Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Islam – Kenya'

The thesis analyzes the Muslim presence and representations of Islam among the Meru people of Kenya in the 20th century. The circumstances leading to the establishment of pioneer Muslim communities by the 'Swahili', the Nubians and the Mahaji, in Meru are examined. The rejection or acceptance of Islam by the people of Meru is linked to theories of conversion. The main emphasis is on the local manifestations of Islam. Case material from Meru town and the neighbouring areas is cited. Local representations of Islam and Muslim identity are analyzed in relation to the oppositional dyad of Dini / Ushenzi. The thesis argues that the opposition of Dini to Ushenzi has continuously impinged upon the local manifestation of Islam in Meru. Examples of how this stereotyped notion is transposed from its coastal cultural milieu and applied in a 'fossilized' form by Muslims in Meru are given. The shift in the early 1960s from the previous emphasis on distinctions between the three Muslim groups, to the need for a common Muslim community identity, is linked to the post-independence social-economic crisis that threatened the presence of Islam in Meru. The mechanics of the construction and consolidation of an urban Muslim community identity are examined. The analysis of the internal dynamics of the emergent urban Muslim community focuses on the notion of the propriety of religious practice and behaviour. An examination of the influence of Tabligh during the last decade, (1980- 1990) reveals an increase in the Muslim activities in Meru. Throughout the 1980s Islam spread slowly, almost unobtrusively, in the rural areas in the northern part of Meru. The analysis of the forces underpinning this process; and the resultant dilemma of conflicting identities of individual converts living in the rural areas, is placed within the local social context.

The Mijikenda peoples of the Kenya coast have been in contact with Muslims at least since the 17th century. The first Mijikenda conversions to Islam occurred in the 18th century through the influence of neighbouring Swahili peoples. Early Mijikenda converts migrated to Swahili towns, thereby establishing a pattern of urban islamization that kept Islam from spreading among the Mijikenda. Beginning in the 1830s, the East African economy expanded, and Muslim commercial activity in the coastal hinterland increased. The migration of Muslims to settle near Mijikenda villages led to closer relations between Muslims and Mijikenda. By the middle of the 19th century, the cultural influence of Islam was evident among the Mijikenda, but few Mijikenda had become Muslim. This was due as much to an absence of proselytising by Muslims as to the strength and integrity of Mijikenda society. Differing Mijikenda settlement patterns north and south of Mombasa influenced the way Islam spread. North of Mombasa, Mijikenda Muslim converts continued to immigrate to towns and or to separate Mijikenda Muslim villages. South of Mombasa, beginning in the 1850s, Digo Mijikenda converts remained resident in their home villages, while centring their social and religious life as Muslims in town. Under the continuing influence of Swahili and other Muslims, including immigrants to Digo villages, Islam slowly gathered strength among the Digo. By the end of the 19th century, the Digo had already built several mosques, and educated Digo Muslims were teaching and actively proselytising among their fellow Digo. Colonial rule brought changes that affected the growth of Islam among the Mijikenda. Legal rulings in favour of Islamic law strengthened Islam, which eventually emerged as the majority religion among the Digo south of Mombasa. The economic decline of Muslim towns and villages weakened Islam north of Mombasa, where only a minority of Mijikenda became Muslim. -

This thesis explores how Kenyan Christians perceive Islam and Muslims. The thesis approaches the problem by examining various Christian writings. Substantial and representative Christian literature was found in the form of scholarly writing, produced by Kenyan mainline Christians, and in the form of popular literature, produced by Kenyan Neo-Pentecostals. The historiography of Islam entering into Kenya; and a historical look at Christian-Muslim relations in Kenya, with particularly an examination of the recent debate over the inclusion of kadhi courts in the constitution, were also examined. The combination of the historical and the literary approach provides breadth into the examination of how Christians in Kenya perceive Islam and Muslims. After an analysis of the history and the texts, several themes that emerge from this analysis are examined from two perspectives. One, politically oriented themes are examined to understand how Kenyan Christians symbolically contest with Muslims over public space. It is seen that the symbolic contestation concerns the legitimacy to occupy roles in the nation-building project. Two, emerging theologies of religion are teased out of the writings to gain insight into the deeper theological structures from which Kenyan Christians operate as they seek to understand and interact with the religious Other (Islam). The thesis claims that the Kenyan cultural/religious context contributes significantly, more so than traditional Christian-Muslim dynamics from outside of Africa.

