Religion Watch Archives

Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Archives
    • By Issue
    • By Article
    • By PDF (2008-14)
    • By PDF (1985-97)
    • All Articles
  • Sections
    • Current Research
    • Findings & Footnotes
    • On/File
  • Google Search
You are here: Home / Archive / Rwandan survivors embracing Islam

Rwandan survivors embracing Islam

October 1, 2002 by Richard Cimino

Print-friendly

Survivors of the genocide in Rwanda are moving toward Islam, reports the Washington Post  (Sept. 23).

The state-sponsored massacres between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples in 1994 implicated many Catholic and Protestant clergy and churches, who failed to protect, and in some cases, informed on those seeking refuge from the violence. In contrast, many Muslim leaders and families protected and hid those who were fleeing. Some observers say that because Muslims were an ostracized minority, they were less likely to get caught up in the Hutus’ massacres.

Since the genocide, Muslims now make up 14 percent of the 8.2 million people in Africa’s most Catholic nation — twice as many as before the massacres started. The conversion rate is high enough for Catholic Rwandan leaders to seek the counsel of Rome in how to stop the influx, as well as offer alternative programs to draw and keep youth in its ranks.

While Western leaders worry that large-scale conversion to Islam could trigger a tendency toward militancy. But there are few signs of extremism in Rwanda, even though some of the mosques receive funding from Saudia Arabia (whose clergy tend to be of the militant school of Islam). There is talk of “jihad” in the mosques, but it refers less to outward war than to the struggle Muslim imams call theie people to wage for healing and reconciliation between Tutsis and Hutus.

Print-friendly

Filed Under: Archive

Also in this issue

  • On/File: October 2002
  • Islamic martyrs multiply
  • Christian population shifting away from Arabs
  • Current Research: October 2002
  • Hindu megatrends
  • Abraham takes center stage in interfaith efforts
  • Muslims count the losses and some gains after 9/11
  • Religious factor key for new eco-conservatives
  • Global faiths face new opportunities, obstacles

Search the Site

Download the first issue of RELIGION WATCH (1980)

Download the first issue of RELIGION WATCH (1980)

Click on the image for downloading

© 2016-2020 Richard Cimino / Religioscope
·News Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress