Editing Religious persecution (section)

===Persecution of African traditional religions===
{{Main|Persecution of traditional African religions}}

[[Traditional African religions]] have faced religious persecution from Christians and Muslims.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/africanvoicesofa00bail <!-- quote=Africans were equal partners. --> Anne C. Bailey, ''African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame''.]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bryant |first=M. Darrol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kv4nAAAAYAAJ |title=The Many Faces of Religion and Society |last2=Mataragnon |first2=Rita H. |date=1985 |publisher=Paragon House Publishers |isbn=978-0-913757-20-8 |language=en}}</ref> Adherents of these religions have been [[forced conversion|forcefully converted]] to [[Islam]] and [[Christianity]], demonized and [[marginalized]].<ref>Garrick Bailey, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1133603564 ''Essentials of Cultural Anthropology''], 3rd edn (2013), p. 268:"Later, during the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries became active in Africa and Oceania. Attempts by Christian missionaries to convert nonbelievers to Christianity took two main forms: forced conversions and proselytizing."</ref> The atrocities include killings, waging war, destroying of sacred places, and other atrocities.<ref>
Festus Ugboaja Ohaegbulam, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0819179418 ''Towards and Understanding of the African Experience''] (1990), p. 161:"The role of Christian missionaries are a private interest group in European colonial occupation of Africa was a significant one...Collectively their activities promoted division within traditional African societies into rival factions...the picture denigrated African culture and religion..."</ref><ref>Toyin Falola et al., [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=031335972 Hot Spot: Sub-Saharan Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa] (2010), p. 7:"A religion of Middle Eastern origin, Islam reached Africa via the northern region of the continent by means of conquest. The Islamic wars of conquest that would lead to the Islamization of North Africa occurred first in Egypt, when in about 642 CE the country fell to the invading Muslim forces from Arabia. Over the next centuries, the rest of the Maghreb would succumb to Jihadist armies...The notion of religion conversion, whether by force or peaceful means, is foreign to indigenous African beliefs...Islam, however, did not become a religion of the masses by peaceful means. Forced conversion was an indispensable element of proselytization."</ref>

====Persecution of Dogons====
{{main|Dogon people|Dogon religion}}
For almost 1000 years,<ref name="Griaule"/> the [[Dogon people]], an ancient tribe in [[Mali]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Caught in the crossfire of Mali's war|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/caught-in-the-crossfire-of-mali-s-war-8467800.html|access-date=2023-01-02|website=The Independent|date=25 January 2013| author= Kim Sengupta}}</ref> had faced religious and ethnic persecution—through [[jihad]]s by dominant Muslim communities.<ref name="Griaule">[[Marcel Griaule|Griaule, Marcel]]; [[Germaine Dieterlen|Dieterlen, Germaine]]; (1965). ''Le mythe cosmologique. Le renard pâle.'', 1. Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie Musée de l'homme, p. 17</ref> These jihadic expeditions were undertaken in order to force the Dogon to abandon [[Dogon religion|their traditional religious beliefs]] and convert to Islam. Such jihads caused the Dogon to abandon their original villages and move up to the [[Bandiagara Escarpment|cliffs of Bandiagara]] in search of a place where they could defend themselves more efficiently and escape persecution—which they often did by building their dwellings in little nooks and crannies.<ref name="Griaule"/><ref>''[[Africa Today]],'' Volume 7, [[Africa Media Review|Afro Media]] (2001), p. 126</ref> In the early era of [[French colonial empire|French colonialism]] in Mali, the French authorities appointed Muslim relatives of [[El Hadj Umar Tall]] as chiefs of the [[Bandiagara]]—despite the fact that the area has been a Dogon area for centuries.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wise|first=Christopher|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YNwCDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA68|title=Sorcery, Totem, and Jihad in African Philosophy|date=2017-03-23|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-350-01310-0|page=68}}</ref>

