The earliest presence ofIslam inChad can be traced back toUqba ibn Nafi, whose descendants can be found settled in theLake Chad region to this day.[1] By the timeArab migrants began arriving from the east in the fourteenth century in sizeable numbers, the creed was already well established. Islamization in Chad was gradual, the effect of the slow spread of Islamic civilization beyond its political frontiers.[2] Among Chadian Muslims, 48% professed to beSunni, 21%Shia, 23%just Muslim and 4% Other.[3]
Islam in Chad was not influenced much by the great mystical movements of the IslamicMiddle Ages, nor the fundamentalist upheavals that affected other countries. Consistent contact withWest African Muslim traders and pilgrims may be the reason Chadian Muslims identify with theTijaniyya order. Similarly, in the mid-nineteenth century, theSenusiyya brotherhood was founded in Libya, which benefited from economic and political influence in theLake Chad Basin around 1900.[4] An Islamic revival movement, feared by some French, led bySanusi fanatics, Chadian adherents, limited to the Awlad Sulayman Arabs and theToubou of easternTibesti, have never been numerous.[2]: 72 [5]
Higher Islamic education in Chad is sparse; thus, serious Islamic students and scholars must travel to other countries.[2]: 72 Scholars travel abroad to places such asKhartoum andCairo, where Chadians attendAl Azhar.[2]: 72
Chadians observe the five pillars of the faith differently than the orthodox version. Prayer, both public and communal, occur more than once a week, but often not in amosque. Chadian Muslims likely make the pilgrimage less often thanHausans in northernNigeria. Some Chadian Muslims follow the Ramadan fast stricter than typical, with some refusing to swallow their saliva during the day.[2]: 72
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