Sufis and Scholars of the Sea

Anne Bang focuses on the ways in which a particular Islamic brotherhood or 'tariqa' the tariqa Alawiyya spread maintained and propagated their particular brand of the Islamic faith. Originating in the South-Yemeni region of Hadramawt the Alawi tariqa mainly spread along the coast of the Indian Ocean. The Alawis are here portrayed as one of many cultural mediators in the multi-ethnic multi-religious Indian Ocean world in the era of European colonialism.