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“Islam Between Race and Language: East Africa’s Experience”

Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 4:30pm to 6:00pm

McGraw Hall, Mezzanine Room 101
141 Central Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850

The racial composition of Muslims in East Africa includes Black Africans, Arabs, and South Asians. Intermarriage between Arabs and Black Africans has produced the Swahili ethnic group, and the Arabic language has greatly influenced the Swahili language. The least politically radicalized among these actors are South Asian Muslims, and the most politically radicalized are the Somali, who are a sub-section of Black Africans. In Tanzania the Presidency has rotated between Christians and Muslims, but the island of Zanzibar is still overwhelmingly Muslim. Al-Qaeda and al-Shabab seem to be strongest among sections of the Somali and Coastal Muslims of East Africa. Prof. Mazrui argues in this talk that Islam in East Africa is a civilization and not merely a religion.

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Event Type

Lecture

Departments

Comparative Muslim Societies Program

Tags

diversity

Contact Name

et54@cornell.edu

Speaker

Professor Ali Mazrui

Speaker Affiliation

SUNY Binghamton; A.D. White Professor-at-Large Emeritus; Senior Scholar in African Studies, Africana Center, Cornell University

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