Islamic Education in Africa

This is a very rich collection of articles that covers diverse perspectives on Islamic Education in Africa, written by some of the top-of-the-range experts in their respective fields. The volume started its journey from the annual meeting of the African Studies Association, held in New Orleans in 2009, where three panels discussed the broad themes of Islamic education in Africa. Papers were then invited from these participants and each chapter, except for the introduction, conclusion and chapter 13, which is a translation of an earlier publication in French, represents a paper submitted by one of these experts. The volume itself is a tribute to the mentors of the editor, Jack Goody, Ivor Wilks and John Hunwick, the giants, as the editor calls them. The volume has sought to cover the whole continent, particularly in the last 100 or so years, while focusing on the transformation of Islamic education during this rather tumultuous period of the African continent. Pretty ambitious though it is, the editor has managed to put together enough papers to reflect the varying trends and experiences in the different imperial climes. Indeed the difference is only in degree, since the policy of all European colonial administrations had been to supplant and stifle indigenous educational systems and replace them with their own....