L´Afrique du Sud musulmane

GERMAIN, Eric, 2006, Paris, Karthala; Johannesburg, IFAS
ISBN: 2-84586-710-7
Coll. Homme et Société : Histoire et géographie

[Book in French]

The position occupied by Muslims in South African society is disproportionate to their numbers; taking an interest in their history brings new light on three centuries of European domination in Southern Africa. From the early years of Dutch colonisation, Malays propagated Islam among slaves in Cape Town.

A century later, religious practice and the Afrikaans language written in Arabic type brought together a very cosmopolitan community around a peculiar identity. The political elite opposed to the first racial segregation measures, comes from this community.

The book is divided into three major periods and intends to report on the complexity of identity dynamics within the South African Muslim population and, thus, to shed light on an unknown facet of apartheid history.

Eric Germain is Associate Researcher at the Institut d’étude de l’Islam et des sociétés du monde musulman (IISMM) at the EHESS, of which he is also a Steering Committee member. Eric is interested in minorities and Muslim Diaspora issues, and his work focuses particularly on the emergence of Muslim missions at the beginning of the 20th century.