Arzu Merali‘s paper on the attacks on the Islamic Movement of Nigeria and how sectarian narratives have been instrumentalised.
Sectarian narratives abound in and about Nigeria. Deemed a post-colonial state in international relations terms, it is considered to be afflicted by ‘Muslim’ / ‘Christian’ ‘communal tensions’, ‘tribal tensions’ and ‘corruption’. In an era of rising Islamophobia, it is also viewed as the victim of ‘Islamic’ radicalisation ‘evidenced’ by the rise of Boko Haram, reflected as a South Western Asian / ‘Middle Eastern’ trend in Muslim political organisation as ‘terrorism’. All of these rely heavily on racialized tropes that set Africans / Muslims/ others against a normative Westernized idea of citizenry and civilization. In trying to understand’ the rise of Islamic Movement in Nigeria layered onto all of these narratives is one of Muslim sectarianism i.e. Sunni – Shia conflict.
This paper seeks to problematize this last narrative in particular with a view to understanding how it seeks to:
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undermine real and significant political organisation on the part of the Islamic Movement and its leaders;
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stigmatise the model of Islamic Movement using sectarian narratives to prevent that model from being impactful on (i) other Muslim movements; (ii) other liberation movements;
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evidences tendencies towards internalized racism that require mobilization on the part of those practitioners, stakeholders and activists who claim to seek justice in the wider context of societies like Nigeria
Download the full paper here. First presented on behalf of IHRC.
Presented at WOCMES, 17 July 2018
World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies Seville
July 16th – 20th 2018
Congrès Mondial des Études sur le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique du Nord Seville, du 16 au 20
Juillet 2018
PANEL: ‘Sectarianism Driven by Political Interests: The Case of Nigeria and Islamic Movement of Nigeria’
