“A good believer is a good citizen” : Connecting Islamic morals with civic virtues in rural Tanzania

Abstract

Religious communities as arenas for public life are prevalent examples of social embeddedness that need not to be excluded from the design of citizenship initiatives. Across sub-Saharan Africa, religious practices provide some of the most important spaces of everyday identity, belonging and prevailing ways in which citizens participate in community life. While there is expansion in research on Islamic radicalization in East Africa, this chapter approaches religion and faith from the pragmatist point of view focusing on everyday Islam in non-radicalized rural contexts. Based on interviews with rural community members in Kondoa district, Tanzania, the chapter analyses how community members articulate what it means to be simultaneously a good believer and a good citizen.