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This talk will explore how the Omani diaspora in Tanzania has articulated Ibadi Muslim identity in the decades since the 1964 Zanzibar revolution. It will show that Ibadi leaders draw on a rhetoric of Muslim unity and religious tolerance to publicly demonstrate the inclusivity of contemporary Ibadism while also showing the limits of inclusion by defining communal identity along ethnic and religious lines.
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This article explores how women of means in nineteenth-century Zanzibar used their built legacies to convey their piety and authority even though they were not active in public religious life. The focus of the study is an old Ibāḍī mosque named after its founder, ‘Aisha bint Jumʻa al-Mughayri, and the tombstone of her younger female relative Muhayra bint Jumʻa al-Mughayri. While the details of the two women’s lives, works and property do not appear prominently in the written record of Zanzibar, this article asks what we can glean about their religious and economic commitments from the built legacies and religious endowments they left behind, as well as from the writings of their male contemporaries, British colonial officials and their descendants. The article also demonstrates how the conservation and upkeep of historic religious institutions in Zanzibar today depends greatly on collaborations between local family members, state institutions and transnational faith-based organizations (fbos).
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Although the rule of the Omani sultanate in Tanzania came to an end following the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964, the legacy of its empire still exists today, along with its distinctive religious identity. The Ibadhi Muslims of Omani descent, who are neither Sunni nor Shi'a, have used a message of tolerance and harmonious coexistence to spread their beliefs across North and East Africa in a post-revolution and post-independence era. In Society of the Righteous, Kimberly T. Wortmann explores how the Ibadhi-Omani community in Tanzania has engaged in charitable activities, cooperation within the Muslim community, and economic development, despite facing suspicions of foreign influence and elitism. The focus is on the Istiqaama Muslim Community, an international charity network established in Oman and Tanzania in 1995. This ethnographic and transregional study documents the strategies employed by the "People of Truth and Righteousness" to preserve their unique religious practices and beliefs. Society of the Righteous moves beyond the typical discussions on global Muslim religion and politics, such as tradition versus modernity, conflicts between different branches of Islam, and the global war on terror. Instead, it explores the intricacies of a religious community whose significance has been obscured by the limitations of area studies paradigms. It illuminates the complexities of religious identity, transnational networks, gender relations, and the power of collective memory in shaping narratives of belonging, cultural preservation, and change in an increasingly interconnected world.
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ABSTRACT This article examines the Ibadi and Ismaili Muslim communities in East Africa—particularly in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania (including Zanzibar)—and their distinct religious, social, and economic roles. Even as minorities within predominantly Sunni contexts, both groups have shaped the region through migration, commerce, and international networks. Often overlooked in studies of postcolonial Islam, they are frequently (mis)identified by ethnic labels (“waarabu” for Ibadis, “wahindi” for Ismailis), which obscure their complex identities. By offering an overview of their religious traditions, migration histories, and institutional presence, the article highlights how these communities challenge dominant frameworks within both regional histories and the academic study of Islam. In doing so, it contributes to broader discussions in religious studies around pluralism, identity, and the intersections of race, religion, and belonging in postcolonial contexts—key concerns for scholars of religion today.
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Cet article examine comment les écoles de la diaspora ibadite omanaise ont eu un impact sur l’éducation religieuse et les relations afro-arabes dans le Zanzibar post-révolutionnaire. L’essentiel de la littérature existante consacrée à l’ibadisme et à la diaspora omanaise à Zanzibar est axé sur l’histoire économique de l’île, sur les histoires des élites arabes sous le sultanat et sur la politique de la révolution de 1964. Peu de travaux explorent comment les ibadites à Zanzibar aujourd’hui se distinguent d’autres musulmans en se mariant au sein de la communauté omanaise, en servant de leaders d’Istiqama, en portant des vêtements omanais, en fréquentant des mosquées ibadites et en inscrivant leurs enfants dans des écoles ibadites. Cette étude offre une nouvelle perspective sur l’ibadisme et les relations entre Oman et Zanzibar sous le néolibéralisme à travers les expériences vécues d’ibadites et non-ibadites affiliés aux écoles de la communauté musulmane Istiqama.
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