Shia in Tunisia
Shia in Tunisia has a long history that existed in different periods after Islam in Tunisia. Even now, Shiites are present in this country. Since freedom of speech is one of the pillars of society in Tunisia, their population is increasing every day. However, the unrestrained Wahhabi movement in Tunisia, like everywhere else, also confronts Shiite activity.
The Background of Shiism in Tunisia
The presence of Shiism in Tunisia dates back to the first century of the rise of Islam; Even before the time when the Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids government was established in Morocco in the second century of the Hijri and the Fatimid rule in Egypt and Tunisia.[1]
The main inhabitants of Tunisia were "Berbarians" who were among the followers of Ahl al-Bayt (AS). The intensity of this friendship was such that after the fatal incident of Karbala, one of the bloodthirsty uprisings took place by them in current Tunisia. Bani Umayyah applied the same actions which they had done in the "Harrah Massacre" in Medina, also applied in Tunisia.
Fatimid Shiite rule
The first Fatimid Khalifah, Obeidullah Al-Mahdi, who introduced himself as a descendant of Muhammad bin Ismail bin Jafar al-Sadeq (pbuh) and a descendant of Fatimah (pbuh), and revealed his intention to conquer Egypt by capturing Alexandria in 103 A.H. And he established the Fatimid dynasty in Tunisia in 803 AD, which extended to Egypt after a while.
The dark era of colonialism and tyranny
In the new era, France colonized this country until 1956 when Tunisia gained independence.But after independence, the policy of "complete elimination of Islam from the government system and the lives of the Tunisian people" was followed. This policy - in parallel with the actions of Atatürk and Pahlavi I in Türkiye and Iran - was implemented by Habib Bourguiba in Tunisia. In 1987, "Zin- Al Abedeen Bin Ali" took power. He realized that the policy of force to eliminate religion could not be pursued, so he tried to leave the religious-Islamic activity free as long as it did not harm his dictatorial government.
As an example, he paid new attention to the Al-Zaytoonah University , which is considered the Islamic symbol of Tunisia, launched a Quran radio, helped Quranic centers (to the extent of memorizing and reciting) and also tried to show his adhere personally to the appearances of Sharia (such as going to Hajj) to the puplic; But in fact, he continued the anti-religious policy of his predecessors, sometimes in a very visible way.
For example, the result of the secular actions of these governments in Tunisia was that some of the Muslims of this country - despite being very interested in religion and the Qur'an - have a secular view of religion; For example, they do not consider adherence to Sharia standards such as "hijab" to be part of religion, and being without a hijab seems natural to them!
Islamic religions
The policy of the rulers of Tunisia throughout history was that no religion other than the Maliki religion should become popular; Therefore, the religion of most Tunisian people are Maliki. The followers of "Shia", "Hanafi" and "Ibadi" - a branch of the Kharijites- also live in this country.
Shiite situation in Tunisia
According to the first paragraph of the constitution of Tunisia, this country is an independent country in Arabic language , and its official religion is Islam, and no specific religion of Islam is mentioned. Nowhere in the constitution of Tunisia is it mentioned that the Sunni religion, to which the majority of the population of this country is inclined, is the only religion of the country, but on the contrary, freedom of opinion and non-discrimination between religions are emphasized.
After the developments in Tunisia, which was followed by the Islamic awakening and the Shiite awakening, recently many Tunisian people, especially in the southern cities of the country, such as Qabes,have converted to Shiism.
Shiism is not a strange religion in Tunisia. People like al-Tijani al-Samawi and Emad al-Din al-Hamrouni are among those who came from Tunisia and have had extensive activities for the promotion and spreading of the Shia religion. They have traveled to Iran many times and have made frequent and numerous meetings with senior Iranian officials.
According to many experts, these two prominent Shia figures are the spiritual authority of many Tunisians to convert to Shia religion.
At the present, thousands of people in Tunisia have converted to Shiism and the number of followers of this religion are increasing day by day. This issue has caused some Ahlus Sunnah people to worry.[2]
Types of Shia in Tunisia
In Tunisia, like all African countries, there are three types of Shia Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH):
1. Ancient Shiites;
2. Neo-Shia (Mustabseran);
3. Lovers and followers of Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.) from among Ahlus Sunnah.
Since the majority of Tunisian Muslims are strongly in terms of "belief" interested in Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.), but in terms of "practice" they follow the Maliki religion, many Tunisian people can be considered as Shiites who are unaware of their Shiism!But - apart from these roots and interests - the second group of Tunisian Shiites (i.e. Mustabseran and Neo-Shia ) are divided into two groups: "religious Shiites" and "political Shiites". Political Shiites are those whose political movements have inclined them to the Shiite religion. Religious Shiites are also those who have converted to the Shiite religion through study and research.
