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Abstract
As Zanzibaris cope with the marginalization of their cultural beliefs under the hegemonic power of western leisure tourism, finding themselves increasingly vulnerable to the new values and lifestyles promoted through tourism, the paper examines how they are striving to develop new routes to reconceptualize their Muslim roots and identities in Zanzibar. The paper traces how their association with Islam has shifted with the emergence of new contact zones, first in the aftermath of the 1964 Revolution, which sought to replace it with visions of African civilization and most recently under tourism, where practices associated with tourism and arrival of large number of Christian migrant laborers from mainland Tanzania has led to growing socio-economic and political displacement of the local community. The paper examines how, under growing conditions of ‘involuntary immobility’, Zanzibaris are reconfiguring their association to Islamic culture and practices as they search for new pathways of mobility to survive today. The paper argues that the different routes for projecting association with Islam reflect efforts of Zanzibaris to seek pathways of mobility under the hegemony of tourism, which contributes to the growing deterioration of living conditions and quality of life for majority of the population, and recodify notions of ustaarabu (civilization) with new meanings to formulate their roots and identities in Zanzibar.
Tandis que les zanzibarites affrontent la marginalisation de leurs croyances culturelles sous la puissance hégémonique du tourisme de loisir occidental, ils se trouvent de plus en plus vulnérables face aux nouvelles valeurs et modes de vie promus à travers le tourisme, l’article examine comment ils s’efforcent de développer de nouveaux itinéraires pour reconceptualiser leurs racines musulmanes et leurs identités à Zanzibar. L’article retrace comment leur association avec l’Islam a changé avec l’émergence de nouvelles zones de contact, tout d’abord à la suite de la révolution de 1964, qui a cherché à le remplacer par des visions de civilisation africaine et plus récemment avec le tourisme, où des pratiques associées avec le tourisme et l’arrivée de grands nombres de travailleurs migrants chrétiens de la Tanzanie continentale a entraîné un déplacement socio-économique et politique plus important de la communauté locale. L’article examine comment, dans des conditions croissantes d’ « immobilité volontaire » les zanzibarites reconfigurent leur association avec la culture et les pratiques Islamiques tandis qu’ils cherchent des nouvelles voies de mobilité pour survivre aujourd’hui. L’article avance que les nouveaux itinéraires pour projeter une association avec l’Islam reflètent les efforts des zanzibarites pour chercher des voies de mobilité dans le cadre de l’hégémonie du tourisrme, qui contribue à la détérioration croissante des conditions de vie et de la qualité de vie pour la majorité de la population, et recodifie des notions d’ustaarabu (civilisation) avec de nouvelles significations pour formuler leurs racines et identités à Zanzibar.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Michele Carboni and Dr. Irene Brunotti for reading and providing invaluable feedback on earlier drafts of the paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 This paper is based on ethnographic research conducted in Zanzibar between 1998 and 2015 (Fieldwork was conducted in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015). The primary methodology incorporated for data collection was participant observation, which involved living amongst Zanzibaris for extended periods of time and observing how various aspects of local social life was changing within the tourism discourse. Over 200 Zanzibari men and women of different age groups, from different ethnic groups, were formally and informally interviewed on multiple occasions as part of this study and topics of interviews ranged from discussing issues pertaining to personal life, change in social and economic status, hardships and opportunities, religiosity and political change. Formal interviews were also conducted with administrators in different government agencies. See Keshodkar Citation2005, Citation2013 for further findings of this research.
2 Ustaarabu historically implied the state of becoming like an Arab, where conversion to Islam provided an avenue to establish that route to construct those roots (Glassman Citation2014, 235). However, within the multi-cultural social landscape of Zanzibar today, the term, my observations suggest, has evolved to reflect cultural behaviors dominant across the islands contributing to notions of belonging to Zanzibar, in which association to Islam remains prominent, though no longer the only component.
