Patriarchal Masculinity in Recent Swahili-language Muslim Sermons

Abstract

This paper offers a close examination of statements on patriarchal masculinity from three widely traded sermon recordings produced in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It sets them in the context of Islamic reform, Muslim political discontent, and the consumption of sermon recordings in East Africa. Despite similar assertions on the need for men to protect and control women, in close reading the three preachers offer quite divergent characterisations of the patriarch's methods, obligations, and entitlements within the household. The sermons show that Islamic reform in Zanzibar cannot be reduced to political discontent, and that it hearkens back to longstanding regional history. They also suggest that the concept of patriarchy is more relevant to the understanding of asymmetrical gender relations than recent discussion of Western gender relations has allowed, and highlight the centrality of bearing and rearing children as a site for both assertion and failure of patriarchal control. Lastly, they indicate the failure of sermon preachers and listeners to coalesce into a coherent counterpublic. KeywordsIslam -Islamic reform -women -gender and Islam -Islamic activism -preachingpreachers According to some recent statements, for instance by the World Bank, a 'crisis of masculinity' is in full swing in Africa (Barker et al. 2005). In this account men in Africa are a problem, especially when young: aggressively and promiscuously sexual and thus oblivious to hiv, prone to both spontaneous and organised violence, and disdainful of or unaccustomed to the virtues of ordered and

Umoja: A Swahili feminist ethic for negotiating justice in Zanzibar

“…UWT continues to exist as CCM's women's organization but is less active and generally viewed with suspicion by civil society activists, who try to maintain an image of political neutrality. 3 For more on Muslim preachers' assertions of domestic patriarchy in Zanzibar, see Becker (2016). 4 Kinyanjui (2019, 114) defines utu as "a Swahili word for the state of being human and acting humanely.…”

“…My use of “patriarchal,” which translates in Swahili as mfumo dume , aligns with Rehema's characterization of UWTZ leaders as exemplifying mfumo dume in trying to dismantle the vicoba. I intend a fluid, multifactorial meaning of patriarchy that is “very much of a time and place” (Becker 2016, 179). “Feminism,” which translates in Swahili as ufeministi , has been discredited in many African contexts as a “Western” concept that is “antithetical to the African way of life” (Nzegwu 2006, 3).…”

The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Gender and Society

“…Pentecostalism may not break down patriarchy by supporting a radical notion of gender equality, yet it "reponsibilises men" in a way that simultaneously transforms and reproduces hegemonic (that is, established and normative) forms of masculinity (Burchardt 2018). In a similar way, Islamic reform movements have been found to effect changes in male subjectivity and agency by promoting puristic religious ideals (Becker 2016;Wario 2012).…”

“…reform, in Becker's account, promotes an ideal of masculinity emphasising the role of men as "heads of, and providers for families". Indeed, with Becker (2016) and Lindhardt (2015), one could argue that both for Pentecostal and Islamic reform movements, the ostensible concern with "domesticating" men serves as a stepping-stone towards reestablishing male authority in the public and political sphere (also see van Klinken 2016). In other words, as much as these movements are concerned with promoting a particular religious subjectivity among men, they are also concerned with male political subjectivity and citizenship as key to their broader programme of bringing about moral, social and political reform.…”

“…In the context of Dar es Salaam, Muslim grassroots activists influenced by Islamic reform movements challenge these authorised frames which structure gendered social interaction. For them, Islam serves as an important point of reference for constructing alternative masculine repertoires whose effects, as in the case of Zanzibar discussed above (Becker 2016), are not confined to religious or domestic domains, but actually entail new forms of male political subjectivity Performances of a distinctively Muslim masculinity have acquired a renewed plausibility in Dar es Salaam because they allow activist men to express political dissent without the risk of being assigned a disreputable masculinity associated with the "idle complainer" label. By using dress practices and gestures, men from diverse economic circumstances foreground the "Muslim-ness" of their masculine performances and their political claims, thereby disposing themselves towards an embedded model of "respectable" masculinity which is rooted in a longstanding form of Indian Ocean citizenship rather than that of the nation (Kirby 2017: 218).…”