In 1864, [[Tidiani Tall]], the nephew and successor of the 19th century [[Senegambian]] jihadist and Muslim leader—El Hadj Umar Tall, chose to make Bandiagara the capital of the [[Toucouleur Empire]] thereby exacerbating the inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflict. In recent years, the Dogon have accused the [[Fula people|Fulanis]] of supporting [[Islamic terrorism|Islamic terrorist]] groups like [[Al-Qaeda]] and they have also accused the Fulanis of sheltering members of these same terrorist groups in Dogon country, leading to the creation of the Dogon militia [[Dan Na Ambassagou]] in 2016—whose aim is to defend the Dogon against systematic attacks. That action resulted in the [[Ogossagou massacre]] of Fulanis in March 2019, and the Fula retaliated by committing the [[Sobane Da massacre]] in June of that year. In the wake of the Ogossagou massacre, the [[List of heads of state of Mali|President of Mali]], [[Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta]] and his government ordered the dissolution of Dan Na Ambassagou—whom they hold partly responsible for the attacks. The Dogon militia group denied its involvement in the massacre and it also rejected calls to disband itself.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Matfess|first=Hilary|date=2019-09-11|title=What Explains the Rise of Communal Violence in Mali, Nigeria and Ethiopia?|url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/what-explains-the-rise-of-communal-violence-in-mali-nigeria-and-ethiopia/|access-date=2023-01-02|website=World Politics Review|url-access= subscription}}</ref>

====Persecution of Serers====
{{main|Persecution of Serers}}
{{See|Serer religion|Serer history|Persecution of traditional African religions}}

The persecution of the [[Serer people]] of [[Senegal]], [[Gambia]] and [[Mauritania]] is multifaceted, and as a result, it includes religious and ethnic elements. The religious and ethnic persecution of the Serer people dates back to the 11th century, when [[War Jabi|King War Jabi]] usurped the throne of [[Tekrur]] (a part of present-day Senegal) in 1030, and in 1035, he introduced [[Sharia law]] and forced his subjects to submit to [[Islam]].<ref>Clark, Andrew F., & Phillips, Lucie Colvin, "Historical Dictionary of Senegal". ed: 2, Metuchen, New Jersey : Scrarecrow Press (1994) p. 265</ref> With the assistance of his son Leb, their [[Almoravid]] allies and other [[Ethnic groups in Senegal|African ethnic groups which had embraced Islam]], the Muslim coalition army launched [[jihad]]s against the Serer people of Tekrur because they refused to abandon the [[Serer religion]] in favour of Islam.<ref name="Page, Willie F. 1500 pp 209, 676">Page, Willie F., "Encyclopedia of African history and culture: African kingdoms (500 to 1500)", pp. 209, 676. Vol.2, Facts on File (2001), {{ISBN|0-8160-4472-4}}</ref><ref>Streissguth, Thomas, "Senegal in Pictures, Visual Geography", Second Series, p. 23, Twenty-First Century Books (2009), {{ISBN|1-57505-951-7}}</ref><ref>Oliver, Roland Anthony, Fage, J. D., "Journal of African history", Volume 10, p. 367. Cambridge University Press (1969)</ref><ref name="Godfrey">Mwakikagile, Godfrey, "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p. 11, {{ISBN|9987-9322-2-3}}</ref> The number of Serers who were killed is unknown, but the defeat of the Serers at Tekrur triggered their exodus from Tekrur to the south, where they were granted asylum by the [[lamane]]s.<ref name="Godfrey"/> The persecution of the Serer people continued from the [[medieval era]] to the 19th century, resulting in [[the Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune]]. Since the 20th century, the persecution of the Serers has been less visible, nevertheless, they are still the objects of scorn and prejudice.<ref>Abbey, M T Rosalie Akouele, "Customary Law and Slavery in West Africa", Trafford Publishing (2011), pp. 481–482, {{ISBN|1-4269-7117-6}}</ref><ref name="Mwakikagile">[[Godfrey Mwakikagile|Mwakikagile, Godfrey]], "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p. 241, {{ISBN|9987-9322-2-3}}</ref>