks of the 9/11 terror attacks in the US.491
3.2.2. Theocratic states
The term “theocracy” was probably created by the Jewish historian Titus Flavius Josephus (38- 100CE). It comes from the Greek word theokratia, which is a compound word that combines “theos”, which means god and “kratein” means to be strong, powerful, to dominate, to impose, then to rule. 492 It can be said that “a theocracy, therefore, is a form of government in which rule is directed by the belief in a god or by certain religious beliefs.”493 For example, in Pharaon Egypt “kings represented and incarnated the deity, they were considered as divine or semidivine figure who ruled largely through priest.”494
In Islam, the community established by the prophet Muhammad in Medina (570-622-632) was a theocracy in which he served as both temporal and spiritual leader. The Roman Catholic Church, in Middle Age, were Papal States (Stati pontificii) in which the Pope was the ruler in the civil as well as the spiritual sense. “After the Gregorian reform of the 11th century, there was also a temptation to institute a papal theocracy which made the Pope a representative of God on
491 EURACTIV, Ethno-religious conflict in Europe: Radicalisation in Europe’s Muslim communities,
108 earth.495 The Vatican city can be mentioned as a formal Christian theocracy, with the Pope as head of both church and state.496
After the Reformation of the sixteenth century, a well-known example of a theocratic regime was established in Geneva between1555-1564. Geneva‟s civil life was subordinated to Christian principles. In Zurich, Huldrich Zwingli established a city council which was the lawful government of a Christian state (both Church and Canton) and administrated the divine commands from the Bible. 497 New England Puritans in 1630 established theocratic governments in what later became Massachusetts, and Connecticut in the United State of America.498 The earlier none as theocratic state is Saudi Arabia where the legal system is based on Sharia (Islamic law), it also has a religious police..499
In Iran, Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini (1900-1989) established what may be considered a theocratic state where political power was held in the hands of Imams and religious leaders. The Taliban State (1996-2001) in Afghanistan was similar.500 In the first decade of the twenty first century, various fundamentalist Muslims groups are striving to establish theocratic forms of governments in Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Turkey, Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, and Chechnya.501 In a given country when rules are directed by religious beliefs or when government is heavily influenced by religious leaders, people belonging to other faiths are treated as second-class citizens. A good example of the former is the Islamic Republic of Iran, where the state apparatus is subordinate to Islam and religious leaders have a decisive say in political affairs.502 A critical look at theocracies suggests that a theocratic society is one of the most destructive societies known to man.
495 Dictionnaire des religions, Ibid. 496 Theocracy,< http://www.conservapedia.com/Theocracy>, 14th December 2014. 497 Theocracy, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, end Edition, < http://pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il/~msavihu/AvihuZakai/Theocracy-encyclopedia.pdf>, 15th August 2012. 498 Ibid. 499 Theocracy,< http://www.conservapedia.com/Theocracy>, Ibid. 500 Theocracy, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, end Edition, Ibid.
501 Ibid. 502 Ajay Rathore, What do you understand by theocratic regimes,
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Looking in Muslim countries, Iran is a modern example that theocracies and democracies coexist, but with a lot of tension, In 1999, the coexistence of a theocratic state with a democracy showed what happens when the two ideals clash: demonstrations in the streets, tear gas, shots fired, people killed, people hauled away to jail, newspapers closed.503
Professor Oommen an Indian sociologist observes that “when a religion community is the majority in one more parts of a state‟s territory it tends to define itself as a nation and aspire to having its own sovereign state.” He adds that nothing inherent in religious communities which make for violence, but when they define themselves as nations and aspire to form a state, they invariably become sources of violence.504
Religion has been in the past years the basis of establishing theocratic states and it became a structure which legitimizes violence precisely because it privileges those who belong to the state religion and marginalizes those of other faith communities.505 Very often, in majority theocratic states, wars are considered as holy wars.506 For recovering real peace, Professor Jean Claude Basset proposes a separation between state and religion.
503 Theocratie,< http://members.iimetro.com.au/~hubbca/theocratic.htm>, 14th August 2012. 504 T.K. Oommen, Ibid, pp.168-179, p. 173. 505 Ibid, p. 172. 506 Shanon Stoney, Advantages and disadvantages of a Theocracy,
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3.2.3. Holy war and violence
Holy war is a common word used by many people including politicians and religious leaders in daily life because of different violent and religious tensions in the world. This can be illustrated by a statement of “the head of the Russian Orthodox Church at the 75th anniversary of the Moscow battle. For him fighting against terrorism is a holy war.”507 Classically, holy war can be defined as “a war or violent campaign waged by religious partisans to propagate or defend their faith.”508
In the three monotheist religions, the concept of holy war is a culture represented by “a patriarchal warrior-god.”509
In Judaism, much of the history of Israel relates to the central theme of Jehovah‟s release of his people from bondage in Egypt and of his leading them to a Promised Land. Since this land happened to be occupied by seven Canaanite nations, the Hebrew Scriptures provide instructions on clearing the land for settlement through destruction of the previous inhabitants. The many different instructions were brought together in the code of Maimonides. Treatise five, Laws Concerning Kings and wars, gives specific commandments concerning the destruction of the seven Canaanite nations. No life is to be spared, and the seed of Amalek is to be blotted out.510
In Islam like in Israel,
Islam has an early history of fighting tribal wars for the survival of its religious faith. Islamic warriors fought for Allah, under his prophet Muhammad. Therefore, the Qur‟an, like the Book of Judges, lays down specific commandments about the conduct of war. Both codes, incidentally, prohibit the destruction of fruit trees and fields where crops have been planted. They also command the protection of women and children. Jihad or Holy war, Is to be conducted in a literal sense in the defense of dar-al-Islam, the Islamic world, from intrusion by non-Islamic races.
507 < https://www.rt.com/politics/342097-russian-orthodox-patriarch-declares-international/>, 06th August 2016. 508 Definition of holy war,
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Islam is struggling to use its more evolved system of governance in the face of a fundamentalist revival that has declared Jihad not only on Christians and Jew but on non-fundamentalist Muslims as well.511
In Christianity: Unlike Judaism and Islam,
Christianity started out as a pacifist sect. Only when the persecuted minority attained a protected position within the Roman Empire did it begin to see war as a legitimate instrument to protect its lands against intrusion by heretics and infidels. The just war doctrine, developed from the days of Augustine of Hippo onward, contained provisions similar to those of the Code of Maimonides and the Qur‟an, particularly for the protection of the innocent and for proportionality, which can be translated as protect those fruit trees for the future. 512
The root of holy war is found in “the Old Testament where it allows violence to defend the interests of the country, the religion and the culture, and it encourages a certain will to ritualize the violence through war.”513 The war becomes holy, the experienced violence is raised to the superior rank of activity intrinsically good and laudable activity ( I Sam11:7).514 In these three monotheistic religions, war and believes “have gone hand in hand for a long time. Armies go into battle believing that God is with them, often after prayers and sacrifices to keep God on their side.”515 In 240 CE, the Alexandrian theologian Origen wrote that, “you cannot demand military service of Christians any more than you can of priests. We do not go forth as soldiers.”516 Origen‟s idea shows that the early Church before the fourth century was nonviolent. “Christians rejected not only emperor-worship and idolatry but also participation in the military.”517 In the opposite, “Origen wrote his exhortation to Martyrdom around 235, in the midst of the persecution under emperor Maximian. His text glorifies martyrdom, for him martyrs were
511 Ibid, pp.19-20. 512 Ibid, p.20. 513 Anand Nayak, Ibid, p.187. 514 Ibid, p.188. 515 BBC, Holy wars,
517 Ibid.
112 watched by audience and were expected to be champions for Christ, Origen saw the blood of martyrs as the seed of the Church.”518
In the fourth century, “St. Ambrose (340-397) and St. Augustine (354-430) moved from the evangelical ideal of non-violence, because they were responsible in leading the state affairs. St. Ambrose openly supported wars against the enemies. However, he had an extreme aversion to the civil war. He was convinced that a man who fights for personal gains must be condemned, while a man who risks his life for the well-being of his country deserves to be honored." 519 St. Augustine in his book; The city of God condemned war but violence had to be met by violence in order to keep the peace.520 Later, St. Thomas (1225 - 1275) declares that if a man is dangerous and ominous for a community; it is honorable and advantageous to kill him in order to keep the common good.521
Christian history since its origin was bathed in violence, often as victim of the violence but sometimes as the cause. This ambiguity is an inheritance of its own sources with the violent attitudes in the Old Testament. More than 600 passages say explicitly that peoples, kings or individuals attacked others, annihilated and killed them.522
In the twentieth century, “the Amsterdam assembly of the WCC in 1948 formulated unambiguously proposition: war as a method of settling disputes is incompatible with the teachings and example of our Lord Jesus. The part which war plays in our present international life is a sign against God and a degradation of man.”523 In effect the dual attitude regarding the use of violence in conflict situations was confirmed. War, especially modern warfare with its means of mass destruction, was for all delegates incompatible with the example of Jesus.524
518 Andrew R. Murphy, Ibid, p.152. 519 Anand Nayak, Ibid, p.198. 520 Helen J.Nichloson, Serious violence: Church justification of violence in middle ages, quoted , the City of God, 1.21 and 26,
113
In 1960‟s, Anank Nayak asserts that some Christians arrived at a consensus concerning the Christian involvement in violence. First, the Christian can participate in a revolutionary violence which is an answer to an intolerable social repression. Second, Christian involvement in the violence may be an ultimate strategy if the other ways proved to be useless. Then the aim of Christian involvement must be to put a just social order, and not to destroy the adversary only. Finally, Christian involvement to violence, as an involvement in war, must always be done in despair of all other ways, with the hope of restoring justice and peace.525
“The WCC Assembly in Canberra, 1991, maintained its original position: no to violence and war. There is just an impossible possibility that Christians may justify (limited) violence if the state authorities had to decide to make use of it.”526
Elise Boulding emphasizes that religious violence dishonored Christ‟s name and some Christians today are ashamed of all sorts of violence done by their fellow Christians in different parts of the world throughout history of anti-Semitism, crusades, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and xenophobia.527
In concluding this section, it is visible that “most religions have sacred texts which can encourage and promote violence, and most have plenty of examples of people who have sincerely believed that their violence acts were justified by their faith and it is not good enough just to say that they were wrong.”528
His Holiness Aram I (Armenian) Catholicos of Cilicia wrote in 2003 that “violence is destruction, it constitutes evil and death. Violence has no place in God‟s economy.”529
525 Anank Nayak, Ibid, p.215, quoted N. Brockman and N. Piediscalzi, eds, Contemporary Religion and social responsibility, Newyork, 1973, p.232. 526 Gerrie ter Haar (ed), Ibid, p. 141. 527 Chawkat Moucarry, Christian perspective on Islam,
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3.3. Crusades and religious violence
3.3.1. Definition
The term crusade “is derived from the Latin cruciata, which means „cross-marked,‟ meaning. cruce signati, those who wear the insignia of scarlet crosses.” 530Austin Cline, who is a philosopher and Regional Director for the Council for Secular Humanism in US, says that “the term Crusade can be used generally to refer to any of the military operations launched during the middle ages by the Catholic Church and Catholic political leaders against non-Catholic powers or heretical movements.”531 But in different media, “the term crusade has generally lost its military implications (in the West, at least) and has acquired more metaphorical meanings. Within religion the word crusade may be applied to any organized drive to convert people to a particular branch of Christianity.”532
This word crusade is very often used for mobilizing Christians to attend big gatherings, campaigns of evangelization. Some Christian organisations and meetings took that word for identifying their work like Campus Crusade for Christ, Christ Power Evangelical Crusade, Great evangelical Crusade, Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade (OBEC) in India, Rick Warren Mega Crusade in Rwanda, and Evangelical Crusade in Rwanda. For that, in interviewing Al Hadj Ndabikunze Salim, one of the Muslim leaders in Rwanda said that:
Muslims fear these Christians posters where it is written and mentioned the word crusade. For Muslims the word crusade is not a comfortable word because it reminds them bad memories for the past. Every time when they saw it, it reminds them many people died during wars between Christians and Muslims. It would be relieving for Muslims to not use it.533
530 Austine Cline,. Agnosticism and Atheism,
533 Interview with Al Hadj Ndabikunze Salim on 17th December 2012.
115
Over time as attests Elise Boulding, “crusades were developed as the Christian counterpart of centuries of Islamic jihad.” 534
Muslim armies had conquered most of the Byzantine Empire during their expansion. According to the Christian view at that time, the enemy was literally at the gates of the greatest Christian city in the world at Constantinople. Muslims had conquered Spain, Sicily, Southern Italy and many of the islands in the Mediterranean Sea.535
Muslim attacks on Christian countries were still going on in the eleventh century. For Christians, the crusades were a just and a legitimate war. Today, the Church is frequently criticized on the ground on the question of the crusades, that the Christian nations of Europe were the aggressors and encouraged to be so by the Popes.536 The history of the crusades is known and understood by the majority of Muslims as a time where Christian countries came together for killing and destroying Muslims.
3.3.2. Islamic interpretation of crusade
According to John Chamberlin “the crusades are an extremely emotional issue among Muslims today.”537 It created among Muslims a bitterness feeling toward western Christians. The Turk Mehmet Ali Agca,538 before his attempted assassination of the Pope in 1981, “wrote in a letter: I have decided to kill John Paul II, the supreme commander of the crusades.”539 The most famous of these uses of anti-crusader rhetoric is Usama Bin-Laden‟s fatwa of 1998, in which he called
534 Elise Boulding, Ibid, p.20. 535 Peter Hammond, Understanding the crusades,
116 for the killing of Americans. It was titled: Text of World Islamic Front’s Statement Urging Jihad against Jews and crusaders. 540
It is true that “the study of the crusades became an important part of Arab academic writing after World War II, and continues to be a popular subject to this day.”541
From the Islamic view, the crusades were initially nothing more than desperate Europeans seeking fortune and lands in the Middle East. The leaders of the early crusades were not pious Christians, they were opportunists who were fortunate enough to have a Pope, eager to reassert the power of the Catholic Church and foment religious fervor in the general population.542 The Crusade movement was against all Muslims, and not against the Arabs alone, and their goal was to humiliate the Muslims and bring down damage upon them. 543 This is confirmed also by Abdullah Mohammed Sindi a Saudi-American professor of International Relations and Political Science, who says that the objective of the Crusades was simple, to destroy the Arabs (whether Muslim or Jew) in the Holy Land of Palestine and its environs.544
Several thousands of Muslim Arabs and European Christians
Died during the crusades and it led to the constant violence occurring in the Middle East today. Muslims now completely mistrust Christians and relations between the West and Middle East have been ruined forever. Crusaders killed Jews, Muslims, and even other Christians during this series of Holy Wars. It was really the first Holocaust as entire Jewish communities were wiped out in Europe simply because they were not Christian.545
540 John Chamberlin, The evolution of Arab conceptions of the Crusades,
542 Islamic view of the Crusades, 117 3.3.3. Causes of crusades Finding real reasons for the crusades is a complex enterprise because they are mixed with fear of the Islam expansion and the will of Christianity to control the political power. What we know is that “Muslims rule over the holy land stood as a challenge to the Christian faith.”546 Their army captured the holy land with lightning speed. Muslims conquered Damascus in 635, Antioch in 636, Jerusalem in 638, Caesarea in 640, and Alexandria in 642. In the beginning Muslim leaders did not cause problems to Christians because most of them were tolerant of Christian presence among them. The situation started changing in 1009 when the Caliph Egypt Al-Hakim (996-1021) destroyed the church of the Holy Sepulcher. Jews and Christians were forced to wear five pound wooden crosses around their necks. Muslims did not like Al-Hakim or the nuisances, he caused. He was murdered in 1021.547 The direct cause known is the massacre of three thousand Christian pilgrims when Jerusalem was taken by the Muslim Turks in 1065. This was unacceptable to the Pope who was the head of the State of Rome and other Christian believers who sanctified the city of Jerusalem as a sacred and holy place of pilgrim.548 The crusades background “was set when the Seljuk Turks decisively defeated the Byzantine army in 1071 and cut off Christian access to Jerusalem.”549 This was a shame for Roman Catholic Church and all of its members. “The Byzantine emperor, Alexius Commenus I sent a letter to the Pope asking for help for his struggle against the Seljuq Turks, who had taken most of Asia Minor from him.”550 He asked aid and support not only to the Pope, but also to western Christian leaders to engage a crusade that would liberate the holy land from Muslim invaders. Crusades-were-simply-a-series-of-war-crimes-committed-by-the-Christians/1/>, 22nd September 2012. 546 Abbijit Nayak, Crusade violence: Understanding and overcoming the impact of mission among Muslims, in International Rewiew of Mission, vol.97 No586/587, July ,October 2008, p.274. 547 Ibid. 548 First Crusade,< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade>, 04th October 2012. 549 Peter J.H. Barrat, Abstentis: St Peter, the disputed site of his burial place and the apostolic succession, Published by DeliaBooks, USA, 2014, p.110. 550 Pierre Parisien, Blood and the Covenant: The historical consequences of the contract with God, Trafford Publishing, USA, 2010, p.172. 118 Thomas Asbridge, a scholar of medievalist at the University of London, “argues that the First crusade was Pope Urban II's attempt to expand the power of the church, and reunite the churches of Rome and Constantinople, which had been in schism since 1054.”551 This can be confirmed by the fact that Jerusalem was not given back to the Byzantine empire after the first crusade. The second reason of the first crusade is the religious conviction of the crusaders. In the Middle Age there was a “spirit of religious reform that had led to the Investiture Controversy had been accompanied by an increase in popular spirituality.”552 This religious context encouraged people to be enrolled in crusades. “The most ambitious advocate of church reform was Pope Gregory VII between 1073-1085. He claimed unprecedented power for the papacy; he held the idea of creating a Christian commonwealth under papal control.”553 People no longer accepted their religion passively; they wanted to actively participate and do something themselves in honor their god.554 This led to the feeling of rescuing the holy city from the sacrileges of the “infidels”. This was the reason which changed the pilgrim into a war. Religious conviction was one of the main causes of the first crusades.555 In the Middle Age, the Bible in the culture and in mentalities was very fundamental. The Bible was the complete manual of a man's life. That influence was universal and included all social layers. The culture was a Christian culture transmitted by stories and sermons but also by the iconographic representations of the glass windows and sculptures. Jerusalem, like Nazareth and Bethlehem, was therefore, a name known of all men in that period of the Middle Age. 556 551 First Crusade,< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade>, 04th October 2012. 552 Lynn Harry Nelson, First crusade, < http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/first_crusade.html> , 14th August 2016. 553 Also Pope Gregory VII claimed that the Roman pontiff alone is rightly called universal, that he alone has the power to depose and rein state bishops, that he alone may use the imperial insignia, that all princes shall kiss the foot of the Pope alone, that he has the power to depose emperors, that he can judged by no one, that no one can be regarded as catholic who does not agree with the Roman church, that he has the power to absolve subjects from their oath of fealty to wicked rulers. See World History Center, 119 To understand the importance given Christian religion, The emotion can be comparable to what would be felt by the traditional Muslims today if the city of Mecca fell into the hands of non-Muslims. Not only the heart of the world would be reached, but the emotional mobilization of such loss would justify the use of intensive violence to reestablish the lost order. The loss of Jerusalem had an echo in west no as the disappearance of a foreign city, but as the one city which was the cradle of the Christian faith, judged as the only one truthful at that time and a symbol of a whole system. The church was born in Jerusalem.557 Edgar Weber asserts that, the liberation of the holy land operated itself in a collective soul of the west. Jerusalem had a unique symbolic importance. Touching it was equivalent to touching the very heart of Christianity.558 Threat of the Ottoman Turks The “Ottoman Empire (1301-1922), was the one of the largest and longest lasting Empires in history. It was an empire inspired and sustained by Islam, and Islamic institutions. It replaced the Byzantine Empire as the major power in the Eastern Mediterranean.”559 After seven centuries of ruling, the empire officially ended on the 1st November 1922, when the Ottoman sultanate was abolished and Turkey was declared a republic.560 Ottoman expansion which covered a very big part of Europe, Arabia, and North Africa, had a profound influence and impact which is considered in any study of Europe in the late Middle Age. The ease with which the Ottoman Empire achieved military victories led Western Europeans to fear that ongoing Ottoman success would collapse the political and social infrastructure of the West and bring about the downfall of Christendom. 557 Ibid. 558 Ibid, p. 194. 559 BBC, Ottoman empire, 120 Such a momentous threat could not be ignored and the Europeans mounted crusades against the Ottomans in 1366, 1396, and 1444, but to no avail.561 The Ottomans didn‟t stop military conquest for expending their territory and imposing their faith. Although Ottoman expansion was greatly feared in the late Middle Ages, the Ottomans generally allowed religious groups to continue to practice their own faiths within the conquered territories. They also tended to preserve the established feudal institutions and, in many cases, permitted the co-existence of law codes to regulate the different ethnic and religious groups.562 The capture of Constantinople in 1453 by “Sultan Mehmed II (1432-1481)”563 saw a substantial attempt to revive the crusade as the principal military mechanism for defending Christianity in Europe against the advance of the Ottoman Turks.564 From there an impressive effort was made by Europeans for recruiting a very large numbers of crusaders between 1454 and 1464, and between 1501 and 1503, and substantial sums of money were raised through the vigorous preaching of indulgences in the Holy Roman Empire.565 For the majority of western peoples, The loss of Constantinople is a great historical disaster, a defeat of Christendom which has never been repaired. In spite of the present relations between Turkey and the West, there is still a reserve of mistrust, and even at times of hostility, with roots deep in the European Christian past.566 561 Michelle Lynn, Danielle 11: History of the world, AuthorHouse, Bloomington, USA, 2012, p.140. 