Pride, faith, and fear

"Although immensely varied, African Islam, Charlotte A. Quinn and Frederick Quinn demonstrate, is defined by three overarching beliefs. First, African Islam is local Islam. There is no ordained clergy, no international body to regulate doctrine, no pope or curia, which accounts for the many manifestations of the religion. At the same time, the importance of Islam as a source of communal identity in African societies experiencing rapid and wide-scale change can scarcely be overstated. To be part of the umma, the worldwide Islamic community, is a defining feature of the African Muslim worldview. Finally, even as the African Muslim understanding of life abroad is deeply influenced by the millions of Muslims migrating to the United States and as many African Muslims become eager to incorporate aspects of Western material culture into their lives, a pervasive belief holds that the West is on a new crusade against Islam. Neither reason nor facts support such a position, but neither is the property of desperate people." "With in-depth coverage of Islam in Nigeria, the Sudan, Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa, Pride, Faith, and Fear provides both a general overview of African Islam and a de