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A.C.N - Aid to the Church in Need Italian Office |
Religious Freedom in
the Majority Islamic Countries |
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Chad Population: 7,166,000
Bounded to the north by Libya, to the east by Sudan and to the south-west by Nigeria, this country has been subjected to the influence of these "big brothers", above all with regard to their attempt to export the Islamic revolution. As a traditional route for multitudes of pilgrims on their way to the sacred places of Islam, this nation has in consequence become a sort of crossroads between differing Muslim traditions, although these traditions have often been in conflict with one another. Even though there have been some arbitrary arrests, such as that of Tohnel Doumro in November 1996 (an employee of the Catholic development aid agency SECADEV who was afterwards released without charge), the tolerant traditions of Chadian Islam seem for the most part to have prevailed, even in relations with non-Muslims – although it would be simplistic to equate traditionalism with tolerance and reformism with intolerance. Nonetheless, despite the signs of a hardening of attitudes among the Islamic community in Chad and corresponding indications in the relations between Christians and other non-Muslims, the prevailing desire of the population seems to be to co-exist as a nation - a nation that has survived long years of civil war. The inclination towards discrimination on all sides seems to be less strong. |
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