562 The end of Europe’s middle ages, 121 According to Bernard Lewis, “the loss of Constantinople was certainly a defeat of Christendom and of Europe.” 567 He continues in saying that “the four slender minarets that the Turks added to the Church of Santa Sophia may be, for the Christian, is a desecration.”568Some Christians in Eastern and Western Europe are not yet ready to forget that. Speech of the Pope Urbain II “Pope Urban II”569 convoked the Council of Clermont in France on November 27th 1095, and called for the First crusade in these words: Men of God, men chosen and blessed among all, combine your forces! Take the road to the Holy Sepulcher assured of the imperishable glory that awaits you in God's kingdom. Let each one deny himself and take the Cross!” With a shout „God wills it‟ the Assembly rose. They adopted a red cross as their emblem, and within a few hours no more red material remained in the town because the knights had cut it all up into crosses to be sewn on their sleeves.570 This is considered as one of the most influential speeches in the Middle Age, it called Christian princes and all believers in Europe to go on a crusade to rescue the Holy Land taken by the Turks. It combined the ideas of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the idea of starting a holy war against “infidels”. The noble race of Franks must come to the aid their fellow Christians in the East. The infidel Turks are advancing into the heart of Eastern Christendom; Christians are being oppressed and attacked; churches and holy places are being defiled. Jerusalem is groaning under the Saracen yoke. The Holy Sepulcher is in Muslim 567 Ibid, p.120. 568 Ibid. 569 Pope Urbain II was born around 1035 to a noble family in Northern of France. He worked in Germany as a papal legate, trying to maintain support for Pope Gregory VII in the struggle with the Holy Roman Emperor. After Gregory‟s death and the short papacy of Victor III, Urbain was elected Pope on 12th March 1088 (see, Pope Urbain II, 122 hands and has been turned into a mosque. Pilgrims are harassed and even prevented from access to the Holy Land. The West must march to the defense of the East. All should go, rich and poor alike. The Franks must stop their internal wars and squabbles. Let them go instead against the infidel and fight a righteous war. God himself will lead them, for they will be doing His work. There will be absolution and remission of sins for all who die in the service of Christ. Here they are poor and miserable sinners; there they will be rich and happy. Let none hesitate; they must march next summer. God wills it! Deus vult (God wills it) became the battle cry of the Crusader.571 The months which followed the Council of Clermont were marked by religious excitement in Western Europe. Popular preachers everywhere took up the cry „God wills it‟. A monk named Peter the Hermit aroused large parts of France with his passionate eloquence, as he rode from town to town, carrying a huge cross before him and preaching to vast crowds.572 Franks were very active because they were “presented as the chosen instruments of God (Gesta Dei per Francos).”573 Preachers of the crusades were powerful in communicating and advocating violence through their violent words, they thought that their sermons were pious and contained noble ideals.574 The crusades created a deep hatred between Christians and Muslims because of their violence and cruelty. From them emerged a kind of defensive reaction to all western actions. 571 Raymond Robert Fischer, Israel my Inheritance: Persecuted Messianic Jews Cry Out for Justice and Reform, Creation House Book, Florida, USA, 2011,p.90. 572 The First crusade, 574 Abbijit Nayak, Crusade violence: Understanding and overcoming the impact of mission among Muslims, in International Rewiew of Mission, vol.97 No586/587, July,October 2008, p.276. 123 3.4. Crusades and Colonialism The memory of the crusades continued to appear in contemporary history through Western colonization. “In the Muslim world, Christianity is always connected with western colonialism.”575 Arab Muslims saw in colonization a continuation of the crusades because of its negative impact. “It is seen as one of the principal evils of the 19th and 20th century.”576 The Arab anti-colonialism was represented as a war of Muslims against the crusaders. The former Libyan leader M. Gaddhafi called western intervention in Arab countries, “colonial crusade.”577 For Professor Jean Claude Basset, the colonial time meant to Muslim populations, a traumatic memory where Western crusades were against Islamic peoples and, they felt ridiculed by the alliance between colonial imperialism and Christian mission.578 Many textbooks present the still dominant view that the crusades were a form of European colonialism and at the same time, Arab scholars, writers and politicians maintain the crusader myth of “Zionism”579in order to prove and to attest that Israel is a Western colonialist entity in the Eastern Arab area.580 It is why, many Arabs see Israelis as crusaders.581 To identify the crusades which ended in 13th century with modern colonialism and Zionism is not anachronistic but also inappropriate. According to Professor David Ohana of Modern European History at Ben Gurion University of Negev in Israel, “there is a danger to draw conclusion 575 Ibid, p.280. 576 Memory of Crusade, 124 concerning the events of the day through a comparison with the past on the sole basis of an external resemblance, without taking into account all the differences in time and conditions.”582 In Rwanda, colonialism hand in hand with Christian missionaries will be for a long time accused for having raised a violent ethnicity which culminated in the genocide in 1994. Up to now, this is why “there are some populations who perceive Christianity as a religion charged with violence, aggressiveness and the desire of domination.”583 3.5. Jihad The semantic of the Arabic term jihad has no initial relation to holy war in general. It is derived, rather from the root j.h.d, the meaning of which is to strive, exert oneself, or take extraordinary pains. Jihad is a verbal noun of the third Arabic form of the root jahada, which is defined classically as exerting one‟s utmost power, effort, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of disapprobation.584 Jihad is and always has been a powerful force in Islam. It is one of the few Arabic words know by educated people the world over. Television and print media have brought the reality of this term into the living rooms of millions of homes. To the non-Muslims, it is a word of horror associated most closely with Arab terrorists.585 Some Medias are naming these terrorists as jihadists involved in different jihadist movements. But from all key concept of Islam, jihad is certainly the most controversial. For the non-Muslims, it is about a holy war declared against them. For most of Muslims, it is a religious imperative that implies to win the non-Muslims in Islam religion by a good example and persuasion, while for a minority of extremists, it is a religious imperative overlooked in virtue of which Islam must be imposed to the non- Muslims, or even to the Muslims that would not share their views, if need be by strength.586 582 David Ohana, Ibid. 583 Anank Nayak, p.243. 584 Reuven Firestone, Jihad , the origin of holy war in Islam, Oxford University Press, NewYork, 1999, p.16. 125 The ambivalence of the word jihad, makes some Muslims to be proud or shamed about the concept. - Pride comes because of the close association jihad has with the will of Allah.587 Jihad is launched against those who are the enemies of truth and all that is right and ultimate. This can be seen in different terrorist killings where direct actors cry Allah Akbar! - Shame comes because of the hermeneutical difficulties. When Iran and Iraq squared off against each other and both declared jihad, who really was on the side of Allah? Palestinian jihadists may have a legitimate cause, but can it possibly include the indiscriminate killing of women and children who happen to be in an inopportune place when an operation is executed? 588 During the Qur‟anic revelation in Mecca between 610-622, the word Jihad had an essentially moral and spiritual significance. It was then about holding a good face to the plots of pagans, to preserve the newborn Muslim faith and not to yield to the despair.589 Very often the Arab word jihad is translated by holy war. And the objective of this war is to spread Islam and its territory or to defend it against the Byzantine and later, against the crusaders.590 And those who die during the jihad are martyrs promoted to paradise.591 According to a Hadith, the Prophet Muhammad, “after one battle, he said: we have returned from the lesser jihad (al-jihad al-asghar) to the greater jihad (al-jihad al-akbar).”592 And when people asked him, what is the greater jihad? he replied that it is the struggle against oneself. 593 587 Phil Parshall, Ibid, p.98. 588 Ibid, p.98. 589 Ibid. 590 I. Thoraval, Ibid, p. 125. 591 Ibid, p.125. 592 Douglas E. Streusand, What does Jihad mean, quoted Ali ibn Uthman al-Mahjub, the Oldest Persian treatise on Sufism by al-Hujwiri, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, London :Luzac, 1911, pp. 200- 201., 126 Although this Hadith does not appear in any of the authoritative collections, it has had enormous influence in Islamic mysticism called: „Sufism.‟594Sufis understand the greater jihad as an inner war, primarily a struggle against the base instincts of the body but also resistance to the temptation of polytheism.595 The word jihad comes from the same root as idjtihad that means the effort of personal interpretation.596 During centuries, jihad was misunderstood until that minor jihad seems to excel on the major sense. 3.5.1. Minor or lesser jihad (al-jihad al-asghar) The minor jihad is acquired during history, it has a political nature and it is characterized by an imprecision because it not only fights the non-Muslims but also the Muslims in many cases. 597 "It is a struggle against the infidels named by the Qur'an and against all those that contravene the law, that means, Muslims judged rebels,"598 or the infidels. This shape of jihad was used after the Hegira, that is after 622, a date that Muhammad was hunted from Mecca. He was in fact protected by his uncle and had to leave Mecca after the death of his protector, he settled in Medina. During the Mecca period (610-622), it is the major jihad which was professed. In Hadith, the Sahih al Bukhari collections, jihad means armed actions, for example the 199 references to jihad; all assume that Jihad means warfare.599 594 Sufism is a mysticism Muslim movement whose followers seek to find divine truth and love through direct encounters with God. It started in the 8th -9th centuries C.E. as an ascetic movement. It involves an enlightened inner being, not intellectual proof. It opposed by Wahhabi and Salafist Muslims. See 596 Ibid, p.101. 597 Cf. M.S. al-Ashmawy, Ibid., pp. 97-98. 598 E.Weber et G.Reymond, Ibid. p. 165. 599 Douglas E. Streusand, What does Jihad mean, Ibid. 127 3.5.2. Major or Greater jihad (al-jihad al-akbar) The second sense of jihad “is a struggle against the interior passions and notably against the instigator of the pain who is Satan. However this struggle is a lot more important than the first because it is of religious order.”600 This definition is sustained by a large of spiritual authors, Sunnites 601 and Chi‟ites. 602 It would be perfectly anachronistic to continue to think of the jihad in terms of violence whereas Muslim tradition developed a whole teaching insistent in the same way on struggle against bad passions. The believer must lead a bigger fight again than the minor Jihad, against his own inclinations to the evil, which is the major jihad. The modern circumstances and the cultural universe incline the believer to develop the major jihad. In it, the believer is located at the very heart of the message and the Qur'anic revelation.603 Weber and Reymond assert that if Islam grants so much importance to the concept of jihad, it is that on the one hand the prophet Muhammad practiced it and on the other hand, jihad takes root strongly in the Qur‟anic revelation itself.”604 If Muhammad used the major jihad, it is necessary to understand that as the leader of a new group, he had to organize a newborn community and solve the multiple problems which arose on political, economic and especially on religious level. That is why, the prophet is henceforth not only a chief of this newborn community, but he is also the political chief of the temporal entity of which it was necessary to organize the good working.605 For it, it was necessary to reinforce the too shy members and to threaten those who risked breaking the unit of the group. 606 Today the word jihad is not only misunderstood by Christians but also by many Muslims. For example “Muslim fundamentalists has declared jihad not only on Christians and Jew but on non- fundamentalist Muslims as well.”607 600 Ibid. 601 Les sunnites constituent la majorité des musulmans, ils se conçoivent comme les représentants de l‟orthodoxie musulmane en matière de foi. (A.T. Khoury, Ibid, p. 331). Tandis que les chi‟ites viennent au deuxième rang des groupes musulmans par la taille.(A. T. Khoury, Ibid, p. 73). 602 Encyclopaedia Universalis, Ed. Encyclopaedia Universalis, Paris, A-Friedländer, 1985, p. 880. 603 A. Hampaté Ba, Colloque sur les religions, Abidjan, avril 1961, Ed. Présence Africaine, Paris, 1962, p. 161. 604 E. Weber et G. Reymond, Ibid., p. 51. 605 Ibid, p. 53. 606 Ibid, p. 54. 607 Elise Boulding, Ibid, p.20. 128 Most often, people retain the minor jihad instead of the major jihad which concerns the personal effort to fight against the conscience of oneself. It is important to realize that: The Qur‟anic revelation invite believers to make war and to kill, but, it is necessary to specify the contexts and the circumstances which motivated these verses, because isolated they can appear a shocking violence. It is the duty of commentators to restore the Qur‟anic verses in order to not divert them from their real sense.608 As it is indicated, the jihad should not have any link with the war because “it designates the immense effort that a Muslim must provide against the adversity to survive and to affirm its rules of life facing to the polytheists, in a hostile environment, he must to maintain his faith and his serenity.” 609 Through the definition, we notice that jihad has already lost its original sense since it has become a way of adjusting some accounts between country brothers.610 This is valid for the Christian fundamentalists who take biblical verses without taking into in account the temporal dimension and the circumstances in which they have been written.611 The believer whoever is Christian or Muslim “must hold in account of the historic dimension as well as the socio-politic conditions that surrounds such verse.”612 For example the Qur‟anic Surah Al Baqarah 2: 190-193 says: Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors. And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.613 Another verse which can lead to confusion if it is not well interpreted is the Surah 9: 5, which again makes reference to violence: “And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the 608 E. Weber et G. Reymond, Ibid, p. 64. 609 M.S. al-ashmawy, Ibid., p. 94. 610 E. Weber et G. Reynaud, Ibid, p. 314. 611 Ibid, p. 63. 612 Ibid, p .66. 613 129 polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush.”614 These violent Qur‟anic verses remind that the violent situation is not particular to the Islamic revelation, but it is also present in Christianity within the Bible. Two references among many are Jos. 6: 17 and in 1 Sam. 15: 3 where it is written: “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children, and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys”615 With these verses it would be for example, catastrophic to apply them “to a modern situation without varying, without analyzing the context in which they have been written, without knowing to that addresses really such or such verse, and could drive to the biggest diversion of the original qur‟anic or biblical thought.”616 The term jihad causes confusion because a non-Muslim cannot assert that jihad is not a means of violence as warfare. And a Muslim cannot dismiss jihad as warfare.617 But as we have seen, a greater jihad is the struggle against oneself. “For the prophet Muhammad the best jihad is a word of justice to a tyrannical ruler.”618 As matter of fact, he used armed jihad, defensively but also offensively. Muslim jurists explained that there are four kinds of jihad fi sabilillah, struggle in the cause of God:619 - Jihad of the heart, jihad bil qalb/nafs, is concerned with combatting the devil and in the attempt to escape his persuasion to evil. This type of Jihad was regarded as the greater jihad, al-jihad al-akbar. 614 The Quranic Arabic corpus, 618 Reuven Firestone, Ibid, p.17, quoted Dawud Sunnah Abi Dawud, Cairo, 1408/1988. 619 The Counter Jihad Report, 130 - Jihad by the tongue, jihad bil lisan, is concerned with speaking the truth and spreading the word of Islam with one's tongue. - Jihad by the hand, jihad bil yad, refers to choosing to do what is right and to combat injustice and what is wrong with action. - Jihad by the sword, jihad bis saif, refers to qital fi sabilillah, armed fighting in the way of God, or holy war, the most common usage by „Salafi Muslims‟620 and offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood.621 620 The Salafi movement or Wahhabi movement is a movement or sect within Islam that takes its name from the term salaf, predecessors, ancestors. Their beliefs are pure Islam as practiced by the first three generation of Muslims. They are also called Al-Salaf Al-Salih “the righteous processors” Salafists are literalist, strict, and majority of come from Saudi Arabia, UEA, Qatar… See Magnus Ranstorp, Understanding Violent Radicalization, Routldge, NY, 2010, p.193. 621 The Counter Jihad Report, 131 3.6. Jihad and Colonialism “In colonial time, jihad was used to fight against the British. Except in India where Sayyid Ahmad Khan said that: jihad can only be allowed in a case of a clear and direct oppression, or of hindrances to the practice of the faith. As long as the British guarantee religious freedom and do not prevent the practice of Islam, the Indian Muslims are not obliged to be against them.622 According to Michael Bonner, the new radical Muslims produced a set of works where they follow the trace of IbnTaymiyya(1263-1328) and Sayyid Qutb(1906-1966), but go farther in preaching violent terrorism, and in putting it into practice. Their moment of glory arrives in October 1981, when Khalid al-Islambuli shot dead the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat while crying out “I have killed Pharaoh”, Pharaoh embodies the tyrant's archetype in the Qur'an and in Islam.623 In Present-days, some scholars as Dr Franz Kogelman of the University of Bayreuth in Germany think that Islamism and Jihad has its roots in the confrontation between Muslims and European colonial powers and the long term stationing of Western military forces in some Muslim countries. In reaction to this overwhelmingly strong Western influence, left many Muslims feel powerless, that why Islamic leaders founded the Salafist movement in the late 19th century. This movement inspires Jihadists even today.624 It is true that jihad played a great role in many countries during “the struggles for liberation from colonialism in Africa, and Asia.”625 Islamic forces, thinkers, and political leaders articulated anti- colonialism ideology in the language of the jihad, relating to struggles for liberation. Jihad constitutes a powerful paradigm that continues today to be relevant to Muslim struggles against 622 Michael Bonner, Le Jihad, Ed. Téraèdre, Paris (S.D), p. 194. 623 Ibid, p.199. 624 Franz Kogelmann, From anticolonialism to Global Jihad, 132 Western world.626 I support the idea of Clinton Bennett, Professor at Birmingham University, who says that: Jihad was used from the beginning of Islam in its defensive struggles. It was to defend “Islam from external incursions such as the crusades or colonialism. Especially as a response to western Colonialism, Jihad was rediscovered and utilized as anti-colonialism.”627 The new version of jihad became international; it seems to have deviated from its usual context, and its objectives. His promoters affirm to have big political projects imply the restoration of the universal Califate. Today is the main ideological of jihadist movements.628 3.7. Jihadist movements in East Africa Jihadism is an old word in Africa, part of the African tradition used by different leaders from the 15th century. For instance Askya Muhammad led the Songhai Empire according to sharia. Ousmane Dan Fodio (1754-1817), the founder of Sokoto empire in North Nigeria. Cheikhu Amadou (1776-1845) the founder of Mali Empire. El Hadj Oumar Tall (1776-1845) leader of the kingdom of Ségou. All these African leaders relied on the sacred texts of Islam to wage the holy war with the aim not only for imposing the Islamic faith but also for bringing back Muslims on the right way.629 Today new jihadism is spreading across all Africa with bomb attacks, killings, and kidnappings. In East Africa where Rwanda is located, Islamists “in Kenya and Tanzania are fighting for more autonomy, taking their cue from neighbouring Somalia, the place where jihadism first entered modern Africa‟s body politic.”630 The East Africa region and Horn of Africa are attractive targets for Al Qaida 626 Ibid. 627 Clinton Bennett, The concept of violence, war, and Jihad in Islam, 133 - Firstly because they are allied with substantial Muslim populations, economic disadvantage, poverty and corruption; Kenya and Tanzania have “the potential to be fertile recruiting grounds.”631 - Secondly “States in the region are generally weak if not outright fragile; policemen and border guards lack weapons and surveillance equipment.”632 James Forest, Professor at the University of Massachusetts states that; “turning further to the East of Africa, we know that Osama bin Laden and his colleagues lived in Sudan during the early 1990s.”633 Then after, he sent operatives to Nairobi, Kenya and established an NGO as a cover for them. It was easy for him because for centuries the Swahili Coast has had a significant Muslim presence, even though rarely demonstrating any radical tendencies.634 3.7.1. Al Qaida Al- Qaida is “a radical Sunni Muslim organization dedicated to the elimination of a Western presence in Arab countries and militantly opposed to Western foreign policy: founded by Osama bin Laden in 1988.”635 According to Hans Krech; from 2009, activity by Al-Qaida‟s influence in Africa was noted in more than 19 African nations and different regions. At least four regional Al-Qaida organizations operate on the continent, which in turn often have several sub- organizations quoted like:636 Egyptian Islamic Jihad Libyan Islamic Fighting Group Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (with its sub-organizations Al-Qaida in Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, and Sudan. Al-Shabab in Somalia.637 631 William Rosenau, Al Qaida Recruitment Trends in Kenya and Tanzania, < http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20050101.html >, 18th August 2016. 632 Jihad in Africa, The danger in the desert, Ibid. 633 James J.F. Forest, Al-Qaida’s influence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Myths, realities, and possibilities 134 Currently, there are more than 20.000 people already fighting for Al-Qaida in Africa, and they are becoming increasingly connected. 638 Africa is becoming more and more an attracting region for Al-Qaeda and other jihadist movements because of different interactions with Arab countries. Al-Qaeda has been active in the Sudan for a period of time, where it was involved in military operations against the infidel John Garang.639 Another factor, which helps al-Qaida and global jihad in infiltrating Africa, is the Islamic influence of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States. On the twentieth century and even throughout the nineteenth century, some of those Muslims who went to Saudi Arabia and Egypt were influenced by the radical Islamists, whether Wahhabism or the Muslim brotherhood. When they returned to their places of origin they preached the radical Islamists agenda.640 On 7th August 1998, the United States‟ embassy in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed. And “after September 2001, Al Qaida and its supporters carried out a number of attacks such as in Mombasa, Kenya; Jerba, Tunisia; Casablanca, Morocco; and in Sharm al-Sheikh and Sinai.”641 The date of the bombings marked the eighth anniversary of the arrival of American forces in Saudi Arabia. Suicide bombers in trucks laden with explosives parked outside the embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. The US State Department released in 2013 a country report on terrorism and highlighted significant levels of terrorist activity Africa experienced in 2013 and emphasized the increased aggressiveness of Al-Qaida affiliates and like-minded groups in Northwest Africa and Somalia.642 638 Ibid. 639 Shaul Shay, Somalia between Jihad and Restoration, Transaction Publishers New Brunswick, USA,2012, p.29 640 Reuven Paz and Moshe Terdman, Africa:the gold mine of Al-Qaeda and global jihad, 135 3.7.2. Al- Shabab Al-Shabab meaning „the youth‟ in Arabic, “is the largest group among several armed Somali groups and clans that aim to topple Somalia‟s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and impose Islamic law.”643 It has been publicly affiliated with Al Qaeda since 2012 according to US State department. Security analysts say that Al-Shabab has morphed from a regional militant group to a terrorist organization closely aligned with al-Qaida.644 This is confirmed by Rob Wise of the US Center for Strategic and International Studies who states that Al-Shabab seeks to propagate terrorist attacks against western targets and to revenge for the presence of Kenyan, Ugandan, and Burundian troops in Somalia.645 The starting point of war and antagonism in Somalia was the collapse of Major General Mohammed Siad Barre's regime in 1991. It created a power struggle between local Somali warlords and Islamic militia leaders. Since the collapse, the rule of law had mainly been maintained by various Islamic courts, instituting „Sharia‟ (Islamic law), much like in Afghanistan prior to the fall of the Taliban in 2001. They banned anything associated with Western culture (i.e. music, movies), and even disallowed people from watching the World Cup. Violators had known to be publicly executed.646 Actually the organization did begin as a youth group allied to the Islamic Courts Union Government in 2006 that pledged to bring a fundamentalist Islamic state back to Somalia. Al- Shabab thought that, this would not be hard for any Islamist group to do because 98.6 % of all Somalis are Muslims and most of them Sunni Muslims.647 Al-Shabab has been linked to the 643 Aljazeraa, Who are al-Shabab, 136 training of Nigeria‟s Islamist Terrorist group “Boko Haram.”648 This means that Boko Haram is not detached from other jihadist groups in Africa. General Carter Ham, Commander of the US Africa command (AFRICOM) alleged that Al- Shabab and Al-Qaida share trainings and fighters with Boko Haram. Daniel Agbiboa, a researcher from Oxford University, states that these jihadist movements have same ideology embedded in radical salafism which says that “anyone who is not governed by what Allah has revealed is among transgressor.”649 This is a reference to some verses in the Qur‟an as 5:47. People in Africa, including both Christians and Muslims are terrified by the jihadists groups and are combating them. Hans Kresh calls for economic, political and developmental policies that are capable of stabilizing nations situated in East and Horn of Africa. But so far, such a strategy does not exist. 