The Africa Institute launches its 2023 Faculty Seminar Series with Zekeria Ahmed Salem, Associate Professor of Political Science, Director of The Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa, Northwestern University who will discuss “Beyond Shinqit: How a Saharan Islamic tradition went global (19th-21st century)” on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 (12 pm GST) at the Africa Hall, Sharjah.

Abstract

Known in the Middle East simply as Bilād Shinqīṭ, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is often portrayed today as a major center of classical Islamic learning supposedly untouched by modernity. Today, Mauritanian scholars are known throughout the Muslim world and beyond for their mastery of the main components of classical Islamic knowledge such as memorization of classical Islamic texts, mastery of the Arabic language, especially poetry, and Sunni jurisprudence. Despite their modest demography and the negligible weight of their country, Shinqīṭī/Mauritanian scholars have been able to ensure a continuing regional and global presence through mobility, global outreach, high productivity, and connectivity. The Shinqīṭi/Mauritanian label and nisba empowered generations of self-styled Shinqīṭi-educated individuals and, more recently, contributed to attracting students from all over the world to Bilād-Shinqīṭ/Mauritania in search of a traditional form of Islamic knowledge.

In this talk, Professor Salem will present his current research investigating how Mauritania has become in less than two centuries a label of excellence in Islamic knowledge and religious authority with an astonishing global reach. Set in the longue durée (19th-21st century), the research presented here examines the outsized influence of Mauritanian Islamic scholars (‘ulama), religious texts and institutions of learning to document transnational flows of ideas and people and subsequently the ways in which the so-called Muslim/Arab peripheries assert their intellectual and spiritual relevance over time.

Speaker

Zekeria Ahmed Salem is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University where he also is the Director of The Institute for The Study of Islamic Thought in Africa [ISITA]. He earned his PhD from Sciences-Po Lyon (France) in 1996 and went on to teach at the University of Nouakchott, Mauritania, from 1997 to 2017.  His most recent book is titled: Prêcher dans le Désert: Islam politique et changement social en Mauritanie (Paris, Karthala 2013). He is also the editor of the edited volume: Les Trajectoires d’Etat-Frontière. Espaces, Évolutions Politiques et Transformations Sociales en Mauritanie (Dakar, Codesria Press, 2004). His other work appeared in: The Journal of North African Studies; Politique Africaine (Paris); Cahiers d’Etudes Africaines; Canadian Journal of African Studies; Nomadic Peoples; Islam et societies au Sud Sahara.

He has also contributed chapters in many edited volumes including Movers and Shakers: Social Movements in Africa, edited by Stephen Ellis and Ellis, Ineke V. Kessel (Brill, 2009); Islam and Muslim Politics in Africa edited by Soares and Otayek (Palgrave, 2007): Social Currents in the Arab World. Culture and Governance After the Arab Spring edited by Ousama Abi Mershed (Oxford University Press, 2018).  His latest chapter is: Hands Off My Citizenship! Biometrics and its Politics in Mauritania: Identification and Citizenship in Africa published in Biometrics, the Documentary State and Bureaucratic Writings edited by Séverine Dalberto and Richard Banégas (London, Routledge, 2021).

He was a Senior Visiting Scholar at The African Studies Center) Leiden, Netherlands); A visiting Professor at Ecole des Hautes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris, 2003); a visiting Fulbright Scholar at the University of Florida in AY2010-2011; a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Paris (AY-2011-2012) and Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study and Nantes (2012-2013).

Moderator

Abdourahmane Idrissa, Senior Researcher, African Studies Centre, Leiden University, Netherlands and Ali A. Mazrui Senior Fellow at The Africa Institute, Sharjah.

 

Through these lectures and workshops, The Africa Institute reaffirms its mission as a center for the study and research of Africa and its diaspora, and its commitment to the training of a new generation of critical thinkers in African and African Diaspora studies.

The seminar will be in English.

The session is free and open to the public. Registration is mandatory, Click here to book your place.

