A Faithful Din

At 4:30 a.m. in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, I am woken by the local mosque’s call to prayer, followed by the imam’s sermon. Not long after that, the bell of the Catholic center where I’m staying calls the nuns and Catholics in the neighborhood to daily Mass. At ten o’clock that evening the imam is preaching again—or is he debating with someone?

I’m visiting from South Africa and don’t speak Swahili, so I inquire among the locals. They’re not sure. This cacophony of voices, amplified by...

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