Chad is located in the heart of the African continent. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, Cameroon to the southwest, the Central African Republic to the south, and Niger and Nigeria to the west. This geographical position makes Chad a landlocked country, with no access to the seas. However, culturally, this position has allowed the people of Chad to adopt a diverse mix of African and Arab cultures.
Environment
Chad has a hot tropical climate, especially in the northern regions and parts of the center, while southern Chad is in more humid areas. Chad conducts its trade activities through the Port of Douala in Cameroon and the Port of Lagos in Nigeria, but most imports come from China and the United Arab Emirates, especially clothing. Some trade is also done with Benin and Egypt.
Natural Resources
Chad is rich in oil, diamonds, uranium, iron, copper, gold, and other natural resources. However, most of these resources are yet to be exploited; only oil and gas have been extracted since 2003 and exported through the Port of Douala in Cameroon. About 22,000 barrels of oil are extracted daily, just from the wells in the Doba region. Gold, on the other hand, is extracted more traditionally and irregularly in the northern regions of Chad.
Tribes, Dialects, and Religion
Chad’s geographical position has led to the presence of numerous and diverse tribes. Many tribes have kinship ties with the western tribes of Sudan. About 113 different dialects are spoken in Chad. In terms of religion, there are various beliefs, including Islam and Christianity, as well as animism. Islam entered Chad early on through two main routes: from Libya and from Sudan. Christianity came with the French colonizers and spread through health centers, schools, and social services. The Muslim population in Chad is about 57%, while the rest is divided between Christianity and animism.
Education
With the arrival of French colonizers, there was a tendency to hinder the spread of knowledge, eliminate educated people and teachers, and block the progress of education. The first school was established in the city of Mao, the capital of the Kanem region, and the field of education has been neglected and remained weak to this day. Chad does not have a unified and regular curriculum for basic, middle, and high school levels; there is no Arabic curriculum for Arabic schools or a French curriculum for French schools. Additionally, efforts were made to spread French culture and language.
Health Sector
Chadians, especially during the autumn season, suffer daily losses and great distress from this disease. The main carrier of the disease is the mosquito, and the lack of a sewage system, creating suitable environments for mosquitoes to breed after rainwater drainage, significantly increases their numbers. This situation causes great suffering not only to citizens but also to animals. In some areas, mosquito nets are tied around horses and donkeys at night for protection. Children are seen as the most vulnerable group among those who die from malaria because their resistance to the effects of the disease is lower.
The government relies on international aid to combat malaria. Moreover, why do diseases supported by Western organizations and global pharmaceutical companies never decrease, but instead increase day by day? Since 2015, the number of malaria victims has increased. According to the statistics of the Chad Ministry of Health, malaria is the leading cause of death in Africa and Chad. The government had previously announced that the treatment of malaria cases would be free in state hospitals; this idea was initially well-received, but as days passed, with the corruption of the health system and the deepening economic crisis, the free treatment services for severe malaria cases were stopped. Those most affected by malaria are people living in rural areas. People in rural areas try to reach hospitals when their health conditions worsen. Sometimes they travel on the back of a donkey or by horse cart (karro), and many die without seeing a doctor or reaching the hospital door. The community usually uses the phrase “Their time was up,” while the blame is not placed on the government.
French Colonialism
France did not want to invade Africa; rather, it wanted to wipe out Africa and create a new France stretching across the heart of the African continent. By the end of the 19th century, France ruled over three African countries: Central Africa, Gabon, and Congo. These occupied territories were called French Equatorial Africa by the French. In the center of this triangle was a country that disturbed the French’s peaceful dream: Chad. The increasing spread of Islam and the nationalist spirit that accompanied this spread ideologically rejected forced colonization and missionary campaigns. Additionally, control of Chad provided France with full control over Chad cotton and cheap Chad labor. Therefore, French forces set out to fight Rabih ez-Zubayr ibn Fadlallah.
Rabih was Sudanese but established a powerful state west of Lake Chad and adopted Islamic Sharia as the official law of his state. France fought against him with campaigns of fewer numbers, yet Rabih managed to defeat them and killed several of their leaders.
In 1894, France launched a larger and better-armed force against him, but Rabih defeated them again and killed their leaders. The French were humiliated by this defeat and decided that their next campaign would be either the end of Rabih or their own existence. The French won and expelled Rabih. They then pursued him through Nigeria and Cameroon, not stopping with Rabih alone. They continued the fight with additional soldiers from Algeria and Central Africa, and the war ended in 1900 with the killing of Rabih.
After Rabih was killed, his son Fadlallah took over the leadership and continued his father’s work. The years passed with victories and defeats against the French, but ultimately, the French laughed last and killed Fadlallah in 1909. Father and son were dead, but their soldiers continued to fight without a leader for two more years. Their goal was clear: to fight against the French. They were more knowledgeable about war strategies, so they continued to fight until 1911, when all of Chad’s territories fell into French hands.
The Kapkab Massacre
In 1917, French colonial authorities occupying Chad’s territories targeted Chad scholars and students who opposed colonial policies and plans to spread corruption and immorality among the youth. The Kapkab Massacre was carried out to achieve these objectives. The French administration surrounded many scholars during the morning prayer in the city of Abéché and attacked them with “kapkab” or “sword,” killing more than 400 scholars and jurists. After killing these scholars, the French soldiers collected their books and manuscripts, burned some, sent others to French museums, and stored the rest in local depots in Abéché to be handed over to the expected new sultan.
Thus, France aimed to implement its failed policies of assimilation, integration, and Frenchification by killing 400 significant scholars, thereby drying up the sources of Islamic culture. In Chad in general, and particularly in the Wadai Sultanate, they assassinated scholars under various pretexts and justifications. These scholars were buried in a mass grave in the Am Kamal area of Abéché, within a valley. The cemetery is still there.
With this act, France aimed to implement an undeclared secret plan against Islam and Muslims and their Islamic culture, as they resorted to killing scholars to achieve the policies they failed to implement through educational institutions, but they never succeeded until they left Abéché. The difference between the individual crimes committed by a state that carried out the Kapkab massacre and claims to be a state of civilization and enlightenment is that an individual might be insane, drunk, or similar.
By killing 400 significant scholars with the kapkab after gathering them in Abéché, the religious capital of Chad, France achieved success. Therefore, the massacre is called the Kapkab Massacre, named after the sword known as “kapkab” in the Chadian dialect. We pray for mercy for these scholars and that they may be with the prophets, the truthful, and the martyrs in paradise.
