The Increasing Prominence of Africa in the Global Practice of Islam and Christianity

By 2060, Africa is projected to be the demographic center of Christianity and a major center of Islam, with over 40% of Christians living on the continent and 27% of the global Muslim population residing in sub-Saharan Africa alone. When combined with North African Muslims, the continent will compose a plurality of the global Muslim population as well. Given the increasingly prominent role African Christians and Muslims will play in the global practice of both traditions and the relative lack of attention given to this significant development, this panel seeks papers that analyze the past, present, and future place of African Muslims and Christians within the broader context of the world’s two most widely practiced religions. This panel invites papers that consider how Africa is being defined and located in Christianity and Islam. What makes African Christianity and African Islam “African”? Can Islam and Christianity be considered African Religions? Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the long history of Islam and Christianity on the continent, the role of both traditions in African geopolitics, “reverse missions” and Muslim and Christian diasporas, African Muslim and Christian involvement in global debates around gender and sexuality, ramifications for Muslim-Christian dialogue and interreligious relations, and religion and development.