Routledge Handbook of Islam in Africa

Description

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 socio-political 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. Cover Endorsement Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Figures Contributors Acknowledgments 1 Introduction Introduction Islam in Africa The Study of Islam in Africa – and the Muslim World African Islam? Overview of Chapters Conclusion Notes References Part I Formation of Islam in Africa: Islamic Scholarship, Literature, and Sufism 2 The “Traveling Scholar” in African Islamic Traditions: Local, Regional, and Global Worlds Setting the Stage: Locating the Traveling Scholar Onstage: the Traveling Scholar in Academic Literature Backstage: the Traveling Scholar in the African Islamic Tradition Coming From the Outside Into Africa in Modernity: Professional Travelers Seekers, Preachers, and Pilgrims – and the Muhajirun Local and Regional Travelers Exit Stage: the Muhajirun Devotional Journeys: the Hajj and Ziyara/Mawlid The Reformist Traveler of the Twentieth Century A Note On Female Scholarly Travelers Conclusion References 3 An Overview of Islamic Literature in Africa: Local and Global Interactions Introduction “The Gates of China” Ajami – Expressions of the Faith in Vernacular Languages The Age of Steam and Print African Islamic Literature: an Assessment Notes References 4 Pathways and Formations of “African Sufism” Pathways to Sufism in Africa Sufism and Jihad Contexts Connecting Chains Fissionary Tendencies in Senegal Holy Families in the Sudan Transmission of Knowledge The European Impact What Is African About African Sufism? Conclusion References Part II Dynamics of Religious Infrastructure 5 A Historiography of Sub-Saharan African Mosques: From Colonialism to Modernity Introduction Geocultural Spheres Sub-Saharan West Africa Mali’s Millennial Mud Mosques A Style of Its Own: Senegal’s Heterogeneous Mosques The Colonial Mosques of Saint Louis and Dakar Tuba: Spiritual Capital of the Murids East Africa and the Horn From Massawa to Mogadishu The Minaret in East and West Africa Cementification, Transposition, and Transformation of Modernity Notes References 6 Sufi Shrines as Material Space Introduction Defining Shines in an Islamic Context History and Distribution of Sufi Shrines in Sub-Saharan Africa Functions, Activities, and Personnel The Built Configuration of Sufi Shrines Sufi Shrine-Towns Conclusion Note References 7 The Qur’an School and Trajectories of Islamic Education The Classical Tradition in Africa Colonial Transformations Modernizing Islamic Education in Postcolonial Africa Conclusions Notes References Part III Islam and African Intersections 8 Muslim–Christian Relations in Africa: Tracing Transformations On the Ground and in a Growing Field of Study Introduction Ancient Religious History, Historicist Religious Thinking European and African Christian Missionaries and Muslims Nigeria’s Religious Tensions and the State in Postcolonial Africa Beyond the State: Religious Interaction as Practice Conclusion References 9 Islam and the Question of Gender Introduction Islam as Monolith Versus Islam as Dynamic Tradition Marginal Women, Stigmatized Practices Women’s Authority in Sufi Communities Women and Islamic Reform Pious Masculinities and Everyday Islam Sexual and Gender Variance Conclusion Notes References Part IV Islam, Politics, and Reform 10 Islam and Politics in Africa: Politics Within and Without the State Islam and Politics in African History Precolonial Period Islam Under Colonialism Islam and Politics in the Postcolonial Period New Lines of Inquiry Notes References 11 Jihadism in Africa Introduction Key Similarities Between African Jihadist Movements How Should Jihadism Be Studied? The Terrorological Approach The Area Studies/localized Approach The Comparative Political Science Approach Areas in Need of Further Research Jihadists’ Internal Organizational Structures and Modes of Operation Jihadists and Borderland Political Economies State-jihadist Relations and Conspiracy Theories as Social Facts Jihadists’ Ideological Production Beyond Arabic Jihadist Religiosity Jihadism and Women Conclusion Notes References 12 African Salafism Introduction Salafism and Current Research African Salafism and African Agency The Quest for Religious Purity Salafism and Politics Conclusion Notes References Part V Patterns of Islamic Reform in Africa 13 Dynamics of Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa Introduction On Definition and Terminology The Problem of Dichotomous Representations of Movements of Reform Doctrinal Distinction, Symbolic Distantiation, Social Separation, and Spatial Segregation Temporal and Structural Disjunctures Conclusion Notes References 14 Fayda-Tijaniyya and Islamic Reform in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Africa Introduction The Tijaniyya in the Context of the Tariqat Muhammadiyya of the Eighteenth Century Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse and the Fayda Tijaniyya Spiritual Authority and the Globalization of the Fayda Community The Fayda Community’s Search for Gender Parity The Reproduction of Indigenous Political Structures in Fayda Communities A Sufi Aesthetic Turn? Aesthetic Productions and Consumption as Spiritual Gifts (Hadaaya) Iconoclastic Visual Images Social Media Sufi–Salafi Coexistence Conclusion Notes References 15 Reform in the Discourse of Islam and the Making of Muslim Subjects Introduction The Study of Islamic Reform Tajdid in the Discourse of Islam Reform in Colonial Contexts Reform in Post-Colonial Times Conclusion References Part VI Everyday Muslim Life: Practice of Piety and New Muslim Subjects 16 People’s Quest for Well-Being: Tracing Islamic Healing Practices in Africa Prologue: Malam Hussein Introduction Framing Islamic Healing Practices in Africa “African Islam” Symbols and People’s Beliefs People’s Quest for Well-Being Well-being and Health Lafiya (Il)Legitimate Practices? Debating Islamic Healing Practices in a Zongo Struggles for Hegemony: Islamic Groups and Healing Practices Debating Islamic Healing Practices: Central Issues Conclusion Notes References 17 Islam, Muslim Life-Worlds, and Matters of the Everyday Introduction Muslim Societies: Religion and the World Worldly Islam – Living Islam The Social and Conceptual Presence of Jinn Compliance and Contestation of Oral and Performative Communication Conclusion Notes References 18 Muslim Youth and Lived Experiences of Islam Introduction Islam and Education Muslim Youth and Islamic Reform Youth Activism in Sufi, Charismatic, and Shi’i Movements Jihadism: a Youth Revolt? Marriage, Family, and Sexualities Muslim Youth Social and Economic Initiatives Conclusion References Part VII New Technologies and New Connectiveness 19 Popular Culture in Muslim Africa Introduction Debates About Popular Culture in Muslim Africa In the Mix: New Technologies, New Expressions, New Resistance Writing the Rites to Right the Wrongs: Dissent, Islam, and Literary Discourse Music as Popular Culture in Muslim Africa Invisible Visibilities – Visuality, Film, and Gender in Muslim Africa Conclusions References 20 Media, the Digital, and New Connections Introduction Conceptual and Terminological Matters “Islam And/as Media”: an Overview Media Appropriations as a Continuous Process Media-related Dynamics in Plural Religious Settings Globalizing Muslim Media Engagements Conclusion References 21 Beyond the Invisible Muslims Label: The Building of African Muslim Diasporic Communities in the West Introduction The Make-Up of the African Muslim Diaspora Invisibility and Remnants of “Islam Noir” African Muslim Voices in Global Islam Place Making and the Building of Satellite Communities Conclusion References Index