o - Aceh Books website

NYAMWEZI 577
Christianity, probably because Christianity forbids polygyny. And since in Islam
there are no clergy comparable to those of the Christian churches, there is no
curb on the beer drinking that is so much a part of the traditional and modern
culture of the Nyamwezi.
Most non-immigrant Muslims of the area (as elsewhere in East Africa) are
Sunni of the Shafi school. In the major cities of Tabora and Mwanza, there are
many Asians who are Shia Ismaili or Shia Ithna Ashari. Their numbers have
decreased considerably in the past few years; many have migrated to Britain and
Canada (see Asians of East Africa). There has been some activity in Tabora by
the Ahmadiya sect. This may have been influenced in the early days of independence
by the example of the regional commissioner, the late Shaikh Amri
Abedi, who was a prominent Ahmadi. He was famous as a Swahili poet and
for his concern with the translation of the Quran into Swahili.
Observance of the requirements of Islam is minimal. Only a small minority
in the cities carry out daily prayer. Most people observe Ramadan, although not
too strictly, and no more than a handful have made the Haj. There are no Islamic
saints comparable to those in West Africa. Most Muslims continue to engage in
rites directed towards ancestral spirits and in a large number of secret societies
for both sexes, with functions ranging from snake charming to spirit possession.
The Nyamwezi people, particularly the Sukuma group, have undergone a
series of vicissitudes in this century. Their agricultural and herding practices,
which long dismayed Western agricultural and animal husbandry experts, have
now been shown to be an entirely rational response to tsetse and tick-born
diseases, even though the result has been serious soil erosion. The compulsory
concentration into village communities may have as yet unforeseen results, one
of which could well be a large-scale conversion to Islam and the development
of fundamentalism as a response to economic deprivation, deteriorating natural
resources and political discontent.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Abrahams, R. G. "Kahama Township, Western Province, Tanganyika." In Social Change
in Modern Africa, edited by A. W. Southall. London: Oxford University Press,
1961.
. The Political Organization of Unyamwezi. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1968.
. The Nyamwezi Today. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
Cory, Hans. Political System of the Sukuma. Nairobi: Eagle Press, 1954.
. Sukuma Law and Custom. 1953. Reprint ed. Westport, Conn.: Negro University
Press, 1970.