Le processus de modernisation mis en place pendant la période coloniale au 19ème siècle a privilegié les hommes aux dépens des femmes dans la communauté swahili de Mombasa comme dans les autres sociétés africaines. Jusqu'à aujourd'hui, un grand nombre de femmes swahili sont tenues à l'écart du secteur formel de l'économie en raison de leur faible taux de scolarisation. Cependant, les femmes présentées dans cette thèse ont fait ou sont en train de poursuivre des études secondaires. L'enseignement secondaire en particulier a une grande influence sur les idées qu'ont les femmes sur le mariage, la taille de la famille, l'éducation des enfants, le planning familial, les rôles en fonction de l'appartenance sexuelle. Mais l'éducation à l'occidentale est-elle la solution idéale pour une meilleure intègration des femmes au processus de modernisation? Ce type d'éducation est aux plus hauts niveaux restreinte à une minorité de filles. Le plus gros obstacle a un taux élevé de scolarisation féminine est en définitive le niveau de développement économique du pays, sa politique et ses lois à l'egard des femmes. Au niveau communautaire, on assiste a une revitalisation de la culture et en particulier dans le domaine religieux. Mais la question est de savoir si cette revitalisation est essentiellement une réaction hostile au modèle de modernisation à l'occidentale ou la conséquence de son inadaptation au contexte des pays en voie de développement.
The process of modernization that began with colonial rule in the 19 th century has been benefitting men more than women in the swahili community of mombasa as in most african societies. Many swahili women have until now been excluded from formal positions because of their lack of education. The women presented here however are or have been secondary school students. Education and particularly secondary education has a great influence on women's ideas towards mariage, family size, children's education, family planning, gender roles. But is western oriented education the key to a better integration of women into the modernization process ? This type of education at the highest levels is restricted to a minority of girls. The major obstacle to girl's enrollment in schools is in the end the economic level of the whole country, its policies and laws as regards women. At the community level there is a revival of the local culture and especially in its religious aspects. But the question is whether this revival is essentially a hostile response to the western oriented modernization or simply a consequence of the latest's inadequacy in the context of developing countries

Thesis advisor: James W. Morris
In the capital city of Nairobi, Kenya, African Catholic and Sunni Muslim leaders working in the field of healthcare for those living with HIV and AIDS are faced with a unique challenge. On the one hand, they are called to attend to the spiritual well-being of the infected individual; and on the other hand, they are increasingly charged with serving as the stewards of the physical bodies of those negatively affected by such a physiologically debilitating and social stigmatized disease through certain identifiable inter-religious traditions common to both faiths. I witnessed this development firsthand while conducting fieldwork in Nairobi, interviewing Muslim and Catholic leaders working in three areas—HIV and AIDS prevention, education, and de-stigmatization. As they pertain to the common good of both religious traditions, these recorded observations and accounts help to illustrate that religious officials from within African Catholicism and Sunni Islam attempt to provide the common inter-religious traditions of mercy, hospitality, and justice in a holistic manner for those living with the virus in the city. The dissertation proceeds in the following way. The initial chapter offers an overview of the African Catholic response to the AIDS epidemic in Nairobi, Kenya. Specifically, it identifies that Catholic leaders have historically faced both a crisis and a kairos moment—or an opportunity to make real God’s presence in the lives of those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS—in practically facing the epidemic in Kenya. Chapter two relies heavily on this structure to provide an overview of the Muslim response to the epidemic in a similar way, where chapter three offers an analysis of the theological traditions common to both faiths: in the strategic area of prevention, leaders of both religions are motivated by mercy; in the area of education, they are motivated by hospitality; and in the area of de-stigmatization, they are motivated by justice. Chapter four offers an examination of remaining questions and issues pertaining to the epidemic in Kenya in relation to matters of sexuality, proposing that the religious strategic initiatives still must confront the troubling topics of sexuality in general, gender roles, and condom use as officials from both religions continue to respond to the AIDS epidemic both individually and collectively in Nairobi
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Theology

