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Dissertation / thesis Dissertation / thesis
Title:Diverse styles of Islamic reform among the Songhay of Eastern Mali
Author:Niezen, Ronald Wesley
Year:1987
Pages:339
Language:English
Type of thesis:Ph.D. dissertation (unpublished)
Publisher:University of Cambridge
Geographic term:Mali
Subjects:revival & reform
Wahhabism
External link:https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/227576/NiezenR_A1b.pdf
Abstract:The general aim of the dissertation is to contribute to an understanding of Islamic reform in West Africa. To this end fieldwork was conducted among the Songhay of eastern Mali, a people who experienced a sudden rise in the popularity of Islamic reform in the early 1970's which divided many communities along religious lines. The term 'Wahhabiyya', often used to describe a trend in religious reform in West Africa which is inspired largely by the Saudi Arabian model of puritan Islam, is accepted by most members of this Songhay movement. In the region of Gao, in which this locally-based Wahhabi movement emerged, the situation is one in which Islamic reform among the village population is more 'radical' and uncompromising than among town dwellers. The central concerns of the dissertation are to compare the social backgrounds and religious orientations of 'moderates' and 'radicals' and, in particular, to account for the strong appeal of Islamic reform among the villagers.
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