Islam in and Out: Cosmopolitan Patriotism and Xenophobia Among Muslims in Côte d'IVOIRE

Abstract

The nativist ideology of ivoirité of the 1990s generated brutal discriminatory policies against those labelled as ‘strangers’, especially Muslims. Reversing that perspective, this article focuses on the interface between religion and national identity in twentieth-century Côte d'Ivoire from within Muslim society. The argument is divided into two parts. The first puts forward the counter-hegemonic, patriotic-cum-cosmopolitan narratives that a new Muslim leadership formulated in order to write Islam into national history. The second focuses on grass-roots, demotic, day-to-day realities. It explores Muslim takes on belonging and alienation in practice, paying careful attention to the community's internal diversity. It shows how, over time, Ivorian Muslims have showcased varying degrees of cosmopolitan patriotism but also of their own, local xenophobia. The concluding section returns to the new Muslim leadership and its multifaceted endeavours to reconcile Muslim lived experiences with their cosmopolitan patriotic aspirations. The article ends with a short epilogue surveying the violent armed conflicts of the period 2002 to 2011 and how Muslims were a part of them.

“The Country Is on One Leg”: An Analysis of Secondary Educated Youths’ Perceptions of the Risks, Challenges, and Opportunities of the Peacebuilding Process in Côte d’Ivoire

“…Guillaume Kigbafori Soro, one of the figureheads of the 2002 rebellion forces, was also a former FESCI secretary 3 . A Catholic Sénoufo (northern ethnic group that is part of the larger ethnolinguistic group of the Gur), it is interesting to note here that Soro’s involvement refutes the common perception of the rebels as a homogenous group of Muslim Dioulas—more generally, the rebellion represented an ethnic and religious mix rather than being the exclusive preserve of northerners; likewise the patriotic galaxy was comprised both of southern “autochtons” and northerners (Miran-Guiyon 2016).…”

“…In doing so, it denied the citizenship claims of people with a migration background, as well as of Ivoirians belonging to groups that shared certain cultural or religious traits with immigrants. Notwithstanding their actual ethnic and religious diversity, these groups were lumped together under the generic category of “Dioula,” which came to mean interchangeably northerner and Muslim (Miran-Guiyon 2016; Boone 2009; Ceuppens & Geschiere 2005). As a result, northern “autochthons” were considered “strangers” or “foreigners”—at best Ivoirians of immigrant ancestry—in their own country (Arnaut 2012; Bah 2010; Banégas 2006; Konaté 2017; Miran-Guyon 2016).…”

The New Vitality of Salafism in Côte d’Ivoire: Toward a Radicalization of Ivoirian Islam?

“…However, between 1981and 1986 this initial period of vitality gave way to a long series of internal crises. According to Miran (2006Miran ( , 2016, a dispute involving the Bracodi mosque's imam revealed extreme tensions between the local wealthier, educated elite on the one hand, and the enlarging, less-privileged majority-with many non-citizen foreigners, mostly Guineans and, to a lesser extent, Malians-on the other. The escalation of tensions led to the suspension of the AMOCI and the closure of the Rahma Mosque, 9 known as Bracodi Bar 10 to residents of the Adjamé district.…”

Le territoire de la prière. Grammaire spatiale des mosquées d’Afrique de l’Ouest

“…Elle cumule les fonctions de capitale économique, financière, intellectuelle, culturelle et, de facto, politique -au détriment de Yamoussoukro, de jure capitale politique depuis 1983. La « Perle des lagunes » et le « Petit Paris », vitrine de la modernité à l'ivoirienne, a durement pâti des crises économiques et, plus encore, politico-militaires des années 2002-2011(Miran-Guyon, 2015. Depuis 2011, avec l'installation au pouvoir d'Alassane Ouattara -premier président musulman de l'histoire du pays (mais connu pour n'être pas pratiquant) -, Abidjan connaît un redressement saisissant, notamment infrastructurel.…”