Doubt, Scholarship and Society in 17th-Century Central Sudanic Africa.
- 1st ed.
- 1 online resource (329 pages)
- Islam in Africa Series ; v.20 .
- Islam in Africa Series .
Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- A Note on Transliteration -- Chapter 1. Introduction -- 1. One Man in His Environment -- 2. The Setting -- 3. Intellectual History and Philology -- 4. Peripheries -- 5. Sources and Structure -- Chapter 2. Dramatis loci -- 1. A History of Bornu and Baghirmi as Islamic States -- 2. Spread of Islam to Rural Areas -- 3. Ethnicity, Religion and Slavery -- 4. Islam and Traditional Religions -- 5. Conclusion -- Chapter 3. Muḥammad al-Wālī -- 1. Biography -- 2. Works -- 3. Education -- 4. Reputation -- 5. Concluding Remarks -- Chapter 4. The Scholar's Habitat -- 1. Scholarship and Religious Leadership -- 2. The Influence of Social Surroundings -- 3. Intellectual Environment: The Canon -- 4. Intellectual Environment: Themes -- 5. Conclusion -- Chapter 5. Method and Message -- 1. Al-Sanūsī's Ṣughra -- 2. The Kabbe Tradition -- 3. Between Oral and Scholarly Text -- 4. Tradition with a Twist -- 5. Conclusion -- Chapter 6. Demonising Smokers -- 1. How Tobacco Conquered the Islamic Lands -- 2. Al-Wālī's Point of View -- 3. A Folktale about the Devil's Piss -- 4. From Abgar to al-Azhar -- 5. Conclusion -- Chapter 7. On Writing -- 1. Author and Authority -- 2. Why Did al-Wālī Translate the Fulani Commentary? -- 3. From Orality to Literacy -- 4. Knowing and the Knower -- 5. Conclusion -- Chapter 8. Certainties in Times of Choice -- Annex I. Al-adilla al-ḥisān fī bayān taḥrīm shurb al-dukhān. An Edition of the Arabic Text -- Annex II. English Translation of Al-adilla al-ḥisān fī bayān taḥrīm shurb al-dukhān: Valid Proofs to Proclaim Smoking Forbidden -- Valid Proofs to Proclaim Smoking Forbidden -- Annex III. ʿAwsikum yā maʿshar al-ikhwān. An Edition of al-Wālī's Poem -- Bibliography and References -- References to Manuscript Collections -- Abbreviations -- Bibliography. Index.
In Doubt, Scholarship and Society in 17th Century Central Sudanic Africa Dorrit van Dalen places the 17th century Bornu scholar al-Wālī in the contemporary intellectual environment of global Islam and in his direct social environment, where the spread of Islam caused identities to shift.
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Wali, Muhammad al-Wali ibn Sulayman ibn Abi Muhammad, active 1688--Knowledge and learning. Islamic learning and scholarship--Sudan (Region)--History--17th century. Islamic learning and scholarship--Africa, West--History--17th century. Sudan (Region)--Intellectual life--17th century. Africa, West--Intellectual life--17th century.