Academic literature on the topic 'Islam – Comores'

This chapter introduces Zanzibar as the regional context for the emergence of both Sufi- and Salafi-oriented movements of reform. Zanzibar’s history since the late 19^th century was informed by the emergence of an Omani political aristocracy and the development of a reform movement led by religious scholars of the Alawiyya Sufi order as well as reform-minded scholars such as Abdallah Salih al-Farsy. The revolution in Zanzibar in January 1964 not only put an end to Omani rule, it also ended the hegemony of the Alawi religious establishment. In the aftermath of the revolution, Zanzibar’s socialist regime war opposed by Saudi trained Salafi-minded groups, known as “ansar al-sunna”. Until today, Salafi-oriented groups have not managed to become a popular mass movement, yet, have become a voice of opposition. The chapter finally compares the development of Salafi-oriented reform in Zanzibar with the development of Islamic reform in the Comoros. Despite some striking similarities, such as a revolution in 1975, the development of the Comoros was marked by a turn towards “Islam” after a coup d’Etat in 1978. The emergence of a Salafi-oriented movement of reform was linked with its protest against the increasingly corrupt political system of the Comoros in the 1980s and 1990s.

Chapter two begins by providing an overview of the prehistory and early history of the western Indian Ocean, setting the Comoros in the wider context. It then goes on to discuss various hypotheses regarding the first settlement of the islands, based on the archaeology of the islands, the nearby African coast and Madagascar. Genetic analysis and archaeological findings confirm the contributions of Arab, Austronesian and African settlers to the local population. The basic social structures of the islands’ people are discussed, matrilineality and the development of religious practices following the arrival of Islam, drawing on both oral traditions and archaeological evidence. It looks at how the islands were incorporated into wider trading systems and, with the arrival of Shirazis, a regional cultural complex.