At present, the political significance of Islam is being argued over as never before. At the same time, the debate has narrowed its focus as Islam has generally come to be equated with the Arab world. Ultimately, a homogenous Islam has been constructed, which is perceived as representative. And it is with this constructed Islam that the confrontation or – depending on one’s perspective – the dialog with Islam is being conducted. Engagement with political Islam in West Africa would be advisable since Muslims have a considerable demographic presence in this region.

Naturally, there has been a broad range of developments in West Africa. Islam in this region has traditionally been described as a »less orthodox,« »more liberal,« and »more peaceful« Islam, which, due to historical circumstances, is fundamentally distinct from Arab Islam. These assessments seem too undifferentiated. Political Islam in West Africa is not a monolithic bloc which can be ascribed a concrete agenda. Any uniform list of political demands on the part of a supposed political Islam in West Africa is merely in its infancy.

In the media debate on Islam a fundamental incompatibility is often postulated between »Islamic values« and concepts considered to be »Western,« such as pluralism, democracy, and the rule of law. In the case of West Africa a fundamental opposition of this kind can clearly be ruled out. Although political processes – for example, in Senegal and Mali – by no means meet the requirements of democratic ideas in the pure form, in both states robust pluralistic societal forms of »Islamic democracy« have formed nevertheless, which adhere to a secular constitution, accept human rights to a very high degree, and regularly hold free elections.

Samuel Huntington’s dictum about Islam’s »bloody borders« has been applied as an interpretive template also in West Africa, especially in relation to Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. However, such a perception ignores realities in the region. In the Ivory Coast a religious division into a Christian south and a Muslim north has long been superceded by demographic developments. The south has developed into the Islamic center of a – at least in relative terms – primarily Muslim-populated state. Here Islamic organizations have regularly functioned as a political calming influence in recent years. Even representatives of the Protestant churches acknowledge this. The current situation in Nigeria is quite different. There in the meantime apparently religiously motivated violence has become part of everyday political life. The tensions have also been heightened by the fact that since 1999 Shari’ah law has been introduced in twelve northern states. This has led to the belief, especially in the usa, that the terror network Al-Qaeda could move its base of operations from Afghanistan to Nigeria.

However, today there can be no question of a feared »Talibanization« of Nigeria. An Islamic renaissance in the north of the country, as well as »interreligious« conflicts are not the result of the impossibility per se of peaceful coexistence among Christians, animists, and Muslims, but rather the expression of a consciously orchestrated »realpolitik«. Elites in the predominantly Muslim northern states have recognized the mobilizing potential of religion as lowest common denominator of political activation. Consequently, they are attempting to counteract their loss of influence and the absence of (corrupt) cooptation since the coming to power of Olusegun Obasanjo by playing the religious card. The introduction of Shari’ah law can also be understood against this background. Given this instrumentalization of religion, the potential for the escalation of political conflicts – especially in the north of the country – appears to be explosive. Such conflicts must be taken for what they are, however: primarily internal clashes for political hegemony. There are no concrete indications of a network linking Nigerian Islamic groups with global Jihadists. However, security misgivings and growing interest in oil resources in the Gulf of Guinea encouraged the us government in recent months to increase its military presence in West Africa. Such engagement may well cause the problems it intends to solve with a critical mass of attention. Because as yet there is no »Kulturkampf« in West Africa.