RELIGION-GUINEA: Islamic Fundamentalism Makes In-roads

By Saliou Samb Reprint | | Print |

Saliou Samb

CONAKRY, Aug 27 2003 (IPS) - Aissatou Bah, 17, used to dress in the latest fashions and frequent trendy nightclubs in the capital Conakry just like any other girl of her age.

Her neighbours at Koloma, a suburb of Conakry, used to consider her as a wild girl.

But one day, Bah disappeared, only to resurface several months later, covered from head to toe in a black robe that revealed only her hands and face.

Her lifestyle, too, has changed.

Bah had enrolled in one of the Islamic fundamentalist schools which are mushrooming in the capital.

”The only time women should appear uncovered in public are the day they are born, the day they go to live with their husbands and the day they die and are put in their graves,” Bah told IPS.

Bah’s views about marriage also were too simplistic. ”I’m ready to marry anyone who is deeply committed to Allah (God). It doesn’t matter whether he’s one-eyed, blind, armless, or lame; what’s important is that he is committed to Allah,” she told IPS.

Bah terminated her studies prior to her transformation by the fundamentalist school, travelled to Sierra Leone and married her cousin. No one has heard from her again.

Islamic fundamentalism has been taking root in Guinea, a country of about eight million of which 80 percent is Muslim, during the past decade. Islamic fundamentalist groups have become more powerful in the country, even though Guinean authorities do not seem to take them seriously.

In the streets of Ratoma, Matam and Matoto, all suburbs of Conakry, some women seem to have less luck than Bah. In addition to their long black robe, they also wear a thin veil which entirely covers their face.

The women say they want to return to ”original Islam”. They wear socks to hide their feet, and are always accompanied by a male relative.

Their presence is also being felt in remote regions such as Nzerekore, 954 kilometres south of Conakry, which has a strong Christian majority, and Pita, 356 kilometres north of the capital.

Yamoussa Camara, an Islamic sociologist, says ”Guinean society is facing a moral crisis accentuated by economic hardships. That’s why these people fall back on simplistic solutions in order to find their identity”.

”The fundamentalists often prey on weak individuals whom they manipulate. Apparently, the tactic is working since the phenomenon is spreading,” says Camara.

Hadja Soumah, a housewife, is also worried about the growth of fundamentalism. ”The last time I saw one of my friends in a veil, I pulled her into my courtyard for a chat. It was only with great difficulty that I could remove her veil to look at her face. She said she was afraid of being seen by a man while her face was uncovered”.

”These women are being forced into Islamic fundamentalism by their relatives. It’s dangerous to impose a way of life on people against their will,” she says.

Oumar, a friend of Bah, suspects that Bah was also forced by her relatives to embrace fundamentalism. ”She lost her father when she was very young and her elderly, sick mother lives in the village. She was living in Conakry with her half brothers from the same father and they’re all fundamentalists. They’re the ones who brainwashed her to get her onto this path,” he says.

”They have a speech on cassettes that they force potential converts to listen to. The speech is so strong, so captivating, a naive person gets carried away by it,” Oumar says.

Hundreds of Islamic fundamentalist groups operate in Guinea, a poor West African country where 55 percent of the population lives below the poverty line of less than one U.S. dollar a day.

Often the fundamentalists prefer living in communities in carefully selected neighborhoods where almost all of the women cover themselves with the burka, the long black robe.

Boubacar Barry, a Koranic teacher in Conakry, says ”Guinean society is drowning in vice and the futile things of this world. To ensure the youth a future, we must get closer to God”.

”Life would be much easier if everyone conformed to the precepts of the Koran,” he says.

Stringent religious teachings, calling for dress codes for girls, are common on Guinean television.

So far, the government has not reacted to the activities of Islamic fundamentalism and seems to have decided to let nature takes its course.