Paradoxically, one of the most unintended consequences of colonial rule was a phenomenal surge in conversions to Islam among populations who had heretofore been indifferent if not resistant.15 The attitudes of the French and British administrations towards Islam as well as towards Christian mission aries were admittedly distinct, partly due to the prior colonial experiences of each country, partly to the role ofreligion in metropolitan politics. The French had encountered significant Muslim resistance in Algeria, where Sufi t:arlqas notably the Qadiriyya were instrumental in mobilising resistance. On the other hand, the great Indian insurrection of 1857 pitted more Hindus than Muslims against the East India Company. Throughout the colonial period, the French remained apprehensive that Islam might serve to mobilise opposition to French domination. At the same time, French politics at home was characterised by a struggle between aggressive secularism and the Roman Catholic Church. With the triumph of the secularists, the French colonial service tended to keep its distance from missionaries, especially when civilians replaced the military administration in the early twentieth century. At the same time, evangelical Christianity was vigorously expanding in Britain and in
12 Jamil M. Abun Nasr, The Tijaniyya: A Sufi order in the modern world (Oxford, 1965).
13 Robinson, Holy War; Mervyn Hiskett, The development of Islam in West Africa (London, 1984), esp. pp. 250 6.
14 Robert Launay, Beyond the stream: Islam and society in a West African town (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1992), esp. pp. 179 95.
15 Robert Launay and Benjamin F. Soares, 'The formation of an “Islamic sphere” in French colonial West Africa', Economy and Society, 28, 4 (1999), pp. 491 519.
World History