3 Glassman (Citation2011, Citation2014) highlights how efforts to advocate ustaarabu to promote creole Arab nationalism were contested by pan-Africanists in Zanzibar, who advocated an orientation towards Africa. See Bromber (Citation2006) on how Pan-Africanist intellectuals in Tanganyika appropriated the terms to reflect a model for African modernity, emphasizing the centrality of African civilization.
4 Zanzibari respondents who are Christians or Hindus commonly utilize notions of ustaarabu when discussing their own social behavior and to reflect ideas of belonging to the islands.
5 Zanzibar’s population is 95% Muslims.
6 People often pray in mosques situated in their mtaa, ‘neighborhoods’.
7 Most Muslims in Zanzibar are Shafii Sunni Muslims. Asian Zanzibaris constitute those who primarily follow the Shia tradition of Islam (see Keshodkar Citation2010). The Muslim population also consists of Ibadis, who are predominantly of Omani origin. Sufism has also historically prevailed throughout East Africa, including Zanzibar (Lewis Citation1966, 37).
8 There is a rich syncretic tradition of spirit possession practiced by Muslims across East Africa (see Larsen Citation1995; Lewis Citation1966 and others).
9 During the era of slavery, heshima connoted notions of honor and power among the elite. In the post-abolition period, however, the shift in the status of the elite resulted in its meaning being reduced to ‘respectability’, which could be earned by ex-slaves through marriage, education, dress and display of religiosity (See McMahon Citation2013, 21).
10 Many Arabs fled to Oman and other Gulf States in the Arabian Peninsula (Elsheshtawy Citation2010), while Asians either sought refuge in the Indian sub-continent or with relatives across East Africa, or migrated to the West with support from various religious and social networks (Keshodkar Citation2010, 231).
11 Jahiliyya is an Arabic term that refers to conditions in Pre-Islamic Arabia, when Arab society was considered largely uncivilized and barbaric, conditions which changed only with the arrival of Islam.
12 Islamic learning was slowly re-introduced during the rule of Aboud Jumbe, the second President of Zanzibar, between 1972 and 1982, with Zanzibaris gaining public access to religious books (Chachage Citation2000, 76). However, travel restrictions did not allow religious scholars categorized as non-Africans to return to Zanzibar until the post-socialist era.
13 Only local students who were recognized as ‘Africans’ had access to travel to places like Medina, Saudi Arabia to acquire religious training (see Loimeier Citation2009).
14 Zanzibar National Archives, ‘Report by Tourism Consultant, Boris Vukonie, 1982’ in Ripoti Za Safair za kikazi na Study Tours, March 1982 – November 1983. Location: FF 9/20.
15 Salaries in the tourism industry range around USD 150 per month, which are considered substantially higher than many salaried positions in the public sector. In 2016, the government raised the minimum wages in the government sector from 150,000 Tanzanian Shillings (USD 65) to 300,000 Tanzanian Shillings (USD 131) per month (Kisanga Citation2016).
16 Package tours account for 65% of all tourist arrivals in Zanzibar (Honey Citation2008, 263)
17 Tourists stay an average of six nights. A decade ago, the average stay was one to two nights (Honey Citation2008, 263).
18 Beach boys are often unemployed youth (local and migrants) who loiter around tourists and seek to sell various services.
19 Many early Zanzibari beach boys were merchant marines, who had acquired knowledge of English outside, and thus were able to use it in communicating with tourists visiting Zanzibar (Sumich Citation2002, 40).
20 These migrants are from mainland Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Comoros, and as far as South Africa.
21 Since 2001, majority of new migrants from mainland no longer have the qualifications to work in tourism and thus engage the informal sectors of the economy that cater to tourists, such as operating curio shops, restaurants and businesses catering to workers from the mainland, and prostitution (Gössling and Schulz Citation2005, 52).
22 Zanzibar and Tanganyika united to form the Tanzanian union in 1964.
23 Zanzibaris rely upon foreign currency, often US dollars or Euro, because the local currency, Tanzanian Shilling has devalued substantially during the post-socialist era (see Keshodkar Citation2013).
