ABSTRACT
Seldom in the first phases of its penetration in tropical Africa can Islam have been taught as a comprehensive theology. Indeed, in the purely religious field all that was required of its early converts was that they should acknowledge the fundamental doctrine-there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet-and a handful of related ritual injunctions and prescriptions.1 Nevertheless, once introduced in however schematic a form, the question how much of the traditional religion (and not merely of its ritual) could be accommodated in Islamic practice, soon became an issue of importance. Here therefore, as in the other areas of social life already dealt with, we have to begin by examining such conformities as may exist between pre-Islamic and Islamic concepts and rites, and consider how far the resulting interaction, or 'dialogue', shapes the local character of Muslim worship.
