The Leaf of Allah

Whenever Somali Islamists have managed to carve out some measure of political influence in the Horn of Africa, one of their first legal maneuvers has been to outlaw the chewing of khat. Their stated rationale is simple: Khat causes pleasure, pleasure leads to decadence, and decadence is the enemy of piety. It is exactly the same Puritanical logic the Taliban once used to deprive Afghanistan of musical instruments.

This means that not only are al-Shabab and its allies tremendous killjoys, but ...