Singing the Prophet's Praise

Singing the Prophet's Praise

Episode 462
with Oludamini Ogunnaike hosted by Shireen Hamza
Reading and writing poems in praise of the prophet Mohammad is no simple matter in West Africa. Their composition was a vehicle for intellectual debate, just as their recitation was a means of spiritual transformation for the listener. In this episode, we speak to Dr. Oludamini Ogunnaike, the author of a recent book about praise or "madih" poetry in West Africa, and we listen to recordings of several recitations. Madih poetry is widely recited by Muslims in West Africa; we learn of several major authors from the 18th century to now, including Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse and Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba. Professor Ogunnaike explains the complex Sufi cosmologies and epistemologies intrinsic to the memorization and recitation of madih poetry, which make this such a powerful and widespread practice in Muslim communities. Finally, we discuss why these poems -- manuscripts of which can be found in every collection in West Africa -- remain so little studied. While part of this can be explained by the colonial legacy of considering Islam to be essentially Arab, and thus a foreign importation to Africa, there are other epistemological issues at stake. Professor Ogunnaike's work thus broadens our understanding of a form of embodied knowledge in Islam.
« Click for More »

Avsnitt(131)

The Catastrophic Success of the Armenian Tanzimat

The Catastrophic Success of the Armenian Tanzimat

with Richard Antaramian hosted by Matthew Ghazarian | How did the Ottomans secure widespread buy-in for modernization projects across the empire's many geographies and communities? This e...

4 Maj 20220s

A New History of The Eastern Question

A New History of The Eastern Question

with Ozan Ozavci hosted by Zeinab Azarbadegan | How was European military intervention in the Ottoman Empire justified throughout the nineteenth century? What did Ottoman statesmen and su...

23 Apr 20220s

Moriscos and the Early Modern Mediterranean

Moriscos and the Early Modern Mediterranean

Mayte Green-Mercado hosted by Brittany White | In 1609, King Phillip III of Spain signed an edict to expel a community known as the Moriscos from the Iberian Peninsula. The Moriscos were Mu...

11 Apr 20220s

Scholarly Salons in 16th-Century Damascus

Scholarly Salons in 16th-Century Damascus

with Helen Pfeifer hosted by Maryam Patton | In 1517, the Ottomans captured Cairo and with it, the Arabophone lands of the Mamluk Sultanate. Suddenly, scores of learned scholars who had be...

27 Mars 20220s

An Environmental History of the Late Ottoman Frontier

An Environmental History of the Late Ottoman Frontier

with Chris Gratien hosted by Susanna Ferguson | How did ordinary Ottoman subjects experience the momentous changes that made our modern world? This episode explores that question through t...

11 Mars 20220s

The Spiritual Vernacular of the Early Ottoman Frontier

The Spiritual Vernacular of the Early Ottoman Frontier

with Carlos Grenier hosted by Maryam Patton | How did one learn to be a good Muslim in the early 15th century? In newly conquered Ottoman lands where Christians and converts lived side by s...

4 Feb 20220s

Sultanic Saviors

Sultanic Saviors

with Marc Baer hosted by Zeinab Azarbadegan | The expulsion of Sephardic Jews from the Iberian Peninsula and their arrival in the Ottoman Empire thereafter changed the relationship of Jewi...

29 Jan 20220s

Dear Palestine

Dear Palestine

with Shay Hazkani hosted by Sam Dolbee | The 1948 War resulted in the creation of the state of Israel and the Nakba of 750,000 Palestinian refugees. In Dear Palestine, Shay Hazkani sheds ne...

29 Nov 20210s

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

aftonbladet-krim
svenska-fall
rss-krimstad
p3-krim
fordomspodden
spar
flashback-forever
rss-sanning-konsekvens
rss-expressen-dok
rss-vad-fan-hande
aftonbladet-daily
motiv
grans
rss-frandfors-horna
rss-krimreportrarna
rss-flodet
krimmagasinet
blenda-2
rss-aftonbladet-krim
olyckan-inifran