Islam among the Tuareg
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The history of Islam among the Tuareg began during the lifetime of the prophet and founder of religion Mohammed in the 7th century. Troops of Arab camel riders pushed inland from the Mediterranean coast to spread the new religion, Islam , in Africa. If necessary, armed force was used. They pushed through the Libyan Fezzan before and zentralsaharischen highlands until the Niger Ténéré came -Wüste, north of Lake Chad . Today all Tuareg are Muslim.
history
In Africa, Islam is one of the most important religions and, along with Christianity, has the largest number of followers. Geographically, Islam today occupies all of North Africa and large parts of West and East Africa. Soon after the death of the Prophet Mohammed (632 AD), Islam spread mainly in the north and already reached the east coast. Since this was connected with the conquest of a number of peoples and countries by Arab tribes, one speaks of Islamic imperialism .
Originally, like all Berber tribes, the Tuareg had an African-ethnic religion . The Islamization of North Africa began with the Tuareg of Fessan ( Targa ) in 642 under the Ifrīq general ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ . They were pushed back to the Adrar des Ifoghas and Aïr Mountains. ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ is said to have acted like a snake-conjuring magician during his advances . He is said to have left such a formidable impression on many Berbers that they put up no resistance. Instead of taking up arms, they converted to Islam and thus submitted to the new rulers.
Kāhina , the Berber priestess of the Jarawa tribe , made a name for herself as a courageous resistance fighter against Islam . Until her death in 701, she fought as a relentless general against the Muslim governor of Ifrīqiya, Hassān ibn an-Nuʿmān (685-703). She had organized her resistance from the Algerian town of Aurès . After Kāhina's death, the resistance against the Muslims steadily decreased, as there was no longer anybody who united the Berbers of the Maghreb . The last battle took place in 708. In 711 the defense was finally given up until unconditional submission. With Tariq ibn Ziyad , the first “converted” Muslim-Berber general turned to the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula . In the 8th century, Islam was already very popular with Arab merchants who traded by sea. Islam spread further and further south via the camel routes of the Sahara, which the nomadic Tuareg ruled. Only the Ghana Empire , located in today's Mali , remained largely unaffected by this until the 12th century, despite its contacts to the Islamic world.
Between the 11th and 12th centuries, the Islamicized Berber dynasty of the Almoravids (tribe of the Lempta ) spread across western North Africa. They veiled their faces and, as skilled camel riders, were feared for their extremely quick robberies. They forced Islam on the people of Western Sahara, who were rooted in traditional beliefs . Other Arab-Islamic Bedouin groups , such as the Banū Hilāl (sons of the crescent moon), immigrated with their families and herds to the territories of the not yet Islamized Berber tribes . Resistance to Islamization varied: many tribes avoided violent conflicts and withdrew to the sparsely populated areas of the Sahara .
By the end of the 12th century, Islam had pervaded all of Western Sahara and brought the Berber tribes under its influence.
The Islamization Process
The ancestors of today's Tuareg (from the Arabic word: “terek = forsaken by God”, if etymologically correctly derived at all) were open to Arab cultural influences, which was particularly true of religion. Although this happened in a more passive syncretistic way, one's own traditional ideas lost more and more of their importance in this acculturation process . Today they are very largely assimilated into the Arab-Islamic culture . The explorer and ethnographer , Henri Lhote , who wrote a respectable standard work on the Tuareg, wrote in a chapter on the Kel Ahaggar of Algeria and the religious conditions among the Sahara inhabitants:
"Even if, like all new converts, they try to hide old beliefs, it is still right that they can be recognized here and there"
It is possible that the Almovarid Agag Alemin, who was a famous Koran scholar and had formed a school-mastering group around him, was able to give the Tuareg class of the "Inselemen" (sing. "Aneslem", include the class of marabouts ) a certain orientation. Nevertheless, the Tuareg remained very passive in the formation of the Islamic faith.