650 The forces of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) need to be further reinforced for assuring the security and for protecting political institutions. The majority of the AMISOM troops and personnel come from Kenya, Burundi and Uganda.651 648 Boko Haram is an islamist group in the North of Nigeria. It wants to impose Islamic law as the only law in Nigeria, it opposes not only western education, but western culture and modern science.(See Challenge of Boko Haram, 137 3.8. Jihadist movement in Rwanda Until 2013, Rwanda was a quiet country without any fear or issue of jihadist movement but the head of Police Investigation, Assistant Commissioner Theos Badege, revealed as recently as in 2016, that in 2013, eighteen people were arrested in Rubavu, Ngoreroro, and Kigali because of their links with terrorist actions. Some of them indicated that they did not want to be part of a state which is not led by sharia law. Particularly, one of them wanted to burn a Pentecostal Church in Gatsibo. According to him, these Pentecostal Christians must to be converted to Islam or to be burnt if they so refuse.652 Also on the 23rd of February 2016, Rwandan Police shot Muhammad Mugemangango when he was attempting to escape from being arrested. He was an Imam and vice deputy of Kimironko Mosque and was working with ISIS in recruiting members in Rwanda.653 For the first time, the president of Rwanda on the 25th of March 2016 expressed publically that a Rwandan Muslim soldier killed 5 fellow soldiers and injured 8 soldiers on August 2015 in Central African Republic because he was taught jihadist teachings. They found in his room, a series of papers mentioning Islamic laws, regulations to follow, and Muslim names of instructors from different countries.654 In an interview to the magazine Jeune Afrique, he admitted that “a small number of young Rwandan Muslims recruited in Belgium and Sudan are fighting on the side of the Islamic State.”655 Today Islam in Rwanda is also divided according to the different theological schools of their Imams. Those who were educated in Saudia Arabia rival with those coming from Egypt. 652 www.imirasire, 138 3.9. Islam and violence Father Stamer Josef656 presents Islam in his book as a success religion of violence, a religion of victory by weapons.657 Violence is not only in Islam but it is visible in all monotheist religions. Andrew Murphy states also that monotheist religions are “inherently violent.”658 He continues in explaining that “monotheism advocates only one legitimate deity, and the worship of anything else designates outsiders. The creation of a group of outsiders then becomes the prime ingredient for violence”659 Mesopotamian religion was enormously violent, killing for Christ in medieval period become a heroic act of piety.660 “To be sure, few new or old religions groups create violent goals. However, tension and conflict are inherent in all religious groups and are central to their identity formation and group mobilization.”661All religions have a potential for violence.662 It is true that “Islam was born in an area impregnated with violence. We can notice how much the prophet of Islam himself resorted to the violence, to institute, and to achieve the submissiveness of Islam to God's will on Arabia Peninsula. Raids, fights and wars led against infidels and polytheists established a kind of modus vivendi for his followers…. The first decade of the Hegira was bloody.”663 Professor Anand Nayak notes that, the prophet's example was followed ardently by the first caliphs through cruel wars, they spread their power quickly. From a small city lost in the desert, 656 Joseph Stamer is a White Father from Germany, he chose to be missionary in Africa after his studies in theology and Arabic. Since1962 he lives in Mali where he manages the Institute de Formation of Islamo-Chretienne(IFIC). See < http://www.afribone.com/spip.php?article14429> , 1st November 2012. 657 Stamer Josef, l’Islam en Afrique au Sud du Sahara, Editorial verbo divino, Navarra, Spain, 1995, p.9. 658 Andrew R. Murphy, Ibid, p.140. 659 Ibid 660 James K. Wellman, Is religion violence inevitable? In Journal for the scientific study of religion, September 2004, Vol. 43 Issue3, pp.291-296, p.292. 661 Ibid. 662 Hans G. Kippenberg, Searching for the link between religion and violence by means of Thomas-theorem, in the Study of religion, 2010, vol.22 issue2/3, pp.97-115, p. 99. 663 Anank Nayak, Ibid, p.231. 139 Islam developed itself universally in a big empire known.664 He continues in asserting that, some modern Muslims tried to find the roots of peace in the word “Islam”. But this attempt proved difficult to be admitted because of the war spirit of the caliphs who followed Muhammad and their goodwill to submit the world to God's will.665 From the beginning of Islam, “the fundamental purpose of jihad is to expand the dar al-Islam, the abode of Islam into the dar al- Harb, the abode of War. In other words, jihad is expansionistic, seeking to conquer non-Muslims and place them under Muslim rule.”666 Professor Thomas Madden affirms the expansion of Islam, therefore, was directly linked to the military successes of jihad. 667 The Qur‟an helped to justify violence and to inspire the expansion of Islam through jihad. The Islamic understanding of jihad “is to eliminate the rule of an un-Islamic system and establish in its stead an Islamic system of State rule. This means that the aim of Islam is to bring about a universal revolution.”668 This awareness of domination in all religions cannot be removed in the mind of Muslims because the Surah 9:33 says: He it is Who hath sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse.669 664 Ibid. 665 Ibid, p.236. 666 Interview of Prof Thomas Madden, < http://www.churchinhistory.org/pages/leaflets/the-crusades.htm >, 17th August 2016 667 Church history, 669 The glorious Qur‟an with the English translation by Marmaduke Pickthall, Ed. Cagri Yayinlari, Istanbul 2005. 140 3.9.1. Some Qur’anic references justifying violence In Qur‟an and in Hadith there is a lot of references mentioning violence. But they need to be well interpreted in the context they were written before any implementation. This is very big work which must be done by Muslim and Christian leaders in educating their believers. Surah 9:5 says: When the sacred months are past, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, and seize them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them in every place of ambush; but if they repent, pray regularly, and give the alms tax, then let them go their way, for God is forgiving, merciful.670 Surah 3:56; 3:151 asserts: “Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority.” This speaks directly of polytheists, yet it also includes Christians, since they believe in the Trinity, and Jews who refused to recognize Muhammad as prophet (ie. what Muhammad incorrectly believed to be 'joining companions to Allah')671 Surah 4:74 affirms: “Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.” The martyrs of Islam are unlike the early Christians, led meekly to the slaughter. These Muslims are killed in battle, as they attempt to inflict death and destruction for the cause of Allah. Here is the theological basis for today's suicide bombers. 672 Surah 17:16 states: “And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.” Note 670 Ibid. 671 The Qur‟an verses of violence, What does religion of peace teach about violence, 672 The Qur‟an verses of violence, What does religion of peace teach about violence, 141 that the crime is moral transgression, and the punishment is "utter destruction." (Before ordering the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden first issued Americans an invitation to Islam). 673 3.9.2. Some Hadith references justifying violence674 Hadith is the next authoritative source of law and conduct after the Qur‟an; records the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. The Arabic texts Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim are generally considered by Sunni Muslims to be the most authentic collection of the Prophet‟s sayings.675 Hadith gives powerful authentication for violence utilized against infidels or those who, having once converted to Islam, renounce the faith and return to their former state. The brutality of these passages is overwhelming. It is from these early teachings and acts of the Prophet that we see contemporary Muslims feeling justified in their acts of aggression.676 Bukhari 52:177: Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.677 Bukhari 52:256: The Prophet passed by me at a place called Al-Abwa or Waddan, and was asked whether it was permissible to attack the pagan warriors at night with the probability of exposing their women and children to danger. The Prophet replied, "They (i.e. women and children) are from them (i.e. pagans)."678 In this command, Muhammad establishes that it is permissible to kill non-combatants in the process of killing a perceived enemy. This provides justification for the many Islamic terror bombings. Bukhari 52:220: Allah's Apostle said, "I have been made victorious with terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy).679 673 Ibid. 674 The Qur‟an verses of violence, What does religion of peace teach about violence, 142 Bukhari 8:387: Allah's Apostle said, I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.' And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah.680 Muslim 1:30: It is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah.681 Muslim 19:4321: It is reported on the authority of Sa'b b. Jaththama that the Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon him), when asked about the women and children of the polytheists being killed during the night raid, said: They are from them.682 Muslim 19:4294: It has been reported from Sulaiman b. Buraid through his father that when the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say: Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge.683 Muslim 20:4645 : ...He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said: There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a grade one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the other is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa'id) said: What is that act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of Allah!684 680 http://muflihun.com/bukhari/8/387 681 http://muflihun.com/muslim/1/30 682 http://muflihun.com/muslim/19/4321 683 http://muflihun.com/muslim/19/4294 684 http://muflihun.com/muslim/20/4645 143 Only those who participate in jihad deserve paradise without any checks and reservations. To illustrate this notion, Bukhari relates the story of a woman asking Muhammad if her son, who was killed in the battle of Badr, is in paradise, and he replied that her son is in a higher paradise.685 David Bukay says that the link “between martyrdom and paradise was probably the most potent factor that Muhammad brought to the annals of warfare”686, because it “offering a promise of immortality.”687 Many Surahs and Hadiths start with the word Fight, “Fighting in the fully developed Islamic system, on the other hand, become a highly ideological issue despite the added benefit of material gain in the form of spoils.”688 A man came to the Prophet Muhammad, and asked: One who fights furiously, one who fights valiantly, one who fights in order to be seen; which of these is in the path of God? He answered; one who fights so that God‟s word will be superior is in path of God. 689 Fighting was initiated by Muhammad in the willingness of protecting Medina and its community.690 As it was discussed above, Jihad “is not merely a struggle; it is a struggle for the cause of God. For the cause of God is an essential condition for Jihad in Islam.”691 That is why violent Jihad for the cause of God has become difficult to understand not only for non-Muslims, but for Muslims themselves. Today some of them are opposed to the violence committed by Jihadist movements which muddles all initiatives of peace. Because of that observation “Islam has been looked upon in the West as a mortal danger.”692 685 David Bukay, The Religious Foundations of Suicide Bombing, 690 Ibid. 691 S.Abul A‟La Maududi, Ibid, p.7. 692 Abdullah Mohammed Sindi, The Western Christian terrorism against the Arabs, 144 3.9.3. Bible quotations justifying Violence693 The Bible, like the Qur‟an includes many texts coloured by violence and cruelty. But at the same time the history of Christianity is described by the dichotomy violence and love or violence and peace. But in terms of ordering violence and bloodshed, any simplistic claim about the superiority of the Bible to the Qur‟an would be wildly wrong. In fact, the Bible overflows with texts of terror, to borrow a phrase coined by Phyllis Trible, a US professor of Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. The Bible contains far more verses praising or urging bloodshed than does the Qur'an, and biblical violence is often far more extreme, and marked by more indiscriminate savagery. The Qur‟an often urges believers to fight, yet it also commands that enemies be shown mercy when they surrender. Some frightful portions of the Bible, by contrast, go much further in ordering the total extermination of enemies, of whole families and races - of men, women, and children, and even their livestock, with no quarter granted.694 In Christianity we have seen warrior popes, justification of slavery, forced conversion, anti-Semitism ideology, and other forms of violence. But the comparison of weather Islam is more violent than Christianity or vice versa, is not necessary. The most important message which both religions have to transmit is peace. Psalm137: Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.695 Numbers 31:17: Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.696 Deuteronomy 2:32-34: When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz, the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, 693 Philip Jenkins, Dark passages, 695 http://www.biblestudytools.com/psalms/137.html 696 http://www.biblestudytools.com/numbers/31.html 145 together with his sons and his whole army. At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them men, women and children. We left no survivors.697 Deuteronomy 20:16-18 However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites as the LORD your God has commanded you.698 1 Samuel 15:3: Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys. Hosea 13:16: The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open. Judges 21:10: So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children.699 2 Rois 2:23-24: From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. Get out of here, baldy! they said. Get out of here, baldy! He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.700 As we read some of the killings were “under direct divine command.”701 According to Professor Philip Jenkins in “modern times, we would call this genocide. If the forces of Joshua and his successor judges committed their acts in the modern world, then observers would not hesitate to speak of war crimes.”702 697 http://www.biblestudytools.com/deuteronomy/2.html 698 http://www.biblestudytools.com/deuteronomy/20.html 699 http://www.biblestudytools.com/judges/21.html 700 http://www.biblestudytools.com/2-kings/2.html 701 Philip Jenkins, Dark passages, 146 3.10. Islamic conquest There is abundant documentation about Islamic conquests in the early days of its expansion. Among the most authoritative books devoted to recounting the conquests are: Ibn Ishaq's (d. 767) Sira (Life of Muhammad), the oldest biography of Muhammad; Waqidi's (d. circa. 820) Maghazi (Military Campaigns [of the Prophet]); Baladhuri's (d. 892) Futuh al-Buldan (Conquests of the Nations); and Tabari's (d.923) multi-volume Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, (History of Prophets and Kings).703 Soon after the death of Muhammad in 632, the second caliph, Omar, started the Muslim conquests. Syria was conquered around 636, Jerusalem in 637, Egypt 641, Spain in 711, Iran, and the Persian Empire in 650. Other North African countries in 689, Spain, Asia Minor, Middle East were taken at the beginning of 8th century. In other words as it is shown on the map, “by the end of the 11th century the forces of Islam had captured two-thirds of the Christian world. Palestine, the home of Jesus Christ, Egypt, the birthplace of Christian monasticism, and Asia Minor, where St. Paul planted the seeds of the first Christian communities.”704 703 Raymond Ibrahim, The historical reality of the Muslim conquest, 147 Mapspreadofislam.jpg In the Muslim countries these conquests are narrated in classrooms in order to illustrate courage, power, and glory. “Their rapidity and decisiveness are regularly portrayed as evidence that Allah was in fact on the side of the Muslims.” 705 The spread of Islam by arms is a religious duty upon Muslims in general, meaning that jihad must continue to be done until the whole world is under the rule of Islam.706 That is why, fighting in Arab countries cannot surprise anybody because according to Professor Reuven Firestone, the most that we know of the pre-Islamic period from the Arabic sources is about its battles and wars, and the records of these are found in a literature known as Ayyam al-Arab, meaning literally, „Days of Arabs‟ but more accurately translated as battle-Days of Arabs.707 For Muslims, fighting was natural; some comments even suggest that fighting was part of Arab daily life.708 Another root cause of fighting was probably “competition over limited arable land under the stress of the population growth, and the old pre-Islamic system of blood revenge that developed 705 Raymond Ibrahim, The historical reality of the Muslim conquest, 706 Ibid. 707 Reuven Firestone, Ibid, p.36. 708 Ibid. 148 within the nomadic tribal system of the Arabian steppe which caused havoc in the confined area in and around Medina.”709 It is in that violent context that; Islam was born, and the Prophet Muhammad “institutes in fact a big reform in the region where the strongest made the law, the life style was wild, barbaric and not organized.”710 For example, Muhammad offered hope to solve the terrible blood conflict which was dividing Medina. A Medina agreement was established by Muhammad a believer may not kill a believer on account of an unbeliever, and may not help an unbeliever against a believer. The security of God is one; the protection granted by the least of them is binding on all of them. The believers are in relationship with one another to the exclusion of other people.711 History has demonstrated that the attempt teachings, agreements, and regulations did not prevent tensions and internal wars among human being and particularly among Muslims. The first violent civil war of Islam was the battle of Siffin in 657 qualified as “the first Fitnah”or war among Muslims. It is widely seen as of decisive importance in dividing the Muslims into three major traditions, Sunnis, Shias, and Kharijis, which have persisted until today. Although this division may be an over- simplification of a much more complex process of community formation, the events narrated here are certainly of great importance in the early history of Islam. That civil war was the struggle between the caliph 'Ali and his rival and eventual successor as caliph, Mu'awiyah, the first caliph of the Umayyad dynasty for controlling Muslim empire. The battle ended when the Syrian supporters of Mu'awiyah described as having attached Qu'ranic texts to their lances, and the subsequent negotiations between the two rivals which resulted in the dispute's being put to arbitration.712 709 Ibid, p.115. 710 Anank Nayak, Ibid, p.233. 711 Reuven Firestone, Ibid, p.118. 712 History of Al Tabari, 149 3.11. Christian and Muslim positions on violence in Rwanda In Rwanda, we are eyewitnesses of the religious dynamics in the violent context of genocide, even if the majority of Rwandan‟s population declares itself to be Christian. About 90% of Christians while killed their fellow Christians and a very small minority protected their fellows from killings. There was an appreciable courage in some Imams who during the Rwandan genocide asked publicly to Muslims to refrain from killing and touching human blood. This shows that “religion had potentialities for reducing and suppressing violence by its teachings” 713 during the genocide in 1994. 3.11.1. Role of Christian Church in Violence Before the genocide, Rwanda was a religious country widely considered to be one of the most successful examples of Christian mission work. In 1991 about 90% of the population was Christian, but Christians killed their brothers and sisters in Christ and churches became places of mass execution.714 This violence committed in the church provoked a tension between the Roman Catholic Church (the largest and most influential) and the Rwandan government which accused Christian missionaries of being the root cause of violence and later the Church to be involved in genocide. Tension and violence started from the early days of Church missions and colonization in Rwanda. For Oscar Gasana, “the real colonizers of Rwanda were neither the Germans before 1916, nor the Belgians between 1916 and 1962 but the Roman Catholic missionaries of the order of the missionaries of Africa, the White Fathers.”715They were involved and influencial in all social, economic, and political decisions. This can be justified when German colonial authorities “addressed to Roman Catholic missions, and openly denouncing what they saw as an 713 Anank Nayak, Ibid, p. 355. 714 Henrieke Buit, GOD spends the day elsewhere, but He sleeps in Rwanda, Master thesis, Utrecht University, 2011, p.4, 715 Oscar Gasana and Vern Neufeld Redekop, Implication of Religious leaders in mimetic structures of violence, in Journal of religion and society, Supplement series 2, 2007, pp117-137., p.127. see also 150 involvement of the new church in local affairs concerning the Batutsi-Bahutu relationship.”716 The vision of the first missionaries was to convert the largest number of Rwandans starting by the ruling class. Their obstacle was the king who refused to be converted because he was the representative of the Rwandan Traditional Religion. White Fathers began to work to work to deliver Bahutu considered as victims of slavery. “Contrary to his predecessor, Bishop Perraudin‟s speech denounced what he called the injustices associated with the accumulation of wealth and power by one race (Tutsi). The Catholic Church agreed that one social class (Hutu) is struggling for its legitimate rights.”717 Deep tensions started between Tutsi and the White Fathers representing the Roman Catholic Church. The ruling class and particularly the King Yuhi V Musinga refused to be baptized. From the beginning when Bishop Charles Léon Classe arrived in Rwanda in 1907, and was aware of the anti-Tutsi feeling within the clergy, he worked over time to turn and to change the situation around. He initiated a policy on 17th April 1913 saying: Batutsi have been induced to see in us the enemy of their authority and in our followers the revolutionaries who no longer obey their orders and whom they can no longer lead. It is imperative that we take action to counter this perception which could lead to the ruin of our mission. We need to win the hearts of the chiefs. We must absolutely destroy the belief that we are the Church of the Bahutu.718 The “symbiotic relationship between colonial governments and Christian missionaries”719 continued in actions until a decision was taken to dismiss and to deport the King YuhiV Musinga to Congo and to replace him by his son MutaraIII Rudahigwa in 1931. He was baptized on 27th October 1946; he received the name of Léon Charles Pierre, he recognized Virgin Mary, the queen of earth and heaven, and Jesus as Master of Rwanda, source of authority and power.720 The King‟s conversion to Catholicism influenced many Rwandans to be converted. 716 Ibid, p.126. 717 Ibid, p.126. 718 Oscar Gasana and Vern Neufeld Redekop, Ibid, p. 124. quoted Lugan 38-39. 