Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa
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Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa

Reviewed by Abdul Hai “O Amir!!  When did you start enslaving people, when their mothers gave birth to them free?” Umar ibn Khattab (RA) “We missed the bus for industrial revolution, true but we missed the bus because the British Empire threw us under its wheels”. Dr Shashi Tharoor In a world often hostile to religion, particularly Islam, discussing Islam’s intellectual contributions…

The Islamic Civilisation

The Islamic Civilisation

Dr. Mustafa Sibai Reviewed by Abdul Hai “Hand the secular Arab a glass of urine, and tell him that it is wine. He will not only pretend to enjoy it, he will enjoy it.”Abdal Hakim Murad “What did the Muslims and Arabs do for the world?” was the passionate cry of an Arab secularist on…

Adanir’s (2006) Semi-autonomous provincial forces in the Balkans and Anatolia

Adanir’s (2006) Semi-autonomous provincial forces in the Balkans and Anatolia

Reviewed by: Alaa Dean Alzalam  The aim of this essay is to critically review Fikret Adanir’s (2006) chapter on Ottoman history which focuses on the ‘semi-autonomous provincial forces in the Balkans and Anatolia’. The critical review will be structured accordingly: introduction, discussion and conclusion. Firstly, the Introduction highlights Adanir’s overarching thesis, that the rise of…

From Rebels to Rulers, Writing Legitimacy in the early Sokoto State

From Rebels to Rulers, Writing Legitimacy in the early Sokoto State

“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” Naylor, Paul. From Rebels to Rulers, Writing Legitimacy in the early Sokoto State. Great Britain. James Currey, 2021. pp. xxii,199. £60.00 (Hardcover). ISBN: 978-1847012708. Reviewed by: Abdul Hai. “There is that great proverb — that until the lions have their historians, the history of…

Lessons in Islamic History

Lessons in Islamic History

Lessons in Islamic History Shaykh Muhammad Al-Khudari Bak Al-Bajuri Translator: Mariam Madge Conlan Reviewed by Abdul Hai “A community receives light from its history. And it becomes aware of itself by the remembrance of its history”.  Allama Iqbal One of the salaf said, “We learned Islamic history just like we learned a surah from the…