Daju, Dar Fur

Between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Daju groups migrated from the east and came to rule various peoples in the region that today corresponds to Darfur, forming one of the area's first organized dynasties. In the sixteenth century, this rule was overthrown by the Tunjur, who took control of the region, and the Daju remained settled in the hills that came to bear their name, maintaining their language and clan organization to this day. In recent decades, the armed conflict in Darfur has forced much of this people to leave their land and seek refuge in neighboring Chad.

In the villages of the Daju hills, houses are usually round, with a cone-shaped roof, while in the towns rectangular mud-brick buildings with flat roofs predominate. The economy revolves around grain farming, and boys and girls organize from an early age into social and work groups, responsible for keeping the village clean and organizing the dances that mark communal life.

Society is patriarchal, with older men leading family decisions. Having a male heir is a desire shared by all parents, and sons receive special attention from early childhood.

Practically all the Daju of Dar Fur profess Sunni Islam, and the Islamic faith has been deeply tied to the people’s identity since long before the modern era. In everyday practice, however, this observance mixes with older traditional beliefs: not everyone attends the mosque for Friday prayers, and customs such as drinking alcohol, forbidden by Islam, still persist among part of the population.

This combination of Islam and elements of traditional religiosity reveals a faith lived out communally, where belonging to the group weighs as much as doctrine itself, and where beliefs in protective spirits coexist alongside Muslim practice.

The Daju Dar Fur language belongs to the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan languages and is spoken in the Daju hills and around Lagowa, in the Nuba Mountains region. There is no complete Bible in this language, and the work of translating the Scriptures is still in an early stage. Since almost everyone also speaks Arabic as a second language, Christian material in that language can reach those who already master the region’s lingua franca, but most families remain without any portion of the Word in their own language.

To be Daju of Dar Fur is to be Muslim: the Islamic faith is interwoven with clan identity, and breaking from it means breaking from the family. The region has lived through decades of war and instability, which discourages anyone attempting a lasting presence among them. There is almost no Christian material in the heart language of this people, and most would only have access to the gospel through Arabic, a language they learn in addition to their own.

Armed conflict and periods of drought that have struck Darfur have brought displacement, loss of land, and insecurity to many Daju families, who today live partly in Sudan and partly as refugees in Chad. There is a concrete need for stability, for the rebuilding of communal life, and for access to basic resources for those forced to start over far from home. Spiritually, the Daju of Dar Fur lack any meaningful contact with the message of Jesus Christ and with Christian material in their own language.