Islam and African institutions

Popular opinion is of the view that Islam not only supported the existence of African institutions but also strengthened them. Islam appealed to the Afri¬ can mind because its demands are almost similar to the established ways of life already pertaining in traditional African life.1 Whether that assumption is true or not in the rest of Africa, I am not qualified to say. However, a closer look on Uganda reveals that in fact, Islam is just like any other destroyer of African institutions, and that in some cases it has annihilated African ways of organization, customs and traditional mode of behaviour. There are many African established ways of behaviour or organiza¬ tions that Islam directly or indirectly weakened. Let us look at a few variables, which are by no means conclusive, like naming of the newly born, marriage, burial ceremonies, inheritance, African religions, the role of “technicians”, some customs and pleasures, and briefly, the sport of hunting to have a vague picture of the situation.