The Radio Kaduna 'tafsir' (1978-1992) and the construction of public images of Muslim scholars in the Nigerian media

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Periodical article

Title:	The Radio Kaduna 'tafsir' (1978-1992) and the construction of public images of Muslim scholars in the Nigerian media
Author:	Brigaglia, Andrea
Year:	2007
Periodical:	Journal for Islamic Studies
Volume:	27
Pages:	173-210
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Nigeria Northern Nigeria
Subjects:	Islam Koran radio ulema
External link:	https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC47136
Abstract:	This paper looks at a public contest over Koranic interpretation ('tafsir') that accompanied the emergence of Islamic reformist activism in Nigeria in the late 1970s. This contest was staged on national radio at regular intervals during the months of Ramadan over several years. The events allowed a public negotiation of the issues involved by the then polarizing fracture between 'Sufi' and 'anti-Sufi' Nigerian Muslims. In addition to the demands of the familiar doctrinal polemic register, the religious scholars who participated in these programmes were thrown into a new, challenging arena.The paper focuses separately on the three major protagonists involved at different stages as 'Radio Kaduna exegetes' (Shaykh Abu Bakr Gumi, Shaykh 'Umar Sanda, Shaykh Tahir Bauchi), outlines their scholarly careers, their doctrinal inclination and their favoured themes. It concludes by highlighting how the success of the Radio Kaduna 'tafsir' contest rested on the degree to which it staged critical cultural negotiations that engaged the society in a variety of ways. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]