DISCIPLINING ISLAM: IDI AMIN AND THE RECONFIGURATION OF INDIRECT RULE IN UGANDA
Abstract
This article examines the governance of Islam to illuminate the institutional logic of the Ugandan state. I argue that the regulation of the Muslim domain has operated through horizontal and vertical indirect rule. The colonial state governed Muslims as a political minority through the "Mohammedan chief." But the authority of the chief was constrained by society-based Muslim authorities whose autonomy limited the state's ability to discipline Muslims. To overcome these constraints, President Amin banned society-based Muslim authorities and created the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council in 1972. The Council sought to centralise the interpretation of Islam and shape a governable Muslim subject. If the multiplicity of Muslim authorities represented a horizontally segmented form of indirect rule, Amin reshaped it into a vertically hierarchical system of mediated governance. Approaching Amin as an institutional re-engineer who rethought indirect rule rather than simply a strongman, I establish the African state as a subject-shaping structure of power beyond neopatrimonialism.
Discussants
· Katy Lindquist, Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University
· Brian Musenze, Ph.D Fellow, MISR
Venue
MISR Seminar Room 1 and via zoom (Click here to register)
Date & Time
Wednesday, July 15, 2026; 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Copies of the seminar paper are available at the MISR Library from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. We look forward to your presence and participation in the seminar.