Islamism in Mozambique

By Felix Sjögren

Over the last years, ISIS-controlled areas in the Middle East have been decreasing in size. From the 100,000 square kilometres big caliphate in the mid-2010’s to the now fairly insignificant hold of the group, ISIS has been experiencing a substantial regression. But an ISIS-affiliated Islamist group has been gaining ground in another part of the world: Mozambique.

Mozambique, a sub-Saharan country, with a predominantly Christian population, is not commonly known for its militant Islamism. But in recent years, the Islamist group Ansar al-Sunna have been establishing themselves there. In fact, in August of 2020 they took control over the port of Mocimboa da Praia, used to access one of the biggest natural gas-finds in Africa. Later on inNovember of 2020 more than 50 people were beheaded and two villages burnt down and as recently as in March of 2021, there have been reports that children as young as 11 have been beheaded. Estimates claim the group has killed as many as 2000 people since 2017, in an attempt to establish an Islamic state in the area. How could Islamism establish itself in a predominantly Christian region?

Ansar al-Sunna, or perhaps their technique, is quite different from other Islamist groups. They do of course hold fundamentalist beliefs, such as an aversion to education, Christianity, the Western World and the local government, but this ideology is not, outwardly, the prime reason for recruitment and expansion, making them quite different from more established groups such as ISIS or Al-Qaeda. Rather, they claim to be an antidote to elitism, corruption and resulting poverty. The literacy rate in Mozambique is at about 60%, the same rate that the adult population of the entire world was at 50 years ago. The rate of unemployment, especially among the young, is high and the presence of organized crime, particularly the trade of arms, is evident. Even though there exist industries of ruby mining and natural gas extraction, most feel they do not benefit from it.

A lack of education and a frustration over job scarcity makes the young people of Mozambique particularly susceptible to propaganda of all sorts. Ansar al-Sunna has, unsurprisingly, realised this and used it to their advantage. It is easy, and perhaps not entirely wrong, to point to the Western form of government and schooling for your problems as a Mozambican. And Ansar al-Sunna’s simple answer lies in militant Islamism. These conditions are undoubtedly the main reasons for the group’s success. As a local alternative to corrupt politics, Ansar al-Sunna is sending an appealing, subscribable message to most of Mozambique’s considerable Muslim population. This regardless of level of fanaticism of both Ansar al-Sunna and the Muslims of Mozambique. The government has created a vacuum where the political needs of the poor aren’t fulfilled and it is instead being filled by promises from Ansar al-Sunna.

There are many examples of groups using a poor socio-economic situation to their advantage, from the Nazis during the depression of the ‘20s, to more contemporary Al-Qaeda or ISIS. Saddam Hussein, albeit a terrible dictator, still provided a sense of security and honour to many Iraqis. When he was executed, that was lost and the weaknesses in the Iraqi infrastructure became all too unbearable. Most people had no access to water or electricity. It was the belief of many that the Americans had come to free them, but it became more evident over time that they were failing in that respect, when no serious attempts were made at rebuilding the Iraqi nation.

Further economic hardship was created when the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, signed an order disbanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Iraqi army, leaving them without work, with great knowledge of warfare and enmity towards Americans.

Corruption and poverty explains the emergence of a group such as Ansar al-Sunna. But what, in turn, explains these conditions? The effects of several hundreds of years of colonization are quite evident. The exploitation of land and resources, as well as the slave trade obviously had, and still has, a detrimental effect on the local population. The loss of control over the land leads to a loss of power and of knowledge, which is fatal once a former colony becomes independent.

This can be seen in, for example, Zimbabwe, where previously white-owned farms were taken over by local farmers, in an attempt to mediate the economic damage done by colonization and white dominance. However, the country now has an acute starvation problem and the policy is to some extent being rolled back by Mugabe’s successor. Mozambique has a similar sitaution. 80% cannot afford an adequate diet and nearly half of all children under five are stunted from undernourishment. Such suppression and powerlessness over a long period of time will inevitably lead to a conflict, much like the war for Mozambican independence and later the Mozambican Civil War. The one-party state established after independence, in a desperate measure to mediate the damage of colonization and war without interference, led to the corruption and mismanagement, which later paved the way for groups like Ansar al-Sunna to establish themselves.

What can we predict will happen to Ansar al-Sunna in the future? At the moment there are no signs of them withdrawing anytime soon. Rather, it seems they are expanding and taking increasingly bigger risks. Experts in armed conflicts and Islamism are expressing concern over the fact that the attacks now are happening in coordinated and professional fashion, meaning that the attackers are receiving training from knowledgeable people, presumabley members of other Islamist groups in Africa. This is not so different from the former Iraqi soldiers and military men joining and helping to establish ISIS. Even Mozambique’s southern neighbours South Africa, who have sent lego soldiers to the region, have been unsuccessful in their attempts at countering the group’s expansion. This, of course, poses a great threat to the local population and the area. But it also fuels islamophobia and racism in the West.

It is fascinating to see how Europe’s actions throughout history entail consequences in the present day. As explained above, colonialism has created a sense of powerlessness among the local population. In turn that despair has led to groups of people who now actually have power in these previously colonized governments to abuse it, which has led to increased corruption and widespread poverty. Those conditions, together with the arising extremism, conflict and war, have led to people having to move or flee their home, often with the ambition of settling down in Europe. The refugees have been blamed for all of Europe’s problems by the European right-wing, and this has led the right-wing to become more popular in politics. The right blames the refugees and the left blames the right. In reality, it is the fault of the West and its colonialism and imperialism. The West radicalized Islam and the West forced people to flee. This is true in much of Africa and the Middle East. But in Mozambique, this issue receives little to no attention. They, too, deserve to be free.

This is why this conflict should engage us and not be neglected. Other than that we must show compassion, it gives us as former, and in many ways still present, colonisers, an opportunity to understand the almost inconceivably far-reaching consequences of our actions in former colonies. Not only the actions of the past, over which we have no control, but also the actions of today, over which we do.

All images by © Thomas Forgac on Flickr