Worldviews of East African Muslims after 9/11 - ASC Research Seminar - Last in a series of three on ‘Africa in the world’

Dr Rüdiger Seesemann is a research fellow at the University of Bayreuth in Germany for the collaborative research project ‘Local agency in Africa in the context of global influences’. Seesemann wrote his PhD on the Mourides of Senegal (‘Ahmadu Bamba und die Entstehung der Muridiya’) and has recently (2004) completed his Habilitation on the branch of the Tijaniyya led by Shaykh Ibrahima Niasse. He has also published on the phenomenon of anti-American sentiments in Sub-Sahara Africa (2003).

Much has been said about 9/11 but little research has been done on the impact the events had on Africa. This paper explores how Muslims in East Africa view the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Particular attention will be paid to the case of Kenya. What were the effects and consequences of 9/11 for Muslim communities there? How do they perceive the ‘war against terror’? How has the changing configuration of geopolitics in the aftermath of 9/11 affected their lives and attitudes? What are the future prospects of inter-religious dialogue and Christian-Muslim understanding in East Africa? The paper argues that the initial sentiments of sympathy with the victims have been replaced by the rise of anti-American feelings among the East African Muslim population. Although this tendency will probably continue as long as policy-makers think of anti-Americanism in terms of an ‘image problem’, the impact of 9/11 on East Africa will in the long run not depend on global issues but on the course of political and religious developments at national and local levels.

Discussant: Dr Mayke Kaag, researcher ASC