719 African Study Center, 151 So we see a combination of charm and political pressure towards the ruling class complemented by the use of force against the population. The geographical and quantitative growth Christian baptized did not correspond to a qualitative result. Their number was increased by 235.118 new members, rising from 58.061 members to 289.179. Then Father E. Hurel, Superior of the Save Mission commented: Our Church is on the March, and, with God‟s will, in good direction. The ruling class seems to be on our side and for us.721 King Mutara Rudahigwa started asking for total and immediate independence and the end of the Belgian colonial occupation. Unfortunately, on 25th July 1959, he died unexpectedly at Bujumbura. The majority of Rwandan believes that he was poisoned and “eliminated by the Belgians, with the complicity of the European missionaries.”722 In the same way Patrice Lumumba was assassinated in 1961 and Louis Rwagasore was murdered in 1961, both were also claiming total independence of Congo and Burundi. 721 Tharcisse Gatwa, Ibid, quoted Report of the White Fathers, 26th year. 1930-31. 722 Filip Reyntjens, Pouvoir et Droit au Rwanda. Droit public et Evolution Politique, 1916-1973, 152 3.11.2. Christian churches participation in politics Grégoire Kayibanda, the first President of Rwanda from 1962 to 1973, was a former seminarian, the private secretary of Bishop Perraudin, and senior news editor of the Roman Catholic newspaper called Kinyamateka.723 “His struggle was in the perspective of a Christian who was against animism, the feudal system and communism.”724 Then after, Grégoire Kayibanda started to “denounce the injustices of which the Bahutu were the victims, recalling their humiliation as a means to mobilize the masses through scapegoating, and stating that genuine decolonization should be preceded by the abolition of colonization of the black by the black.”725 He created in June 1957, the Muhutu Social Movement, based on the program outlined by the Bahutu Manifesto of March 1957 which he helped to write.726 In September of the same year, the White Fathers sent him to Belgium for Journalism studies.727 After his return to Rwanda, on September 26, 1959, he created the Party for the Emancipation of the Hutu People (PARMEHUTU).728 The PARMEHUTU party was an exclusively ethnic political party whose strategy generated violence and hatred; it was officially supported by the Roman Catholic Church. For Bishop Perraudin, “there was a need to repair the injustices of which the Bahutu had been victims.”729 PARMEHUTU, spreads violence against Batutsi and Muslims with the full support of the Christian Church. In 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967, and 1973, massacres were carried out under President Kayibanda‟s PARMEHUTU.730 It is estimated that 10.000 Tutsi were killed and 200.000 to 300.000 fled, including Muslims, to neighboring countries during that period. 723 Déogratias Ndayishimiye, The role of Church before, during and after Burundi and Rwanda Genocide, Jakarta 2009, p.10. 724 Context of religion and violence, 727 Ibid. quoted Linden, 1999:325. 728 Ibid. 729 Context of religion and violence, 153 Juvénal Habyarimana, the second President of Rwanda from 1973 to 1994, with his Regime, prepared the genocide. Bishop Perraudin head of Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda from 1956, promoted Bishop Thaddée Nsengiyumva to the top post as Kigali Archbishop in 1976. He became a member of the Central Committee of the ruling party, MRND (Mouvement Révolutionnaire National pour le Développement). “Besides, he came from the same Northern region as the president of the Republic and as such, had direct contacts with the highest authorities, participating in the definition of the country‟s political, economic, military, and ideological standards.”731 In the “face of massive abuses of human rights against the Batutsi minority, the Roman Catholic Church found itself delivering the same speech as the Habyalimana regime.”732Speeches and messages hide the truth of maintaining a political and social exclusion of Tutsis in the country. In the opposite, the “Church actively shaped the ethnic and political realities that made genocide possible by acting to define and politicize ethnicity, legitimizing authoritarian regimes, and encouraging public obedience to political authorities.”733 The leadership of the Church offered moral support to the Habyarimana regime734, and the Church proclaimed peace, love and justice but practiced discrimination and hatred; the Church itself became a place where Tutsis were discriminated.735 Far from being condemned by the Church, this discrimination was rather practiced at its very heart. Furthermore, all nominations or promotions to leadership posts obeyed ethnic criteria, certainly with a discretion skillfully hidden by sweet, correct words in ecclesiastical milieu.736Ethnic balance, a quota system officially limited the number of Tutsi admitted to schools was practiced in Christian schools and Church administration. By refusing to condemn the scapegoating of Tutsis early, or to denounce the violent attacks against Tutsis, Church leaders 731 Ibid, p.129. 732 Ibid. 733 Timothy Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda, Cambridge, University press, 2010, p.10. 734 Henrieke Buit, Ibid 735 Ibid. 736 Timothy Longman, Ibid, p.95. Quoted A. Karamaga, Les églises protestantes et la crise rwandaise, p.302. 154 allowed ethnic tensions to escalate uninhibitedly.737 Churches helped to give legitimacy to actions initiated by the government and military by teaching obedience to authority and allying themselves publicly with established powers.738 Up to 1994, “the Church never actively promoted reconciliation between Hutu and Tutsi. Neither did the Church reflect upon its role during colonial period. It was blind to the cultural violence that lay at the foundation of the Rwandan society.”739 About 95% of Rwandan churches were used as killing places740 because the majority of Tutsi people find refuge there. During the genocide they believed to be safe and to be protected in different churches. “According to local officials, 17.000 bodies were exhumed from one set of latrines beside a Church, only one of several mass graves at the site.”741 In general, Christianity as a system of belief and Christian churches as institutions served more as a support for the organizers of the genocide than as a hindrance742 These tensions will continue long time into the future because some Roman Catholic and Protestant churches recently become monuments of memory and “its contents are a reminder of the horrifying violence that took place at these site during Rwanda's 1994 genocide.”743 Many churches were left bloodied, desecrated and cluttered with bodies. Clergy were not able to protect the people who hided themselves in the churches. The Roman Catholic Church denied any responsibility for the genocide. In 1996, Pope John Paul stated: the Church itself cannot be held responsible for the misdeeds of its members who have acted against evangelical law.744 Many Catholic clerics, including Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro region in the south of Rwanda, have been accused of taking part somehow in the execution of the genocide. Accused in April 1999 by his henchmen of exposing his own 737 Ibid, p.171. 738 Ibid, p.197. 739 Henrieke Buit, Ibid, p.42, 740 Alexandre Kimenyi, Trivialization of Genocide, the case of Rwanda, 155 priests and Tutsi students to the massacres in the province, Bishop Misago spent 26 months in preventive detention before being acquitted in late 2000 by a Kigali tribunal. Bishop Misago was the highest-ranking Catholic to be charged by Rwandan Justice.745 The role of religion in violent conflict can be visible at the surface, but can also be hidden.746In the case of Rwanda, some bishops, priests, nuns, and pastors did not hide their hate and violence against Tutsis. They participated in the killings or actively encouraged the killers because they felt protected by their leaders.747 In an interview published by De volstrant, on 26th June 1994, in the middle of the Genocide, Bishop Phocas Nikwigize, of the Ruhengeri Diocese declared that: “as in all wars, there were spies… Batutsi were collaborators, the friends of the enemy. They were in contact with rebels. They had to be eliminated so that they do not betray us.”748 Tutsi Seven Adventist pastors gathered at Mugonero and sent a letter to Ntakirutimana Elizaphan,749 president of the Seventh Day-Adventist Church of Kibuye, informing him that they were in risk to be killed, but he reportedly responded: “you must be eliminated. God no longer wants you.”750This report shows the level of hatred which pushed a Church leader to change and to transform the God‟s love of Christianity. Also, Father Rutembesa compares Bishop Nikwigize‟s comment to racism when he said that Batutsi are cunning, hypocritical and bad people by nature. The lack of courageous stands against evil was partly responsible for the 1994 Genocide.751 Tutsi refugees reported that in 745 Parnell McCarter J., In Rwanda Rome’s shame is Islam gain, Puritan News Weekly, 748 Oscar Gasana and Vern Neufeld Redekop, Ibid, p. 129. 749 Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son were found guilty of Genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal of Arusha. 750 Timothy Longman, Ibid, p.194. 751 Context of religion and violence, 156 several locations Hutu priests had barred the doors of their churches to death squads, claiming that they could not be killed in a church.752 3.11.3 Inertia of the Church to prevent violence Churches were accused for “inertia to prevent the genocide.”753They failed to denounce the government‟s explicit ethnic foundation, failed to denounce its increasing use of violence against Tutsi, failed to denounce or even to name genocide, and failed to apologize for their many clergy who participated in killings.754 Christians who slay other Christians before the altar, bishops who remain silent in the fact of genocide and fail to protect their own clergy, priests who participate in the murder of their parishioners and nuns who hand people over to be killed cannot leave the Church indifferent.755National church leaders were slow to speak publicly, and they never condemned the genocide.756 Bishops were closely tied to the Hutu dominated government. 757 It is a moral failure; Church leader remained silent while the Churches became places of mass murder.758 The inertia became visible to everyone who was living in Rwanda; By failing to denounce the gradual exclusion of the Tutsi from Rwandan society, by adding credence to the government, by leaving in hiding the public impression of their own antagonistic attitudes toward Tutsi, and by failing to identify the churches clearly as opponents to violence and sanctuaries for those in danger, Church leaders helped to create a context in which genocide against the Tutsi became morally acceptable.759 752 Timothy Longman, Ibid, p.16. 753 Déogratias Ndayishimiye, The role of Church before, during and after Burundi and Rwanda Genocide, Jakarta 2009, p.10. 754 Gerard Caplan, Rwanda Ten years after the Genocide, Pambazuka News 150, 1 April 2004, 756 Timothy Longman, Ibid, 2010, p.6. 757 Henrieke Buit, Ibid, p.11. 758 Ibid, p.12, 759 Timothy Longman, Ibid, p.172. 157 The attitude of exclusion of one part of the Rwandan society also deeply touched Rwandan Muslims and their religion. The Christian church and the political administrative didn‟t want their religious influence among the Rwandan society. This confirms the idea of Professor Jean Claude Basset saying that, “in interreligious context, the elementary attitude consists to ignore the existence of other religious representations.”760 3.12. Strategies of fighting against Islam In the German time of colonization, the colonial administration took strict measures to stop the Islamic growth and their propaganda. - The “walimu” (Muslim preachers) were not allowed to practice their profession. - Heavy taxes were perceived on Muslim livestock - Building lay schools and teaching the latin language was used to stop Arabic teachings. With departure of the Germans after WWI, Islam faced the Belgium hostility especially in Congo where Arabs and Belgians were in permanent violent conflict for long time.761 In 1923, a Belgian journalist of “le Soir”wrote: “Au Congo, à partir de Stanleyville déjà, on commence à rencontrer des Nègres qui obéissent à l’Islam, ceux qu’on nomme communément des arabisés. Il faut cependant reconnaître que, d’une façon générale, ils sont dans notre colonie, peu nombreux et peu influents. Leurs visées sont néanmoins ambitieuses. Ils se livrent à une propagande effrénée. Et le Noir se laisse facilement attirer par la religion mahométane qui, par essence, lui prêche ces deux choses si appréciables : la guerre sainte contre le blanc et la polygamie. C’est vers les territoires du Ruanda et de l’Urundi et le long de nos frontières de l’est que le mouvement islamique semble, après avoir été écrasé, vouloir renaitre dans notre colonie. Par-là, si l’on n’y prend garde, il constituera un danger. L’histoire du passé- d’un passé si proche !- nous en est garante. Le mal, ma foi ! ne serait pas si grand, si les Arabisés ne se mettaient du même coup à la remorque des Arabes, ces « « éternels ennemis de notre civilisation. C’est le plus grand danger dont nous menace l’arabomanie de certains fonctionnaires. L’arabisation des Noirs leur inculque 760 Jean Claude Basset, Ibid, p.36. 761 José H. Kagabo, Ibid, p. 35,36. 158 bien vite le mépris du Blanc, et les mahométans s’entendent à merveille à flatter ce sentiment. La lutte entre la Croix et le Croissant, pour employer une vieille image, ayant autrefois ravagé l’Europe, s’est donc déplacée, sous d’autres formes, vers le sud. Les Anglais commencent à s’en apercevoir. L’Islam s’est lancé sur les Nègres, à qui il avait cependant apporté l’esclavagisme, et, renversant les rôles, il leur parle aujourd’hui d’émancipation. Le Congo est encore presque sauf, grâce au génie de Léopold II. Mais veillons à ce que cette peste ne déborde pas nos frontières”762 To show the fear and the hatred of Islam a confidential Bishop letter was written to all priests for alerting that the Rwandese National Union party which has Muslims as members, is calling for immediate independence. The letter underlined the relation of two elements, namely: Islam and communism. The Church campaigned for the marginalization of Islam and the Rwandese National Union, a political party supported by Muslims and by the last Tutsi King Kigeri V Ndahindurwa from 1959 to 1961.763 With regard to the issues of Islam and communism, Father Faustin Rutembesa, argues that the bishops accused this party of wanting to reduce the influence of missionaries on the country‟s school due to its communist and Islamic ideas. Naturally, such declarations were enough to mobilize against this party, given the fragile culture of critical reflection and the absence of political awareness and mass education.764 In 1959 that message signed by Bishop Perraudin was read in all Roman Catholic Churches of Rwanda calling for fighting against Islam and Communism.765 3.12.1. The Roman Catholic Church against Muslims 762 Ibid, p.37., quoted Daye, 1923, p.409 . See also 159 Here it is important to remember that one of the first missions of the White Fathers in the Great Lakes region was to stop slavery and to fight against Islam. Written messages sent by the first missionaries, especially by “White Father Bishop Jean Joseph Hirth”766 to the German government said that “Rwanda was being devastated by the slave trade, the total number of victims reaching 20.000-25.000 slaves per year, with the Europeans support. He concluded the letter in accusing the local German administration of complicity, saying that Germans were allowing this under the cover of domestic slavery (Haussklaverei), in this way aiding Islam‟s corrupting influence.”767 This was a propaganda used by White Fathers with all their networks for putting pressure on the German government to intervene in stopping Arab Muslims in the region. To request the German intervention, Bishop Hirth justified his motivation in claiming that there is a depopulation of Rwanda and particularly the region of Gisaka in 1900, due to the slave trade.768 White Fathers were intolerant toward other religions, but the animosity vis-à-vis to Islam was very huge.769 Islam was assimilated to slavery. According to Cardinal Lavigerie, the Islamic religion is a master piece of evil.770 In his speech on 15th August 1888 in Sainte-Gudule Cathedral (Brussels), he asked the Christians of Belgium to shed blood if possible in delivering central Africa from Arabs.771 In their different schools, White Fathers taught that: Les Européens sont venus délivrer les noirs de l’esclavage apporté par les arabes. Dans tous les pays où ils se sont installés, ils n’y ont apporté rien de bon. Ils poussaient les populations chrétiennes dans le paganisme musulman. L’islam ne devait pas être seulement combattu au Rwanda. L’Afrique entière devait être débarrassée de ce fléau. Les Pères blancs disaient que l’Afrique doit être 766 Let's not forget that missionaries who arrive in Rwanda and especially white fathers like BishopJ.J. Hirth has just lived freshly the religious war in Uganda, fought against the slavery which was still going on at the time and practiced by the Arabs. For them, Arabs are related to Islam. They assimilated Islam to the slavery ". They had to fight against Islam and to pursue the wish of the cardinal Charles Lavigerie to create GOD'S kingdom in the Great lakes Region of Africa. The missionaries has also an inheritance of the conflicts of the Middle Ages in Europe, and one of their evangelism motives was in fact to fight against Islam. 767 Henrit Medard, Ibid, quoted a passage underlined in red in the letter from the kolonialabteilung received by the governor at Dar-es-Salaam, 27 August., p.214. 768 José H.Kagabo, Ibid, p.214. 769 Ibid, p.21. 770 Ibid. 771 Ibid, p.22. 160 chrétienne pour s’élever au rang de continent civilisé. Mais la présence des arabes était un obstacle à cette noble ambition, un grand danger pour l’avenir de l’Afrique si on n’y prenait pas garde.772 In addition to that teaching, every day in their morning and evening prayer they repeated: Dieu, Seigneur miséricordieux, envoie suffisamment de prêtres pour conjurer les forces du mal. Soustraits les âmes des Païens et des pécheurs à l’obscurité dans laquelle elles sont maintenues. Délivre ces populations de l’emprise de Satan. Toi à qui rien ne résiste, préserve-nous du fléau mahométan. Fais que l’ombre de Mahomet ne franchisse pas les frontières de notre pays. Amen!773 In conversing with one Muslim of 94 years old in Nyanza Southern District, said that “a priest or a father is equivalent to Juda, he is for us an evil. He destabilized us from the beginning.”774 772 Ibid,p.45. 773 Ibid. 774 Interview with Matabaro Juma at Nyanza on 30th December 2012. 161 3.12.2. Protestant missionaries against Islam The first protestant missionary, E. Johanssen, from the mission of Bethel in Germany, wrote that Muslims impede the conversion of indigenous to Christianity in saying that if you become Christian, you become a German.775He added that : “l’Islam rend plus aigu le contraste entre la race de couleur et la race blanche, il apporte à des peuples peu cultivés un renouvellement, mais il leur donne un vernis externe de civilisation; et l’ardeur du fanatisme qu’il sait insuffler n’est pas une réconfortante lumière céleste, mais un feu dévorant.”776 According to him, Islam was gaining the field in Rwanda because it has no moral restrictive as it is in Christianity. He denounced the practice of polygamy in Islam in asserting that Islam was reducing the moral level of the Rwandan culture in stopping Christian ethics. The Bethel mission decided to fight against the evil by introducing in Rwanda; Christian trade in its different missions. The shopping houses at missions were opened to prevent Christians from being attracted by Muslim stores. This was to break any contact with Islam. The mission of Bethel started also to train trade missionaries. The first trade missionary to be sent was Rudolf Rhode in 1912. Two trade centers were opened at Cyangugu lead by Fritz Achtmann. The second important trade center was opened at Kigali lead by R. Kabesi, a Christian from Tanganyika. The third center in Zinga was leaded by O. Mörchen. A big project of managing a ship called “Bodelschwing” in assuring commercial network in the region failed because of the First World War 1914-1918.777 775 Léonard Rwanyindo, PhD thesis, quoted Johanssen, E., p.36. 776 Ibid, p.36. 777 Ibid, pp36-37. 162 3.12.3 Marginalization of Muslims Throughout the beginning of the twentieth century, Catholics and Protestants were greatly concerned about Muslims because in the mind of missionaries, Islam constituted a danger, its expansion would intensify the opposition between blacks and whites; it would degrade women in their social status, it would not contribute to the formation of the local people nor to the morality of the people. Their priority was to convert followers of Traditional religion to Christianity and to combat Islam. The genesis of the confrontation between missionaries and local Muslims is deeply rooted in the memory of the Muslim population as Hadj Munyentwali Sudi notes: In 1913, a member of the White Fathers named Lecoindre founder of St Famille and Kabgayi Roman Catholic Church, gained entry into newly constructed Mosques in Kigali without removing his shoes. This gesture of disrespect created a climate of revolt among the Muslim believers who started chanting “jihad.” Local administrative representatives, especially the German authorities, forced the White Fathers to ask for forgiveness to the Muslim community.778 In 1938, Muslims were evicted from down-town Kigali to the city of Nyamirambo where they were supposed to be all concentrated. The objective was to prevent them from moving freely so that they would not be able to spread their culture and their religion. To be relocated from that city you needed to prove the permission.779 According to the Christian missionaries, Islam was considered as a spirit of the devil, which was the reason why they qualified it as a religion of Satan.780 There are not sufficient reliable sources on these processes, but one can presume that there was no direct religious exchange between Christian and Muslim representatives and adherents at that time, and that the dual rejection of Muslims by both Christians and the local authorities 778Amateka n’umuco, 779 Presentation given by Cheikh Byagusetsa, Imam régional de Kigali au sixième séminaire Islamo-chrétien du 05 au 08 août 02 à Kigali. 780 J.-H. Kagabo, Ibid, p.21. 163 contributed to an indirect discourse which favored their marginalization and their perception as being foreigners.781 In the education area, Muslims who wanted to send their children to public schools were obliged to change their names before being registered, because the majority of schools were Christian schools. For example, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of Rwanda, André Bumaya who served from 2000 to 2006, after being baptized, took the Christian name, André, for continuing his studies, avoiding being called Habib Bumaya for the aforementioned reasons. Sudi Munyentwali one of the former responsible of Rwandan Association of Muslim said that he will never forget that he was forced to be baptized for entering in Christian school.782 3.12.4. Violence against Muslims Some Muslims chose to abandon Christian schools and get involved in trade rather than to be converted to Christianity. In 1960, while the political and ethnic tensions intensified in the country, a former minister of defense, former Director of Public works, former deputy and former person responsible of the townships of Kibungo named Sebazungu Isidore, himself original of Rwamagana District, ordered the burnings of the mosque in Rwamagana. In the archives of the Roman Catholic parish of Rwamagana, I.Sebazungu was a fervent Christian. In 1962, he celebrated the baptism of his sixth child, after the mass.783 The destruction was done by the people who sang “yemwe baswahili mutuye mu mabereshe784, muzi amahane muhora mutugirira, ni mutayareka mudacomwa na essence.”785This means: You, swahiliphones who live in the outskirts, you know how much you always cause us problems. If you don't quit these quarrels, you will be burnt to gas. This also happened in Gitarama, precisely 781 Ibid,15. 782 Interview with Sudi Munyentwali on 01st October 2010. 783 6ème diaire du 6 janvier 1957 au 8 octobre 1979, p. 25. 784 I. Jacob explain in the Dictionnaire Rwandais-Français, tome I, Ed. Imprimerie Scolaire, Kigali, 1985, p.101, ibereshi come from ama-de belge qui veut dire faubourg, small city beside a town or a house without fence. 785 That small song is known by all old people in Rwamagana. 164 in "Nyabisindu"786and in Gacurabwenge where Muslim cities were destroyed in 1959. The attack was led by a member of PARMEHUTU called Rugaju. In the city of Nyamirambo in Kigali, the truck which contained many jericans of petrol and matchsticks for burning the Mosque banged into a branch. That evening all Muslims used thousand prayers, each prayer fitted with one small stone. This deep hatred against Muslims happened not only because of their religion but because the majority of Muslims supported the King of Rwanda and also some Muslim leaders were members of UNAR, the King‟s party; like Ramazani Abdallah, Shani Juma, Issa Juma, Juma Assumani…787 Terrified, Muslims took refuge everywhere in neighboring countries of Rwanda. It is necessary to say that these tragic events had a political connotation but one can also wonder if there would not have been a direct or indirect hidden hand of the church in it because we notice a strong influence of the Church in the political situations which marked the contemporary history of Rwanda. 