Roots of Diversity in Mozambican Islam

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Periodical article

Title:	Roots of Diversity in Mozambican Islam
Author:	Bonate, Liazzat J.K.
Year:	2007
Periodical:	Lusotopie
Volume:	14
Issue:	1
Period:	May
Pages:	129-149
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Mozambique
Subjects:	Muslim brotherhoods Islamic movements authority rituals change Religion and Witchcraft Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1163/17683084-01401007
Abstract:	This paper explores historical roots for the existing diversity of the conceptions of Islam among African Sunni Muslims of Mozambique. This diversity is frequently expressed by internal Muslim debates and competitions centred on the nature of Islamic authority and on the definition of 'orthodoxy'. After identifying roughly three divergent conceptions of Islamic authority and ritual among Mozambican Muslims, the author analyses specific historical contexts within which each of these conceptions of Islam emerged and confronted one another. In particular, the paper focuses on changes with respect to religious authority and ritual. One of the central arguments of this paper is that on the emergence of each new conception, local Muslims set upon redefining what constituted the centre and the margin of Islam in Mozambique, but despite the attempts to the contrary, the old conceptions have persisted and continuously posed challenges to the newly-established centre. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English, French and Portuguese. [Journal abstract]