Our Daily Links: In the World Edition
Church and the Russian University. Fundamentalism as a result of secularization, not an expression of tradition. "Shifting Politics in the World's Newest Nation." "How Ethiopia's Adoption Industry Dupes Families and Bullies Activists." Thanks to a lingering hatred for Communism... The most significant Chinese political event of 2011. Getting arms around the cult of Kim Jong...
Al Shabaab: Where Do They Go From Here?
Joe McKnight Ever since Somali President Siad Barre’s government was removed from power in 1991, Somalia has lacked an effective central government.
Education as Battleground: Schooling Muslims in Northern Nigeria
by Alex Thurston
This post is the first of a series on Muslim schooling in Northern Nigeria.
Steady acts of violence carried out by Northern Nigeria’s rebel movement Boko Haram, whose name is often translated in the press as “Western education is forbidden,” has put issues of Muslim education in the region into the international news. Coverage...
Mauritania: Islamic Response to the Sahel Drought
By Alex Thurston 9/11 changed the trajectory of Islamic humanitarian agencies in Africa and around the world...The US government suspected some Islamic charities of not really being charities at all, but rather fronts for transnational terrorist funding.
Nigerian Universities: Islamic Studies in Secular Universities
By Alex Thurston
Nigeria has around 100 universities, most of them public, and many public and private colleges. Various tertiary institutions in Northern Nigeria offer Islamic Studies, sometimes conjoined with Arabic.
Northern Nigeria: Qur’anic Schooling and the Almajirai
by Alex Thurston
This is the second post in a series on Muslim education in Northern Nigeria. Read the first post here.
Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the word of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, a revelation that corrects and completes earlier Messages to Prophets such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims throughout...
“Traditional” and Reformist Practices: Advanced Islamic Education in Northern Nigeria
This post is the third in a series on Muslim schooling in Northern Nigeria. The first post gave an overview of the series, and the second discussed Qur’anic schools.
by Alex Thurston
In Nigeria, advanced Islamic education--the step following one's basic instruction in the Qur'an--takes various forms. Here, I'll examine the traditional settings for advanced...
Mass Wedding in Kano
by Alex Thurston A recent story from Nigeria, one that touches on both marriage and shari’a, offers the possibility of a more sophisticated analysis of marriage in Africa as well as shari'a law.
African Responses to “Muslim Innocence”
by Alex Thurston Protests against the Innocence of Muslims film have taken on a global scope...in sub-Saharan Africa, responses have ranged from violent protests to calls for peace.
To Hajj Without an Escort
By Alex Thurston During the week of September 24, Saudi Arabian authorities detained and subsequently deported over 1,000 Nigerian female pilgrims who were on the hajj to Mecca. The incident caused considerable tension between the two countries.
Are Salafis “Conservative”?
by Alex Thurston The media’s use of the term “ultraconservative” is also connected with some Salafis’ support for implementing Islamic law in modern states. But Salafis are not the only ones to favor shari’a, nor are they always its most enthusiastic backers.
