[FIRST BOOK ON MUSLIMS IN THE COMORO ISLANDS] Kamer Adalari: Afrika'da Âlem-i Islâm Külliyatindan 1. [i.e. The Comoro Islands: From the Corpus of Islamic World in Africa]

ISMAIL HAKKI TEVFIK OKDAY, (1881-1977). Matbaa-i Askeriye., Istanbul, [AH 1339] = 1923.

Full morocco in Ottoman style. Large roy. 8vo. (25 x 18 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 62 p., 18 unnumbered b/w photos, and four b/w maps. Slight foxing on extremities. Otherwise a very good copy.

First and only edition of this exceedingly rare first book on Muslims and Islam in the Comoro Islands of Africa, located in the Mozambique Channel to the north-west of Madagascar and facing Mozambique, including Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Ndzuwani (Anjouan), Mwali (Moheli) and Mayotte (Maore) Islands.

The book gives detailed information about the races, customs, and traditions of the natives of the archipelago, the introduction of Islam to the islands, and how influential it was on the people as well as on their education, social structure, and the population of the archipelago. The work carried out in the context of missionary activities is also discussed in detail, and such information is supported by photographs, statistical tables, and chronology of the islands. According to the information given in the work, Muslims first came to Yuhana Island in 750 AD and began to settle on the island. Since 854, there are claims that the Ismailis, a Shiite community, and then the Fatimid prince came to the islands and ruled for a period. Especially Arabs, Iranians, and Indians, who came and settled on the islands mostly for trade or travel, introduced Islam to the islands' natives, strengthened their ties with marriages, and thus increased the population and influence on the islands and became instrumental in the establishment of Islam.

Okday also describes the process of French exploitation that started when Comoros fell into the hands of the French, each of whom was under the control of the Malagasy despite England and Germany, and got the support of their pirates. This book has rich and attractive photos of natives of the archipelago, and other peoples who lived on the islands like Arabs, traditional homes and streets, Sultan Ahmad of the Comodo, statesmen and clergies, Prince Said Mohammad, women, and a French ship named 'La Bourdonnaise' as well as four maps showing the African continent and each of the islands.

Ismail Hakki Tevfik Okday was an Ottoman intellectual and military commander, who participated in the First Balkan War, the Great War, and the Turkish War of Independence. He was born in Athens as the son of Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, who was then the Ottoman Ambassador to Greece, and later became the last Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

Only two printed copies in OCLC: 949523840 (Bogaziçi University and Stanford University Libraries).; Özege 131.