Project

Recorded Muslim sermons from East Africa

Acronym
RMSEA
Code
41V04516
Duration
01 October 2016 → 20 June 2018
Funding
European funding: framework programme
Research disciplines
  • Humanities
    • Curatorial and related studies
    • History
    • Other history and archaeology
    • Art studies and sciences
    • Artistic design
    • Audiovisual art and digital media
    • Heritage
    • Music
    • Theatre and performance
    • Visual arts
    • Other arts
    • Product development
    • Study of regions
Keywords
East Africa muslims
 
Project description

The present research project focuses on a particularly salient, informative, and so far unexplored aspect of Islamic social movements in East Africa: their use of recordings of religious sermons in the Swahili language. Such recordings have been in use for about a quarter century. They are produced in various locations and religious contexts, traded throughout the region, and used for information as well as education and entertainment. Their topics range similarly widely, from differences between Islam and Christianity to Islam and science, education, family life and the status of women. Explicit references to politics and history are common, and oblique allusions even more so. The sermons therefore offer an unusual and privileged ‘nside view’of the Muslim revival in East Africa