Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Transnational Islam and Development - A Study on Islamic Schools in North-Eastern Kenya and the Puntland Region of Somalia

Auteur : Duh, Abdalla Ali

Université de soutenance : University of Helsinki,

Grade : Doctoral dissertation (monograph) / Doctoral Programme in Political, Societal and Regional Changes 2022

Résumé
The aim of this study was to examine how development is understood by different local actors and how transnational Islamic ideas and practices are used by the case study schools as both drivers and obstacles to what is perceived as development in north-eastern Kenya and the Puntland region of Somalia. Using a case study of seven Islamic schools supported by four leading transnational Islamic non-governmental organisations (TINGOs), the study explores how development is practised and understood in the two regions. The thesis is based on long term field research (30 months) that was undertaken in north-eastern Kenya and the Puntland region of Somalia between 2010 and 2018.

The qualitative research materials gathered consisted of 95 interviews, 64 observations of classroom activities, 22 focus group discussions, Arabic and Somali materials from the Islamic schools and organisations, Muslim texts cited by the interviewees and documents from the two governments. The primary data were supplemented by studying the recent academic literature on the religion- development nexus. Thematic analysis was applied to analyse the various types of primary data. To discuss the findings, the research utilises concepts of social capital and religious resources.

The findings indicate that there were several ways in which the core beliefs and practices of the case study schools and TINGOs were used to promote local conceptions of development, including campaigns against Somali clannism, female genital mutilation and khat chewing. Also, the findings show how different interpretations of transnational Islamic ideas and practices led to destabilising activities of al-Shahab, discrimination against women and insecurity in the two regions.

The research concludes that to broaden our understanding of Islam and development, there are areas arising from the study that deserve further research including how ‘Islamisation’ of development takes place in other Muslim contexts.

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