Islam in Tunisia

Reliable sources report that many Sufis left the country shortly after independence when their religious buildings and land reverted to the Government.

[1] The constitution guarantees freedom of belief, conscience, and exercise of religious practices, and the neutrality of mosques and houses of worship from partisan exploitation.

[1] The constitution admits the possibility of restrictions on religious freedom, giving general reasons for this as protecting the rights of third parties, national defense, and public security, morality, and health.

Some families avoid the effects of Shari'a on inheritance by executing sales contracts between parents and children to ensure that sons and daughters receive equal shares of property.

[13] The Muslim Arab governors of Tunis founded the Aghlabid Dynasty, which ruled Tunisia, Tripolitania and eastern Algeria from 800 to 909.

[15] Tunisia was influenced more heavily by Europe during the colonial era (it was a French protectorate and in 1945 had 144,000 colonialists living in it) and is considered the most westernized of Muslim North African states.

The 1988 law banning non-state approved activities and meetings at mosques was discontinued allowing much longer hours of operation.

[13] (Another indication of the ascendance of conservative Islam was the large plurality the Islamist Ennahda party won in the 2011 Constituent Assembly election.

[24] Calls came for legalization of polygamy, from Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice[19] A new mufti appointed in 2013, (Hamda Saïd) was known to have supported polygamous marriage.

[13][25] In August 2013, the Tunisian government declared Ansar al-Shari`a an illegal terrorist organization following its alleged involvement in the political assassinations of secularist politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi in 2013.

[13] Following an Islamist attack on July 16, 2014 killing 12 army soldiers, the prime minister's office created a “crisis unit” to coordinate efforts to combat terrorism.

[22] In December 2014 the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced it had re-asserted state control over all mosques in Tunisia and in cooperation with civil society organizations, trained imams in moderate discourse when delivering sermons.