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Abstract While every year the people of the United Republic of Tanzania witness the new anniversary of the Union between the former Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, this paper intends to examine how strong its legal foundation stands. The union was established by the two leaders; Nyerere for Tanganyika and Karume for Zanzibar. After their signatures, the agreement was required for ratification at Zanzibar and Tanganyika legislative bodies. Only Tanganyika ratified. Surprisingly, even though Zanzibar did not ratify, the union was made. On this background foundation, the union legality has been repeatedly criticized. While those who question the legality of the union stick on the point of ratification, those who consider its legitimacy, assert that the question of validity has waned due to the period the union has survived. The findings in this article argue otherwise, in fact, the issue has grown to such extent that it haunts everyone in Tanzania.

Abstract Judicial khuluu (<Ar. khulʿ ) in Zanzibar differs from judicial khulʿ in Arab countries that have recently introduced it through legislative reform. In Zanzibar’s Islamic courts, khuluu is used primarily as a judicial mechanism for ending a marriage when a judge determines a wife to be responsible for the breakdown of the marriage. Zanzibari women rarely file for khuluu because it is expensive and is associated with a woman’s failure in her marriage. Herein, I explain why judges in Zanzibar regard khuluu as a punitive measure that can be used to end a marriage when a woman is determined to be responsible for the marital discord, or when there are no grounds for judicial dissolution through fasikhi (<Ar. faskh , annulment). I also show that judges view khuluu as a right that a woman can exercise to extricate herself from marriage, a right that judges sometimes encourage in court.

Starting from the nineteenth century descriptive literatures on Zanzibar by authors such as Sir Richard Burton and Charles Guillain, and Salima bint Said-Ruete's autobiography, we can draw a rather detailed picture of the relationship between the different social layers, cultures and genders on Zanzibar. Describing and differentiating the complexity of Zanzibar society in the nineteenth century is the main aim of this paper. The focus is on clothing in order to sketch the social organization of the society and to highlight the cultural relations between the different groups in Zanzibar. The evidence obtained from the description of clothing is used as an eye-opener for the Zanzibar society and this evidence is supported by nineteenth century literature and photography on Zanzibar.

In the bilingual English-Arabic work, The Oral Art of Soqoṭra: A Collection of Island Voices, Miranda Morris and Ṭānuf Sālim Di-Kišin, in collaboration with Soqoṭrans from all parts of the island, present over a thousand examples of poems and songs, prayers, lullabies, work-chants, messages in code, riddles, examples of community wisdom encapsulated in poetic couplets, and stories centred on a short poem or exchange of poems. These were documented by oral transmission directly to the authors, or through recordings collected by them. They are presented in Soqoṭri (transcribed phonetically in Roman and in Arabic script), and in English and Arabic translation.

The objective of this paper is to shed the light to the series of manuscripts of the treatise al-Mutashabih fi al-Qur’an ( Ambiguous [ayat] in the Qur’an ) by Abu Tahir al-Turaythithi, Mu'tazilte scholar of Baghdad. The problem discussed is the exaggeration of the Qur’an which was the point of sharp theological debates. We know comparatively well the Mu'tazilte works produced in Basra while the work by Abu Tahir al-Turaythithi reflects comprehensively the school of Baghdad. The journey of the treatise through the Muslim world as presented by its manuscripts started from Central Asia, they appeared in Yemen and Oman and finally in one of the European libraries.

The article is devoted to the achievements and approaches of specialists, mostly American, British, German, French and Italian in the analysis of Ibadi siyar and the new perspectives of the research connected with the analysis of the MSS material. The general tendency in the field now is to follow the footsteps of Van Ess, Madelung and Cook, and rather than developing new theories and hypotheses, to seek out and identify well documented texts that will offer a reliable picture of Islamic thought before the 3rd/9th century. To provide a clearer general context, the texts could also be rearranged in historical order and grouped on the basis of the ideas they present. Most works produced by the different Ibadi groups during the early period are not representative of particular literary genre. However, we do not have precise data on the Islamic material on ‘ilm al-kalam that has been discovered so far from the period up to the end of the 3rd/9th century. Because of the importance attached to siyar by Ibadi ‘ulama’ during the 10th/16th and 11th/17th centuries Ibabi schools began to seek out their roots and collect early manuscripts and works of literature on the Ibadi legacy... The article is devoted to the achievements and approaches of specialists, mostly American, British, German, French and Italian in the analysis of Ibadi siyar and the new perspectives of the research connected with the analysis of the MSS material. The general tendency in the field now is to follow the footsteps of Van Ess, Madelung and Cook, and rather than developing new theories and hypotheses, to seek out and identify well documented texts that will offer a reliable picture of Islamic thought before the 3rd/9th century. To provide a clearer general context, the texts could also be rearranged in historical order and grouped on the basis of the ideas they present. Most works produced by the different Ibadi groups during the early period are not representative of particular literary genre. However, we do not have precise data on the Islamic material on ‘ilm al-kalam that has been discovered so far from the period up to the end of the 3rd/9th century. Because of the importance attached to siyar by Ibadi ‘ulama’ during the 10th/16th and 11th/17th centuries Ibabi schools began to seek out their roots and collect early manuscripts and works of literature on the Ibadi legacy. The latter were copied and preserved per se without diluting them or considering them in the context of the other Islamic schools. That is why the Ibadi school was able to remain united and steadfast in the face of the contemporary modernization movements which continue to this day. Most of the compilations of the texts that are currently in our possession comprise not more than ten volumes in all. Scholars and copyists have rearranged each of these manuscripts, so that each copy has a different number and sequence of siyar texts. The existing text formats raise the important question of whether Ibabi siyar are actually a literary genre. Until now nobody has really studied siyar in such a way that their specific genre characteristics have been defined in detail.

The article analyses the Arab clove plantations on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba in the nineteenth century. The aim of this analysis is to show the functioning of a non-European model of plantations using slave labour. The author presents the organisation of work on the clove cultivation and characterises the owners and the workforce. He describes not only changes that affected this system in the nineteenth century, but also indicates the extent to which the plantations themselves contributed to the social and economic transition of the islands. The Arab model of plantation is shown compared to the similar systems in the Americas, highlighting common features of this institution as well as its unique elements on Zanzibar and Pemba.

The present article analyses the impact of different East African geographical, social and economic conditions on the settlement model of the Omani in this area in 1806–1856. The article indicates that the Oman settlement model has undergone significant changes, including the appearance of new forms of settlement, a change in building material, and the adoption of solutions practiced by African cultures. On the other hand, however, many important elements, such as the architecture and tribal settlement structure, were transferred to East Africa.