Islam in africa

The Sufi Path

Steve Howard, Ohio University

The muslim traveler

• Preaching, teaching, evangelizing

• Trade

• War, conquest

• Haj

• Work, migration

• Refuge, exile

• The inner journey, tariq Mohammed

The pillars of islam

• Shahadah “witness” There is no God but God and Mohammed is His Prophet.

• Salat “prayer”

• Zakat “almsgiving”

• Sawm “fasting” the Holy Month of Ramadan

• Haj “pilgrimage” once to Mecca in lifetime if able

The Prophet Mohammed 570-632 c.e.

• In history- founder of Islam; in faith- the Messenger of God

• Administrator; legislator; judge; commander-in-chief; teacher, preacher; father; husband; brother

• Received first revelation at age 40 from Angel Gibreel; process continued for 22 years

The prophet’s successors

• The Rightly Guided Caliphs

• Abu Bakar; Omer; Osman; Ali

• The Suni/Shi’a schism

Qur’an

• Created the Muslim community and was shaped by it;

• Qur’an is the demonstration of the existence of God with both hidden and explicit meanings;

• Fundamental text;• Liturgy- fatiha, ihklas• Education, the Arabic alphabet• Non-liturgical social events and arts

Al-lugha al-arabia

• Today: 200 million native speakers

Language family: Afro-Asiatic, semitic languages

Classical vs. Modern Standard vs. Dialects

Alphabet

Grammar

How learned

Women and islam

• Islamic law addressed some of the more flagrant gender inequities

• Distinguishing between Islam as religion and Islamic cultures

marriage

Tasowaf ‘sufism’

• Ethical and spiritual quest• Quest for perfection• Shared community- to keep us on that

path• Knowledge, love, ‘intoxication’• Controversial in the midst of Islamic

orthodoxy and yet significant aspect of African Islam (Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, West Africa).

Sufi refuge

Islam in Africa

• Islamic social movements in Africa:

• Oumar Tall

• Ousman don Fodio (1804)

• Mohamad Ahmed El Mahdi

• Abdullah Hassan

North Africa- Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauretania

East Africa- Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania

West Africa- Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire

salaam