L’objectif de cette thèse est de montrer comment une communauté musulmane d'origine turque caractérisée par la culture du secret, l’informalité et l'action sociale s’institutionnalise dans la transnationalisation. Par une étude connectant la Turquie, l'Afrique du Sud, le Sénégal et le Kenya, il s'agit de comprendre ce que l’expansion transnationale vers l’Afrique subsaharienne et les interactions qui en émergent révèlent de l’institution tout en la recomposant, dans ses mécanismes organisationnels mais aussi dans sa capacité (ou non) à produire de la croyance et à susciter de l’engagement et des loyautés chez les Turcs comme chez les Africains
The goal of this work is to analyze the ways a Muslim group coming from Turkey, relying upon a culture of secret, informal bonds and social action, institutionnalizes itself through transnational expansion. Through a study connecting Turkey, South Africa, Senegal and Kenya, our aim is to understand how the transnational expansion towards Subsaharan Africa and the encounters it creates between Tuks and Africans both reveals and recomposes the logics of the institution

"Every country has religious minorities. Any study of religious minorities and the protections afforded to them must also examine the significance of minorities per se. Minorities have no internationally accepted definition. Definitions are either broad and with little specificity or narrow and exclusive. Generally, two trends with regard to minority rights can be observed. On the one hand, in many countries, a comprehensive system of the legal protection of minorities has been introduced. Here the biggest problems stem from the difference between formal and informal rights. On the other hand, a number of countries have not legally committed themselves to the protection of minorities; ranging from inadequate safeguards to non-recognition of the minority. National minorities have received broad, although not well-differentiated, reporting in the international media and attention in international organisations and its impact on the discourse on religious rights have been minimal. However, minority religious rights have featured less significantly on the public agenda. The implications of the status of national minorities and religious groups are that many minorities believe that the majority group generally receive privileged status in state structures, while the minorities are viewed with suspicion. The issue of religious representation and safeguards arose within the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya ("Kenyan Constitution") where there is a recently concluded Constitutional Review Commission that had the Christian majority object to the "excessive protection" being granted to the Muslim minority. There was a huge debate as to the extent of inclusion of Sharia in the resultant draft constitution as well as the protection of fundamental principles of human rights and Islam. The question thus arises, should one apply Sharia or enshrine it in the constitution of a country, or will this involve overprotection that may lead to long-term exploitation of the law by the minority. The Arab Republic of Egypt ("Egypt") and the Republic of Kenya ("Kenya") have been chosen as case studies as they are interesting reflections of the development of states in Africa: Kenya with a Muslim minority maintaining a hold on the application of Islamic law where there is a Christian majority, while in Egypt the Copt and Shia Muslim populations are trying to assimilate into the state. Sharia is of imporance both to Kenya and Egypt. In Egypt the entire legal system is premised on the constitutional provision that Sharia is the principle source of law, thus some religious minorities in Egypt look for ways to maintain their identity and circumvent the application of Sharia provisions. Kenya, with a Muslim religious minority, is grappling with the concept of Sharia and how far it should apply to Muslims in a country. Thus these two countries have an inverse mirror image problem of each other as between the two major world religouns, Christianity and Islam. ... Chapter one sets out the content of the research, identifies the problem and applies the methodology. Chapter two discusses the international and regional law on religious minorities with a regional emphasis on African and the Arab region. Chapter three discusses the Islamic law on religious minorities, both Muslim minorities in non-Muslim states and non-Muslim minorities in Muslim states. Chapter four will focus on case studies comparing the protection accorded to the Muslims in Kenya with the Copts in Egypt, and analysing the extent to which Kenya and Egpyt have complied with international and regional law. Chapter five will set out recommendations and conclusions." -- Introduction.
Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Naz Modirzadeh at the Department of Political Sciences, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, The American University in Cairo, Egypt
Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2004.
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html
Centre for Human Rights
LLM