The Africa Institute launches its 2023 Faculty Seminar Series with Zekeria Ahmed Salem, Associate Professor of Political Science, Director of The Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa, Northwestern University who will discuss “Beyond Shinqit: How a Saharan Islamic tradition went global (19th-21st century)” on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 (12 pm GST) at the Africa Hall, Sharjah.

The Africa Institute launches its 2023 Faculty Seminar Series with Zekeria Ahmed Salem, Associate Professor of Political Science, Director of The Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa, Northwestern University who will discuss “Beyond Shinqit: How a Saharan Islamic tradition went global (19th-21st century)” on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 (12 pm GST) at the Africa Hall, Sharjah.

Abstract

Known in the Middle East simply as Bilād Shinqīṭ, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is often portrayed today as a major center of classical Islamic learning supposedly untouched by modernity. Today, Mauritanian scholars are known throughout the Muslim world and beyond for their mastery of the main components of classical Islamic knowledge such as memorization of classical Islamic texts, mastery of the Arabic language, especially poetry, and Sunni jurisprudence. Despite their modest demography and the negligible weight of their country, Shinqīṭī/Mauritanian scholars have been able to ensure a continuing regional and global presence through mobility, global outreach, high productivity, and connectivity. The Shinqīṭi/Mauritanian label and nisba empowered generations of self-styled Shinqīṭi-educated individuals and, more recently, contributed to attracting students from all over the world to Bilād-Shinqīṭ/Mauritania in search of a traditional form of Islamic knowledge.

In this talk, Professor Salem will present his current research investigating how Mauritania has become in less than two centuries a label of excellence in Islamic knowledge and religious authority with an astonishing global reach. Set in the longue durée (19th-21st century), the research presented here examines the outsized influence of Mauritanian Islamic scholars (‘ulama), religious texts and institutions of learning to document transnational flows of ideas and people and subsequently the ways in which the so-called Muslim/Arab peripheries assert their intellectual and spiritual relevance over time.

Speaker

Zekeria Ahmed Salem is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University where he also is the Director of The Institute for The Study of Islamic Thought in Africa [ISITA]. He earned his PhD from Sciences-Po Lyon (France) in 1996 and went on to teach at the University of Nouakchott, Mauritania, from 1997 to 2017.  His most recent book is titled: Prêcher dans le Désert: Islam politique et changement social en Mauritanie (Paris, Karthala 2013). He is also the editor of the edited volume: Les Trajectoires d’Etat-Frontière. Espaces, Évolutions Politiques et Transformations Sociales en Mauritanie (Dakar, Codesria Press, 2004). His other work appeared in: The Journal of North African Studies; Politique Africaine (Paris); Cahiers d’Etudes Africaines; Canadian Journal of African Studies; Nomadic Peoples; Islam et societies au Sud Sahara.

He has also contributed chapters in many edited volumes including Movers and Shakers: Social Movements in Africa, edited by Stephen Ellis and Ellis, Ineke V. Kessel (Brill, 2009); Islam and Muslim Politics in Africa edited by Soares and Otayek (Palgrave, 2007): Social Currents in the Arab World. Culture and Governance After the Arab Spring edited by Ousama Abi Mershed (Oxford University Press, 2018).  His latest chapter is: Hands Off My Citizenship! Biometrics and its Politics in Mauritania: Identification and Citizenship in Africa published in Biometrics, the Documentary State and Bureaucratic Writings edited by Séverine Dalberto and Richard Banégas (London, Routledge, 2021).

He was a Senior Visiting Scholar at The African Studies Center) Leiden, Netherlands); A visiting Professor at Ecole des Hautes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris, 2003); a visiting Fulbright Scholar at the University of Florida in AY2010-2011; a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Paris (AY-2011-2012) and Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study and Nantes (2012-2013).

Moderator

Abdourahmane Idrissa, Senior Researcher, African Studies Centre, Leiden University, Netherlands and Ali A. Mazrui Senior Fellow at The Africa Institute, Sharjah.

 

Through these lectures and workshops, The Africa Institute reaffirms its mission as a center for the study and research of Africa and its diaspora, and its commitment to the training of a new generation of critical thinkers in African and African Diaspora studies.

The seminar will be in English.

The session is free and open to the public. Registration is mandatory, Click here to book your place.

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