Book
Saints and Somalis (1998) by I. M. Lewis: popular Islam in a clan-based society
Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society is a 1998 collection of essays by the British anthropologist I. M. Lewis, published in London by Haan Associates and in the United States by the Red Sea Press. Drawing on field research over many years, it looks at how Somalis venerate saints and holy men, at the Sufi orders and their critics, and at spirit possession practices on the edges of orthodox religion.
Saints and Somalis
- Author
- I. M. Lewis
- Year
- 1998
- Publisher
- Haan Associates; Red Sea Press
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9781569021033
- Sources
- 6 sources
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. It was published in 1998 in London by Haan Associates (174 pages) and in the United States by the Red Sea Press (BSOAS review listing; Open Library).
The book is a collection of essays written over several decades and based on Lewis's own field research (Africa World Press).
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). The Sufi brotherhoods are covered on 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). Visits to saints' tombs are described on Saints, shrines and siyaaro, and individual scholars on 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).
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; Goodreads, publisher description).
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).
Where to read it
- Lending copy: Internet Archive
- In a library: WorldCat
Related pages
Sources
- BSOAS review listing · cambridge.org
- Open Library · openlibrary.org
- Africa World Press · africaworldpressbooks.com
- Goodreads, publisher description · goodreads.com
- Internet Archive · archive.org
- WorldCat · search.worldcat.org
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Where this matters
- Muqdisho (Mogadishu) and BanaadirMogadishu (Muqdisho) is Somalia's capital and makes up the Banadir region, with about 2.97 million people in 20 districts.
- Hargeysa (Hargeisa) and Woqooyi GalbeedWoqooyi Galbeed is the north-western region that holds Hargeisa (Hargeysa) and the port of Berbera, with about 1 to 1.45 million people.
Same era
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More by this author
- A Pastoral Democracy (1961) by I. M. Lewis: politics among the northern SomaliI. M. Lewis's A Pastoral Democracy (1961): his fieldwork in British Somaliland, the diya-paying group and lineage politics, its 1998 reissue, and how it shaped later writing about Somalis.
- Understanding Somalia and Somaliland (2008) by I. M. Lewis: a short introduction to culture, history and societyI. M. Lewis's Understanding Somalia and Somaliland (2008): its three parts on culture, history and society, its chapters on Somaliland and Puntland, and how reviewers received it.
Keep reading
- Unraveling Somalia (1999) by Catherine Besteman: race, class and the Jubba valleyCatherine Besteman's Unraveling Somalia (1999): her fieldwork in the Jubba valley, her argument about race and class beyond clan, the Gosha farmers, and how reviewers read it.
- Women's Voices in a Man's World (1999) by Lidwien Kapteijns: women in northern Somali oral literatureLidwien Kapteijns's Women's Voices in a Man's World (1999): its study of women's voices in northern Somali poetry and song from 1899 to 1980, its two parts and its reviews.
- Renewers of the Age (2008) by Scott S. Reese: Sufi scholars of the Benaadir coastScott S. Reese's Renewers of the Age (2008): its Arabic sources on the Benaadir ulama, its six chapters on Sufi leadership, crisis and the Qadiriyya, and Lidwien Kapteijns's review.
- Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001) by Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi: a guide to Somali daily lifeMohamed Diriye Abdullahi's Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001): who wrote it, what each chapter covers, from faith and poetry to food, dress, camels and music, and how it was reviewed.