The advance of the European powers accelerated the Islamization of the Saharan-Sahelian region. The Islamic leaders in particular stood up to the colonial administrations. They organized resistance that culminated in 1916 with the proclamation of the Holy War and the Kaosen uprising in the east and the Firhun (uprising in the west). The Tuareg guides involved in it enjoy legendary fame to this day. Due to the lack of unity of the Tuareg tribes, the fighting was ultimately lost. In Agadez , during the Kaosen uprising in 1917, it became drastically clear that the religious leaders were dangerously influential and precisely for this reason were subjected to a cruel bloodbath.
It is true that the Koran is considered a “holy book” by the Tuareg; Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that due to a lack of knowledge of the Arabic language, access to the book was difficult and is still difficult today. The Nigerien population arrested in a nomadic way of life speaks mainly the Tuareg language Tamascheq and writes Tifinagh . Koran schools were and are reserved for young men. Their visit is irregular, as many Tuareg are still nomadic today. Centuries-old mosques exist in Gao , Agadez and Timbuktu , occasionally in southern Ahaggar and in Aïr , but they are not nearly as used as in other Muslim areas. In most cases, a visit to a mosque is avoided. Instead, a floor area is cleaned that is enclosed with a circle of loose stones. This place is then the religious act. The prayer is offered in the direction of Mecca under these meager circumstances . Pilgrimages to Mecca, on the other hand, are mostly rejected because they are understood as pure reputation . The Ramadan is interpreted liberally, often recalling the people have to suffer or outside of the fasting month already too often hungry but that Tuareg as "travelers" ( nomads such) obligations are ever single. Overall, scientists attest the Tuareg a superficial relationship to the religion of Islam.
Ineslemen (Koran scholars)
The Tuareg community is structured strongly hierarchically to this day. A distinction is made between a nomenclature that goes from the “nobles” (“Imajeren”) to the “Koran scholars” (“Ineslemen”), “vassals” (“Imrad”), “black farmers” (“Izzegarren” - among the Arabs: “ Haratin ") and the" slaves "up to the" smiths "(" Inads ") range.
The "Ineslemen" correspond to marabouts and therefore represent the religious class of Koran scholars who were able to bring themselves into this position through inheritance law or through suitable degrees. Their status is comparable to that of the aristocrats ("nobles"). They deal with the exegesis of the Koran and other religious scriptures. Practical relevance is revealed in the setting of the date for the departure of camel caravans, at weddings or funerals. They are considered "people of God" and have true duties of generosity and hospitality. Ineslemen earn their living (traditionally food, today money or monetary value like goats) from this activity. Furthermore, they record their experiences in "little notes" as notes and deal with magical formulas; these were often sewn into clothing or kept in metal containers that were worn as neck amulets . The writings also deal with instructions for healing purposes ( albaraka = blessing); The ink of the writings is softened with water and given as a drink to the person in need of salvation, who in a sense internalizes the texts or the ink is applied to metals and then smoked. The patient inhales the vapors and heals as a result. What these procedures have in common is that they are subject to a high level of secrecy. Valuable animals (especially camels ) are also protected by means of amulet letters . It is important to banish the devil and his negative power ( iblis ).
Religious celebrations
The festivals that are widespread in Islam are rarely celebrated by the Tuareg or in a form that differs significantly from the traditions. So the place Friday prayers not on Christmas Day in mosques instead, let alone in a Masjed-e Jame ' . The fasting month of Ramadan is not strictly observed. Events like the Lailat al-Qadr ( Night of Destiny ), the Feast of the Breaking of the Fast ("ʿĪdu l-Fitr"), the Festival of Sacrifice , the Ascension of Muhammad , the Night of Forgiveness ("Lailatu l-Barā'a") are of little importance. , or the "Jalsa Salana" ( festival of spiritual edification ).
For the Tuareg, however, a festival that is not regularly celebrated in the rest of the Islamic population, the Mawlid an-Nabi holiday in honor of the birthday of Muhammad, is of great importance . Mawlid an-Nabi is celebrated on the 12th day of the month of Rabīʿ al-awwal of the Islamic calendar , but is rejected by many Muslims as an inadmissible bidʿa (innovation). At best, meetings are held to tell or hear stories and legends from the life of the Prophet. The mosques are lit (brightly).
