Book Review

Abstract

Reviewed by: Sulayman S. Nyang, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Government and Public AdministrationHoward University, Washington, D.C. 20059David WESTERLUND, From Socialism to Islam? Notes on Islam as aPolitical Factor in Contemporary Africa .R esearch Report No. 61.(Uppsala, Sweden: Scandinavia Institute of African Studies, 1982),62pp. Bibliography. No Price.This short study on Islam and Politics in Africa is one of a series ofstudies on Africa published by the well-known Swedish Institute ofAfrican Studies. The Center had previously published some excellentmonographs on a wide range of African issues, but this is the first one onan Islamic theme. Written from the perspective of a researcherinterested in knowing the future of the relationship between Islam andPolitics in Africa, David Westerlund divides his essay into three parts:(1) an introduction, (2) a section on the advance of Socialism in Muslimdominatedcountries and (3) a section on the move towards Islam.Westerlund begins his study with a definition of terms and aclarification of concepts. Two terms, Socialism and Islam, dominate hisdiscussion. He identifies socialism in North Africa and in Sub-SaharanAfrica as that brand which has not been based on, but rather opposed to,Marxism or Marxism-Leninism. Though he recognizes certaindifferences between “Arab Socialism” and “African Socialism”, in thecontext of his discussion he stresses the similarities between them.Among the common elements shared by these two variants of Socialismare (1) refutation of the Marxist idea of class struggle, (2) emphasis on aunited front of all classes in the interest of economic developrflent andnation-building, (3) a preference for a mixed economy as opposed to aMarxist economy, (4) partial nationalization, central planning and onepartyrule, and (5) tolerance of private property.After an examination of the differences between Arab/IslamicSocialism and African Socialism on the one hand, and Marxism on theother, Westerlund then discusses the term fundamentalism. Hecorrectly notes that orthodox, non-secularist Muslims who wish for the ...