Tunisia
The smallest of the North African Maghreb countries, Tunisia possesses an overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim population, which coexists with salient religious minorities and a tradition of largely secular government. French control of Tunisia in the 19th and 20th centuries resulted in a significant Roman Catholic presence in the country, especially in the capital, and several Roman Catholic schools, clinics, and churches operate freely within the country. Most of Tunisia’s indigenous Jewish minority left the country in the 1960's for France or Israel, but the remaining community enjoys government support and operates largely free from discrimination. From independence in 1956 until January 2011, Tunisia witnessed only two presidents—both secularists who imposed stringent limits on democracy and suppressed Islamist activists. In January 2011, popular protests beginning in Tunisia rocked both the country and the entire Arab region, resulting in the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (1987-2011). Tunisia now faces the challenge of constructing a post-revolution government to satisfy both its Islamist and secular political factions. The country’s first free elections in October 2011 showed strong support for moderate Islamists.
ESSAYS ON TUNISIA
From the Roman Empire to Ottoman Rule
The Punic Wars brought Tunisia under the umbrella of the Roman Empire in 149 BCE, and its integration into the Roman and Byzantine Empires led to the Christianization of the region in the first several centuries CE. Arab Muslim armies conquered Tunisia in the late seventh century and initiated the spread of Islamic influences throughout the country. The Arab Muslim conquerors established the city of Kairouan shortly thereafter, widely viewed as the first Muslim city in North Africa and the fourth holiest city in Islam. North Africa’s first Mosque, the Great Mosque of Kairouan, was established in 670 CE. From the seventh century onwards, Tunisia was ruled by a succession of Muslim dynasties, largely under the purview of Arab caliphates. The Aghlabid Dynasty ruled Tunisia on behalf of the Abbasid caliph until the tenth century CE, at which time the Shi’a Fatimid Caliphate gained control of North Africa and established its capital in Mahdia, located in modern-day Tunisia. Several short-term Sunni dynasties controlled Tunisia after the fall of the Fatimids in the twelfth century CE. Although the Normans of Sicily briefly held its coastline during the twelfth century, the subsequent Arab reconquest resulted in the emigration or forced conversion of the remainder of Tunisia’s Christian community, though Tunisia maintained strong trade relations with Christian Mediterranean states. The Ottomans conquered the Hafsids during the sixteenth century, and Tunisia remained part of the Ottoman Empire until 1869. Tunisia was ruled by a series of Turkic beys, or governors, who possessed a high degree of independence from the Ottoman Empire.
The French Protectorate
Throughout the mid nineteenth century, the beys of the Husanid Dynasty, which ruled Tunisia under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, plunged Tunisia into debt by taking out European loans at unfavorable rates to finance extensive modernization programs. In 1869, the government was forced to declare bankruptcy, at which point the French-led Commission Financière Internationale, which also included representatives from Italy and Great Britain, gained control of the Tunisian economy. The Congress of Berlin approved French acquisition of Tunisia, and, in 1881, France capitalized on a tribal skirmish on the French-controlled Algerian border as an excuse to seize control of the country. The Husanid Bey signed a treaty with the French that protected the Bey as the continued head of state, but formally established Tunisia as a French protectorate and ended Ottoman control of the country. France encouraged the settlement of French colonists in Tunisia, and the local French population grew from 34,000 in 1906 to 144,000 in 1945. With the increase in French residents came increased Roman Catholic influence in Tunisia, including the proliferation of libraries, schools, clinics, and churches operated by the Roman Catholic Church. Prior to French control, the Tunisian education system had been decentralized and religiously based, operated by local mosques and imams with a strong focus on the Qur’an. French authorities promoted a secular school system, operated in both Arabic and French, which gradually replaced the Islamic education system.
