The walking Qur'an : Islamic education, embodied knowledge, and history in West Africa / Rudolph T. Ware III.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ware, Rudolph T., author.

Series:

Islamic civilization & Muslim networks

Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Qurʼan--Study and teaching--Africa, West.

Qurʼan.

Islamic religious education--Africa, West.

Islamic religious education.

West Africa.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (352 pages).

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill, North Carolina : University of North Carolina Press, 2014.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Spanning a thousand years of history-and bringing the story to the present through ethnographic fieldwork in Senegal. Gambia, and Mauritania-Rudolph Ware documents the profound significance of Quran schools for West African Muslim communities. Such schools peacefully brought Islam to much of the region, becoming striking symbols of Muslim identity. Ware shows how in Senegambia the schools became powerful channels for African resistance during the eras of the slave trade and colonization. While illuminating the past, Ware also makes signal contributions to understanding contemporary Islam by demonstrating how the schools" epistemology of embodiment gives expression to classical Islamic frameworks of learning and knowledge. Today, many Muslims and non-Muslims find West African methods of Quran schooling puzzling and controversial. In fascinating detail, Ware introduces these practices from the viewpoint of the practitioners, explicating their emphasis on educating the whole human being as if to remake it as a living replica of the Qur'an. From this perspective, the transference of knowledge in core texts and rituals is literally embodied in people, helping shape them-like the Prophet of Islam-into vital bearers of the word of God. Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks, Highlighting themes with historical as well as contemporary significance, Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks features works that explore Islamic societies and Muslim peoples from a fresh perspective, drawing on new interpretive frameworks or theoretical strategies in a variety of disciplines. Special emphasis is given to systems of exchange that have promoted the creation and development of Islamic identities- cultural, religious, or geopolitical. The series spans all periods and regions of Islamic civilization. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Education, Embodiment, and Epistemology 39

Chapter 2 Embodying Islam in West Africa: The Making of a Clerisy, ca. 1000-1770 77

Chapter 3 The Book in Chains: Slavery and Revolution in Senegambia, 1770-1890 110

Chapter 4 Bodies of Knowledge: Schooling, Sufism, and Social Change in Colonial Senegal, 1890-1945 163

Chapter 5 Disembodied Knowledge?: "Reform" and Epistemology in Senegal, 1945-Present 203.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Local Notes:

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.

Other Format:

Print version: Ware, Rudolph T. Walking Qur'an : Islamic education, embodied knowledge, and history in West Africa.

ISBN:

9781469614335

OCLC:

881316237

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.