Print
Email
Cite
Chad, Islam in
Islam arrived before the eleventh century via Berbers, Muslim traders, and itinerant Sufi preachers whose organizations later played a key role in resisting nineteenth-century French colonization efforts. Before colonization the socioeconomic center was located in the Muslim north; by independence ( 1960 ) the Christianized south was more politically and economically developed. The Muslim-Christian power shift was magnified when bloody riots broke out in 1965 over oppressive taxation. Recent Islamic revivalism is inspired by the ideas of the National Islamic Front in neighboring Sudan. Hissein Habré (r. 1982 – 90 ) was indicted in Senegal for 97 political killings, 142 cases of torture, and 100 disappearances while governing Chad.
