Religion Studies: Islam: Sub-Saharan Africa

There is a long history of Islam in Malawi, which precedes Christianity; and Muslims constitute about fifteen percent of the country's population. However Muslims and Islam in Malawi have until relatively recently remained low profile, and there has been little research or documentation of their history. This collection of essays traces the history of Muslim culture in Malawi, looking at for example: how Islam spread to Malawi within the context of the expansion of Islan in East Africa; how Islam developed; and how the Christian churches responded. Further contributions address Islam in Nyasaland in 1910; Kanyenda and the Swahili challenge; Mohammedanism and the Yaos in 1991; the Yao Tariqa and the Sukuti movements; the problems of Islamic education; and the growth of a political and commercial Muslim elite.

"This volume is indispensable to anyone who wants to understand current trends in Islam in Africa." -- MESA Bulletin "A must read for anyone interested in Muslim identity and social change in sub-Saharan Africa." -- Religious Studies Review "The Brenner volume... develops a broader range of issues... [on] African Muslim communities than any existing study." -- John Hanson These essays constitute a timely exploration of the dynamism of Islam as a force for shaping identity and for social and political change across Africa today.

While nearly one in every five people in the world today is Muslim, Islam is spreading most rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where one in three Africans today practices a form of Islam. Sub-Saharan Africa is today home to over 150 million Muslims.Although immensely varied, African Islam, the authors demonstrate, is defined by three overarching beliefs. First, African Islam is local Islam, with no ordained clergy or international body to regulate doctrine. At the same time, the importance of Islam as a source of communal identity, bothwithin African societies and as part of the worldwide Islamic community, is a defining feature of the African Muslim worldview. Finally, there is a pervasive belief among African Muslims that the West is on a new crusade against Islam.At a time of growing interest in the worldwide expansion of Islam, the Islamic revival in Africa deserves special attention. With in-depth coverage of Islam in countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, Pride, Faith, and Fear provides both a general overview of African Islam and a detailed picture ofMuslim politics--which are increasingly national politics--in some of Africa's most populous regions.