between the different religious communities, as
evidenced by the long-standing civil war in Sudan
between the Islamic north and non-Muslim reb-
els in the south. In other countries, interfaith
relations have been more peaceful. For example,
Muslims in Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi have
used a variety of nonviolent means to advance
their interests as minority religious communities
within secular nation-states. Tensions between
Sufi orders and various revivalist groups have also
affected the development of East African Islam,
with revivalists accusing Sufis of promoting non-
Islamic practices. In summary, Islamic communi-
ties in East Africa are marked by their diversity
and include Muslims from a wide variety of ethnic
backgrounds, sectarian loyalties, educational lev-
els, economic statuses, and political viewpoints.
See also christianity and islam; West aFrica.
Stephen Cory
Further reading: H. B. Hansen and M. Twaddle, Religion
and Politics in East Africa (London: Currey, 1995); John
Middleton, The World of the Swahili, an African Mercan-
tile Civilization (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University
Press, 1992); Randall L. Pouwels, Horn and Crescent:
Cultural Change and Traditional Islam on the East African
Coast (800–1900) (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1987); J. S. Trimingham, Islam in East Africa
(London: Oxford University Press, 1964).
education
Muslims, like all peoples, have sought skills and
knowledge in all aspects of life from different
kinds of teachers to suit their various needs, aspi-
rations, and values. Until the modern era, much
of their education was obtained orally and by
memorizing or by imitating skills demonstrated
by others. In traditional Muslim societies, parents
and other elders provided children with their
first lessons in morality and good manners. They
trained them to help perform household chores
such as food preparation, caring for and feeding
animals, fetching water, and collecting fuel for
the domestic hearth. While boys learned to farm
and tend the flocks, girls typically learned to bake
bread, cook rice, care for children and the elderly,
and weave textiles. Craftsmen such as potters,
tanners, glass-makers, carpenters, smiths, and
builders taught their skills to apprentices, while
would-be merchants learned to buy and sell in the
bazaar. Soldiers trained in military garrisons and
barracks, often located on the outskirts of a city.
Formal education for Muslims before the 19th
century consisted of a curriculum based on the
qUran. Developing basic reading and writing skills
was interwoven with learning how to submit to
God’s will, worship him, and obey his commands
and prohibitions. The importance of religious
education in Islam is conveyed by what many
accounts say was the first quranic verse revealed to
Muhammad, “Recite, for your lord is most noble;
who taught by the pen; he taught the human being
what he did not know” (Q 96:3–5). In other words,
God is the supreme educator. Elementary educa-
tion involved memorizing the Quran and hadith,
learning the Arabic alphabet, simple arithmetic,
and beginning to read Arabic prose and poetry.
calligraphy was sometimes taught, and Persian
poetry was included in the curricula of schools
in iran, aFghanistan, and Central Asia. At first,
instruction occurred in homes and mosqUes, but
eventually it shifted to the Quran school (a kut-
ta b, maktab, or pesantren), which was located in or
near a mosque. A male teacher called a mudarris or
muallim presided in the classroom. He was a person
who had obtained at least some advanced knowl-
edge in the religious sciences. He taught between
10 and 20 students, sometimes with the help of an
assistant teacher or an advanced stUdent. During
class, students sat on the floor with legs crossed in
a semicircle (halaqa) facing the teacher. Discipline
could be very strict, with corporal punishment
used when students misbehaved or failed their
lessons. Rote learning was standard in the Quran
school; independent thinking and creativity were
not encouraged.education 207 J