In this first major historical study of Islam among the Swahili, Randall Pouwels shows how Islam and other aspects of coastal civilization have evolved since about AD 1000 as an organic whole. Coastal Africans, he argues, simply adopted Islam as the spiritual vehicle best suited to their expanding intellectual needs and to meeting the opportunities presented by their physical and cultural environment. The culture and religion that developed were strong, rich, supple, self-assured. yet capable of accommodating change where it was unavoidable or preferable. All these characteristics were put to the test in the nineteenth century, when coastal peoples were subjected to intense Arabizing and Westernizing influences. Pouwels demonstrates how local people went on asserting their own traditions while assimilating what they chose from both worlds. East African Muslims, therefore faced the twentieth century divided on issues of local cultural autonomy and the need to conform to external cultural pressures.

Product Description: According to myth, cats have nine lives, and Alexander Catt II (also known as Lexi) has spent his former lives with scientists of medicine throughout history. In these adventures, Lexi witnesses medical breakthroughs and discoveries, and learns the value of hard work and integrity...read more

Product Description: In Lexi and Marie Curie Saving Lives in World War I, Lexi lives in France with the Curie family at the beginning of the 20th century. When injured soldiers return from the warfront, Marie realizes the need for x-ray services, and sets to work providing these to the doctors at the front...read more

Product Description: In medieval Europe, a young maiden, Verity, suffers the manipulation of a power-hungry Duchess. Determined to improve her daughter Violet’s status, the Duchess incessantly belittles and insults Verity, wearing away her self-esteem...read more

Product Description: According to myth, cats have nine lives, and Alexander Catt II (also known as Lexi) has spent his former lives with scientists throughout history. In these adventures, Lexi Catt’s Meowmoirs―Tales of Heroic Scientists, Lexi witnesses medical breakthroughs and discoveries, and learns the value of hard work and integrity...read more