MOMBASA, Kenya — Deep into his stash of khat, Ibrahim Mahdi is buzzing by the time the evening call to prayer begins echoing from a nearby mosque. There will be no Muslim prayers for Mahdi this night.
He is in thrall to another tradition, one as old and, in these parts, as widespread as the faith of Muhammad. Mahdi chews khat, a seminarcotic leaf that has wired generations of Muslims from the coast of eastern Africa to Yemen, at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Outlawed in the United States and declared an addictive drug by the World Health Organization, khat remains a legal and cherished pastime in Kenya.
Each night in this Indian Ocean port, men young and old gather to chew, sharing gossip and debating politics or simply dreaming up a better life. Women chew too -- just separately.
These days, khat has become an unlikely cash crop, with exports to European countries like Britain, where large East African immigrant communities legally chew. The business reportedly pumps hundreds of millions of dollars a year into Kenya's struggling economy.
"It is little bit of magic from Allah," says Mahdi, stuffing fresh leaves in his mouth, his teeth and tongue coated in a green of saliva and chewed khat, also known as miraah in Kenya.
Khat (pronounced cot) is the stems and leaf of the Catha Edulis plant, a shrub native to Ethiopia, from where centuries ago it spread south to Kenya and Somalia and east to Yemen.
Adherents say it is best chewed within 48 hours of being picked, when the leaves are still fresh and packed with cathinone, a naturally occurring chemical similar to amphetamines.
Casual users say khat increases self-confidence, promotes clear thought and alleviates fatigue. The leaves and stems resemble tea and are held in the cheek, much like chewing tobacco.
It certainly has Mahdi going. The reedy young Somali shoots out thoughts in rapid-fire bursts, one moment discussing the politics of Somalia, his lawless native land, the next rhapsodizing about the wonders of the Swahili women of the Kenyan coast.
"So beautiful -- only if they take off their hijabs!" cackles the 21-year-old, referring to traditional Muslim headscarves.
Given WHO's designation of khat as a "drug of abuse" in 1980, the Kenyan government takes a hands-off approach to monitoring the use and export of khat, despite its growing economic value.
Kenyans first began exporting khat to Europe in the late 1970s, but the trade was a relatively small until about a decade ago.
