Both the swift demise of the IPK and the rejectionist ideology of the “Ansaris” have been presented as drivers of jihadist radicalisation. It has been frequently highlighted that Aboud Rogo was an IPK activist who turned towards jihadism after the state refused to register the IPK. The Ansar Sunnah movement, on the other hand, has been depicted as gradually evolving into a breeding ground of violent extremism based on Abdulaziz Rimo’s fundamental opposition to the Kenyan state.
Yet these narratives provide an unbalanced account of the local dynamics of Islamist activism. To begin with, it is crucial not to overstate the link between the fate of the IPK and the rise of coastal jihadism. Apart from Aboud Rogo, none of Kenya’s leading jihadist preachers had been an IPK activist. After initially moving towards militancy in the face of massive state repression, the network behind the IPK became largely integrated into the Kenyan political process. While some activists turned towards Kenyan mainstream parties, others became active in an expanding NGO sector. The fact that most of the IPK’s activists swiftly abandoned the aggressive rhetoric they had adopted following the state’s hostile reaction to the party’s creation can be attributed to the pragmatic Muslim empowerment agenda the party was rooted in. Although this agenda included Islamic references such as the call for the establishment of modern Islamic schools and universities, it did not fundamentally question the secular Kenyan nation-state.
As regards the recent history of the Ansar Sunnah movement, while some “Ansaris” became affiliated with Somali-based jihadist circles, others turned their back on the extreme isolationism of the movement’s founding father Abdulaziz Rimo. Several former disciples of Rimo have become involved in mainstream Islamic NGOs such as the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, others have established a state-recognised primary school, going against Rimo’s preaching against secular education. Heightened exposure to the teachings of Abdulaziz Rimo has been neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for individual activists to develop jihadist worldviews.
Taken together, the histories of the IPK and the Ansar Sunnah movement underline the multi-faceted and non-linear dynamics of Islamist activism in coastal Kenya and the wider East African region. Unlike what popular narratives might suggest, local Islamist action has not irreversibly shifted towards violent jihadism.
Photo credit: Ninara used with permission CC BY 2.0
