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Although the synchronicity of the rise of Muslim radicalism in East Africa with similar phenomena in many parts of the world gives that radicalism the appearance of an unstoppable ideological tide, it is intricately connected to recent political and economic changes in Tanzania. It is shown that while the Ansar of Southeast Tanzania formed part of a transregional reformist current, their confrontational style and inflammatory rhetoric were directed against the specific conjunction of the political and religious authority they faced at home. The reformist debates and Muslim discontent in East Africa after independence are explained. In addition to the above, this chapter elaborates on the crisis of the urban economy and of the tarika. The parallelism of political and trade liberalization has made commercial strength a potential basis for the pursuance of political aims. It is difficult to present a conclusive account of the Ansar in Southeast Tanzania, since their role is still unfolding. The attack on Muslim notables and their relations with government are illustrated. The proactive and calculated response of the authorities to the actions of the Ansar indicates that Tanzanian politicians take the provinces more seriously than is immediately apparent to the outside observer.

The rhetoric and expectations that characterized Tanzania's transition to independence related to many of the issues also involved in the acceptance of Islam: social allegiance, entitlement, and the negotiation of social obligations and ambitions. There are no traces of the Islamic anti-independence party in either the oral or written record of the Southeast. People in East Africa learned to use the rhetoric of progress just as they had learned the jargon of Indirect Rule. A discussion on the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), Muslim notables, and the development of a new progressive style is provided. A closer look at the Muslim networks that supported TANU and their methods helps us to understand the way local people construed their relationship with it. The religious debates and experiments around the time of independence are described. The chapter also reports the reformulation of authoritarianism and the beginnings of disconnection, and the growing isolation of Muslim notables. The endorsement of ‘localist’ styles by national politicians was less an acknowledgement of the value of Tanzania's political heritage than of the importance, and potential difficulty, of keeping the citizens in line.