The Growing of Islamic Fundamentalism in Tanzania: Are the rising religious tensions ripping Tanzania apart?

Abstract

For many years now Tanzania has maintained a record of been a peaceful nation in the great lake region. The national unity, political stability and social cohesion that the country has been enjoying all this years did not come by coincidence. The founders of this nation have done quite a great deal in maintaining the today’s unity and harmony. The situation that the country has been proud of is indeed the product of political culture cultivated over time by the founders of this great nation. From the beginning there was a strong emphasis of equal access to social services and opportunities amongst Christians and Muslims such as education, employment as well as participation in national affairs for both Muslim and Christian. The founders of this nation did that because they recognized the potential dangers of religious discord. Contrarily to country expectations today elements of discontent and violent attacks are recurring among Christian and Muslims. Impliedly this tells us that we must have gone wrong somewhere. This paper is therefore an attempt to show where did we go wrong and provide some recommendations accordingly. As a general message the paper emphasizes that it is high time the Tanzanian government stop pretending that all is well and approach the Muslim plight seriously and objectively. Any structural injustices that probably exist according to Muslim as well as Christians should be properly analysed and handled accordingly.

Key words: Islamic Fundamentalism, religious tension, Muslim and Christian, United Republic of Tanzania