Knowledge, Renewal and Religion Repositioning and Changing Ideological and Material Circumstances Among the Swahili on the East African Coast
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Knowledge, Renewal and Religion Repositioning and changing ideological and material circumstances among the Swahili on the East African Coast Edited by Kjersti Larsen NORDISKA AFRIKAINSTITUTET, UPPsala 2009 ¨ Indexing terms: Indigenous knowledge Traditional culture Social anthropology Cultural anthropology Cultural identity Islam Social change Modernization Social History Cover photo: Kjersti Larsen Two ‘walimu’ in Vikotoni area, Zanzibar Town, on their way to read the Qur’an to someone who is ill. Language checking: Elaine Almén Index: Rohan Bolton ISBN 978-91-7106-635-0 © The authors and Nordiska Afrikainstitutet 2009 Contents Glossary ............................................................................................... 5 Preface ................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 1. Introduction Kjersti Larsen ................................................................... 11 Chapter 2. Kilwa and the Swahili Towns: Reflections from an Archaeological Perspective Felix Chami ..................................................................... 38 Chapter 3. Towards a Paradigm of Swahili Religious Knowledge: Some Observations Farouk Topan .................................................................. 57 Chapter 4. Royal Ancestors and Social Change in the Majunga Area: Northwest Madagascar 19th–20th Centuries Marie Pierre Ballarin ....................................................... 69 Chapter 5. Societal Change and Swahili Spirit Possession Linda L. Giles .................................................................. 85 Chapter 6. Contested Interpretations of Muslim Poetries, Legitimacy and Daily Life Polictics Francesca Declich ........................................................... 107 Chapter 7. Siku ya Arafa and the Idd el-Hajj: Knowledge, Ritual and Renewal in Tanzania Gerard C. van de Bruinhorst .......................................... 127 Chapter 8. Narratives of Democracy and Dominance in Zanzibar Greg Cameron.................................................................151 Chapter 9. Baraza as Markers of Time in Zanzibar Roman Loimeier ............................................................. 177 Chapter 10. The Impact of Religious Knowledge and the Concept of Dini Wal Duniya in Urban Zanzibari Life-Style Mohamed Ahmed Saleh ................................................ 198 Chapter 11. Understanding Modernity/ies: The Idea of a Moral Community on Mafia Island, Tanzania Pat Caplan ...................................................................213 Chapter 12. The Role of Islam in the Political and Social Perceptions of the Waswahili of Lamu Assibi A. Amidu .......................................................... 236 Chapter 13. “In the Olden Days We Kept Slaves”: Layers of Memory and Present Practices Ulla Vuorela ............................................................... 261 Chapter 14. Wonders of the Exotic: Chinese Formula Medicines on the East African Coast Elisabeth Hsu .............................................................. 280 Authors ............................................................................................300 Index ................................................................................................ 303 Glossary Below follows a limited glossary of Swahili terms. The glossary does not include all the words used in the volume, only terms that appear more than once or hold ethnographic or theoretical significance. Swahili words used in the notes are not included. In Swahili nouns have no gender; they are classified according to meaning. There are in all eight different classes. Prefixes are used to indicate noun classes in singular and plural form such as: m-/wa (human beings and animals); m-/mi (objects and plants); ki-/vi (objects); ji-/ma (objects and organic material); u-/u (objects and abstract nouns); mahali denotes places. Ku- is a prefix for verbal nouns. Hence, most Swahili words consist of a root to which prefixes and suffixes are ap- pended, for instance, Wa-, denoting people; M-, a person; U-, a place; and Ki-, a language or also cultural manner, more generally. Ya-, is the genitive form such as in ngoma ya sheitani. Although Swahili is a Bantu language, many Swahili words are also related to Arabic, Hindi and Farsi and some to Portuguese or English. a – she or he adabu – manners ari – honour baraka – blessing, grace, prosperity baraza – a stone bench against the outer wall of the house binadamu (pl. wanadamu) – human being Chama Cha Mapinduzi – The Revolutionary Party chinja – slaughter chuo (pl. vyuo) – Qur’anic school daima – permanently, continually, always dawa (pl. madawa) – medicine, medicament, remedy dawa ya kichina – Chinese medicine desturi – custom, habit, practice dhikiri – sufi ritual, dikhir dini – religion dunia – the world (as it is experienced) fitina – chaos, discord, antagonism ghururi – arrogance, vanity, folly habeshia – spirit from Ethiopia hadharani – in public hatari – danger heshima – respect hitima – a Muslim service in conclusion of some event, i.e. a reading of certain parts of the Qur’an Ibilisi – Satan Idd-al-hajj – festival in commemoration of the pilgrimage to Mecca jahiliyya – ignorance jamaa – family, community member with whom you have family-like relations jini (pl. majini) – spirit, jinn khanga – colourful, rectangular cloth worn by women, shawl kibuki – spirit from Madagascar kikao – place to sit kikunde (pl. vikunde) – group, guild kilinge (pl. vilinge) – ritual group, a place for performance, secret meeting kimondo – satirical dialogue poetry kinyipesi – light (in weight) kitabu – book kizito – heavy (in weight) kufutana na wakati – going with the times kupindua – to overturn madrasa – Qur’anic school maendeleo – development, modernization maisha magumu – life is difficult, hard life mambo ya kisasa – modern ways, new developments mapinduzi – revolution mashindano – competition mateso – persecution, affliction maulidi – reading of Prophet Mohammad’s life mazungumzo – discussion, conversation mchawi (pl. wachawi) – witch mganga (pl. waganga) – specialist in matters of illness and health / traditional healer mila – traditions (often referring to traditional aspects of religion) mjomba – maternal uncle, mother’s brother msahafu – the Qur’an mstaraabu (pl. wastaraabu) – learned person mtalaamu (pl. watalaamu) – intelligent or knowledgeable person mungu – god mwalimu (pl. walimu) – teacher, a person learned in the Qur’an mwanadamu (pl. wanadamu) – human being mwele (pl. wele) – person to be healed during a ritual, patient mwenye elimu – a person with education mwenye maarifa – a person with knowledge or insight mzee (pl. wazee) – elder/old man mzungu (pl. wazungu) – European, foreigner, stranger pepo – spirit punga – to summon spirits; sway, move to and fro pungwa – summon spirits shamba – agricultural land, rural area shehe (pl. mashehe) – a person learned in Islam, religious leader of a mosque sheitani (pl. masheitani) – spirit shoga – female friend siku ya arafa – the day of Arafa simama – stand soko huru – the free market uadilifu – ethics uaminifu – honesty uchawi – witchcraft uganga – sorcery ujamaa – relationship, ‘community’ ustaraabu – civilized vikunde (sing. kikunde) – groups, parties, guilds vyama vingi – multipartyism wachochezi – agitators, troublemakers wafadhili – donors waganga (sing. mganga) – specialists in matters of illness and health / traditional healers walimu (sing. mwalimu) – teachers, persons knowledgeable in the Qur’an wastaraabu (sing. mstaarabu) – learned persons wawekezaji – outside investors wazee (sing. mzee) – elders wazungu (sing. mzungu) – Europeans, foreigners, strangers Preface This volume arises out of the sixth conference in an on-going series of inter- disciplinary workshops. It started out as an Anglo-French workshop held alternatively in London and Paris. The first of these took place in 1987 and its theme was “Social Stratification in Swahili Society” (Parkin and Constantin 1989). The following years the themes for the various workshops were “Networks and Exchanges in the Coastal Societies of East Africa” (le Guennec-Coppens and Caplan 1991), “Continuity and Autonomy in Swahili Communities: Inland influences and strategies of self-determina- tion” (Parkin 1994), “Authority and Power in the Coastal Societies of East- Africa” (Le Guennec-Coppens and Parkin 1998). Then, when the fifth workshop was to be organized, it was decided that it was time to invite scholars from a wider spectrum of countries. Hence, those who participated came from different European countries, America, Kenya, Tanzania, as well as colleagues from Mexico, Canada, Zanzibar, Ghana and Kenya working in Europe. The publication resulting from this workshop is called Swahili Modernities: Culture, politics, and identity on the East Coast of Africa (Caplan and Topan 2005). The sixth workshop was held at the University of Oslo in the spring of 2005 and participants came from Tanzania, Zanzibar, England, France, America, Italy, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Germany as well as colleagues from Zanzibar and Ghana working in Europe. The theme of the workshop was “Knowledge, Renewal and Religion.” The theme “Knowledge, Renewal and Religion” is meant to inspire us to consider the concepts of knowledge, experience and cosmology in relation to recent ideological and political changes in Swahili culture and society. How and to what extent have recent political, ideological and economic changes, including increased