3.12.5 Denigration of Muslims In Rwanda there is some false thinking and there are also propagandas that denigrate Islam and Muslims: Muslims were the first to be circumcised in Rwanda. That small surgery of circumcision is called in Kinyarwanda “gusiramura” it can translated as “to become Muslim.” That is an unusual act in the Rwandan culture, that causes many people to consider a Muslim as not normal human being because it says that every man in Islam is castrated. It is said that Muslims are not clean because they use water instead of toilet paper. “The Islamic faith has particular rules regarding personal hygiene when going to the toilet. In 786 It is a city where Muslims where located. There was a cemetery. The local administratives localized Muslim cities in cemeteries in Nyanza, in Gacurabwenge. Ismahil Mukurarinda in interview he reveled to me that in 1957 priests from Kabgayi put a head of pig on the fountain of Gashavu near Nyabisindu where Muslims were getting clean water. 787 Interview with Sudi Munyentwali on 01st October 2010. 165 some regions, people use their left hand and a little water to wipe. This is why in Islamic and Arab lands; it is offensive to greet someone with the left hand.”788 Before burial, Muslims remove the intestines from the dead body789. “It was reported in 2009 in Nyamirambo, a Muslim township in Kigali, that one Muslim member of a Christian family died. The Christian family put the body in the coffin. The Muslim community went at night to exhume the body and to apply the Muslim funeral rites which are: - Washing the body, - Covering the body with 3 white sheets called isanda, - Praying for the body, - Buring the body.”790 Another form of denigration is to say that the meat of pork is forbidden in Islam because they ate Muhammad body. In Islam, abstinence from the consumption of pork meat is a measure to preserve health. But the pig itself and its meat are the most prohibited (haraam) in Islam. It is like eating anything including human excreta. It is the cradle of harmful germs and parasites. Its meat is a carrier of disease to man, thus making it unfit for human consumption.791 Consumption of pork is forbidden in Islam, Judaism and certain Christian denominations, such as Seventh-day Adventists. This prohibition is set out in the holy texts of the religions concerned, Qur'an 16:115 Leviticus 11:7-8 and Deuteronomy 14:8. Pigs were also taboo in at least three other cultures of the ancient Middle East: the Phoenicians, Egyptians and Babylonians. In some instances, the taboo extended beyond eating pork, and it was also taboo to touch or even look at pigs.792 788 Why don‟t Muslims use toilet paper? 166 Muslims are not serious, they are thieves, not educated, they can only repair and drive cars. Because Muslims were not allowed to attend Christian schools, most of them were involved in trading and different small professional activities. In many parts of the country, local administrations created Muslim cities in cemeteries, for example the city of Nyabisindu in Muhanga, Gacurabwenge in Kamonyi District, Kavumu in Nyanza District (Muslims moved from there to Mugandamure sector), and in “Nyamirambo, which is not a good name, it refers to the dead bodies. The place was also a cemetery for residents of Kigali.”793 When a Muslim reads the Qur‟an to you, you die or you become crazy. It is a widespread belief among most all coastal people that the Qur‟an teachers and Sheikhs are people not only to be revered but also feared. That is because these people possess supernatural powers and are also keeping jinn. Therefore they can not only help but also harm people in some cases794 These examples show that there is a need of mutual discovery to know each other. Some Rwandans official will not enter a Mufti‟s office or shake his hand, through physical contact, because they have fear of Islam and some still think they can become crazy.795 The former Mufti of Rwanda, Sheikh Habimana Saleh, he said in an interview: I‟m afraid to live again the same history of oppression like in the past; that is why I‟m involved in interreligious dialogue in Rwanda.796 For being healed from the traumatisms of what happened in the past. Dialogue is necessary for restoring honest relations between Christians and Muslims. 167 3.12.6. Muslim attitudes during genocide797 During war and genocide most Muslims; behaved well, even though some became famous for killings. In some Muslim cities in the country, there were some deaths and according to the introverted information here and there especially in the city of Rwamagana, there would be four major reasons for Muslims to not have been involved in killings: The Allah’s message in Mosques during genocide During the genocide, in Muslim cities of Rwamagana, Kibungo, Butare, Cyangugu, Imams asked to all the people who came to “salat ” at the mosque to never soak their hands in blood. They nearly insisted each day on this teaching. On the one hand, to kill is regarded as a deadly sin (see Surah 17: 33) and on the other hand, to preserve life is a duty. It is believed that ever who kills only one man unjustly is guilty as if he had killed the whole of humanity and whoever saves only one man is as innocent if he had saved all humanity (Surah 5 :32). It is necessary to add that the prophet said the greatest sins are798: 1. to give a partner to Allah, shirk 2. to kill a human being 3. disloyalty to the parents 4. the lie During genocide, most Muslims had always this message in mind. But other Muslims did not hear it and participated actively in massacres, as Yussouf in Cyangugu, Abderrhman in Gitarama or Ngeze Hassan of the Kangura newspaper.799 It was easy for Imams to give and to deliver their message because a lot of political and administrative authorities did not know what was going on and what was said in mosques. Muslim communities were not controlled as it was the case in churches because the entrance into mosques was not restricted as it was in temples. For example, one must to make major and minor ablutions, remove his shoes, entering first with the right leg 797 Olivier Ndayizeye M., Ibid, pp18-21. 798 Ibid, p.18. 799 A. Karamaga, Abayisilamu babeshye abategetsi bacu kirafata, in Journal Twubake N°3, Octobre 1995, p. 6. 168 or turn toward the qibla (the Mecca) during the salat and all these are accompanied by the recitation of some formulas as the“ al-fatiha.”800 People are afraid of the mosques and the Muslims. A popular opinion said that Muslims have connections with djinns that had “a relationship with Allah.”801 This constituted in one way or another, the strength of Muslims during the genocide even though Islam doesn't accept those who would manipulate djinns or who would forge themselves with other divinities or phenomena. It said during the genocide that, some killers went to burn a mosque in Cyangugu but they did not destroy it in whole because they run in fear of being caught by djinns. Today reformists of the Islamic religion are “fighting against this weight of superstition that constantly has the tendency to burden and to disfigure the faith and the practice of Islam.”802 Therefore the fact that the instigators did not enter mosques, offered the Imams the possibility to give their message of peace and love and this produced a certain restraint on behalf of Muslims. According to Muslims interviewed, they are deeply grieved by their brothers who didn't listen to Allah's message and touched the blood of innocent Rwandans. They asked and wished that the Rwandan government hands them these infidels so that they apply on them the charia law to them. But their request has been refused. A Muslim must not kill another Muslim The Qur'an strictly forbids killing another Muslim and threatens stern punishment to the one who goes in opposition to this law, except if he does it involuntarily or accidentally. It‟s written in the Qur'an that: It is not to a believer to kill another believer by mistake. Anyone who kills a believer voluntarily will have as a reward hell forever. "That Allah becomes incensed against him! That may curse and prepare him an immense torment" (Surah 4: 92-93). Even the Arab slave traders could not buy slaves converted to Islam. “For example the populations who didn't convert to Islam became automatically reservoirs of slaves in Sudan”.803 It is why the blacks who converted 800 It is a formula that all Muslim repete to the beginning of all act, it says: In the name of ALLAH, the All Merciful, the Very Merciful! It is a Surah which opens the Qur'an. 801 G.Van‟t Spijker, Ibid, p. 19. 802 L.Gardet, L’islam Religion et Communauté, Ed. Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, 1967, p. 94. 803 R.-L. Moreau, Africains Musulmans, Ed. Présence africaine, Paris, INADES, 1982,p. 50. 169 to the Muslim religion escaped automatically the raids, because the Prophet said: "Muslim is the brother of the other Muslim. He doesn't abandon him, he doesn't usurp him, he doesn‟t deliver him to the enemy", this verse also reinforced the Umma. Muslim ethnic interpenetration804 In Rwanda, many Hutu Muslims married Tutsi women. It created an incredible ethnic interpenetration. In such a way, it was not easy to distinguish them ethnically. This means that religious and political Muslim leaders protected their own. It is the opposite of what happened on the Christian side where some criminals killed their wives, their cousins or their nephews. But the main reason of this refusal to kill would be explained itself by the fact that most Muslim took Allah's message seriously during the genocide. In the city of Rwamagana for example, all people who were sheltered in the Muslim city, had safety life but those who took refuge in the Christian parishes and administrative buildings were all killed. The feeling of belonging in the Ummah community encouraged Muslims in Rwanda to not be involved in killings other Muslims. 804 This was confirmed by many Muslims in interview. 170 Conclusion Violence is inherent to human beings, it is found in his daily life and in all his structures, but religious violence may not be inevitable.805 I join Professor Jean Claude Basset in saying that dialogue appears as a powerful way to avoid violence. It helps to canalize it in order to avoid an open conflict or a silent resignation. Dialogue is a miracle word which can reduce violence in all human relations.806 In order to reduce violence which has broken the relationship between Christians and Muslims, it is necessary a permanent dialogue and mutual understanding. The ecumenical effort to establish dialogue with various religions is one way to establish dialogue and cooperation between Christians and Muslims. Dialogue in Africa and particularly in Rwanda may lead to speak the truth and the act of apology for the painful events of the Arab Muslim slave trade, crusade, and Jihad. With that relationships between Christian and Muslims can be strengthened.807 “The image of barbaric Christian Crusaders”808 and bloody Jihadist Muslims will be appeased on both side. In Rwanda, dialogue is a necessity for building a long-lasting peace. The history of violence and conflict of the two religions must be discussed without hiding the truth of past history and recent history which creates tensions, for example, the presence of western soldiers in Muslim countries and killings of different jihadist movements. This will be a way of countering violence against other faiths and to discover mutuality and complementarity as Rwandans. “It is important to be fully aware of the relation between violence, conflict and peace. It is also important to bring together those who use violence with those who suffer from it to discuss how to secure peace for the future.”809 In the next third part, I will discuss the need of promoting dialogue, healing of memories, and reconciliation between Christians and Muslims for preventing new violence. Together Christians and Muslims in Rwanda, we are not allowed to 805 Anank Nayak, Ibid, p.351. 806 Jean Claude Basset, Ibid, p.12,13. 807 Abbijit Nayak, Crusade violence: Understanding and overcoming the impact of mission among Muslims, in International Review of Mission, vol.97 No586/587, July,October 2008, p.289. 808 Austin Cline, Overview of causes, History, and Violence of the Crusades, 171 delete our violent history including our traumatic experiences because “how we remember the past shapes how we are in the present.”810 810 Leonia Kallir Kurgan, Memories, Healing, Reconciliation, and Forgiveness, 172 Chapter IV. Healing and reconciliation of memories Introduction The healing of memories is a fundamental dimension of reconciliation following violent conflicts between individuals; and groups. It prevents new violence‟. In Rwanda, the genocide of Tutsi added wounds to the already wounded relationship between Christians and Muslims. These wounds created individual and collective traumas which are required to be healed before any process of reconciliation. Otherwise there may be a “transgenerational transmission of trauma which is now evidenced in the study of epi-genetics.”811 It is not an easy task as the Archbishop Desmond Tutu once put it: There is no shortcut or simple prescription for healing the wounds and divisions of a society in the aftermath of sustained violence. It is, however an essential point to address. Examining the painful past, acknowledging it and understanding it, and above all transcending it together, it is the best guarantor to create trust and understanding between the people.812 This can confirm that the healing of memories is a complex process but it is a prerequisite to any kind of reconciliation in a society wounded by past historical violence. It is important to create space for remembering, storytelling, listening, and understanding history of the past. 811 Scherto Vill, Healing wound of the history, 173 4.1. Remembering in Christianity and Islam 4.1.1. Philosophy of remembering Sven Bernecker notes that Remembering is a fundamental cognitive process, which is involved in virtually all other important cognitive functions, such as reasoning, perception, problem solving, and speech. Because memory is a central component of the mind, it is not surprising that theorizing about memory is as old as philosophy itself. Contemporary philosophers are primarily interested in the role of memory in various metaphysical and epistemological debates.813 The “ideology of memory says that human beings exist to remember. It says that each generation of humans exists in order to transmit memories of the previous generation to the next generation.” 814 By remembering, Professor Miloslav Volf, a Croatian Protestant theologian and Director of Yale Center of Faith and Culture means that We not only pay a debt of honor to those who suffered in the past, but we also seek to protect the innocent in the future. Not to remember would be to fail the obligation of justice, either toward victims of past or victims of future. To keep memories alive we tell stories, study, write history, erect monuments, and celebrate anniversaries.815 But individual or collective memory becomes a complex task when it refers to a violent history where it is an obligation to tell the truth about what happened. We have seen it in Christian and Muslim relations where it is difficult to talk about the role of religions in violence and the abuse 813 Sven Bernecker, Memory, 174 of human dignity. Both religions try to hide their negative roles in that history. An absolute silence is maintained on Arab Muslim slave trade and Christians do not feel comfortable to talk about the crusades. But at the same time there is a small number of Christians who regret the Christian implication in slavery and Muslims who denounce the involvement in violent jihad. In East Africa, the deep pain of thousands wounded by Arab slave trade during centuries has been transmitted through generations. A crucial arena is that historical memory is transmitted from one generation to another through church teachings and “madrasah.”816 The healing and reconciliation of memories will not be possible if Christians and Muslims are not yet ready to recognize that they are at the origin of deep pain and suffering among people. To talk about it, to put it on the table and to feel the need for apology, is a vital step on pave the way to prevent future generations from going into violence.817 According to Nick Sacco, memory is an absolute necessity for the existence of history and if people choose to forget or to suppress about the past, history ceases to exist.818 In the process of remembering all society must pay attention to all minors details of what is said and done for educating the coming generations. It is known that When memory is used constructively, memorialization processes and history work can allow different generations to understand the conflict and mediate between the past and the present. Societies pass on memories of previous atrocities through intergenerational dialogue, education, and memorials. Intergenerational dialogue cannot be supported only by what is taught and discussed at school. A crucial arena for transmitting historical memories from one generation to another is the family. 819 Especial attention ought to be given to the young generation: 816 Arabic word for any type of religious schools. 817 Peace Building Initiative Memorialization, Historiography and History, 175 It is the generation that inherits the experience of violence as still living memory; and which moulds and converts this remembrance into some form of collective memory or historical knowledge. It is in this crucial interval that the past can be frozen into fixed mythology, or comprehended in its historical complexity; and in which the cycles of revenge and hatred can be perpetuated or interrupted. The moment of transmission is important to dwell on, because it is a moment of real danger; but also of genuine possibility and hope.820 Many scholars in different domains, “psychiatrists, historians, educators, and human rights activists seem to agree that separating the past from the present, and understanding the past as the past, is a key achievement for any society.”821 The particular attentiveness to memory is important to any society which wants to live a sustainable peace, and the “ultimate objective of history will be to give meaning to past events and to inscribe them in the passage of time.” 822 Understanding the past in remembering what happened is one way for preventing or limiting tragedies which can reappear, it also raise the consciousness of the of the people to potential risks. 4.1.2. Remembering victims Why should we remember the victims of Arab slave trade? Why should we remember the victims of the crusades? Remembering is “a moral duty.”823 Barbara Misztal notes that; remembering “is a duty to keep alive the memory of suffering by the persistent pursuit of an ethical response,” 824of the painful history. For the History of slave trade in East Africa, we owe a debt to the African victims. And the tiniest way of paying our debt is to tell and retell what happened to them during centuries.825 The most elementary compensation that we may offer to them is to give them a voice that was denied 820 Nicholas J. Owen, Human Rights, Human Wrongs, The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 2001, Oxford University Press, 2002, p.291. 821 Peace Building Initiative, Memorialization, Historiography and History, Ibid. 822 Ibid. 823 Barbara A. Misztal, Theory of Social Remembering, Open University Press, Philadelphia, USA , 2003, p.146. 824 Ibid. 825 Richard H. Bell, Understanding African Philosophy, Routledge, NY, 2002, p.105. 176 to them.826 It is a human duty to commemorate in remembering because, “Memory should be openly transmitted, and not kept secret. Families are bound together by memory, and people should study their roots. A nation cut off from its collective memory is lost.” 827 That is why “tragedy, suffering, victory and achievement should all be publicly commemorated.”828 For example in remembering, the “memory of slavery is not only related to the victims, those who suffered the effects of imprisonment, deportation, punishments, and forced labour, but also to those who were left behind and to those who ordered the capture of slaves and participated in the slave trade.”829 In societies that have experienced such violence, an important aspect of transitional justice is the acknowledgement and remembrance of the past.830 This acknowledgement must include all past violent events such as “the history of Christian-Muslim interactions includes both confrontational and divisive episodes”831, also the epoch of Arab slave traders, and the Crusades. The lesson to learn from history is that; Encounters of Christians and Muslims have been varied and diverse, shaped by the political and economic contexts of the times and places in which they happened. From interlocking pasts, it can be chosen to draw out a story of conflict, suspicion and distrust; or it can be discerned opportunities of mutual trust, understanding and co-operation. 832 As human being confront the difficulty of selecting the manner of using memories and Since memory is a powerful force which can easily be manipulated, Ideology and negative memories of the other inherited from the past can be evoked to sow the seeds of suspicion or to justify conflict in the present, thus generating yet more negative memories which can lock Christians and Muslims into future cycles of 826 Paul Ricoeur, Figuring the Sacred Religion: Religion, Narrative and Imagination, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1995, p.290. 827 Memory as ideology,< http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/memory.tp.html>, 08th August 2013. 828 Ibid. 829 Anna Lucia Araujo, Political use of memories of slavery in the Republic of Benin, 177 confrontation. This destructive logic needs to be broken for reconciliation to grow.833 Professor Gerrie ter Haar affirms that reconciling memories is an important program to end conflict, prevent new hatred, and open up a future of peace.834 To succeed in such reconciliation, there is a need for creating a history of memory as Carla De Ycaza, suggests that “after a mass atrocity, for addressing trauma of victims it is necessary to create a history of memory.”835 The French sociologist Alfred Grosser says that “the transmission of memory often serves to preserve knowledge of past sufferings.”836 He adds that “the memory and acknowledgment of others‟ suffering also constitutes an element of peace. The main goal or task of remembering is perhaps also the obligation to transform past suffering into creative action.”837 For Guillermo Kerber, the right of knowing is not only the individual right which has all victims to know what happened as right to the truth. The right to know is also a collective right which takes origin in history for avoiding future violations to be reproduced. For him, the knowledge by people of the history of their oppression belongs to their heritage, and as such, it must be preserved.838 Paul Ricoeur noted that the duty of memory is a duty of not forgetting.839 Ana Lucia Araujo, professor of history at Howard University in Washington, concurs by saying that the duty of memory is one of the requirements for reconciliation. Past events are very often repressed, but they emerge into consciousness and become part of the present in order to achieve forgiveness 833 Ibid. 834 Gerrie ter Haar (ed), Ibid, p. 148 835 Carla De ycaza, Performative functions of Genocide trials in Rwanda: Reconciliation through restorative justice, 838 Guillermo Kerber, Article :Ethique, justice restauratrice et droits des victims, in Arnaud Martin, La mémoire et le pardon, Ed. L‟Harmattan 2009, p.195. 839 Paul Ricoeur, Memory, History, Forgetting, 178 and reconciliation.840 But it also must be noted that: “an improper management of collective memory could lead to the resurgence of conflict or even to a cycle of revenge where past wounds justify present violence.”841The art of remembering is not an exercise in looking backwards but an effort to transfigure past pains in order to construct a vital new society. Geiko Muller Fahrenholz underlines also a negative side of remembering when memories are used to maintain and to solidify stereotypes of the enemy: that way of remembering helps to prolong captivity, and to make forgiveness and reconciliation even more difficult.842Both scholars Araujo and Muller Fahrenholz are insisting on the careful positive management of collective memory for avoiding controversies. This because there is today “a globalization of memory”843 which is becoming a phenomenon for leading active spread of legitimate post conflict practices and mechanisms for the management of the past. The Past of history events are transmitted to the world “through writings and memories of individuals. In this sense, we understand history through collective memory. If we think of memory as a particular, socially reconstructed version of the past, then it becomes possible for memory to function as an ideological ground for the present.”844 This allows people to apprehend “the present through the collective memory of the past.”845 It is easy to forget when memory is not “kept alive by its retelling and reinterpretation so that it remains relevant to the current age.”846 840 Ana Lucia Araujo, Public memory of slavery: victims and perpetrators in the South Atlantic, p.69, 179 It is well known that “memories are not distinct from us, they are an integral part of us, of our knowledge, of who and what we are. They define and shape us; they are not intellectual 847 abstractions but are a living part of us, shaping our consciousness and our personalities.” Professor Stanley Klein, writes that “memories of past actions go toward constituting personal identity.”848The impact of intense violence touches the psychology, identity, spirituality, the ability to regulate the internal emotional state, and the way of understanding the world.849Memories “shape our understanding of the world surrounding us.”850Lesli Ross noticed: “forgetfulness leads to exile while remembrance is a secret of redemption.”851 Remembrance is a fundamental function of human being which needs attentiveness in taking into account all aspects of tragedy, suffering, victory and achievement in history because as it was said previously, violent conflicts can had consequences on personal identity and can had ramifications on further generations. If remembering history is concerning next generations, its duty will not be “only having a deep concern for the past but also in transmitting the meaning of the past events to them.”852 For not forgetting, it will not be difficult to Christians and Muslims to remember and to retell their stories because religion is “a cultural system that is heavily reliant on the use of symbols, remembering and retelling stories and the association of physical places and with supernatural people and or events. These symbols, stories, and places reinforce a sense of identity and belonging for the people of the earth.”853 847 History as Memory, 848 Stanley B. Klein and Shaun Nichols, Memory and the sense of personal identity, 852 Barbara A. Misztal, Ibid. p.144. 