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Abstract The main object of this article is to falsify the common historical portrait of South Asians in Zanzibar and East Africa. Most studies, a-priori, assume the outstanding business success of the Asian minority in East Africa. In explaining this success, they emphasize common explanations and theories for their economic success, like hard work, having a superior business mind, using their ethnic resources for capital accumulation and knowledge of (international) markets. In this article I attempt to explain the success of South Asians in Zanzibar, East Africa, from a historical point of view. My main argument is that South Asians started with a far more favorable socio-economic position as compared to their African counterparts. They were more than Swahilis, accustomed with a money economy and the concept of interest. In addition, they knew how to read, write and produce account books. Finally, they had access to the rulers, and were able to negotiate profitable terms of trade. Nevertheless, many were not successful at all and went bankrupt. Therefore, the success of South Asians in East Africa may be explained as the outcome of a 'trial and error' process. The successful remained in East Africa, whereas others left. India remained a safety net for those who did not make out as well as a source for new recruitment of traders, shopkeepers and clerks.

Abstract The idea of comprehensiveness, which I call 'facing-both-ways' in matters of faith, is unknown, at least for now, in the Global South Anglicanism where the Anglican Church is used to preaching the Gospel plainly and unmistakably. The story of homosexuality in the Anglican Communion came to the spotlight at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, at which the Anglican bishops of the Global South of the Anglican Communion emerged as the most prominent opponents of any form of approval of homosexual practice by the Anglican Church. By asking the hard question as Bishop Frank Weston of Zanzibar did in 1913: Anglican Communion: For What Should She Stand? Anglican bishops of the Global South of the Anglican Communion drew the Communion's attention to the place and role of Global South Anglicanism in the Communion and World Christianity.

Hadrami scholars have long been recognized as well as been influential teachers of East African Islam, especially in the late 18th and early 19th century. is article traces the role of Hadrami teachers and scholars on Islamic education in Zanzibar between c. 1870 and 1930. The article analyses different levels of Islamic education and traces the texts and teachers who came to influence generations of Muslims in the British-Bū Saīdī protectorate.

Like elsewhere in Africa, local forms of Islam are being challenged by a number of new reformist and revivalist forms of Islam, influenced to some degree by a global Islamic revival but shaped by particular local histories and politics. This has caused some friction, especially as the regime in place seeks to manipulate these tensions for political benefit. Central to this struggle are the young men who have studied Islam abroad and who challenge the established truths of the traditional religious authorities; these authorities in turn accuse 'the youth' of bringing foreign, 'Arab' ideas and politics to Zanzibar. However, the kind of Islamic revival taking place in Zanzibar is far from radical or violent, and it is not appropriate to pose the present situation in terms of global Salafism versus local Sufism. In fact, Islamic revivalists often coin their critique of the state in terms of human rights and good governance and provide an alternative modernity that simultaneously challenges and articulates secular, liberal forms of modernity. Islamic revival critiques what is perceived as society's moral disorder and the state's inability to deal with new global challenges. Hence the present paper explores how global trends in Islam—but also global discourses on human rights and good governance—influence the current modes of Islamic revival in Zanzibar. With a heavily restricted political field, Islam can be a means of critiquing society without getting involved in politics. However, the government and the traditional religious authorities perceive this revivalism as a threat to the status quo and attempt therefore to politicise the struggle, accusing Islamic movements of fundamentalism and terrorism. It is within this political environment that Islamic revival must navigate.

Omani and British reforms of Zanzibar’s judiciary date back to the 1820s, when the abolition of the slave trade justified Western control of the sultanate’s political economy. The sultan enacted the abolition of slavery as a legal status in 1897, seven years after Zanzibar had become a British protectorate. Through the lens of a 1948 inheritance case, I analyze how colonial judicial reforms shaped the negotiation of grievances and the judges’ interpretations of social equality. As members of the colonial elite, both Muslim and British judges were embedded in a racialized social hierarchy. Their reasoning not only exposes the continuous marginalization of former slaves but also attests to ex-slaves’ ability to assert material power. While a Muslim and a British judge used different hermeneutics, both validated the marriage of a Hadrami water carrier to a former slave, thereby affirming his entitlement to a share of his wife’s estate.

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.

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.