- Islam in Cameroon
Muslims comprise roughly 22 percent ofCameroon 's 18 million inhabitants. [* " [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/26431.htm Background Note: Cameroon] ". January 2008. United States Department of State. Accessed21 February 2008 .] The Fulani, a pastoral nomadic group, spread Islam in early 19th century West Africa largely through commercial activity andSufi brotherhoods (Qadiri andTijani ). In the northern provinces, the locally dominant Fulani overwhelmingly is Muslim. Other ethnic groups, known collectively as theKirdi , generally practice some form of Islam. TheBamoun ethnic group of the West Province is also largely Muslim.Islam in German Cameroon 1884-1916
In the rush to claim African territories Germany first entered Cameroon in 1884 and established rule in northern Cameroon by 1902. Throughout the German colonial period, the Adamawa and Lake Chad regions were governed by combining heavy military presence with indirect rule. The local Muslim rulers, called "Lamido" in Adamawa and "Sultan" in the far north, remained in power, although their influence was much more limited than during the nineteenth century, owing their legitimacy to the Germans and not to the Emir in
Yola , theCaliph inSokoto or the Shehu inKuka . Existing political and legal institutions, together with Muslim and native law and customs, were kept intact. Contrary to British rule in NorthernNigeria , German indirect rule did not involve immediate taxes orland reform s before 1913, when such reforms were proposed but, due to the war, never implemented.References
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