853 Albert Ogle, The role of world heritage sites in reconciliation, 180 4.1.3. Remembrance in Christianity The Hebrew word for remembrance is ( ) zikkaron , “meaning also memorial, and comes from the root word Zakar, which includes both the sense of 'to remember' and 'to mention'. Other variation of the word includes: Zachor: remember, Zecher (Zakar): in remembrance of, been mindful, bringing to remembrance, call to mind.”854In Islam remembrance rooted in the Arabic term as Hebrew dhikr or zikir meaning to remember, to mention, to invoke.855 In the Old Testament remembering is not a mental exercise; it is an act of worship. When the Israelites reached the Promised Land, they had to remember who liberated them: not themselves, but their God. The act of remembering is important in Christianity too, it is a daily and normal activity “bound by rituals of commemoration. At significant moments of gathering, each community reaffirms its identity in the present by calling to mind images and words from the past.”856 Remembering keeps people to be attentive, but “when we forget the past we lose the anchor that keeps us from drifting.”857 History is judged not by what is included in it, but by what is left out.858 From the very beginning of Israel's history God made a habit of building monuments and establishing symbols that would keep people informed.For example, God commanded the children of Israel to observe the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8- 10).The rainbow is a memorial of the covenant God made with humanity (Genesis 9:8-17). The Passover is a memorial commemorating the time when God „passed over‟ the homes of the Israelites as well as their release from slavery in Egypt.859 854 Anamnesis and remembrance, < http://www.techofheart.co/2010/11/zecher-anamnesis-zikr-and- remembrance.html>, 06th August 2014. 855 Sadullah Khan, Dhirk, Remembrance of the divine, 181 In New Testament “Jesus said in the upper room to the disciples, eat this bread and drink this cup as often as you will in remembrance of me.”860 In Judaism, memory is a living, daily, normative, essential part of consciousness and behaviours.861 “The memory of humiliation inflicted upon Jews even before the Holocaust should prevent any Jew from humiliating other groups.”862It is an imperative to understand and remember the past for preventing past mistakes to happen again. 4.1.4. Remembering in Islam “Dikhr or Zikr in Arabic, is a form of prayer in which a Muslim express his or her remembrance of God either within or overtly; this may come in the form of recitation or simply always remembering God in one‟s heart. The word dhikr is commonly translated as „remembrance‟ or „invocation‟.” 863 Islam emphasizes the importance of remembering the will of God. First, “remembrance is a private, individual and silent practice, anyone can be aware of Allah, grateful and thankful to Allah and fearing of Allah in conduct. Remembrance during trials and tribulations expecting help and patience is a part of one's Iman (faith).”864 In Sufism “remembering Allah in good times is a sign of gratitude. Silently glorifying Allah with the phrases approved by Qur'an and Hadith is another basic form of worship.”865 Second, it is known that many Muslims are engaged in collective memorization of the Qur'an from the beginning when they are learning it in their madrasah. God says, “Whoever turns away from my remembrance, then he will, without any doubt, live a suffocating existence and we will gather him on the day of rising (the day of judgment) blind” (Qur‟an, 20:124). Remembrance is more virtuous than supplication.866 The 860 Ibid. 861 Is Memory part of Islam?,< http://www.ijn.com/columns/view-from-denver/1824-is-memory-part-of-islam>, 02nd August 2013. 862 Alfred Grosser, Remembering, duty of, 182 Qur'an constantly urges believers to remember to become aware of their inner nature through this remembrance and to awaken that nature.867 Remembrance is vital in Christianity and in Islam, which points to the fact that “memory is essential to our individual and collective identity, health, and safety.” 868 But, memory “also serves to legitimize violence and therefore can be a source of conflict.”869A human being needs to remember for being healed, for honouring victims, and for protecting innocents in the future.870 4.2 Transgenerational transmission of trauma The history of the Arab slave trade of the 19th century followed by interreligious conflicts in Uganda and the fight against the expansion of Islamic, affected psychologically believers of both religions because there were no healing of memories. At times, family unity, family identity, family dynamics and family history has been destroyed. When there is no healing of memory after such violent and painful conflicts, there cannot be a proper reconciliation and the trauma will continue to be transmitted because millions of people perished horribly in these violence`s. This trauma caused enormous consequences which African people are dealing with up to day. There is solid evidence that “young people capture tensions and sufferings told and untold linked with present or past history of their parents.”871 Professor Nathan Kellerman compares that human transmission through generations like The transmission of sound waves in telecommunications is a commonly accepted phenomenon, and may serve as a suitable analogy that illustrates the process of trauma transmission. Thus, in the same way as heat, light, sound and electricity can be invisibly carried from a transmitter to a receiver; it is possible that unconscious 867 Time in the Qur’an, History as memory and Meta-Historical Religion 183 experiences can also be transmitted from parents to their children through some complex process of extra-sensory communication.872 Professor Kellerman is severe in relating holocaust trauma to an infectious disease in saying that: Like an infectious disease, Holocaust trauma is highly contagious and may be transmitted by direct or indirect contact. Holocaust trauma may cause one of more of at least three different kinds of strains or types of virus: loss, guilt, and/or catastrophic anxiety. Each of these virus strains will be infective for anyone who is living in the proximity of the carrying the virus, such as close family, friends, and others who are susceptible to the disease. As Holocaust trauma usually spreads slowly over a long period of time, the overt signs of being affected may be seen only after several years. When it has taken root, however, it will linger on and remain potent forever. If this occurs, it may affect the entire human physiology of a person, including the nervous, musculoskeletal, circulatory, respiratory, gastrointestinal, urinary, reproductive, immune, and endocrine system, and its psychosomatic expressions may be profound.873 The French psychotherapist Anne Ancelin Schützenberger, affirms also that the initial traumatism of an ancient drama repeats itself from one generation to another.874Molly Castelloe attests that: “The transmission of trauma may be particular to a given family suffering a loss, such as the death of an infant, or it can be a shared response to societal trauma.”875 She continues in saying that “psychic legacies are often passed on through unconscious cues or affective messages that flow between child and adult. Sometimes anxiety falls from one generation to the next through stories told.”876 872 Nathan P.F. Kellerman, Holocaust Trauma: Psychological Effects and Treatment, Published by iUniverse, Bloomington,USA, 2009, p.77. 874 Anne-Noemie Dorion quoted Anne Ancelin Schützenberger, Des traumatismes se repetent de generation en generation, 184 4.2.1. Models of trauma transmission Four major theoretical approaches had been recognized to understanding trauma transmission: Psychodynamic; in this case the child unconsciously absorbs the repressed and insufficiently worked-through Holocaust experiences of survivor parents. A child then becomes a reservoir for the unwanted, troublesome parts of an older generation. Because the elders have influence on a child, the child absorbs their wishes and expectations and is driven to act on them.877 This theory focused on unconscious and indirect influences.878 Sociocultural; the passing down of social norms and beliefs from generation to generation is well described in social psychology. Social learning and socialization models of transmission focus on how children of survivors form their own images through their parents‟ childrearing behavior, for example their various prohibitions, taboos and fears. Social learning theories emphasize conscious and direct effects of parents on their children.879 Family system; unconscious and conscious transmission of parental traumatization always takes place in a certain family environment, which is assumed to effect a major impact on the children.880 Biological models of trauma transmission are based on the assumption that there may be a genetic and/or a biochemical predisposition to the etiology of a person‟s illness. Genes transmit constitutional elements from parent to child and some mental illnesses seem to have a clear hereditary etiology. For example, studies indicate that children of schizophrenic parents are much more likely to develop the disorder than the general population.881 As the trauma transmission is passing through one generation to another by a very complex conduction the same as a hereditary disease is transmitted, African people take seriously this in 877 Nathan P.F. Kellerman, Holocaust Trauma: Psychological Effects and Treatment, Ibid.,p.77. 878 Ibid. 879 Ibid. 880 Ibid. 881 Ibid. 185 working on healing of painful events happened in the past for barring this transmission. If nothing is done, next generation will continue to suffer. 4.3. Rescuing Christians and Muslims from historical memory To be driven in life by a painful historical memory has complex consequences, expressly when people have lived through traumatic events as slavery, and devastating religious wars. Because of the lack of healing memory from victims and perpetrators, some people from both sides will never feel secured with their past history. They will prefer to forget or to escape it. In this way the trauma appears and it is transmitted through generations because trauma emerges when there is an historical silence of the past. It means when there is “no coherence of the fundamental historical interrelationship of past, present, and future.”882 Historians have the duty to break the silence surrounding the past history between Christians and Muslims “without neglecting its traumatic elements.”883 The historical memory of Arab Muslim trade of slaves and the crusades is still alive. A Tanzanian taxi driver at Bagamoyo, told the Author: “I hope that one day God will revenge us because of what Arabs did to my ancestors.”884 Also in Mombasa at the Shimoni cave of slaves, Rachid a tourist guide, said to the visitors that “as a Muslim, I‟m ashamed to re-tell the Arab slave trade because it reveals the bad side of my religion.”885 Historical memory is an important orientation for the present and for the future. It helps to construct the identity of a nation through the past historical events. It helps also to recover from painful events, tragedies and genocides. The historical memory must through storytelling, testimony, and exchange of experiences. It must not be just a modest narration of what happen in the past, but it must be also a deep thinking on conduct and the signification of what the people 882 J. Rusen, Mourning by history: Ideas of a New Element in Historical Thinking, 884 Interview with a Taxi man at Kaole ruin in Bagamoyo on 06th June 2013. 885 Interview with the tourist guider Zulu Rachid at Shimoni cave on 20th February 2013. 186 crossed in painful past history for setting out “the future as a project of social, community and personal reconstruction.”886 One of the principal roles which must be understood of historical memory is to learn the realization of “human dignity is man‟s greatest treasure.”887 Recovering the historical memory is one way for improving and respecting the human dignity. Without touching and talking about the historical aspect of what happened in the past, we are seeking the utopia of reconciliation, because suspicion, negative feeling attitudes, and hatred continue. One way to heal memories of thousands of people in East Africa where Rwanda is located is to establish and to commemorate a slavery memorial day in the region. The second way for recovering Christian and Muslim historical memory is to apologize. 886 Edgar Gutiérrez, Memory and Reconciliation, the story of Guatemala, 187 4.3.1. Commemoration of slavery day in Africa A memorial day is a great opportunity to learn about the deep hurt and unjust loss of Africans. It can help African descendants to understand what slavery is and to fight against any challenging form of it. “Remembering helps people to discuss about sufferings and its causes. It gives a 888 chance to begin difficult conversations relating to conflict.” But this Memorial Day is very often repressed by many Arabs and western countries because of the shame of religious and state involvement and also the fear of reparations. Creating special days of remembrance institutionalizes this need, and can create a sense of unity and community. For the survivors and their descendants, such days provide some level of affirmation and validation of the pain and suffering they have experienced. For those who were perpetrators or bystanders, days of remembrance force them to publicly or privately acknowledge the past and provide the opportunity to apologize for past wrongs.889 The date of August 23rd is the “day designated by UNESCO to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade.”890 This special day was created “to remember the horrendous inhumane acts that saw Africa and Africans robbed of their dignity for centuries. Even though slavery was abolished, its consequences are still faced by many today.”891 Human beings and especially African people must “work hard to eliminate modern day slavery. Slavery is still practiced in many parts of the world and it goes on with little attention. In countries like Niger, Chad, and Mali the estimates enslaved people, including child labour, go beyond 20 million.892 The historian Ali Mazrui from Kenyan confirms that in saying that in Sudan and Mauritania, “Arab slave trade is still an ongoing activity.”893 888 Healing through remembering bulletin, issue 6, Spring 2010, 188 The taboo surrounding the Arab Muslim slave trade in East African needs to be removed by celebrating the international day of victims of slavery in all African countries. It is one way to respect the lives of those who perished during the slave trade. It is also an opportunity to increase attentiveness about the dangers of such activity. Such commemoration of the past is necessary to each society to shape the future in ensuring that the past “will not come back to haunt a society.”894 This international day of slavery‟victims is also “an occasion to educate the public, especially young people, about the effects of racism, slavery and the slave trade.”895 For example, in 2011 the “Anglican Church in Zanzibar diocese commemorated its 138th anniversary of the abolition of slave trade in East Africa, with a call to governments to include the day in the national centenary calendar.”896 It was an essential day where it was reminded to people that: “we should collectively remember this day which marked the first freedom of Africans, said Mr James Kaleza, assistant secretary of the diocese.”897 Mr Kaleza also said that “it is important to educate students in schools about the history of slave trade in the region.”898 894 David Bloomfield, Reconciliation after violent conflict, 189 Santa Monica Anglican Church, Zanzibar, where was located the local slave market. “On December 17, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly designated March 25 as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.” 899 It was first observed in 2008. Unfortunately both days of commemoration designated by UNESCO and UN are for remembering the transatlantic slave trade. The Arab trade of slaves in East Africa is remains largely ignored by these International organizations even if it was a devastator trade in the region. Africans countries may appreciate, and learn from the Australian initiative of setting up a „sorry day‟; It is dedicated to national healing. Sorry Day was recommended in the Bringing Them Home Report that explored the history of the Australian government's forced removal of Aboriginal children in an effort to assimilate them. Sorry Day was intended to be one effort to acknowledge the suffering of that stolen generation.900 899 International day of remembrance of slavery victims and the transatlantic slave trade, 190 4.3.2. The Role of apology in the healing memories Current synonyms for “apology” include: “acknowledgment, admission, amends, atonement, concession, confession, repentance, defense, excuse, explanation, extenuation, justification, mea culpa, redress, reparation… These are inexact substitutes because they each refer only to a portion of a full apology.”901 An apology is “a verbal, sometimes written, expression of guilt that conveys regret, remorse or sorrow for having insulted, failed, injured or wronged the other.” 902 An apology is one means of acknowledging the suffering experienced by victims.903 For Professor Robert Weyeneth, expressing regret about the past deed is viewed as equivalent to an apology.904 According to Professor Aaron Lazare, “an apology is one of the most powerful means of reconciling conflicts between individuals, groups and nations.”905 He contends that antagonists can move “from violence to reconciliation by understanding and encouraging the practice of apology.” 906 For him “a central task of the apology is to restore the dignity of the offended party. A person, group or nation who is offended needs recognition and validation for their suffering and the injustice that caused it.”907 For that “failing to admit error and express regret adds insult to injury and is one of the most blatant ways of showing disrespect.”908 An apology includes three mains components: Acknowledgement of the offense because you are aware of the impact of your wrongdoing 901 Apology, 191 A willingness to admit your wrongdoing in issuing a mea culpa. There is no excuse, no justification, no defense, and no explanation for the harm actions. “And you are prepared to accept consequences of your actions.”909 A willingness to state that the act will not be repeated.910It demonstrates that you took responsibility to remedy the situation in the present and in the future. In the context of the Christian-Muslim encounter and dialogue, there is a need for welcoming regularly regret expressions of the past from both sides. But it is not possible to ignore the difficulty that sometimes memory of the past between Christians and Muslims is perceived as an accusation provoking a reaction of self-defense. We hear few expressions of apology from Islamic countries or Islamic leaders when Christians are molested and churches are burned in Egypt, in Tanzania, in Kenya or in Pakistan, or about the extremist Muslims in Nigeria who are not only burning the churches, but burning people who are in the churches.911 Apology is a Sine qua non condition to healing and reconciliation.912 909 Brian Cox, Faith-Based reconciliation, Ed. Xlibris, USA 2007 P.78 910 Cheryl Regehr, Apology, justice, and trauma recovery,< http://www.jaapl.org/content/30/3/425.full.pdf>, 27th August 2013. 911 Josh Feldman, When will Islamic nations apologize to us for persecuting and killing Christians, 192 Islam and apology913 During the pre-Islamic days of ignorance, the one who was treacherous, proud, and dishonest was feared and considered strong.914There was no need for apologizing. The Qur‟an rectified this thought in making clear how to behave in asking forgiveness from Allah which is not the same as asking forgiveness from human fellow. To obtain pardon from God there are at least three prerequisites: Recognizing the offense itself and its admission before God. Making a commitment not to repeat the offense. Asking for forgiveness from God.915 If the wrongdoing was perpetrated to fellows or to the society; fourth condition is added: Recognizing the offense before those against whom offense was committed and before God. Committing oneself not to repeat the offense. Doing whatever needs to be done to rectify the offense (within reason) and asking pardon of the offended party. Asking God for forgiveness.916 There are no precise words to request pardon. But, believers have to repeat day-to-day: Astaghfiru-Allah, I ask forgiveness from Allah Subhanaka-Allah humma wa bi hamdika wa ash-hadu al la Ilaha illa Anta astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Glory be to you, Allah, and with you praise thanks and I bear witness that there is no deity but You, I ask Your forgiveness and I return to you in obedience.917 913 Al – Madina al- Munawarah, The door of repentance, 193 Islamic education shows “the prophet Muhammad as an example of someone who would forgive others for their ignorance, even those who might have once considered themselves to be his enemies.”918 A practical example can be given in the Hadith, Sahih Muslim, Book 19, number 4418. The Prophet was the most forgiving person. He was ever ready to forgive his enemies. When he went to Ta‟if to preach the message of Allah, its people mistreated him, abused him and hit him with stones. He left the city humiliated and wounded. When he took shelter under a tree, the angel of Allah visited him and told him that Allah sent him to destroy the people of Ta‟if because of their sin of maltreating their Prophet. Muhammad (may peace be upon him) prayed to Allah to save the people of Ta‟if, because what they did was out of their ignorance.919 For a Muslim, seeking an apology or saying sorry is one of the hardest jobs in the world. One of the example is, when the brothers of the prophet Joseph apologized to their father prophet Yaqoob , saying that “Oh our father, seek refuge for us, for verily we are in the wrong.” 920 An apology basically has three elements: 1. Say sorry. 2. Accept your mistake / fault. 3. What should you do in return to repair the loss. All of the three parts are compulsory, and your apology is incomplete if you miss any one of them. Mostly people miss the third part. They do say sorry, and do accept the mistake but they forget to fix the trouble they created.921 The Prophet Muhammad is also reported to say: “Whoever is offered an apology from a fellow Muslim, should accept it, unless he knows that the person apologizing is being dishonest.” 922 In sum, not only practicing on saying sorry is essential 918 Ibid. 919 Ibid. 920 Women social issue, 194 for true believers, but practicing forgiveness is another vital way of making communications work better.923 “On April 24, the day that Armenians all around the world remember their great catastrophe or their ethnic cleansing from Anatolia in 1915,”924 a Muslim Turkish writer Hakan Albayrak, a veteran of the “Gaza Flotilla of 2010,”925 wrote that Turks should apologize and “pay compensation to the representatives of the Armenian people.”926 Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, today is April 24, the day for remembering the cruelty of 1915, done to our Armenian compatriots. We should share their pain without asking, do they share ours? (Everybody is responsible for his own humanity). We cannot make excuses for the violent murders of thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Muslims. We should not see this as excusable. It would not be fair for the umma our faith community and for the Prophet of Mercy, Muhammad.927 Mustafa Akiol says that, “this is a shameful page in history. I wish we could tear it apart. We cannot tear it apart, but we can perhaps put a note under it: The grandsons of the people who committed those unspeakable crimes against the Armenians apologized and refused to honor their past.”928 This peace message created controversy in Turkey and it was condemned as a high treason while others sympathized with its content.929 923 Ibid. 924 195 In Mai 2009 an International colloquium on “the cultural interactions between Africa and the Arab Muslim world” in Tozeur/Tunisia, claimed that slavery as a dramatic episode of the history must be condemned because it caused deep wounds which are not yet healed. Nous réunis sur le continent africain au colloque de Tozeur,(1er-3 mai 2009) autour d’un thème longuement mis à l’ombre dans l’histoire du monde arabe, l’esclavage des Noirs, dans un pays, la Tunisie, qui s’est préoccupée dès le milieu du XIX siècle de la question pour aboutir à son abolition en 1846, et en résonance avec notre revendication persistante avant et depuis la déclaration de 1998 sur les non-dits de nos histoires et ratifiée par l’ONU, nous réclamons à notre tour:- de condamner comme une ignominie cet épisode dramatique de notre histoire, dont les plaies et blessures ne sont pas encore définitivement guéries.- que cette trace reconnue et acceptée, soit présente dans notre mémoire, dans nos livres d’histoire, portée dans la conscience de notre jeunesse pour une meilleure pensée du monde fondée sur les mémoires délivrées qui se conjuguent et se partagent.