1. General Census of the Population, Ministry of Finances, 1988.

2. The sociological and historical analyses which bear on Islam in Africa tend to present the phenomenon of Islamization in the form of a permanent conflict between local religious conceptions, beliefs and magic practices and an Islam in some way “purified” into nothing more than a form of Arabic domination. Aside from this Arabic Islam there is a “Black Islam”, a sort of religious syncretism which amalgamates properly Islamic practices with magic beliefs, charlatism and maraboutism, etc. This is the point of view adopted by authors such as Vincent Monteil (L'Islam Noir, Paris, Editions Seuil, 1966) and Jean-Louis Triaud (Islam et Sociétés Soudanaises au Moyen-Age, Recherches Voltaiques 16, Paris, CNRS-CRS, 1973). Jean Rouch (“Contributions à l'histoire de Songhay”, Mémoire I.F.A.N.N # 79, Dakar, 1953) goes so far as to present Islam as being at the origin of the dissolution of the Songhay Empire, using the term “collaborators” to describe the Songhay Muslims after the Moroccan invasion in contrast to the “resistance” of those who remained faithful to animism. According to the same stereotype, Sonni Ali Ber has the right to the title of “resistant” because of his hostility to the Ulama (which was, for that matter, far from being total), whereas Askya Mohamed Touré, praised by the Tarikhs (and thus the Ulama) was a sort of “Askya fantouche” (according to Rouch).

3. L'Avenir, August 1994, p.4. A certain form of Islamism does in fact seek to purify religion, as it is practised in Niger, of all cultural contamination: this ranges from the recitation of Koranic verses wherein no local accent is permitted (one cannot help thinking of Fanon and his Blacks who rolled the “R”s) to marriage ceremonies, where in the name of simplification, any manifestation of local cultural life is rejected.

4. See Samuel Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Niger, London, The Scarecrow Press, 1979, p. 89.

5. Izala, said to be of Saudi Arabian inspiration, was introduced into Nigeria by Sheikh Aboubacar Gumi from whence it spread to the local border regions (Zinder, Maradi, and so on) and to the Nigerian capital. Still, it should not be considered to be an “ethnically based” Islam because it contains members of all the Nigerian ethnic groups and, in particular, the major merchants. The Izala call for a “return to the Koran” and, without opposing the Sunna, nonetheless extol an orthodox Islam, purified of anything that has been added to practices.

6. Sheikh Aboubacar studied initially in Windébago, with the marabout Peul Alfa Soumaye, before going to Senegal where he was initiated into Nyassism by the Chief of the brotherhood, one of whose daughters he married. Today he represents the Niger branch of Nyassism.

7. Monseignor Berliet, who died in 1992 after 40 years of service in Niger, was a man who enjoyed a great consideration among the population (who had affectionately nicknamed him Kabé) and the Church itself came to be associated with his name (“Kabé Koara”, the house of Kabé). He was also respected by political authorities.

8. “Le rôle de l'Islam dans le développment”, Symposium, Ministry of Population and Social Development, 21-25 May 1991, Niamey.

9. P. Marty, cited by Christian Coulon in Les musulmans et le pouvoir en Afrique noire, Paris, Karthala, 1989, p. 91.

10. Here one should recall the role played by “the marabout of Kountché”, Amadou Oumarou, known as Bonkano, chief of security services, who became practically the second personality of the regime until the attempted coup d'etat and his flight in 1983.

11. Op cit. Note 8.

12. Here we might recall the pilgrimages by many Songhay sovereigns to Mecca, and most especially by Askya Mohamed: “Once God had assured him possession of all the territory of Chi and once his sovereignty had been well established, he decided to pay a pilgrimage to the sacred temple of God and to visit the tomb of the Prophet. Having prepared himself, he left in the year 902” (Tarikh El-Fettach, trans. Moudas Belafosse). Askya Mohamed was invested by the Khalif Abasside and established a place of residence at Mecca for Songhay pilgrims. As for Bornau, Abdullahi Smith recalls that the

... Ulama Kanembou often pursued their studies at Al-Azhar. For these scholars, the source of all learning lay in classical Arabic literature. Their interest in this was not only required by their religion, but could readily be indulged in because of the close cultural connections which actually existed between Kanem and the Arabic-speaking world of North Africa and the Middle East. In Kanem, the performance of the pilgrimage, for example, appears, even in those early times, to have had a greater importance than in any other part of the Sudan. The route by which pilgrims then went to the holy cities lay through Egypt which, from the 13th century onwards, was emerging as the greatest international centre of learning in the whole of the Islamic world. In about 1240 AD, Kanemembou scholars founded their own madrasa in al-Fustat, for the study of the Maligi law and for the accommodation of visitors to Cairo from their countries. (Abdoullahi Smith, “The Legend of the Seifuwa”, in A New Little Light, Zaria, Gaskya Corporation, 1987, pp.25-26.

13. Adam M. Fari, L'Islam et les scolaires: l'islamisme chez les étudiants de l'Université de Niamey, Mémoire de Sociologie, Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Université Abdou Moumouni Diotto, 1992, p. 15.

14. L'Avenir (N2), March 1994.

15. Jean-Louis Triaud, “L'Islam et l'Etat en République du Niger”, Le Mois en Afrique (192-193), 1982, p.3.

16. Ibid., p. 39.

17. Ibid.

18. Abdoulaye Niandou-Souley, “Les licenciés du Caire et l'Etat au Niger”, in René Otayek (ed.) Le radicalisme islamique en Afrique au Sud du Sahara — Da'wa, arabisation et critique de l'Occident, Paris, Karthala - MSHA, 1993, pp. 213-227.

19. Abdoulaye Niandou-Souley, “La variable islamique dans la politique extérieure du Niger”, rapport de séminaire, Université de Bordeaux 1, 1988.

20. Jean-Louis Triaud, op cit. Note 15, p. 39.

21. Risalat al-jihad, Spring 1992.

22. L'Avenir (3), August 1994.

23. Iqra (8), January 1992.

24. Ibid.

25. L'Avenir (3), August 1994.

26. L'Avenir (2), March 1994.

27. L'Avenir (3), August 1994.

28. Iqra (8), January 1992.

29. Le Républicain (3), September 1992.

30. AIN, Manifeste pour la réhabilitation de l'Islam au Niger, undated, Niamey.

31. Ibid., p.3.

32. Ibid., p.14.

33. Ibid., p.4.

34. Ibid., p.15.

35. Ibid., p.20.

36. Jeune Afrique, July 1994.

37. Ibid.

Islamic Renewal in Niger: from Monolith to Plurality

Abstract