A large number of Tunisian Shiites live in Europe and Asia. "Imad al-Din al-Hamrouni", one of the Shiite activists, founded the “ Tunisia Cultural Assembly of Ahl al-Bayt (AS) " in Europe during the Ben Ali dictatorship. A large number of Tunisian students also study in "Qom Seminary" and "Al-Mustafa (PBUH) University" in Iran.
The Population of Tunisian Shiites
Like all police security atmosphere and dictatorial countries, after the liberation of Tunisia from the dictatorship, there are still no accurate statistics about the diversity of ethnic groups, religions and minorities in this country; But about the number of Shiites in this country (that is, those who are followers of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH) both in terms of belief and political orientation,and also in terms of rulings and in terms of love, and are officially Shiites of the Twelve Imams), two different statistics have been published as follows:
1. The statistics of "World Assembly of Ahl al-Bayt (AS)" in 2008, which according to these statistics, out of the 10 million population of Tunisia in that year, about 196,000 people were Shiites.
2. The statistics of the Association of Religion and Social Life of America ("PEW Institute") in 2009, which according to these statistics, out of the population of 10,102,000 people in Tunisia in that year, about 102,000 are Shiites.
Geographical distribution of Tunisian Shiites
Tunisian Shiites live mostly in the south of this country and in areas such as "Qafsa", "Qabes", "Sousse", "Mahdia" and also the city of Tunis, the capital of this country; And depending on their different approaches, sometimes extremes can be seen among them. But in general, Tunisian Shiites have a simple and unencumbered mentality in relation to this religion, and some controversial issues that exist between Shiite elites in the main Shiite countries are not discussed in this country.
"Dr. Seyyed Mohammad Tijani Samawi" (author of the books: "Thomma Ehtadayto", "Le-Akoona Ma Al-Sadeghin", "Al-Shia Hom Ahl al-Sunnah",...) who is a resident of the city of "Gafsa", one of the southern cities of Tunisia. , has also become the reason for the tendency of many Tunisians - both inside this country and in Europe - to the Ahl al-Bayt school.
Shiite problems in Tunisia
In July 2007, the Tunisian "Al-Watan" weekly newspaper - which is said to have a Baathist tendency - published an article entitled "How they became Shia and …. why?" While printing photos of nine Tunisian Shiites such as "Tijani" and "Mubarak Baghdash", it addressed issues such as the definition of Shia, the quality of the spread of Shiism in Tunisia, the problems of Tunisian Shiites and temporary marriage, and tried to create sedition among Tunisian Muslims.
One of the concerns of Tunisian Shiites is their children and the so-called "new generation". This concern seems even more serious despite the two cultural attacks launched by the "West" and "Wahhabism" against authentic Islam. Now, with the fall of Ben Ali's autocratic government, it is necessary to see what role the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt religion will play in the future of Tunisia.
Ashura in Tunisia
One of the signs of Shiism in the Black Continent is the Muharram ceremony; which exists in various forms in Tunisia and other African countries and has a special value. In Tunisia, since the Fatimids dominated this country, the Shia religion and its traditions, including the mourning ceremony of the Ashura days, became part of the social rituals of the people; So that Ashura was one of the official holidays of this country until recently.
Tunisian people - Shiite and Sunni - refrain from any kind of joyous events such as weddings and circumcisions during Muharram. Even in their mourning in this month, they avoid eating delicious foods and on the morning of Ashura, they also visit cemeteries and graves of the dead and believe that all spirits are present next to their graves on the day of Ashura and are waiting to meet their living relatives.
Tunisian people shoot bullets on the night of Ashura by setting fire to dry grass and igniting them, which is known as "Ajijah", and they believe that these fires and lights will bring happiness to the children of Karbala. This tradition is similar to Iranian Shiites lighting candles in the Ghariban dinner, which is considered a form of sympathy for the orphans of Imam Hussain (AS).