Somalis as Samaritans: A Glimpse into Christian-Muslim Relations in Eastern Africa from the Perspective of Evangelical Kenyan Christians
Long considered - perhaps naïvely - a relative oasis of Christian-Muslim calm, Kenya is seeing increased tension and conflict, mainly exacerbated by al-Shabaab militants, Kenyan military and Christian mobs. Concomitantly, the media and popular sentiment often vilify Somalis. This goes back to govern...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2017]
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| In: |
Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Year: 2017, Volume: 28, Issue: 1, Pages: 69-84 |
| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy BJ Islam CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations KBN Sub-Saharan Africa KDD Protestant Church TK Recent history |
| Further subjects: | B
Eastern Africa
B al-Shabaab B Islam B Proselytism B other-ing B production of space B Immigration B Somalia B Christianity B Samaritans B Christian-Muslim relations B Kenya |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Long considered - perhaps naïvely - a relative oasis of Christian-Muslim calm, Kenya is seeing increased tension and conflict, mainly exacerbated by al-Shabaab militants, Kenyan military and Christian mobs. Concomitantly, the media and popular sentiment often vilify Somalis. This goes back to government agitprop during the ‘Shifta War’ of the 1960s. Among evangelical Christians, however, attitudes towards Somalis can prove more ambivalent. Drawing on interviews conducted with both Kenyan evangelical Christians and Somali Muslims, this article seeks to examine the theological shift among Kenyan evangelicals wherein they have re-cast Somalis as Samaritans and in doing so have made their primary approach to this conflict one of evangelization, not open hostility. This shift is due to a confluence of factors including community context, economic pragmatism and religious motivations, and the focus on evangelism does not necessarily preclude peace-building. What this article aims to present is a glimpse into the outlook of Kenyan evangelicals towards Somalis, particular Somali Muslims, and discuss these attitudes in the nexus of factors mentioned above. The article will reveal how, by re-casting the Somali ‘villain’ as Samaritan, some Kenyan evangelicals maintain boundaries and foster new identities in Eastern Africa for the sake of a longed-for peace. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-9311 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09596410.2017.1286751 |