ABSTRACT
THIS Survey covers the work of six months in Africa, three of them spent on a rapid tour of Tanganyika, Nyasaland, Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda, British Somaliland and the Colony and Protectorate of Aden, and the other three on similar visits to Nigeria, the Gold Coast, the Gambia and Sierra Leone. The time spent in each of these territories differed considerably, but was always extremely brief, and the number of centres visited varied accordingly. A primary emphasis was placed on conversations with Qat;iis, Liwalis, Alkalai and other local authorities on both the substance and application of Islamic law, most of whom happily spoke Arabic; but valuable information was also obtained from talks with British administrative and legal officers, with tribal chiefs and with members of native tribunals, etc. Much time was also spent studying administrative -files, law reports, records of cases and similar material. The vastness of the area to be covered, both geographically and juridically, in the course of a strictly limited and pre-arranged programme, necessarily precluded the study of certain aspects of the problem in more than general terms: but it is hoped, none the less, that this Survey will provide a reasonably accurate and comprehensive account of the application of Islamic law throughout the territories concerned and will at least furnish a framework into which detailed studies of more limited aspects of a vast subject may conveniently be fitted.
