Islam and Indigeneity in Yorubaland Mili Leitner Abstract Wéré music is a genre practiced exclusively by the Muslim population of the Yoruba tribe, who reside primarily in South West Nigeria, Benin and Togo. The group claim Arabic ancestry, which is contested by Western scholars – a representational issue addressed within this paper. The genre developed from the practice of ajisaris, who rouse the faithful during Ramadan to ensure they can take their final meal before the next day’s fast begins. While ajisaris work in a purely functional sonic realm, beating a drum with a stick and shouting, wéré exists to be functionally, socially and aesthetically fulfilling for the Muslim community. However, its use as a rite of initiation for young men, and the emergence of competitions to crown the most skillful group, have led to the genre being condemned by local, increasingly Islamist, religious leaders in the past decade. Wéré music demonstrates a confluence of Islamic and indigenous musical influences. This has resulted in an association between Islamic and local religious and cultural practices more generally, including appreciation by the Christian Yoruba of the role Muslims have played in preserving and reinvigorating local