The Bourguiba and Ben Ali Presidencies
The early twentieth century saw the growth of Tunisian nationalist movements, civil disturbances, and popular uprisings against the French-controlled Tunisian government. At the center of such uprisings was Habib Bourguiba, one of the most vocal opponents of French rule and the founder of the nationalist Neo Destour political party. These uprisings resulted in negotiations between the French government and Neo Destour that eventually led to Tunisian independence in 1956. Although the French had hoped for a Tunisian constitutional monarchy led by pro-French beys, Tunisia held elections in 1957 that deposed Bey Muhammad al-Amin, who had ruled Tunisia since 1943 and served as head of state during Tunisia’s first year of independence. The Neo Destour Party swept the elections, the monarchy was abolished, and Bourguiba became Tunisia’s first president. Bourguiba’s presidency was marked by the abandonment of democratic reforms and the suppression of Islamic movements that posed a threat to his one-party government. A new wave of civil uprisings occurred in 1981 amidst economic difficulties, and popular support grew for Rashid al-Ghannushi’s moderate Islamist Ennahda movement. The uprisings were suppressed by the military, led by General Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and the government jailed large numbers of Islamists. In 1987 after Bourguiba was deemed medically unfit to govern, Ben Ali rose to power. Despite promises of democratic reforms, rigged elections enabled Ben Ali to retain the presidency from 1987 until popular protests led to his overthrow in 2011. Ben Ali’s presidency, like Bourguiba’s, was marked by secular governance and the suppression of Islamist movements and political parties.
Contemporary Affairs
In December 2010, the self-immolation of a young man in the town of Sidi Bouzid sparked escalating popular protests against high unemployment and government repression. These spread throughout the country and led to the overthrow of President Ben Ali, in the first episode of what came be known as the Arab Spring. The initial protests were driven by secular concerns, but the subsequent political reforms also benefited the longstanding Islamic opposition. Under Ben Ali, religious political parties had been prohibited in Tunisia on the grounds that they promoted extremism and intolerance. The moderate Islamist Ennahda movement, which had emerged as the most significant opposition to Ben Ali in the 1980s, was consequently banned. After Ben Ali’s overthrow, Ennahda leveraged its experience to become the largest political party in Tunisia. It secured the greatest number of votes in the October 2011 elections to form an assembly charged with drafting a new constitution. Ennahda has said it will not seek to apply Muslim moral codes on society at large, and the party has expressed its commitment to upholding women’s rights. In March 2012, Ennahda confirmed this election year promise, as a spokesman publicly noted that Islamic law will not be a source of legislation in the new constitution, despite the fact that Islam will remain the state’s religion. As Tunisia transitions from revolution to the establishment of stable governance, clashes between ultraconservative Islamists and liberal secularists have been frequent. Occurring on Avenue Bourguiba – the Tunisian equivalent of Tahrir Square in Egypt – these protests often turn violent and have prompted the government to ban protesting on the avenue.
Religious Freedom in Tunisia
The second draft of the Tunisian constitution, released in December 2012, includes a number of improvements in terms of freedom of expression, as well as rights granted to women and religious minorities. Leaders are acutely aware that their treatment of non-Muslim Tunisians affects the state’s credibility. To this end, in December 2011, President Moncef Marzuki called all Jews who fled Tunisia to return and his government strongly condemned a January 2012 demonstration of ultraconservative Salafists that called for the extermination of Jews. In June 2012, a Tunisian court upheld the conviction and imprisonment of a man who published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad being intimate with one of his wives, reigniting political debate concerning the inclusion of sharia as a source of Tunisian law in the new constitution. While Tunisia's government has publicly stated that Sharia law will not be a source for Tunisian law, it remains to be seen what the laws set up by the previous regime will remain in place under the post-revolution government. Many of these laws involved significant state regulation of Islamic religious practices as well as of minority faiths. Traditional Islamic dress was prohibited in state offices and universities. Conversion from Islam was permitted, but converts have reported instances of government discrimination, and proselytizing aimed at Muslims is forbidden. The government did not recognize marriages of Muslim women to non-Muslim men. Judaism represents Tunisia’s second largest religious minority after its 25,000 largely Catholic Christians, with a population of approximately 1,500. The government partially subsidized the Jewish community and paid the salary of Tunisia’s Grand Rabbi, as it did for all the country’s religious leaders.
Religion in the Tunisian Constitution
The previous Tunisian constitution provided for freedom of religion, but stipulated that Tunisia was an Islamic state and that the president must be a Muslim. In 2007, a Tunisian court found a law that restricts the wearing of the hijab to be unconstitutional on the grounds that it restricts the free practice of religion. However, the ruling was nonbinding and rejected by the government of President Ben Ali. As of April 2012, a drafting committee is working to construct a post-revolution constitution for Tunisia. The ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, has said that, although it supports the designation of Islam as the official state religion, it will not seek to include Sharia law as a source of legislation in the new constitution.
