Islamic Revival Among Diaspora Gambians Part 1of 2
Posted by Ginny on August 29, 2007
..::The Gambia Journal Online::..
Assalamu alaikum, you know, I can’t quite put my finger on just how I feel about this article. I kinda got the feeling that the author was lamenting “the fact that Gambians were becoming more religious” and less secular, and the implicit suggestion seemed to be made that the fact that Gambians living outside of The Gambia were become more religious, the fact that there is a supposed “revivla among diasporan Gambians”, that that was or is, somehow a bad thing!?
And the insinuation was somehow made that Gambians were not religious before, and now, all of a sudden, they are starting to be. And of course, the words “terrorism” and “jihaidst” were thrown in for good measure. What I’d like to know is, why is it that the “piety” or “religiosity” of Muslims has to always be equated with terrorism and extremism?
Are we saying that the more “religious” Gambians are, the more prone to extremism and terrorism they will be?
pamusa said
Hi Ginny,
I think the main thrust of the article has to deal with the perception if not the fact that in the late 1908s and up to mid 1990s, Gambians in Europe especially Germany – BUNDAS and the Scandinavian countries had a reputation for being drug peddlars. It seems that a more mainstream Gambian emigrant has emerged in the last 10 years. In fact, a study I was reading had The Gambia with one of the top four countries with the graduates emigrating – at 65% and higher than Somalia at 58%. Some food for thought.
It is also possible as the emigrant Gambian populations get older and more settled and with kids, like myself, there is a growing tendency to be more devout and to teach/ transmit our religious and social values to our kids and hence the growth of societies and organizations such as “DAIRAS” and to organize ” GAMOUS”. These are very typically Senegambian, pan-Sahellian Islamic characteristics, mainly by adherents to the sufic tariqas/orders of Tijanniya and Mouridiya.
Last there is no record of extremism or terrorism in our practice of Islam and I doubt the article aimed to portray otherwise. Cheers and regrads.
Global Voices Online » Gambia: Islamic revival among Diaspora Gambians said
[...] reaction to an article about Islamic revival among Diaspora Gambians: “And the insinuation was somehow made that Gambians were not religious before, and now, all [...]