- que la construction de notre identité s’affirme en revenant aux sources de notre diversité inscrite aussi dans les souffrances de l’homme noir d’où sont sortis arts, métissages et liberté.930 Muammar al Gadhafi apologized for Arab slavery At the second Afro-Arab Summit of Sirte in 2010, Muammar al Gadhafi (1942-2011), former president of Lybia understood that wounds caused by Arab Muslim slave traders are still present in African minds and nothing can be done in the process of unity and reconciliation of Africa without an apology. He took time to apologize. For the late President Gadhafi, it was a starting point for a sincere dialogue and working together, before addressing common challenges between black Africans and Arabs. With that apology, he became the first Arab leader to apologize on behalf of Arab nations for their involvement in the African slave trade in saying: I regret the behavior of the Arabs… They brought African children to North Africa, they made them slaves, they sold them like animals, and they took them as 930 Déclaration de Tozeur, 196 slaves and traded them in a shameful way. I regret and I am ashamed when we remember these practices. I apologize for this. Today we are embarrassed and shocked by these outrageous practices of rich Arabs who had treated their fellow Africans with contempt and condescension. We should now recognize this issue, denounce it vigorously and place it in its true dimension.931 This apology can be the door to the pressing work of reconciliation between Arabs and Africans, between Christians and Muslims in East Africa, because this apology is not a superficial saying of sorry, but an apology which is full, genuine and substantial. President Gaddafi acknowledged the responsibility of Arabs in slave trade. Accepting responsibility can be also a first step in the offender‟s own healing. There is an understanding of the impact of the harm to those who have been hurt. In apology, the victim is looking for the offender to share the pain that the incident or experience has caused. 932 The effects of slavery on African communities have been devastating. The devastating consequences do not stop because of the apology; however these words of President Gadhafi are needed to be heard. All black Africans needed to hear these words of apology from an Arab leader who was himself a Muslim. In Christian-Muslim relations, there is that element of slavery which needs to be focused on. It is visible until today that there was never a peace in the demarcation line of Africa between the North of the supposed to be Arab Muslim and South of the supposed to be black Christian. There is an invitation to the both religious communities for living in peace in the document called “A common Word”933 in which it written that “so let our differences not cause hatred and strife between us. Let us vie with each other only in righteousness and good works. Let us respect each other, be fair, just and kind to another and live sincere peace.”934 The Common Word offers a kind of a unified Muslim voice against those who 931 US Slave, Muammar Qaddafi apologized for Arab slave trade, 197 speak insidiously on behalf of and against Islam. It is a precious document which can generates a new form of dialogue and collaboration for bringing peace between Christians and Muslim. Such initiative demonstrates the commitment of the religious leadership to work together for a more prosperous future. As it is based on love of God and Love of the neighbor, Professor George Sabra argues that peaceful co-existence between neighbors can only be assumed if one is able to identify who their neighbors are and he quote the parable of the Good Samaritan to point out that the neighbor they are wanting to love also happens to be their enemy.935 For Rowan Williams the Archbishop of Canterbury from 2003-2012 explores how the Christian understanding of love of God and love of neighbor can be seen as a response to God's love for humankind and his creation. The document provides the basis on which Christians and Muslims can take practical steps together for a radical, transforming, non-violent engagement with the deepest needs of our world and our common humanity.936 Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom thinks that the only way in the modern world to make sense of our different histories and cultures, is to learn, to recognize the values we have in common and define a shared future instead of defining ourselves by our differences.937 Christians and Muslims are called upon by their faith traditions to be agents of love and harmony. Their beliefs must renounce any persecution, violence, and terrorism, especially that is committed in the name of religion. They are called to the principle of justice for all. 938 935 Can we describe the Common Word Initiative as a turning point in Christian-Muslim relations? 198 Christian apology for the crusades During the Crusades, “going to war against the Infidels was an act of Christian penance. If a believer was killed during a crusade, he would pass by purgatory, and be taken directly to heaven.”939 This way of believing is very similar to the jihad for Muslims. By eliminating what might be many millennia of torture in Purgatory, many Christians were strongly motivated to volunteer for the crusades. After pronouncing a solemn vow, each warrior received a cross from the hands of the pope or his legates, and was thenceforth considered a soldier of the Church.940 The consequence of centuries of interreligious conflicts between Christians and Muslims created a hate and mistrust among them. Memories of these violent conflicts still influence relationships among Christians and Muslims to the present time.941 The assignment of crusaders was to take control of Jerusalem from the Muslims. A second mission was to liberate the world form non- Christian beliefs. The Crusaders gave the Jews two choices in their slogan: “Christ-killer, embrace the Cross or die!" 12,000 Jews in the Rhine Valley alone were killed as the first Crusade passed through. Some Jewish writers refer to these events as the "first holocaust." Once the army reached Jerusalem and broke through the city walls, they slaughtered all the inhabitants that they could find (men, women, children, newborns). After locating about 6,000 Jews holed up in the synagogue, they set the building on fire; the Jews were burned alive. The Crusaders found that about 30,000 Muslims had fled to the al Aqsa Mosque. Muslims were also slaughtered without mercy.942 939 Raymond Ibrahim, Growing persecution of Christians in Islamic World, 199 Until today, Muslims “point to the Crusades as an example of injustice perpetrated by the West on Islam.”943 But more thirteen centuries after the Crusades, “during a visit to Syria in 2001, Pope John Paul II himself visited a mosque and asked forgiveness of the Muslims for Christian offenses and violence of the past.”944 Three years later in 2004, Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) apologized to the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, for the fourth crusade and particularly, the violence accompanying the sack.945 Not only an apology is a sine qua non condition of reconciliation as says Isabelle August,946 but also the sincerity of apology and the readiness of the change. For Michael Murphy, the most central function of “apology is the act of recognition. An official apology in the first instance, it is a simple recognition and acknowledgement of what happened in the past, of the forces that led to the events, and of the human impact of those events.”947 A refusal to apologize “adds insult to injury by signaling indifference to past injustice and to the harms and indignities by those who were victimized, and as such can be profoundly hurtful and offensive to survivors and their ancestors.”948 So “apology is a crucial aspect of reconciliation”949 because it brings satisfaction to survivor and victim members. “It is a signal, more than anything, that the opponent regrets its actions and wants to rebuild a new relationship on a stronger foundation.” 950 943 Don Closson, The Crusades, 944 Marian T. Horvat, Understanding the crusades, 200 4.4. Christian-Muslim reconciliation First of all, there is no one road to reconciliation. There is no right answer that has been worked out, no perfect model of reconciliation;951 that others can simply import and imitate. “In every new context, a new and multi-stranded individual process must be designed.”952But in all attempts, the first aim of reconciliation is to “break a cycle of violence and to promote peaceful coexistence.”953 For a genuine reconciliation there is a need for apology on both sides of offender and victim. This will help in many planned interreligious dialogue in Africa and especially in Rwanda. “Apology is one possible and essential mechanism that can promote reconciliation and resolution of conflict.”954 When there is no apology, there is no dialogue; no tangible action work can be taken between Christians and Muslims. 4.4.1. The Rwandan model In the case of Rwanda, different Churches and different Muslims associations are working for reconciling Rwandans after the genocide. The question is how they are doing that when they are themselves not able to talk about their shameful violent past history. To prevent the perpetuation of generational violent conflict between Christians and Muslims, there is an urgent repetition of apologizing. In Rwanda, the process of apologizing between Hutu and Tutsi started timidly and very often “it raised controversy.”955 It is visible in the confession of Detmold956where Hutu and Tutsi repented to each other in the following words: 951 David Bloomfield, Reconciliation after violent conflict, 201 We, Hutu Christians, present at Detmold, recognize that our group has oppressed the Tutsi in various ways since 1959. We confess to the massacres committed by the Hutu against the Tutsi group at different periods of Rwanda history, culminating in the genocide of 1994. We are ashamed of the horrors and atrocities committed by the Hutu towards the Tutsi: torturing, raping, slitting pregnant women open, hacking humans to pieces, burying people alive, hunting people with dogs as if they were animals, killing in churches and temples, massacring old people, children and sick in hospital, forcing people to kill their own relatives, burning people alive, denying burial and thousands of other ways of cynically degrading, mocking and putting to death. We carry the terrible weigh of this unspeakable crime and we accept to bear the consequences without resentment. We implore our Hutu brothers and sisters not to forget this terrible past when they judge the present reality in Rwanda. We humbly ask forgiveness of God and our Tutsi brothers and sisters for all the evil we have inflicted upon them. We commit ourselves to do whatever we can to restore our honour and dignity and to regain the lost humanity in their eyes.957 Tutsi group also repented of the crimes of their group: We, Tutsi Christians, present at Delmold, are happy and feel comforted by the confession and demand of forgiveness made by our brothers and sisters. We likewise ask God and Hutu to forgive the repression and blind vengeance which members of our group have taken, surpassing all claims to legitimate self-defense. Inkoni ikubise mukeba uyirenza urugo ( justifying evil on the pretext that it affects a rival, ends up by turning back on the person who justified it). We also ask God and our Hutu brothers and sisters forgiveness for certain arrogant and contemptuous attitudes shown to them throughout our history in the name of ridiculous complex of ethnic superiority.958 957 Confession of Detmold, 202 Western Christian repented: We, western Christians present at Detmold, grateful for the friendship and trust and for the invitation of our Rwandan brothers and sisters to share in their prayer and reflexion and to listen to their sufferings and hopes, confess that since the arrival of the first Europeans in Rwanda, we have seriously contributed to the increase of divisions in the Rwandan people. We regret that, feeling too sure of our superiority, we discriminated between people by generalizing and judging some as good and others as bad. We regret that our countries have conduced violence by delivering arms to all parties. We regret our silence and our neglect of the refugees of the years of the Independence. We also regret our silence and our abandon of the Rwandan people during the genocide and massacres in 1994. We regret our silence and regret when it was question of finding a viable solution to return the refugees after the genocide. We regret our failure to listen and to share in the suffering experienced by our Rwandan friends 959 Altogether: We urge all members of Rwandan society and their friends in the International Community to feel all equally concerned by each other’s misery. We exhort them to work together to comfort and rehabilitate all who have been wounded by the Rwandan tragedy: the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, the refugees both old and recent, the homeless, and the marginalized Batwa. May everyone find recognition and respect in Rwanda and be rooted in the midst of brothers, sisters and friends. We thank the Father, who has given us his Spirit to break our “hearts of stone” and to free us from the mistrust and fear which separated us. He has remade us brothers and sisters committed to the Way of His Son, who died and rose again to reconcile man to God and to one another.960 959 Ibid. 960 Ibid. 203 This confession was criticized in seeing it as “a dangerous legacy which would weigh on future generation.”961 One critique of the confession to Fulgence Rubayiza is: “Attention, ta confession de Chrétien Hutu pèsera lourd sur ta propre descendance; tes enfants. Ne continuez pas, je vous en prie, dans ce jeu très mortel. Celui qui a péché reconnaîtra lui- même ses crimes. ”962 This criticism is for terrifying and discouraging Rwandans who want to apologize for crimes committed. A second example, during a “Youth connect dialogue”963 in June 2013, Edouard Bamporiki, the chair of Arts for Peace in Rwanda stood up and apologized for atrocities committed by his parents and genocide perpetrators, despite the fact that he didn‟t play any role in the crimes. For him it is a big shame to hear that his parents have committed Genocide against the Tutsi, so he wishes to ask for forgiveness on their behalf.964 It again created controversy among Rwandans because some of them want a silence around crimes in saying that the apology should be an individual and a private affair, adding that the issue of apologizing in public may not be good, it may lead again Rwandans into killings.965 An individual acknowledgement of the offense is deeper than a collective apology. But at the same time, apologizing for crime and genocide is a first step for healing memories in Rwanda as stated Fulgence Rubayiza in his book Guérir le Rwanda de la violence.966 For example in the Rwamagana District in the Eastern Province, 527 prisoners wrote messages to 742 victims they offended during genocide seeking forgiveness. One of their wishes was to meet victims and to ask forgiveness also publically.967 If Hutus and Tutsis are able to confess, why cannot Christians and Muslims do the same in the name of peace for anti-religious violence and dialogue, which will prevent violence in Rwanda? Confessing is an act of humility; it seems to reduce down the actor but it is a courageous act. In 961 Tharcisse Gatwa, Ibid, p.223 962 Fulgence Rubayiza, Guérir le Rwanda de la violence, Ed. L‟Harmattan, 1998, p.127. 963 Youth connect dialogue, is an annual meeting connecting youth to role models, resources, skills and economic development. 964 Jean Nzeyimana, The controversy about apologies of Abahutu towards Abatutsi, 204 Islam and in Christianity, humility is one of the greatest values even if there is a difference between Jesus and Muhammad in that matter. 4.5. Apologizing in the name of an Institution 4.5.1. Apology of political leaders An apology has a power to heal individuals and communities. When you “apologize to someone you have hurt, disappointed, neglected, betrayed, you give him a wonderful gift that is far more healing than almost anything else we can give.”968 An apology has power because it “has the ability to disarm the anger of others, to prevent further misunderstandings, and to bridge the distances between people.”969 It is in that framework that on 25th March 1998 in Kigali, the former US President Bill Clinton apologized in these words: I have come today to pay the respects of my nation to all who suffered and all who perished in the Rwandan genocide. The international community, together with nations in Africa, must bear its share of responsibility for this tragedy, as well. We did not act quickly enough after the killing began. We should not have allowed the refugee camps to become safe haven for the killers. We did not immediately call these crimes by their rightful name: genocide. We cannot change the past. But we can and must do everything in our power to help you build a future without fear, and full of hope.970 On 7th April 2000, when the former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt apologizes to Rwanda, “he assumes publicly responsibility for Belgian inaction to avert the genocide.”971 In attended the commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the genocide in Kigali, and he seized the occasion to apologize. In his words: “I take on the responsibility of my country, according to 968 Beverly Engel, The Power of Apology: Healing Steps to Transform All Your Relationships, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc, NY, USA, 2001, p.12. 969 John Wiley and Sons, The power of apology, 205 what we have learnt afterword, in the name of my country and of my people, I beg your pardon.”972 Kofi Annan failed to apologize973 On 7th May 1998, the former General Secretary of UN, Kofi Annan traveled to Rwanda in attempting to repair the image of the United Nations and, called his trip a mission of healing.974He wanted to restore the broken political relationship between the United Nations and Rwanda. But, Kofi Anan essentially failed to fulfill his mission. In his address to the Rwandan parliament Koffi Annan did not accept “any personal responsibility for the Rwandan genocide.”975 He never acknowledged personal responsibility for any individual mistakes he had made in not preventing the genocide. Koffi Annan stated that he had no regrets in his handling of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.976 His no regret comments, made him appear before the Rwandan audience as an arrogant leader without remorse. Koffi Annan opted “not to identify a specific culprit for the failure of the UN to involve itself in the Rwandan genocide.”977 Survivors of genocide argued that Koffi Annan speech made them suffer again. Normally the most basic meanings of an apology is “the act of recognition.”978An official apology in its first instance is a simple recognition of some sorts of direct or indirect responsibility and acknowledgement of what happened in the past.979 972 Role of the international community in the Rwandan Genocide, < 206 4.5.2. Apology of Church leaders Confessing in the name of an Institution, Roman Catholic leaders in Rwanda failed to formulate any word of confession or repentance until later in 2016. They referred to individual crimes whose authors must personally repent but without any acknowledgement of the need for confession and repentance in the name of the Roman Catholic Church as an institution.980 But in May 1995, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Georges Carey, on behalf of Anglican Church went to Rwanda himself to apologize.981 In 1996, Pope John Paul sent a message to the Rwandan people in which he wrote: “The Church cannot be held responsible for the guilt of its members that have acted against the evangelical law; they will be called to render account of their own actions.”982 But two years after in 1998, he spoke openly of supposed errors and sins of Christians in connection with, among other things, the Crusades, the Inquisition, persecution of Jews and there also without mentioning holocaust.983 The Roman Catholic bishops of Rwanda referred to individual crimes whose authors must personally repent but without any acknowledgement of the need for confession and repentance in the name of the Roman Catholic Church as an institution, they failed to formulate any word of apology contrary to their colleagues of France, who declared on 30th September 1997: Today we confess that silence was guilt. We acknowledge that the Church in France failed its mission as an educator of conscience, and thus, together with the Christian community, it carries the responsibility for not having given the first helping hand when protestation and protection were still possible and necessary. That failure of the Church in France and its responsibility towards the Jewish people are part of its history. We confess that guilt. We implore the forgiveness of God and ask the Jewish people to listen to this word of repentance.984 980 Tharcisse Gatwa, Ibid., p.229. 981 Ronald Simkins, The context of religion and violence, in Journal of religion and society, Supplement series 2, 2007, 207 The Catholic Church of France understood “that conscience is stirred by remembrance and that no society or individual can be at peace if their past has been repressed or wrongly represented.”985 The Presbyterian Church of Rwanda, which has built two memorials of genocide at Remera Rukoma and Kirinda for honoring its own members killed on both sites, was the first Protestant Church in Rwanda to apologize in 1996 in writing: “In the name of the members of the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda, repent and ask forgiveness before GOD and the nation for our weakness and lack of courage when these were needed.”986 Twenty two years after the genocide, on Sunday 20th November 2016, The Catholic Church in Rwanda apologized for the church‟s role in the 1994 genocide in regretting the actions of those who participated in the massacres. We apologize for all the wrongs the church committed. We apologize on behalf of all Christians for all forms of wrongs we committed. We regret that church members violated [their] oath of allegiance to God‟s commandments, forgive us for the crime of hate in the country to the extent of also hating our colleagues because of their ethnicity. We didn‟t show that we are one family but instead killed each other.987 The statement from the Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops was read out in all parishes across the country. The bishops‟ statement was seen as a positive development in Rwanda‟s efforts at reconciliation by different association genocide victims and the Rwandan government itself. On 20th March 2017 at the eve of commemoration of the 22nd anniversary again a new and unexpected gesture appeared from the Pope Francis, he implored anew God's forgiveness for the sins and failings of the church and its members, among whom priests and religious men and women who succumbed to hatred and violence, betraying their own evangelical mission, Francis Desclée de Brouwer, 1997, p.15. 985 Sacred Heart University, Declaration of repentance by the Roman Catholic bishop of France, 208 added that: he hoped that this humble recognition of the failings of that period, which, unfortunately, disfigured the face of the Church, may contribute to a 'purification of memory and promote renewed trust988 We must continue to say it and repeat it. Repetition is very important, the renewal of the act of repentance is fundamental. It not only happens once. The example I could give is the Evangelical Churches of Germany (EKD), which renewed the act of repentance towards the Jews several times in 1951, 1960, 1961, in 1971. These public acts of repentance mark a positive evolution of the institution vis-à-vis to its past, facing memory. Sincere repentance causes pain of moral regret and can lead to reconciliation. Martin Luther said that "confession is the only remedy for distressed consciences." 989 988 Journal liberation, 209 4.6. Healing and violence prevention Because there was no healing about the violent religious past history, missionaries with wounds entered in Rwanda to evangelize and also the history of Arab Muslim traders of slaves developed the violent spirit against Muslims. Quickly at the beginning of Christian evangelization, these wounds created what the White Father Serge Moussa Traoré called a collective violent negative feeling and thinking against Muslims. In other words, for him, Christians developed such a feeling and thinking simply because Muslims were different. That difference is unacceptable. It is disturbing.990 The collective violent negative feeling creates a net separation between Christians and Muslims in Rwanda. Father Serge Moussa Traoré confessed in his mémoires that: I spent hours explaining to Catholics, and especially priests, the necessity of participating in interfaith encounters. Everywhere I met resistance, hesitation, refusal, fears, and doubts. Some Catholics were afraid of being excommunicated if they were seen associating with Muslims and Protestants. Other Catholics even doubted of my priestly ordination. For them a real priest could not be friend of Muslims and Protestants. Some Catholics were even more surprised to know that someone whose mother is Muslim could become a Catholic priest. It is unthinkable in Rwanda. I advertised myself as an expert in interfaith dialogue, ready to give talks and seminars on the subject. Nobody in the Roman Catholic Church of Rwanda needed me for that.991 In 2011, he was notified that the Roman Catholic Church disagreed with his participation to the Muslim-Christian program in Rwanda. He stopped collaboration with the program of Muslim- Christian Relations in Rwanda. For him the Catholic Church in Rwanda does not believe in interreligious dialogue. The door of dialogue is closed. Interreligious dialogue is not a priority in Rwandan churches. Very recently, in October 2013, a young Church musician called Théogène Uwilingiyimana from a Pentecostal Church, recorded a song with the help of a Muslim producer. The Pentecostal Church leaders reacted in stating that: “we do not understand how a Church 990 Memoires de Serge Moussa Traoré, unpublished, 2010 991 Ibid, Memoires de Serge Moussa Traoré, 2010. 