ABSTRACT
In discussion of social change in Africa it is often forgotten that some of the most pervasive and sociologically arresting examples of cultural adopticm and adaptation have occurred under the impact of Islam. Like other world religions, and perhaps more than most, Islam indeed offers a particularly rich field-so far quite inadequately exploited-for the systematic study of the ways in which different social systems and cultures react to a common external stimulus. This field of research is all the more important, since it offers a unique opportunity for confirming and enhancing the synchronic sociological analysis of traditional institutions. For if traditional institutions have the forms and functions attributed to them by sociologists it must be possible to explain, at least in part, the patterns of assimilation which arise with the adoption of Islam. There must be some logical correspondence between the traditional structure of a society and the manner in which it interprets Islam. Here, surely, is a significant field for comparative sociological analysis.