The Islamic religion has become a challenge to Christianity due to its rapid growth around the world today. Christianity and Islam are both devising strategies on how to reach out to each other with their conflicting messages. Christian missiologists have come up with several approaches of doing Mission to the Muslims. However, because of the Islamic practices and beliefs that vary in different contexts or from place to place, some of the approaches are not effective in some areas. The nature of the cultural context has more often made it progressively difficult for the Christian churches and missionaries to do Mission among the Muslim countries, including those at South Coast of Kenya, the Digo folk Muslims. The call for a suitable understanding of an evangelism approach among the Digo folk Muslims is an essential concept for an effective Mission to them. There is no doubt that in Digoland, there is still a great challenge in evangelising the Digo people. Even though currently there is a good number of un-indigenous churches in this area, the problem remains that the Digo Muslims have not effectively responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ at large. It is also clear that the evangelism approaches that the Christian churches are using have not been effective. This thesis analytically examines evangelism approaches to Mission among the Digo folk Muslims by seven selected Christian churches from different denominations in the South Coast of Kenya. The study investigates the effectiveness of the evangelism approaches, which these churches are using with the Digo folk Muslims in sharing the gospel. Mostly using data collected from oral interviews, the study finds that Mission involvement to Digo Muslims is slow and not as effective as evidenced by the small number of the Muslim background believers in the selected churches. The churches and the Muslim background believers face challenges that include fear due to threats from the Muslim community as they perceive the Christians as adversaries who are stealing their members. Moreover, the few Muslims are, at times threatened with death. The churches also face challenges from the lack of effective training in Muslim evangelism in context including the financial constraints for Muslim Mission in the area. The research concludes that significantly, there is a need for the selected churches to reexamine and reconsider their evangelism approaches to Digo folk Muslims with a view to improving their ways of engaging in sharing the gospel with them. Finally, the study formulates and proposes a practical biblical model for effective Mission to these Digo Muslims.
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
D. Th. (Missiology with specialisation in Muslim Evangelism)

In Kenya, there has been a tendency to portray a separation of Church and State. However, attempts made by political leaders to separate Church and State have not successfully severed the relationship between religion and politics. The interweaving of religion and politics is the subject of this project. In particular it studies the changing relationship between Muslims and various political orders in Kenya from the pre-colonial times to the present. The study traces the role of Muslim individuals and associations under different political regimes. It explores the ways in which Muslims have politically mobilised in a context of political authoritarianism and limited space for protest. This has led to increasing politicization of Islam in Kenya with the formation of the Islamic Party of Kenya (IPK) in 1992 crystallizing the growing process of radicalization of sections of the Kenya's Muslims. Therefore, this study focuses on the politicization of Islam in Kenya and discusses the factors that triggered the process of its politicization and its challenges in Kenya's politics. Over a period of one year, a structured interview with selected informers and informal discussions was conducted. The finding of the study indicates that the emergence of politicization of Islam in Kenya is a reflection of the exclusionary-repressive politics of the various Kenyan regimes. This political system is alleged to have contributed to the perceived political marginalization of Muslims in the country. It is this perceived marginalization which Muslims are striving to overcome. The formation of the IPK was an attempt by Muslims to address this perceived political marginalization. Fearing Islamic oriented political competition the Kenyan government refused to offer the IPK recognition. It is concluded that despite the registration setback the Muslims faced in Kenya's politics, they are still a significant opposition to political leadership in the country. None the less, this study shows that Muslim political engagement is not a monolithic. There are political differences among Muslims in relation to Kenya's politics. These differences are attributed to ethnic and racial binaries exhibited within the Muslim community.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

