ABSTRACT
This chapter explores karama, baraka, and thawabu are all concepts which imply that the ‘effects’ of piety, as conveyed through prayer, move well beyond the individual. It explores portrait then the dynamics of Seyyid Silima’s characterisation — not simply as a keenly devout, God-fearing Muslim, but as a person whose identity as such has evolved out of his ongoing involvement in social relations based largely on the performance of prayer. The chapter examines how the imaginative and social aspects of popular Islamic prayer and recitation may be confounding the efforts of ‘essentialist’ Muslim preachers in their attempts to renew and reform Islamic practice in Zanzibar. In lieu of a paradigm of descent, the essentialist groups have constructed their authority by creating a particular image or critique of Islam in Zanzibar against which they can situate and authenticate themselves. Indeed, Khamisi’s authority is based largely on constructing an image of Islam that is in danger of demise.
