Notes on Published Texts: My Introductions to 30 Books

Notes on Published Texts: My Introductions to 30 Books by historian Professor Yusuf Fadl Hasan offers thoughtful introductions to key works in history, politics, and sociology, reflecting on Sudanese identity through Arab, Islamic, and African perspectives. This Arabic-language volume, the seventh in the Institute’s Publications series, contributes to advancing African scholarship in the Arabic-speaking world.

Recommendation by Abdulatif al-Bouni—a University Professor and Journalist:

“This book, put before the reader’s eyes, is of immeasurable value and is a unique work, for it offers a rich intellectual banquet of various delicious offerings, yet remains perfectly harmonious and coherent. It has been prepared thoughtfully and sagaciously, without perturbing or confusing the mind, for it falls within a single field of cognitive research: that of social and human studies. More specifically, one could say: historical, political, and social studies—the latter comprising both its anthropological and sociological branches. The thirty books to which the author (Yusuf Fadl Hasan) has provided introductions all remain firmly within his field of specialization and general interest. These introductions flow within a single cultural stream, and indeed, most of them engage with issues relating to the Sudanese personality and identity in its three dimensions: Arab, Islamic, and African.”

About the Author

Professor Yusuf Fadl Hassan

Hasan received a bachelor’s degree in General Arts from Khartoum University in 1956, a bachelor’s degree with honors in History from London University in 1959, and a Ph.D. in History from the University of London in 1964. He served as a lecturer in the History Department at the University of Khartoum and later as director of the Sudan Research Unit (which became the African and Asian Studies Institute) from 1972 to 1983, where he was entrusted with chronicling Sudanese heritage and leading a team of researchers. From 1985 to 1991, Hasan served as president of Khartoum University. He was also the editor of Sudan Notes and Records, a journal with more than 20 published editions, and launched an additional magazine focused on Sudanese studies.

Hasan has authored more than 30 books, including The Arabs and Sudan: From the Seventh to the Early Sixteenth Century (1966), Introduction to the History of the Islamic States in Eastern Sudan, Studies in Sudanese History, and co-edited Tabaqat Wad Dayf Allah.