Practicing Sufism : Sufi Politics and Performance in Africa.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of figures -- Notes on contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 Semiotics of Sufism -- or how to become a saint -- 2 The path of sainthood: structure and danger -- 3 Sufi eschatology and hagiography as responses to colonial repression: an examination of the meanings of Amadu Bamba's trial and exiles by the French colonial administration of Senegal 1895-1907 -- 4 Gender and agency in the history of a West African Sufi community: the followers of Yacouba Sylla -- 5 Historical perspectives on the domed shrine in the Nilotic Sudan -- 6 Genealogies of "orthodox" Islam: the Moroccan Gnawa Religious Brotherhood, "Blackness" and the figure of Bilal ibn Rabah -- 7 The promise of sonic translation: performing the festive sacred in Morocco -- 8 The visual performative of Senegalese Sufism -- 9 A Darfur-Doha encounter and a Sufi mystic's whirling trance for peace -- 10 Rethinking the distinction between popular and reform Sufism in Egypt: an examination of the mawlid of Muhammad Mitwalli Sha'rawi -- Index.

This interdisciplinary volume brings together histories and experiences of Sufism in various parts of Africa, offering case studies on several countries that include Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Egypt, Sudan, Mali, and Nigeria. It uses a variety of methodologies ranging from the hermeneutical, through historiographic to ethnographic, in a comprehensive examination of the politics and performance of Sufism in Africa. While the politics of Sufism pertains largely to historical and textual analysis to highlight paradigms of sanctity in different geographical areas in Africa, the aspect of performance adopts a decidedly ethnographic approach, combining history, history of art and discourse analysis. Together, analysis of these two aspects reveals the many faces of Sufism that have remained hitherto hidden.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.