The African Epistemic Logic of Peacemaking: A Model for Reconciling the Sub-Saharan African Christians and Muslims

Abstract

It is becoming evident that failure to reconcile African Christians and Muslims is partly due to the misinterpretation of the African epistemology of peace. This work argues that Christian-Muslim peacemaking must be conceived apart from the Western epistemology (thinking pattern) whereby conferences, lectures, chart signing, religious fora, and systematic military strategies are common practices (Pezard and Shurkin, 2015). For Africans, peacemaking involves creating a space where members of a community connect with each other at a deeper level. This paper explores the process of reconciling African Christians and Muslims, not exclusively from a diplomatic tact and religious slant, but from intrinsic cultural constituents like the African ubuntu (Murithi, 2006), Fulbe’s pulaaku (Mogensen, 2000), and the Ethiopian medemer (Esler, 2019) which are entrenched in the notion of kinship. A Fulbe proverb constitutes a tool for illustrating kinship and peace.