Roman Loimeier and Rüdiger Seesemann (eds), The Global Worlds of the Swahili: interfaces of Islam, identity and space in nineteenth- and twentieth-century East Africa. Berlin: Lit Verlag (hb €34.90 – 3 8258 9769 9). 2006, 424 pp.
A product of several workshops sponsored by the Center for Collaborative Research in the Humanities and the German Research Foundation, this book was inspired by an international conference in Zanzibar which took place in 2003 under the title The Global Worlds of the Swahili. The editors chose eighteen papers from these workshops that show the changing and transitory character of Swahili history and culture through the centuries, framed in the discussion of the interaction between local and global influences.
The topics dealt with in this book can be divided, according to the editors, into three groups: the first is defined by the geographical scope of the Swahili, from the East African coast to the Indian Ocean. Two papers cover this subject. Abdul Shariff argues that the Indian Ocean must be seen as a seascape that unites the African and Asian littorals – instead of an obstacle which excludes East Africa, as suggested by Chaudhuri, a scholar who perceives the Indian Ocean as a greater Mediterranean. Similarly, Leif Manger reminds us of the multiple commercial and scholarly networks in the Horn of Africa and their links with the East African Coast and the rest of the Ocean. A second group consists of three papers that question Swahili identity as expressed in diverse fields. Farouk Topan addresses the debate around ‘being Swahili’, previously defined by features such as region, race, religion and language. Katrin Bromber offers an interesting review of how the Swahili word ustaarabu (civilization) is defined, and of several shifts in the meaning of this concept. Her argument draws on analysis of discussions of the term in a monthly newspaper, Mambo Leo (Current Affairs), launched by the British administration in the 1920s. Finally, David Parkin considers the subject of identity as refracted through the perceptions of modern art prevailing in Zanzibar between 1992 and 2003.
The rest of the book deals with Islam, Muslim scholars and religious practice on the East African coast. The contributions of Roman Loimeier and Magnus Echtler focus on the relations between Muslim scholars, colonial and post-colonial administrations, and ‘popular religious culture’. Loimeier specifically deals with the case of the interplay between Zanzibar's scholars and British and independent administrations. Echtler focuses his paper on recent changes made to the New Year's celebration in Makunduchi, south Zanzibar, a festival whose origins date back many centuries.
Close to this topic are four papers concerning the maulidi celebrations (the birth of the Prophet Muhammad). Michael Lambek refers to the popular religious practices related to maulidi on the Comorian island of Mayotte. Hanni Nuotio writes about the role of women in maulidi in northern Zanzibar. Kai Kresse assesses the debate on the religious legitimacy of maulidi on the Kenyan coast. Rüdiger Seesemann also takes up the subject of maulidi in a contribution that questions the categories of Arab and African Islam that have been applied routinely to the East African scenario.
The last six papers explore African and Arab influences with regard to Muslim scholars and Sufi orders. Valerie Hoffman writes about the diplomatic career of Abd al Aziz al-Amawi, a Somali scholar who served as diplomat to the Sultanate of Zanzibar during the nineteenth century. Anne Bang introduces us to the life of Thahir al-Amawi, who served the British authorities of Zanzibar during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Both men were members of the Amawi clan of Barawa. Their lives demonstrate the possibilities of adaptation and interaction between Muslim scholars and governments in different socio-political moments, and how the scholar-diplomats were able to come to terms with the political realm's demands while continuing to serve their respective political and religious interests.
Hassan Mwakimako also deals with the subject of the interaction of Muslim scholars and colonial government in his paper on the appointment of two Chief Khadis, Abd al Rahman bins Ahmad Saggaff and Sheikh Muhammad bin Umar Bakore, during the British protectorate in Kenya. The papers that follow by Chanfi Ahmed and Amina Ameir Issa consider the Sufi Brotherhoods, the Shadhiliyya and the Qadiriyya, and their links to East Africa, specifically in the Comoros and mainland Tanganyika. This subject has been treated previously by Trimingham, Martin, El Zein, Nimtz and Pouwels, but these new contributions are very welcome because research in this area stood in urgent need of revision under new perspectives. The final paper in the collection is written by Mohamed Bakari, about an influential twentieth-century Zanzibar scholar, Sayyid Omar Abdalla.
This collection of papers constitutes an important contribution not only to Eastern African studies but also to scholarship on Islam in Africa. It revives discussions on matters neglected during the last fifteen years. While scholars in Swahili studies will be aware of most of the topics contained in the book, those who are unfamiliar with these subjects will need to consult and select from a basic bibliography of Swahili scholarship first. The one criticism of this collection that I have is the varying depth of the research. While Roman Loimeier's contribution relies on very well-developed and documented research, for example, Bromber's work, though suggestive and interesting, draws on research in its initial stages. The book is a welcome addition to the abundant new scholarship on Swahili studies published in recent years in Europe, America and Asia.