24 While economic power is deemed as the basis of the higher social status that tourists enjoy, many elderly locals consider tourists morally inferior because of their behavior while visiting Zanzibar, which is perceived as lacking haya and heshima (see Saleh Citation2004).
25 One practice that has developed extensively in Zanzibar with the advent of tourism is tourists seeking sexual experiences with locals. As a number of local respondents have emphasized, ‘they want to experience “Africa” by having sex with Africans.’ With the prevalence of beach boys, locals and those from the mainland, pursuit of such sexual escapades by female tourists with African men is now a common sight in Zanzibar. Female tourists pursuing this practice often pay their local male partners (in the form of tips, paying for their meals, drinks and other consumption goods) while in their company. Given the transactional nature of this interaction, such practices could be categorized as prostitution. However, both female tourists and their local partners contest such formulations – in my interaction with such couples, some have insisted that their arrangements are such where the woman is just spending the money to ensure that her local partner can participate in the same activities during her stay on the islands (See Keshodkar Citation2009, Citation2013 and Sumich Citation2002 for a broader discussion of this practice).
26 (See footnote 25). I rarely came across situations where Zanzibari women were engaged in similar practices, especially in public spaces. Observations and conversations with respondents confirm that in private spaces, Zanzibari women do engage in prostitution, but often not with tourists. In majority of cases where male tourists were in company of African women in public spaces, these women often identified themselves from the mainland (see Keshodkar Citation2013).
27 In majority of instances, many beach boys perceive these women as possibly their ticket out of Zanzibar, with hopes that the women will fall in love with them, marry them and take them back to Europe, but such developments are more of an exception than the norm. Few cases of female tourists falling in love with their local partners and eventually marrying them, and then returning to Europe with them were often cited by these respondents as examples to suggest that it can always be a possibility (see Keshodkar Citation2009).
28 With more money flowing through the local economy and accessible through various forms of formal and informal employment, those working around and with tourists acquire and spend money to behave like the tourists. In the case of beach boys, they contend that attracting business from the tourists necessitates being able to identify with them.
29 Ramadan is the month of fasting for Muslims, when they are expected to abstain from food and water from dawn to dusk, and focus on the development of individual spirituality, which further mandates refraining from daily worldly activities during the period of fasting, such as smoking and sex.
30 Friday prayers, which take place around midday, are considered important social and religious gatherings within a Muslim community.
31 A Maulidi involves recitation of poetry, prayers and religious songs, along with giving to charity and distribution of food. While a public Maulidi takes place in a mosque and its activities are carried out by those attending and participating in the ceremonies, private Maulidi may take place in other settings and entail bringing in prominent singers, poets from around the islands or even abroad to recite the prayers and songs.
32 ‘Sunna’ means teachings of the Prophet.
33 Many Zanzibaris identify CCM to stand for, ‘Christian Church of the Mainland’ (Glassman Citation2011, 295).
34 Uamsho is one of numerous revivalist movements that have emerged in Zanzibar in the era of political liberalization. Refer to Turner (Citation2009), Loimeier (Citation2011) for an overview of revivalist movements in Zanzibar.
35 In almost every conversation with Zanzibaris during fieldwork conducted in December 2011 and June–July 2012, Uamsho was described as the only real political force to bring any meaningful change to improve the conditions of average Zanzibaris.
36 Interview, June 2012.
37 Such has been the case during every election cycle since 1995 (see Cameron Citation2009; Tronvoll Citation2006), with the most recent, 2015 elections results, which showed CUF winning the elections, but then results being arbitrarily annulled by the electoral commissioner, who is from CCM.
38 Goans are of South Asian origin.
39 An Imamu leads religious prayers in a mosque and is considered to be an expert on religious knowledge.
40 While conducting fieldwork in 2002, liquor shops around Zanzibar had signs posted on them during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan that their shops would be burned down if they did not stop selling alcohol.
41 With more Zanzibaris utilizing mobile phones to access the internet, many respondents indicate that they can watch these sermons on their phones and share them with different groups of people in different social settings.
42 Interview, January 2010
43 Interview, June 2012.