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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The 'Nubians' of East Africa: A discussion |
Authors: | Nasseem, Zubairi B. Marjan, Dako W. |
Year: | 1992 |
Periodical: | Journal of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs |
Volume: | 13 |
Issue: | 1 |
Period: | January |
Pages: | 196-214 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | East Africa Uganda |
Subjects: | Islam ethnicity Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Ethnic and Race Relations |
External link: | https://doi.org/10.1080/02666959208716238 |
Abstract: | What is the historical background to the emergence of the 'Nubis' of East Africa? What has the sacred to do in the history and sociology of the 'Nubi'? This note is a response to the paper 'The 'Nubians' of East Africa: Muslim club or African 'tribe'? The view from within', by Omari H. Kokole (In: Journal Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol. 6, no. 2 (1985), p. 420-448). While the authors of the present article agree with the major thesis of Omari, namely that the 'Nubians' of Uganda (and East Africa) are not a tribe in the popular sociological sense, they argue that the evidence adduced to support the thesis leaves a lot to be desired. According to them, the emergence of such a community as the 'Nubi' can be explained paradigmatically by a postulate of the historical role of the sacred in the formation of a sociological entity. It is their contention that the community of Nubi - its phenomenon - cannot be adequately captured intellectually if it is construed exclusively in sociological terms. The 'Nubi' is a community in the Islamic sense of 'Ummah' - a community of those who are brothers and sisters wherein faith is thicker than blood. It is a community built by a people consciously transcending the narrow boundaries of the 'tribe'. Notes, ref. |