International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 2(9), pp. 213-223 November, 2010 Available online http://www.academicjournals.org/ijsa ISSN 2006- 988x ©2010 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper The belief and practice of divination among the Swahili Muslims in Mombasa district, Kenya Esha Faki 1* , E. M. Kasiera 2 and O. M. J. Nandi 3 1 Department of Religion, Theology and Philosophy, Maseno University, Private Bag, Maseno, Kenya. 2 Department of Social Sciences Education, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 190-50100, Kakamega, Kenya. 3 Department of Social Sciences Education, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 190-50100, Kakamega, Kenya. Accepted 7 September, 2010 This article gives a critical analysis of divination as practiced among the Swahili of Kenya coast. Radical changes in lifestyles were not associated with initial Islamization, but in latter days, Swahili contextualized Islam to recognize some of their cultural practices alongside Orthodox Islam. The belief and practice of divination is among such cultural practices that continue up to now. It is a practice used by some to control their social and physical environment and determine, in some cases, knowledge about their future lives. Through manipulation, explanation and prediction, divination is employed to attain this important human goal. However, Orthodox Islam condemns the belief and practice of divination. Data for this study was gathered from Swahili Muslims of Mombasa District Kenya to investigate the persistence of this belief and practice of divination. It will also explain the reasons responsible for the belief in and practice of divination among the Swahili Muslims. Key words: Islam, Swahili, divination, orthodox Islam, popular Islam. INTRODUCTION The major aim of this paper is to evaluate the coexistence of Islam and the belief and practice of divination among the Swahili Muslims. This is on the wider dialogue between religion and culture, specifically domestication of Islam in African societies. Islam as a religion has been adopted and adapted by the Swahili people in order to make it their own experience, thus an African Islam. It is therefore, important to study divination in an effort to understand African people in their culture as there is no aspect of life that is not touched by it. There is no standard definition of divination as it means different things to different scholars (Lessa et al., 1965; Brandon, 1970; Fodor, 1966; Peek, 1991; Bascom, 1969; Turner, 1967). These scholars, however, postulate that divination gives meaning to social symbols that facilitate group solidarity and harmony. In a way, the door to one’s choices in life for an African is not closed by fate. A person can always do something that can alter the course of fate. According to Dime (1982), African *Corresponding author. E-mail: faki73@googlemail.com. understanding of divination is somewhat different from a European one. European understanding of divination is simply finding out the wishes of the deity and acting by them. Dime (1982: 93) defines divination as “the com- munication to a consultant of his prenatal choices by a divinity through the instrumentality of ‘brabiwei’ (diviner)”. The diviner can inquire into what were the client’s pre- natal choices, if any, so as to better his fortunes. One cannot always trace back into time and see where he/she went wrong and take the necessary steps to eradicate ill luck. This is a concept of Uzo/ Ijaw people of southern Nigeria and is shared by other African people. Nevertheless, this idea of trying to better one’s chances explains why divination is still prevalent among Swahili. Richard Gehman notes: “Today, despite scientific knowledge, there is a revival of witchcraft, spiritism and the occult in the West and a persistence of belief in mystical powers worldwide. In fact, belief in mystical powers worldwide is the fastest growing religion in the United States (Gehman, 1989: 98)”.