Tunisia’s historically moderate and pragmatic character is reflected in its approach to Islam, the religion of the vast majority of its population. Conciliation and modernity have characterized the Tunisian approach to Islam for decades and even the nation's theologians refute the fundamentalism and conservatism of Islamic movements in nearby states. Violence is foreign to the Tunisian character and is entirely unacceptable, whether in the name of religion, economic advancement or political gain.
Although the Jewish and Christian populations of Tunisia are very small, the practice of tolerance and brotherhood is considered a basic concept of the Islamic tradition, which grew from Judeo-Christian roots.
The Origins of Islam
The founder of Islam was the Prophet Mohammed, an Arab from the rich trading city of Mecca, now in Saudi Arabia. In about 610 AD, the Prophet began to hear divine messages, which were transcribed directly as the Koran. Muslims were called upon to follow five basic tenets:
Declaration of Faith, or Shahada
Prayer, or Salat. The five daily times for prayer are sunset, after dark, dawn, noon and mid afternoon. Prayer can be performed anywhere, though preferably in a mosque
The Pilgrimage, or Haj. In this annual event, millions of Muslims from all over the world perform several days of rituals at Mohammed's birthplace of Mecca.
Saum. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, in which Koran was revealed to Mohammed. During this month, believers should abstain from all forms of consumption between sunrise and sunset: food, drink, cigarettes and sex.
Charity, or Zakat
In the Koran, God claims to have been misunderstood by the earlier religions of Judaism and Christianity. In Islam, Jesus is merely one of a succession of prophets which includes Abraham of the Old Testament.
Christianity in Tunisia
In the 3rd and 4th centuries, church fathers such as Tertullian, St Cyprian and St Augustine worked and preached in early Christian Carthage. Remains of early places of worship and art are evidence of a significant indigenous Christian population, whose disappearance by the 12th century has not been fully explained by historians.
Historic St George's Church in Tunis
While there are no native Arab or Christian communities in Tunisia, Christian instructions remain welcome. Over two hundred Catholic priests and nuns run churches, among them the Tunis Cathedral, as well as seventeen schools which educate 6,000 Muslim students. Christians assist in the care of handicapped children and the White Fathers' Institute of Arab Humanities, founded by the is still a center of intellectual influence.
In April 1996, Pope John Paul II visited Tunisia and enjoined Tunisians to defend the presence of Christians, as well as to carry on the dialogue with moderate Islam.
Judaism in Tunisia
How old are Tunisian’s Jewish settlements? The answer to this question is almost as hard to determine as the age of Judaism itself or the geographic origins of the Berbers. The Jewish community on the island of Jerba is thought to date back to 600 BC. Thus, they may have been contemporaries of the Phoenicians who settled on the coast and eventually became Carthaginians.
Did Tunisia’s first Jews, then, come with the Phoenicians from the Middle East?
Jerba's Ghriba Synagogue
History gives evidence that the indigenous Berber tribes were pragmatic in the way they blended influences in the transition from paganism. Some chose to become Jews. In fact the redoubtable El Kahina, who led the Berber resistance to the Arab invasion, was either Jewish, or Christian.
By the 6th Century, Jews on Jerba had established Ghriba Synagogue, which became, then, the most important site of Jewish pilgrimage. While the present building dates from the 20th century, it holds Torah scrolls which are among the oldest in the world.
Although many Jewish Berbers accepted Islam, others clung to Judaism. To their numbers were added successive waves of refugees from European persecution. Since the Visigoths’ era through the Spanish inquisition to the Second World War, Jews found refuge in Tunisia.
Holy Cities
The fourth holiest city in Islam - after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem - is Kairouan, which was founded within forty years of the death of the Prophet.
Also in Tunisia is the revered Ghriba, Site of one of the oldest synagogues in the Arab world. Every year in early May, the Jewish community at Ghriba receives thousands of Jews from Tunisia and abroad, including from Israel.
Consequently, Tunisian Jews are seen to fall into two groups. First are those of ancient origin, whose customs of dress and life style evolved along with those of their neighbors. This is seen in the Jerbian group, whose costumes are almost indistinguishable from those of the Muslim community and who fashion jewelry for both Jewish and Muslim women. In addition, there are Jewish communities living throughout the urban areas of Tunisia whose life style is much more European.
Since 1948, an amazing number of Tunisian Jews have emigrated back to Europe and Israel. For this reason, the present year-round Jewish population is only several thousand. Many Jews, however, are frequent visitors to Tunisia, feeling at home in this land where their history largely meant integration with their neighbors, rather than ghettos and persecution.
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