Today folks, I have a possibly different challenge. What I'm wanting to see if it can be pulled off well is what it would take to have Haiti end up as a Majority Islamic country, and what effects this might have on its growth as a nation.
Huh...this one actually is very possible. The French simply source their slaves from a different part of Africa, but create a situation which leads to a revolt around the same time, and the Hatians drive them off-but now the driving cultural force of the revolution is Islam rather than Vodoun.
There would probably be more literate slaves, which could certainly help in the nation-building after the revolution. However, the European powers would still be every bit as horrified at the idea of slaves asserting their rights, so I don't see Muslim Haiti doing that well compared to OTL Haiti in the long. Other Muslim countries would not be able to help them very much in the Caribbean, at best they would only be able to raise objections to the European powers.
Couldn't Morocco theoretically help? Then again, there's also the US to consider...
hmm...now I want to see a timeline with a Muslim Haiti.
A POD with French "simply sourcing their slaves from a different part of Africa" is plenty early of a divergence for Muslim countries to, in an alternate timeline, be able to help them very much. Eurocentrism is not an absolute![]()
Fair enough, my point was that Haiti doing better isn't guaranteed by it being Muslim (though that does help in the literacy department). Haiti doing better ITTL would be dependent on butterflies from the POD that turns it Muslim.
Given African Islam's often mercantile focus, an Islamic Haiti could work out some trade deals post independence, but again that would require either a Western power or a non-western power with a Caribbean presence.
A powerful Muslim or Muslim-allied state in Europe could theoretically back its interests in a Muslim Haiti by playing a balance of power in Europe card without having a strong Caribbean presence as well, possibly.
Perhaps an alternate Treaty of Tripoli forces the US analog in this world to grant favorable trade status to Haiti in exchange for getting Muslim pirates called off American merchant ships?
Huh...this one actually is very possible. The French simply source their slaves from a different part of Africa
They don't even have to do that. There were Muslim slaves on Haiti in OTL, as there were everywhere else in the Caribbean. Some people have even argued that Dutty Boukman had Muslim heritage, although that appears to be based on the thinnest of circumstantial evidence.
What needs to happen is for the French planters to adopt a system similar to Brazil where slaves from the same "nation" are kept together on the plantations. That way, a Muslim-based Vodou will form along with the Christian-based Vodou (similar to how there was a Muslim-based candomble in Brazil) and, eventually, the literate Muslim slaves might stage something similar to the Malê revolt. If such a revolt is successful - which is a really big "if" - then Islam, or an Islamized Vodou, might spread further within the newly free population.
Islamic Vodou(o)? Best. Idea. Ever. In fact, I will do make appropriate noises if that is done.
I'm actually inspired to write a story about an Islamic Republic of the West Indies based on Islamic Liberalism and Mu'tazila.