Comoros

The Union of the Comoros consists of a series of islands in the Comoro archipelago in the Indian Ocean; it lies off the coast of eastern Africa, north of Madagascar. With less than 1 million inhabitants, Comoros is one of the smallest nations in Africa, though it has one of the densest populations. Although most of the residents of the islands are Swahili-speaking settlers from Africa, the islands have been under Arab influence since the seventh century, when it and the island of Zanzibar north of the Comoros were populated by Arab traders and then came within the orbit of the Sultan of Oman.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore and control the islands, arriving in 1505. In the 17th century, Malagasy pirates harbored in the islands and controlled some of the territory. In 1841, the Portuguese ceded control to the French, and the Comoros remained under French control until 1973, when the French agreed to give the islands independence if they requested it. Most did, and they formed an independent country in 1975. One island, Mayotte, preferred to remain under French control, and it continues to be a part of overseas French territory. Almost all the residents of Comoros are Sunnī Muslims. The remaining 2% are Christian—primarily Roman Catholic because of the French colonial influence. There are also a small number of Indian immigrants, many of whom are Ismaeli, which is a branch of Shi'a Islam. Though the Comoros language is related to Swahili, Arabic is widely spoken as a second language, and there are strong cultural ties to the Arabian peninsula.

Religion has played a role in the mercurial political life of the Comoros since it has become independent. In the decades since it was liberated from French control in 1975, the country has experienced more than 20 attempted coups, many of them successful. For a time, from 1978 to 1989, the country was under Islamist political influence. President Ahmed Abdallah proclaimed the country to be under Muslim law, and the name was changed to the Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros. After Abdallah was assassinated in 1989, political turmoil ensued until the French military intervened to restore order. Later, a new political system was instituted that gave semiautonomy to each of the islands in the chain, and the name of the country was changed to the Union of the Comoros.

Islam continues to be a factor in the politics of the country. A Sunnī Muslim cleric, Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, was elected president in the 2006 elections. Because he had studied Islam in Iran, Sambi was nicknamed “the Ayatullah.” There have been reports of Wahhabi and extremist Islamist views propagated in the country, and an alleged member of al Qaeda, Fazul Abdullah Mohammad, was born in Comoros. Though he lives in Kenya, he continues to maintain Comorian citizenship.