Africas Islamic Experiences History Culture And Politics

"Africas Islamic Experiences- History, Culture, and Politics Edited by Ali A. Mazrui, Patrick M. Dikirr, Robert Ostergard Jr., Michael Toler & Paul Macharia This volume is rich in historic surprises about the fortunes of Islam in African experience, Islam first arrived in African while the Prophet Muhammad, the Founder of the religion, was still alive, Ethiopia provided asylum to early Arab Muslims on the run from persecution by fellow Arabs in pre-Islamic Mecca, Today Nigeria has more Muslims than any Arab country, including Egypt. This volume explores not just Islam's impact upon Africa but also Africa's impact on Muslim history. The book explores the geographical expansion of the religion, the revival of ancient Muslim rituals, and the politicization and radicalization of Islam in both colonial and pre-colonial Africa. Is Islam compatible with democracy? Can African Islam peacefully coexist with Christianity? How has Islam in Africa influenced architecture, Literature, race relations, gender relation, and cultural interpenetrations between Arabs and Black Africans? In this era of globalization is Islam a positive vanguard force or a trigger for parochialism and backward-looking nostalgia? In this era of terrorism and counter-terrorism can Islam be mobilized as a force for stability or has the religion been irretrievably hijacked by its own worst radicals? This volume does not try to answer all the questions, but it helps to lay the basic groundwork for understanding Islam much better in this new age.

Hoping that it will illustrate not just the impact of Islam upon Africa but also the impact of Africa on Muslim history, this volume focuses on how the number of Muslims in Africa has grown rapidly within the post-World War II era and how Islam has radically transformed the political, social, and religious structures of the country. Starting with the penetration of the continent in the seventh century, this collection also documents the spread of Islam prior to World War II.

This volume is rich in historic surprises about the fortunes of Islam in Africa's experience. Islam first arrived in Africa while the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of the religion, was still alive. Ethiopia provided asylum to early Arab Muslims on the run from persecution by fellow Arabs in pre-Islamic Mecca. Today Nigeria has more Muslims than any Arab country, including Egypt. This volume explores not just Islam's impact upon Africa but also Africa's impact on Muslim history. The book explores the revival of ancient Muslim rituals, and the politicisation and radicalisation of Islam in both colonial and pre-colonial Africa. Is Islam compatible with democracy? Can African Islam peacefully coexist with Christianity? How has Islam in Africa influenced architecture, literature, race relations, gender relations, and cultural interpenetrations between Arabs and Black Africans? In this era of globalisation is Islam a positive vanguard force or a trigger for parochialism and backward-looking nostalgia? In this era of terrorism and counter-terrorism can Islam be mobilised as a force for stability or has the religion been irretrievably hijacked by its own worst radicals? This volume does not try to answer all the questions, but it helps to lay the basic groundwork for understanding Islam much better in this new age.

This handbook generates new insights that enrich our understanding of the history of Islam in Africa and the diverse experiences and expressions of the faith on the continent. The chapters in the volume cover key themes that reflect the preoccupations and realities of many African Muslims. They provide readers access to a comprehensive treatment of the past and current traditions of Muslims in Africa, offering insights on different forms of Islamization that have taken place in several regions, local responses to Islamization, Islam in colonial and post-colonial Africa, and the varied forms of Jihād movements that have occurred on the continent. The handbook provides updated knowledge on various social, cultural, linguistic, political, artistic, educational, and intellectual aspects of the encounter between Islam and African societies reflected in the lived experiences of African Muslims and the corpus of African Islamic texts.

African Thought in Comparative Perspective showcases how adept Ali Mazrui, the most prolific writer on Africa today, is at using complex conceptual apparatuses to categorize and synthesize Africa’s political and social thought. This book, thus, offers an original interpretation of the knowledge that has been accumulated over the years, and which is of timeless relevance. It covers such themes as the legacy of the African liberation movements, the convergence and divergence of African, Islamic and Western thought, nationalist ideologies in Africa, the role of religion in African politics, and the impact of Ancient Greek philosophy on contemporary Africa.

The history of the Islamic faith on the continent of Africa spans fourteen centuries. For the first time in a single volume, The History of Islam in Africa presents a detailed historic mapping of the cultural, political, geographic, and religious past of this significant presence on a continent-wide scale. Bringing together two dozen leading scholars, this comprehensive work treats the historical development of the religion in each major region and examines its effects. Without assuming prior knowledge of the subject on the part of its readers, The History of Islam in Africa is broken down into discrete areas, each devoted to a particular place or theme and each written by experts in that particular arena. The introductory chapters examine the principal “gateways” from abroad through which Islam traditionally has influenced Africans. The following two parts present overviews of Islamic history in West Africa and the Sudanic zone, and in subequatorial Africa. In the final section, the authors discuss important themes that have had an impact on Muslim communities in Africa. Designed as both a reference and a text, The History of Islam in Africa will be an essential tool for libraries, scholars, and students of this growing field. Contributors: Edward A. Alpers, René A. Bravmann, Abdin Chande, Eric Charry, Allan Christelow, Roberta Ann Dunbar, Kenneth W. Harrow, Lansiné Kaba, Lidwien Kapteijns, Nehemia Levtzion, William F. S. Miles, David Owusu-Ansah, M. N. Pearson, Randall L. Pouwels, Stefan Reichmuth, David Robinson, Peter von Sivers, Robert C.-H. Shell, Jay Spaulding, David C. Sperling with Jose H. Kagabo, Jean-Louis Triaud, Knut S. Vikør, John O. Voll, and Ivor Wilks

Bringing together cutting-edge research from a range of disciplines, this handbook argues that despite often being overlooked or treated as marginal, the study of Islam from an African context is integral to the broader Muslim world. Challenging the portrayal of African Muslims as passive recipients of religious impetuses arriving from the outside, this book shows how the continent has been a site for the development of rich Islamic scholarship and religious discourses. Over the course of the book, the contributors reflect on: The history and infrastructure of Islam in Africa Politics and Islamic reform Gender, youth, and everyday life for African Muslims New technologies, media, and popular culture. Written by leading scholars in the field, the contributions examine the connections between Islam and broader sociopolitical developments across the continent, demonstrating the important role of religion in the everyday lives of Africans. This book is an important and timely contribution to a subject that is often diffusely studied, and will be of interest to researchers across religious studies, African studies, politics, and sociology.

The essays in this volume explore the complexities of the relationship between states, social groups and individuals in contemporary North Africa, as expressed through the politics, culture and history of nationhood. From Morocco to Libya, from bankers to refugees, from colonialism to globalisation, a range of individual studies examines how North Africans have imagined and made their world in the twentieth century.