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Essay on Tribalism by Sheikh Dr. Shaheed Satardien | January 08, 2008

Tribal Value – Trials and Tribulations

With the ushering in of 2008 which is also the 60th anniversary of the Human rights Charter of the United Nations, it is appropriate to address the recent incineration of women and children in a Kenyan Church during its recent (and on-going) tribal conflict. It was indeed a terrible twin of the Mosques in Pakistan being blown up during its recent tribulations. In both examples shrines of worship were used as crematoriums of convenience by those opposed to the people inside the shrines. The perpetrators of these crimes cared not a whit for their Creator during their insane rampage. Their focus was purely on destroying those different from them. Kenya is predominantly Christian, whilst Pakistan is predominantly Muslim, but in both countries tribal affiliation is as significant as religious adherence.

At one point in recent weeks one feared that Kenya would follow the path of Rwanda, which also featured tribal
conflict (between the Hutus and Tutsis). The issue of tribes, whether it is the Hausa and Igbo tribes of Nigeria, or
the Zulu and Xhosa tribes of South Africa, displays in sharp reprieve one of the tremendous difficulties of many
so-called 3rd World states. Their creation was in many cases a line drawn on a map by someone from the 1 st World and bore little relation to tribal realities on the ground. So tribes, which sometimes had tremendous mutual animosities long before the 1st World arrived on their doorstep to exacerbate them, were forcibly lumped together - to hang together or hang separately. Unfortunately hanging separately seems to be the preferred solution in Africa like the present violence of Kenya's Kalenjin tribe that is forcing the exodus of the Kikuyus.

When Kenya, hitherto one of the most stable countries in Africa, threatens to implode, the question as to the future of the continent arises, yet again. Zimbabwe, once the bread-basket of the region is now the basket-case of the region. Nigeria, which should be one of the wealthiest countries in the world - based on its oil reserves - continues to literally be a splendid alleged mess. Meanwhile the Congo with its vast mineral reserves is a free-for-all supermarket of riches for the murderous klepto-crats in the region.


The part that tribal affiliation plays in this does not really get the prominence it should. We are very familiar with the Nationalist and Unionist tribes of Northern Ireland, and the part those tribal affiliations played in that long disaster. We are somewhat familiar with the Flemish and Walloon tribes of Belgium which regularly threaten to fragment that country and mortally embarrass the EU in Brussels. But somehow we do not easily transfer this knowledge to the tribal issues of Africa and other regions.

There is no doubt that the human sense of belonging is very important, and that a tribe can give something to belong to. Whether the tribe is Goth music lovers, Manchester United fans, the Shan tribe of Burma, or the desert Bedouin, the people that belong to them get comfort from the extended family that such tribes represent. But as with everything human there is a dark side, and this dark side is represented most starkly in Africa where tribal affiliation can mean life or death in societies in chaos.

In Northern Ireland one's "adherence" to the Nationalist tribe was often determined by others on the basis of a surname. So, on that basis one could get shot just because one's surname happened to be O'Flaherty. Sadly the same surname sanction is going on in Kenya as the tribes get busy cleansing their area of those unlucky enough to be named inconveniently.

This lunacy, extreme as it is, must serve as a warning to us in cosy Western Civilisation. It does not take long for stability to be endangered when tribal affiliation becomes the "be and end all" of a society. The risk of conflict in Kosovo between the Albanian and Serbian tribes is quite real.

The only answer to this insanity of course is to appeal to the sense of belonging to the largest tribe of all – the tribe of humanity. It is that tribe that the religions are uniquely placed to emphasise. It is about time the faiths got serious about doing it.

--
Sheikh Dr. Shaheed Satardien
Director of the Intercultural Peace Centre
Ireland Director of the office for the
International Islamic Forum for Dialogue (IIFD)
Chairman of the European Muslim Council
for Justice, Peace and Equality
(EMC-JPE)
Chairman of the Muslim Council
of Ireland (MCI)
Professor of Islamic Studies
and Arabic Language
Saor Ollscoil Na hEireann
(Free University of Ireland)
Dublin 7

+353 1 8218485
+353879932581

Posted by admin at January 8, 2008 10:01 AM


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