# Saints and Somalis (1998) by I. M. Lewis: popular Islam in a clan-based society

> I. M. Lewis's Saints and Somalis (1998): its essays on Somali saints, Sufi orders and spirit possession, its argument about the cult of saints, and where to read it.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/books/saints-and-somalis-lewis/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The book

**Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society** is by **Ioan M. Lewis** (1930 to 2014), the British social anthropologist whose study *A Pastoral Democracy* (1961) was based on fieldwork in [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/). It was published in 1998 in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) by Haan Associates (174 pages) and in the United States by the Red Sea Press ([BSOAS review listing](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/africa-i-m-lewis-saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clanbased-society-xvii-174-pp-london-haan-associates-1998-1295-paper/8AD14C2E39D237C6BD54754C7DB468F7); [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL135972W)).

The book is a collection of essays written over several decades and based on Lewis's own field research ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis)).

## What it covers

- **Mystical and ritual Islam.** The essays look at the tension between mystical understandings of a person's relation to God, as in Sufism, and more legal and ritual readings of the faith, including critics of Sufi practice ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis)). The Sufi brotherhoods are covered on [Sufi orders in Somalia](/en/society/sufi-orders-in-somalia/).
- **Saints and holy men.** Lewis describes the range of figures Somalis venerate: clan ancestors honoured as saints, local men known for their piety, and figures known across the Muslim world. He discusses their reputation for spiritual power and the ways a person comes to be venerated ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis)). Visits to saints' tombs are described on [Saints, shrines and siyaaro](/en/society/saints-shrines-and-siyaaro/), and individual scholars on [Somali Sufi scholars and saints](/en/society/somali-sufi-scholars-and-saints/).
- **Spirit possession.** The book also covers practices on the edges of orthodox religion, such as spirit possession rituals practised mainly by women ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis)).

## Its argument

In the introductory essay Lewis argues against theories that explain the cult of saints by a single cause. Because some of the saints Somalis honour are the founding ancestors of clans, the book treats religious veneration and clan descent together, which is the "clan-based society" of its subtitle ([Africa World Press](https://africaworldpressbooks.com/saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clan-based-society-by-i-m-lewis); [Goodreads, publisher description](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1022350)).

## How it was received

The book was reviewed in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies in 2000 (volume 63, issue 2) ([Cambridge Core](https://cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/africa-i-m-lewis-saints-and-somalis-popular-islam-in-a-clanbased-society-xvii-174-pp-london-haan-associates-1998-1295-paper/8AD14C2E39D237C6BD54754C7DB468F7)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/saintssomalispop00lewi)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Saints+and+Somalis+Lewis)

## Related pages

- [A Pastoral Democracy (1961), I. M. Lewis](/en/books/a-pastoral-democracy-lewis/)
- [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/)
- [How Islam reached the Somalis](/en/society/how-islam-reached-the-somalis/)

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