Supervisor:
Afifi al-Akiti
College:
Pembroke
Research Overview:
My research project, “Islamic Authority, Tradition, and Practice in West Africa: al-Mukhtār al-Kuntī's (d. 1226/1811) Religious Renewal through Sufi Epistemology,” investigates the intellectual contributions of al-Mukhtār al-Kuntī (d. 1226/1811), a prominent Muslim scholar in West Africa whose work bridges Sufi epistemology and scholastic theology in advocating for religious renewal. Through close analysis of primary sources, predominantly still in manuscript, I argue that al-Mukhtar integrated a Sufi epistemological doctrine of intuitive cognition into his writings, while also reflecting elements of scholastic theology (kalām) in his advocacy for Sufism as a superior means of attaining knowledge of God. In line with this, he developed a unique framework of tajdīd (spiritual and social renewal).
My study explores the relationship between intuitive cognition and renewal in al-Mukhtar’s project, highlighting the role of practice in enacting individual and social revival in al-Mukhtar’s thought. This project advances our understanding of non-scholastic Islamic theology, the tolerance for ambiguity in Islamic thought, and the concept of tajdīd in West Africa. It illustrates the evolving scholarly culture and provides insights into how Islamic authority in West Africa connected with the wider Muslim world. It serves as an intervention in the field by offering fresh insights into the intellectual landscape of pre-colonial West Africa in Arabic sources and advances scholarship on the culture of scholarship before the long 19th century, heretofore understudied. It challenges earlier depictions of the era as one of mere intellectual imitation and stagnation, advancing a more nuanced and complex understanding.
Research Area/s:
Study of Religion, Islamic Studies, African Studies
About:
I have engaged in manuscript research in collections based in Mali, Morocco, and France for my research. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Islamic law and theology (Zaytuna College, 2019) and a master’s degree in Religious Studies (University of Chicago, 2021).
Academic Interests:
Islamic intellectual history; Intellectual history in West Africa; Sufism; Islamic theology (ʿaqīda); epistemology; religious renewal (tajdīd).
Academic Publications:
“Transmission of an Islamic Doxography from Central Asia to Nigeria: a study of Muḥammad Thālith ɗan Ruwan Tsaya-Kasai’s al-Bayān wa-l-īḍāḥ,” Islamic Africa. MS under review.
“Review of Mysticism and Ethics in Islam,” Journal of Islamic Studies, July 2023.
