A living library: Amadou Hampâté Bâ and the oral transmission of Islamic religious knowledge

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Periodical article

Title:	A living library: Amadou Hampâté Bâ and the oral transmission of Islamic religious knowledge
Author:	Brenner, Louis
Year:	2010
Periodical:	Islamic Africa (ISSN 2154-0993)
Volume:	1
Issue:	2
Pages:	167-215
Language:	English
Geographic term:	West Africa
Subjects:	oral traditions Islam historical sources
About person:	Amadou Hampaté Bâ (1900-1991)
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1163/21540993-90000016
Abstract:	This paper presents three previously unpublished texts that provide insight into Amadou Hampâté Bâ's personal understanding of Islam and Sufism. Two of the texts are examples of Hampâté Bâ's earliest attempts to translate the oral teachings of his spiritual teacher, Tierno Bokar, into French; the third text consists of extracts from interviews with Hampâté Bâ in 1978 during which he reflected on themes that appear in the earlier texts, as well as more broadly on Islamic theology and Sufism. In addition to contributing to our understanding of Hampâté Bâ's own religious ideas, these texts illustrate something of both the content and the intellectual vitality that can inform the oral transmission of religious knowledge, an aspect of Islamic religious culture that has been less explored by students of Islam and Muslim history in Africa than the region's rich literary heritage. An introduction contextualizes the texts and analyses their content. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]