210 musician like Théogène can work with a Muslim who doesn‟t believe in Jesus as his King and Savior. We asked him to apologize, we can‟t tolerate that. Without that, we will stop his activities in the Church because he has lost our confidence.”992 Jean Claude Basset thinks that this kind of closing the doors to Islam by Christians, is caused by the fact that, “Islam is very often perceived, on a local level or on the world scale as a political, social or cultural threat because of trends that cross it currently”993 In the Muslim community the feeling of rejecting Christians is also present. In a conversation had with the former Mufti of Rwandan Sheikh Habimana Saleh, known as a partisan of interreligious dialogue, he was requested to explain, to respond and to defend himself a front of a High Muslim Council many times, as to why he is interacting so much with Christians.994 This is confirmed by White Father Stamer Josef who says that in Africa, Imams who are welcoming Christian initiatives are dismissed by their community and replaced by others.995 As said Father Serge Traoré, interreligious dialogue suffers today from the suspicion of hypocrisy.996 In the words of Jean Claude Basset: There is a great mutual ignorance between Muslim and Christian communities. There is a material ignorance of what constitutes the essential of the faith and the religious life of the other. This is sometimes the source of incidents of intolerance, vexations and mockeries. Christians and Muslims don't know themselves and from this come doctrinal difficulties from both sides. In addition to the ignorance and prejudices inherited of the past centuries, there are misunderstandings, distrusts and fears.997 992 Patrick Munyentwali, Gukorana indirimbo n’umuyisilamu ntibivugwaho rumwe muri ADEPR, 211 The lack of communication between the members of these religious communities makes continuing false pictures and prejudices.998 These tensions are activated by the history that has been taught us which is anchored very deeply in our collective memory, it is the history of our wars.999 This collective violent, negative feeling and thinking against Muslims is very dangerous as history has shown. For example in Rwanda, the collective negative feeling and thinking against Tutsi lead to genocide. I agree with Father Serge when he says that: “The collective violent negative feeling and thinking is a mental construction. It is not just against the Tutsi. If Rwandans were capable of collective violence against the Tutsi it means that they are simply capable of collective violent negative feeling and thinking that could be directed to any group.”1000 Eckhart Tolle affirms this: “the collective resentments of the violent past religious history can survive for centuries in the psyche of a nation or a community and it can fuel a cycle of perpetual violence.”1001 In the process, the crusades and Arab slave trade damaged Christian and Muslims relations, the effects of which are felt until today. 1002In particular, the case of national reconciliation of Rwanda where Christians and Muslims organizations are actively involved, reconciliation between Christians and Muslims is a prerequisite urgent need before to be engaged in reconciliation between Hutu and Tutsi. How reconciliation can be done if interreligious dialogue is not a priority for Imams and Priests in Rwanda? Their past violent history is hidden. If in Rwanda the causes and sources of violence are not named, examined and eliminated, there will be little chance of reaching reconciliation. A genuine approach would bring people to engage with one another through a transformational dialogue to discover the ideological, political and historical factors that led to the tragedy.1003 998 Anank Nayak, Ibid, p.254 999 Ibid, p.359. 1000 Serge Moussa`Traoré, Reflexion on interreligious dialogue, unpublished document 2010. 1001 Eckhart Tolle, Nouvelle Terre, l’avènement de la conscience humaine, traduit de l‟anglais par Annie J.Olivier, Outremont: Ariane Editions, 2005, p.54. 1002 Gerrie ter Haar (ed), Ibid, p. 123. 1003 Tharcisse Gatwa, Ibid, p.223. 212 4.7. PROCMURA and Healing of memories The Program for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA) is the oldest and pioneer interfaith organization in the continent of Africa, with a specific focus on Christians‟ relations with Muslims. Founded in 1959, PROCMURA is dedicated to promote within the churches in Africa.1004 It promotes the atmosphere of being good neighbours, mutual respect, and tolerance. It is organizing faith communities to ensure that conflicts between Christians and Muslims are solved peacefully and without violence. It is the only African continental body which helps Christian churches in bilateral relations with Muslims. Its first step of healing memories and reconciliation is to sit together and talk, listen to one and another. In Rwanda, PROCMURA allowed Christians and Muslims to sit together for the first time in 1997 when the PROCMURA comity was created in Rwanda. After, a series of conferences on different themes were organized with PROCMURA headquarters collaboration. Participants discovered that Christians and Muslims can live and work together peacefully. This was the success of PROCMURA in Rwanda. But in healing of memories there is a need of making other steps and going beyond in not only organizing and turning on seminars and conferences with themes well selected for not compromising good relations between Christians and Muslims. After building bridges of mutual understanding, there is a need to deepen Christian and Muslim relations in “stimulating debate about Christian and Muslim history and its significances, if possible creating a space for remorse and regretting the interreligious atrocities committed in today‟s time and in the past.”1005 Secondly there is a need of an effort of building visible and tangible works in common at the grassroots levels after many years in organizing Christian and Muslim meetings. 1004 PROCMURA, 213 4.8. The role of Gacaca courts in healing memories The “Gacaca” 1006 court was part of a system of community justice mechanism inspired by tradition and established in 2001 in Rwanda. It is complemented by the national Rwandan court system. It was led by a panel of more ten judges called Inyangamugayo. The main objective of Gacaca was truth telling which is “a pre-condition of reconciliation because it creates objective opportunities for people to see the past in terms of shared suffering and collective responsibility.”1007 Survivors and perpetrators came all together to witness truth telling, which involved recounting verbal memories of violence and trauma. In this traditional judiciary system, many people have acknowledged their involvement in genocide and Gacaca stressed “apology as an important ingredient to promote reconciliation.”1008 One of the innovative elements of the Gacaca law is the confession procedure. Prisoners who confess and ask for forgiveness can receive dramatic reductions in penalties. Reductions are greatest for those who confess before the proceedings against them start, either while in prison or at the very beginning of the Gacaca proceedings, when they are explicitly asked if they want to confess. Reductions are smaller for those who confess only during the Gacaca procedure, while penalties are unchanged for those who do not confess at all but are found guilty. Additionally, up to half of the sentence of all convicted can be transmuted into community service (travaux d’intérêt général), the modalities of which are yet to be determined by further laws. To benefit from the community service provisions, the accused have to ask for forgiveness publicly.1009 1006 The word Gacaca comes from the word umucaca which can be roughly translated into English as short and clean cut grass where a community would traditionally sit and meet to discuss issues of concern. People of integrity (elders and leaders) in the village known as inyangamugayo would facilitate a discussion that any member of the community could take part in. See Gacaca, 214 The Gacaca process played the role of preventing the transgenerational transmission of trauma because the painful memories about past atrocities were narrated. The Gacaca process allowed to many victims to know exactly where and how their relatives were killed and buried. They felt healed when the community recognized their pains and these traditional courts allowed them “to tell their stories in front of an empathetic audience and to hear similar stories from others.”1010In general, survivors and perpetrators benefited from Gacaca courts. The opportunity to speak openly at Gacaca about events and emotions concerning the genocide has contributed to their personal healing. Many guilty suspects claim to have gained a sense of release from feelings of shame and social dislocation by confessing to, and apologizing for, their crimes in front of their victims and the wider community at Gacaca.1011 The storytelling in Gacaca courts provided the opportunity of reintegration into the community, that why the psychological aspect of healing was is still a priority in Rwanda. It is true that “healing at the psychological level allows for the rebuilding and mending of the broken relationships.”1012 Viateur Ndikumana confirm in his thesis that storytelling is important than reconciliation and amnesty. 1013 In the Gacaca courts, closed in June 2012, Hutu and Tutsi told their violent past stories for seeking justice and reconciliation. That has not yet happened between Christians and Muslims. This Rwandan model of reconciliation can influence positively Christians and Muslims to talk openly about their past histories for healing and in order to develop visions for the future. 1010 Phil Clark, The Gacaca Courts, Post Genocide Justice and Reconciliation in Rwanda: Justice without Lawyers,Cambridge University Press, NY, 2010, p.262. 1011 Larry May and Andrew Forcehimes, Morality, Jus Post Bellum, and International Law, Cambridge University Press, NY, 2012, pp58-59. 1012 UN report, Reconstructing Public Administration After Conflict: Challenges, practices, and lessons learned, NY, 2010, p.17. 1013 Ndikumana Viateur, Mémoire collective et construction d’une identité par un ennemi commun. Editions Universitaires Européennes, Saarbrucken, Germany, 2012, p.255. 215 4.9. The power of memorials in the healing of memories The most important function of monuments is to remember. Considered “as symbolic interpretations of the past, they are sites where memories meet, merge, mismatch and mark relationships between past, present and future. Memorials give history a sense of factuality.”1014All historical memorials of the past must be protected for healing. Some of these memorials are painful and shameful like these related to the Arab slave trade and crusades. Photo Africa house hotel The tendency is to hide and not to tell the truth about what happened. Hiding the history maintains suspicion and indifferences between Christians and Muslims, which leads to more violence later. To prevent interreligious violence in the future, it would be good to increase the number of monuments. “The state must spend more on historical research, and support local and private initiatives, and business should sponsor museums. All old churches, mosques, and synagogues should be restored.”1015 1014 Laragh Larsen, Memorialisation and memory of human right abuses: a Kenya example, 216 When there is an opportunity of coming and working together, Christians and Muslims must rise up memorials which show their collaboration. In Rwanda some Christian and Muslim initiatives were created for working together, but today there is nothing as a tangible sign or memorial representing their common work. This is the case of the Christian and Muslim Program in Centre de Formation et de Documentation of the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda started in 1997. This Program did a great work in organizing meetings and training Christians and Muslims on different social and economic themes. After such experience for more than 15 years, there is a need of tangible common actions in building memorials which will show to the coming generations that Christians and Muslims have worked together in different domains. The building of memorials constitutes “a powerful mechanism for redressing past abuses and is often essential in efforts to achieve societal healing and reconciliation.”1016 This is confirmed by Lisa Moore of Princeton University for whom, the process of constructing an inclusive memorial can facilitate necessary dialogue which can help to end social antagonism and heal painful wounds.1017 Hiding and suppressing memories of the suffering of victims doesn‟t help in reconciliation.1018 1016 Laragh Larsen, Memorialisation and memory of human right abuses: a Kenya example, 217 4.9.1. Memorial and reconciliation in Rwanda After the genocide, Hutus and Tutsis started building memorials for healing and reconciliation. In 2004 the Kigali Memorial Centre was opened as a permanent exhibition of the Rwandan genocide. It was constructed by the cooperation of the Kigali City Council and the UK-based Aegis Trusta, a British anti-genocide organization. The memorial is a place of remembrance, counselling and learning for Rwandans and international visitors, built on the mass graves of 250,000 people killed there in 1994.1019 It also has a documentation Centre.1020 Some memorials are in churches where thousands of people were exterminated. “Memorialization has been positioned as a central part of the healing process of Rwandan communities and society as a whole.”1021 The government of Rwanda through CNLG (Commission Nationale de Lutte contre le Genocide) is continuing to construct memorials in all over the country. 4.9.2 Churches in Rwanda and memorials What can surprise a foreigner is to discover that some Christian churches were transformed into memorial centres dedicated to the genocide of the Tutsis in 1994. “Its contents are a reminder of the horrifying violence that took place at the church site.”1022 - The Nyamata Memorial Centre was a Roman Catholic Church where 2.500 people were exterminated in and the area surrounding the church. The Ntarama Memorial Centre was also a Roman Catholic Church where intensive killings of the 1994 Rwandan genocide took place. The floor of that Church is still showing the atrocious violence. 5.000 of people were killed. The Nyarubuye Memorial Centre, a Roman Catholic Church, “was turned into a brutal murder zone where 20.000 people were attacked with machetes and blunt objects along 1019 Véronique Mistiaen, Peace-building courses in Rwanda help next generation learn from the past, 218 with guns and grenades, which were thrown into the church.”1023 Tutsi were methodically hunted down, first in the church, then in the schools, and then in the surrounding buildings. Sacred place was turned into a brutal murder site and also a final resting place for the victims of Hutu violence.1024 The Kibuye Memorial Centre is near Lake Kivu. It sits next to the Roman Catholic Church, the site of a major massacre. The memorial's close proximity to the church demonstrates how the genocide continues to play a central role in the day to day life of Rwandans.1025 The Ruhanga Memorial Centre situated in Gasabo District, was an Anglican Church. It contains the remains of at least 32.000 people were burned to death during the genocide. The memorial at Nyange Church, was a Roman Catholic parish where 2.500 Tutsis perished inside the Church. Father Athanase Seromba the responsible of Nyange Church, ordered the driver of a caterpillar bulldozer, Athanase Nkinamubanzi to demolish the church. He asked the priest: Is it true that you are ordering me to destroy this Church? The priest replied: We Hutus are numerous and will build another one. A memorial site was erected on the former church.1026That Priest “was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Arusha Based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, ICTR.”1027 The Presbyterian Church of Rwanda had built two memorials of genocide at Remera Rukoma in 1995 and Kirinda in 1997. 1023 Gignacky, Church massacre at Nyarubuye during the genocide, 219 4.9.3. Memorial Genocide Day On 23rd December 2003, the United Nations General Assembly, named April 7 as an international day of reflection on genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda. This day commemorates the deaths of more than 1.000.000 people who were murdered in 100 days, from April to July in 1994. In Rwanda and around the world, many people hold memorial on that day ceremonies that include: To set up the flame of hope that will light up for 100 days. The flame is a sign of hope despite the tragedy in which more one million Rwandans perished. At that day, a minute of silence at 12h AM is marked in all over the country to honor the victims. Walks to remember are organized by “young Rwandans to remember victims and to speak up against genocide and crimes against humanity. Similar walks are also prepared in different parts of the country as well as in different parts of the world.”1028 The Government of Rwanda has not only assigned April 7th as a day of National Mourning, but the entire week of April 7th – 13th. That week of the commemoration is observed through conducting various activities including, but not limited to talk about the atrocities of genocide, exhibitions, conferences and debates, visits to genocide memorial sites, re-burials of those bodies that were discovered in mass graves, and visits to genocide survivors, especially orphans and widows. 1029 The Government of Rwanda has also dedicated April 13th to the recognition and commemoration of the politicians who stood against the killing of the Tutsis and, because of their refusal to embrace the extremist ideology, were themselves killed. That particular day is commemorated at Rebero Hill in Kigali, where those identified among the politicians are buried. 1030 1028 Republic of Rwanda, 19th commemoration of the genocide, 220 Conclusion Genocide commemoration has become a community effort; a series of events are held that contribute to building unity and reconciliation for all Rwandans. It is not a time only for tears and remembering atrocities, but a time to support one another and commit to a brighter future. 1031 Different memorials constructed in all over the country, help to heal the wounds of antagonism and to stimulate “individuals to reflect on what they can do to prevent future violence.” 1032 The construction of genocide memorials all over the country is continuing even today for allowing Rwandans to remember and to sustain “the humanity of those who were killed”1033for preventing such killings in the future. 1031 Ibid. 1032 Lisa Moore, Recovering the past, remembering trauma: the politics of commemoration at sites of atrocity, 221 General conclusion The present study was set out to explore; first of all the root causes of anti-Islam attitudes in prospecting the thoughts and attitudes of the first Christian missionaries who entered in Rwanda caring the memory of the Middle Age crusades, the Arab slave trade in East Africa, and the interreligious violence in Uganda. In Rwanda, the violent tensions and mutual rejection between Christians and Muslims resulted from missionary resentments brought from their background. Secondly the study has also sought to find out why East Africa where Rwanda is located has been a permanent cycle of violence. It was found that for the first missionaries who had had experienced in fighting against Arab trade of slaves from Algeria, they considered important to block all ways to the expansion of Islam and ban Rwandan Traditional Religion. Since their arrival, they put in place a series of strategies to reach their goal. These consisted in the discouragement of African customs and the ban of Africans languages in mission schools. To put it briefly, “African heritage was ridiculed and suppressed.”1034 Nevertheless, the study depicted that African Traditional Religion resisted and kept its presence up today. Beyond the resistance in facing missionary hostilities, Rwandan Traditional Religion was able to influence Christianity and Islam. Thirdly, besides the imposition of Christianity, the Arab slave trade and colonialism are root causes of African suffering, and important factors to understand the daily religious, social, and economic life of African people. From the beginning, strategies put in place by missionaries and colonizers generated all sorts of violence in the contemporary history. Up today, on the demarcation line between the North and the South of Africa, there are perpetual wars and conflicts between Christians and Muslims, from Mauritania, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, to Somalia. And slavery as an old institution is still going on accompanied by a total silence surrounding it in Africa. 1034 Pearson Schweiz, Colonialism and the African Experience, 222 223 Fourthly, the past history between Christianity and Islam has affected all types of interreligious relations initiated until today because of the lack of tangible efforts to the healing of memories after the historical religious violence caused by Crusades, Arab slave trade and colonization which left open wounds. In fact skepticism, suspicion, mistrust and ignorance, between Christians and Muslims are continuing surface in Rwanda and in the Great Lakes Region. “Healing of memories is one of the tasks challenging the various religious traditions.”1035 The challenged new agenda of interreligious encounter for preventing violence in the future noted Professor Robert Schreiter, is first of all “sharing memories of the past.”1036 In the same line, the findings of this study reaffirm the challenge lies in the fact that Muslims and Arabs are not yet ready to acknowledge the devastating trauma caused by Arab slave trade and the humiliation of colonialism on many Africans minds. Healing and reconciliation will not be realized by forgetting, by keeping silence or by suppressing the traumatic violent past history. Edgar Gutiérrez, a Guatemalan political analyst adds that when memory is not worked on, then reconciliation is not deepened. 1037 Fifthly, after many centuries of that inhuman trade which deeply affected the socio-economic framework, there is an urgent need of starting the process of healing and reconciliation that would involve with different religious communities. To be sure, the process of truth recovery will come out from a psychological healing. “If victims of violence and other forms of rights- abuse are not worked on, people will remain traumatized and shattered. They will fell vulnerable and helpless and will have a distorted picture of society and humanity.”1038 1035 Ibid. 1036 Robert Schreiter, Sharing memories of the past, 224 Sixthly, the study discovered that the process of healing and reconciliation requires all of us to condemn violence and apologize for past religious violence and wrongdoings. There is a need for a mea culpa as did Pope John Paul II who was the first Catholic leader to deliver “an unprecedented sweeping apology for what he called “wrongdoings” of Catholics throughout the past of two thousand years.”1039 Late Muammar al Gadhafi former president of Libya (1942- 2011) was the first Arab leader to apologize for the Arab trade of slaves in Africa. Both leaders “attempted to break a thousand years of mutual distrust”1040 and wanted to begin the process of healing memories. It turns out that with regard to religion based violence referred to above. Within violence originating from religion, Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and Muslims have to apologize regularly on behalf of their respective religions for crimes and atrocities committed in the past. Although, it is hard to apologize for centuries of atrocities and cruelties committed in the past, it is the only way to deal with “the complex relationship between Christians and Muslims, rooted in a thousand years of history.”1041 But discovering the root causes of interreligious violence and expressing regular apologies from all sides will help Christians and Muslims to be healed, to prevent future violence, to work and to live together in peace and “to overcome past resentments and prejudices.”1042 For the particular case of post genocide context of Rwanda, different Christian churches existing in Rwanda confess regularly their involvement in genocide. As all churches have a confession moment every Sunday in their liturgy, the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda was the first to confess publicly the shame and the participation of its members in Genocide against Tutsi. Other few Protestant churches followed the example. But the Roman Catholic Church also should have the audacity to admit and if possible to confess its responsibility in the Rwandan genocide. It would be an important approach for strengthening reconciliation among Rwandans and building a new society. The Presbyterian Church apology was a result of dialogue among its members and 1039 John Vennari, Apologies at the service of ecumenism, 225 leaders. The courage to talk about what happened and the position of the church during genocide have been the engine to confess to the Rwandan society. Although Christians and Muslims are united when it comes to the fight the genocide ideology and the promotion of reconciliation process in Rwanda, but they kept silence of their past history and interreligious violence which also murdered physically and psychologically many people in the past and created mistrust among both religions. Why keeping silence for a history which cost the lives of people. If the story and truth telling has built the trust and reconciliation between Hutu and Tutsi, the same principle of reconciliation can be used to settle the interreligious conflict between Christians and Muslims in Rwanda and in East African Region of Africa. Pointing to areas of further research, Africa must not forget that, for half a millennium, her children were slaves. The response to their sacrifice is to honor their memory and thereby ensure that no such sacrifice will be made again. Even if slavery is “immoral and illegal according to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights,”1043 Unfortunately it is persisting in multiform ways in the world. A serious work on memories would be a good strategy of preventing religion based violence in the future and building sustainable and peaceful interreligious relations. 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