Thesis (Ph.D. ( Migration and Displacement))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2016.
This thesis explores how the Somali diaspora constitutes itself as a collectivity by analysing identity formation processes in an interconnected postmodern world, where migration has become much common than before, where identities are not as certain as they used to be and where a trans- local sense of being connected surpasses fix national borders. I propose the concept of the cosmopolitan refugee in order to explore how Somaliness is constructed in diasporic contexts, based on the interweaving of cosmopolitan, vernacular and national identifications. Moreover, Somaliness cannot be understood today without the influence of Islam, the cosmopolitan and political implications of belonging to the umma and the importance of being seen as a “good Muslim”. Using ethnographic and narrative data, this research takes a gendered approach and moves beyond the prevailing representations of Somali women in the global imagination by presenting alternative discourses and narratives that explore the dynamics of identity constructions these women undergo in relation to cultural, religious and gender practices in the two urban contexts of Nairobi and Johannesburg. These are two interconnected cities for the Somali diaspora that metaphorical operate as a port and as island. Both places are transitional places for Somalis and in both cities the creation of the “little Mogadishus” of Eastleigh, in Nairobi, and Mayfair, in Johannesburg, generates a particular trans-local situation in which collective identity, through the repetition of cultural and religious practices, is able to transform the urban space, at the same time that the implementation of these practices makes these places to be connected between them, to the lost homeland in Somalia and to any other place in the world Somalis inhabit these days. However, due to the bigger Somali population and the historical and geographical links with Somalia, Somalis in Nairobi develop greater feelings of belonging than in Johannesburg, where isolation seems to be the more widespread feeling. Somalis in Nairobi are more exposed to cosmopolitanism due to the relationship they have with the city, the fact that Eastleigh is a point of constant transit and an important commercial hub across the Somali diaspora all around the world, and the presence of Somalis belonging to different backgrounds. In Johannesburg, the Somali population is much smaller and the isolated situation most Somalis find make them use Somaliness as a way of resilience and demarcating difference, resulting in certain vernacular and religious practices being strengthened. In this sense, Nairobi is experienced by Somalis as more cosmopolitan than Johannesburg. Nevertheless in both contexts Somaliness is constructed around a sense of unity based on: a common place of origin and mythical past, a common language, religion and “culture”, implemented in the everyday life by the habitus of cultural and religious practices. This habitus together with a narrative of the nation being constructed in the virtual spaces of Facebook and Instagram creates a strong sense of belonging to an “imagined community”. Somaliness resides not within the boundaries of a nation-state but in a trans-local sense of being connected.
MT2017

This thesis analyses the conversion processes of 17 urban Muslims in Kenya who decided to follow Jesus Christ. It first describes conversion from a multidisciplinary perspective by introducing sociological, psychological, anthropological, theological and missiological understandings of such a change in religious affiliation. Next in-depth interviews are analysed using principles of grounded theory, where new theory is developed by interaction between data from reality, the analysis and existing theories (abductive reasoning). The main findings are that the conversion of Muslims who accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord is a process that develops over a period of time through phases with a cognitive and an affective dimension. Changes with regard to convictions and attitudes take place simultaneously on several properties or ‘layers’ of both dimensions. The process is influenced by significant factors in the form of causal and intervening conditions, resulting in consequences for the convert in the form of a transformation as well as in changed relationships with the community. Gender, socio-economic level, education as well as the community from which the converts come influence the process. In order to describe the complex dynamics that are at work in such conversion processes of Muslims, a Matrix of Conversion Processes is developed in which the multiple movements of a convert on the two dimensions are put in relation to six chronological phases. A matrix of different types of conversion processes and the description of four typical processes emerge from the analysis. In order to facilitate conversion processes, cognitive and affective elements need to be addressed together. The interaction between different factors, the will-power of the person and the influence of God determine the development, an understanding that is relevant for conversion studies, as well as for missiology and the missionary task of the church in Kenya and beyond.
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
D.Th. (Missiology)