THE INTERACTION BETWEEN ISLAM AND AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION IN ZIMBABWE ABSTRACT. The spread of Islam, like that of any cultural system, is influenced not only by its specific characteristics but also by the conditions it encounters. This means when a new religion gets into any country, it is often affected by the milieu in which it finds itself. The socio-economic, religio-political situation in a country shapes the religion to some extent. This paper is an investigation into the interaction between Islam and African Traditional Religion in Zimbabwe. Islam has interacted with African Traditional Religion in Zimbabwe for many centuries. This interaction has been largely marked by co-existence, tolerance and accommodation. Islam has tolerated and accommodated African traditional beliefs and practices as long as they do not negate its basic dogma. Thus Zimbabwean Muslims adapt their religious practices to the African traditional beliefs and practices, for example, in marriage the Muslims still uphold the traditional requirements whereby lobola is given to the bridal parents and not to the bride. Islam is a way of life and it strives to adapt to other non-Arab cultures in order to create a harmonious society. It is intended to be a universal, all-embracing, cross societal religion that can and should be applicable globally. On the other hand African Traditional Religion in Zimbabwe has also been adaptable, accommodative and tolerant of both Islam and Christianity. This tolerance has been called the “ecumenical element” of African Traditional Religion. This enables Zimbabweans, for example, to have both Muslim and Christian members in the same family. The question arising from these observances is to what extent a Zimbabwean actually is totally a converted Muslim. I argue that many Zimbabweans simply adopt the external trappings of Islam but are never converted in mind, heart and soul and essentially remain embedded in African Traditional Religion. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE Silindiwe Zvingowanisei (Zimbabwe) is a PhD student and lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Zimbabwe, Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy. Her research interests are Islam, law, gender and interfaith dialogue.