ABSTRACT
Since the 1750s, Islam has influenced the coastal forest region of present-day Liberia and Sierra Leone. Like all Vai towns, Bulumi had an imam and a mosque, and though nearly everyone professed a commitment to Islam, a few men stood out as devout Muslims. Traditional music and dance, and Islamic songs, recitations, and prayers, were cultural resources that supported a cohesive celebratory structure. The decree to ban the traditional versions of Poro and Sande was a victory for the conservative Muslim faction and a defeat for those who preferred coexistence between the secret societies and Islam. In towns favoring marginal Islam, both Zooba and the male masqueraders continued, while the towns that adhered to a conservative Islam did not allow masked dancing. Theoretically, Islam recognizes no institutionalized clergy; yet, local, regional, and national Muslim clerics functioned within a hierarchy.
