Introduction

In this chapter four African countries that at first glance seem to be vastly different will be compared with respect to the development of Islamic reform: both Chad and Sudan may be seen as countries with a fairly homogeneous Muslim population (like Somalia), yet they are marked by numerous internal divides, such as that between the ‘Muslim’ north and the ‘heathen/ Christian’ south in Chad, or between the riverain awlad al-baḥr (people of the river, that is, the River Nile) and the peoples of Sudan's peripheries: the Red Sea Mountains, Kordofan, the Nuba mountains and Darfur. Somalia, one of Africa's most homogeneous countries in ethnic and linguistic terms, has been torn by a devastating civil war since 1988, while Ethiopia by contrast has a regionally highly fragmented Muslim population with diverse historical backgrounds. Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia can all look back on major turning points in their recent history: in Chad, after a series of internal wars from 1965 onwards and a series of changes in government since 1975, the regime of Idriss Déby was able to consolidate its hold on the country since 1990; in Sudan, an Islamic revolution was proclaimed in 1989 that changed the course of the country; in Ethiopia, the existing military regime, the Derg (committee), was replaced by a new government in 1991, leading to a federal structure; in Somalia, the regime of Siyad Barre came to an end in 1991 and was replaced by warlords and clan leaders. Each of these turning points opened up new avenues, chances and threats to respective Muslim populations and forced them to negotiate the challenges of revolution, civil war, state failure, nation building and globalisation in many different guises. Despite their historical differences, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia are intertwined in different ways: thus, Ethiopia has been directly involved in both Sudan's and Somalia's historical development in the twentieth century (and vice versa), while Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia (as well as its contemporary successor states such as Somaliland and Puntland) form one large northeast African community.