The Tuareg see it as a festival par excellence. They call it "mulud". At midnight, crowds of people from all directions flock to special cult sites that have been designated and prepared for the festival. Everyone wears the finest clothes in their repertoire . There is singing and daring camel rides are demonstrated at dawn.
Another important festival is that of male circumcision. The newly circumcised men, around the age of 18, receive their face veils. Thus the way to the male gender role and the cultural values of humility is prepared. Many rituals incorporate Islamic and pre-Islamic elements into their symbolism. These are references to the matrilineal lineage of the ancestors , pre-Islamic spirits , the earth, fertility and menstruation .
The Tuareg world view allows the soul (Iman) to be more personal than spirits are. The souls of the dead are free. Dead souls can deliver news; In return, services are provided, such as wedding arrangements. The future can occasionally be foretold when sleeping on the graves of the ancestors. Ideas about the afterlife (paradise) correspond to those of official Islam.
The position of women
The position of women in Tuareg society is particularly shaped by traditional cultural values from the pre-Islamic period. The social significance of women differs significantly from the usual Islamic traditions. Women enjoy enormous freedom of behavior when dealing with men and restrict the dominance of the male sex. The woman is equal and has no accountability for where she goes and what she does, as long as she does not neglect caring for the family. Research by Henri Lhotes (see literature) is said to have shown that there are no claims for virginity before marriage . There isn't even a word for it in Berber parlance. Matrilocality and its regulations allow one to divorce an unloved husband. Property rights that discriminate against him can also hit the man.
Only the law of inheritance is interpreted more appropriately to the Koran; so the son inherits twice as much as the daughter. But these regulations are also circumvented by giving away ("alchabus") during lifetime . Various goods are not transferable at all and can only be used ("ach iddaren"), which means that they remain in the woman's family, insofar as matrilocal regulations also apply here. Most of these were farm animals and their milk. Withdrawal from the circulation of goods and remaining in the maternal line, these animals also become the object of the "ach ebowel" ( milk of the nest ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Forkl, Kalter, Leisten, Pavaloi The Gardens of Islam , pp. 271–274
- ↑ a b c d Edgar Sommer, Kel Tamashek, p. 50 ff. (See lit.)
- ↑ The prevailing opinion is that the Berber name for “targa” was primarily the name given to Fessan .
- ↑ Henri Lhote, Les Touaregs du Hoggar.
- ↑ Anna Freitag, The Tuareg. A desert people between God and spirits , p. 11 .
- ↑ Edgar Sommer, Kel Tamashek, p. 13 ff. (See lit.)
- ↑ Arthur Köhler, Constitution, Social Structure, Law and Economy of the Tuareg , p. 26 ff.
- ^ Bruce S. Hall, A History of Race in Muslim West Africa, 1600-1960 , p. 123 .
literature
- Hermann Forkl, Johannes Kalter, Thomas Leisten, Margareta Pavaloi (eds.): The gardens of Islam. edition hansjörg mayer, Stuttgart, London in collaboration with the Lindenmuseum Stuttgart, 1993
- Jacques Hureiki: Tuareg - healing art and spiritual balance. Cargo Verlag, Schwülper 2004. ISBN 978-3-980-58365-7
- Herbert Kaufmann : Economic and social structure of the Iforas Tuareg. Cologne 1964 (Phil. Diss.)
- Thomas Krings : Sahel countries. WBG-Länderkunden, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2006, ISBN 3-534-11860-X
- Henri Lhote : Les Touaregs du Hoggar. Paris 1955 (two-volume reprints 1984 and 1986), ISBN 978-2-200-37070-1
- Johannes Nicolaisen: Economy and Culture of the Pastoral Tuareg. Copenhagen 1963 (important study on a structuralist basis)
- Edgar Sommer : Kel Tamashek - The Tuareg, Cargo Verlag, Schwülper 2006, ISBN 3-938693-05-3