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Related Links

If you would like to suggest any English-language links related to artistic and cultural expression in sub-Sahara Africa please send us your suggestion at: ArtCulture@islam-online.net

Africa General

Gateway to African Studies on H-Net

Interactive gateway where scholars and students of Africa communicate current research and teaching interests, discuss new approaches, methods and tools of analysis, share information on electronic databases, test new ideas and share comments on the literature in their fields.

Interactive Map of Africa

Contemporary Africa Database

Continuously growing, participatory online project, designed to provide easily accessible and current information concerning prominent Africans, African organizations, and dates in the African calendar.

Internet African History Sourcebook

Database of historical sources on the history of human societies in the continent of Africa.

Africa South of the Sahara – Selected Internet Resources

Extensive resources on sub-Saharan Africa that can be searched by country or topic.

Exploring Africa

Here, teachers interested in bringing the diversity of Africa into the classroom will find suggested curriculums, activities, and resources to aid in the development of their own teaching plans. Includes resources on Islam in Africa.

Islamic Art and Culture in Africa – General

A Medieval Sourcebook: Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354

Translation of Ibn Battuta’s text Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354, in which he describes his travels through the Islamic world, including large parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Metropolitan Museum of Art – Africa

Topical and historical presentations on the museum’s African art collections. Includes topics on the spread of Islam in Africa and Islamic art and crafts in particular regions and cultures.

BBC - The Story of Islam in Africa

Concise history of the spread and integration of Islam in Africa.

Africa Web Links: An Annotated Resource List

Numerous Africa-related Web-links including Art, Culture, Music and Religion

Civilizations in Africa

Online course and text resources; includes an Internet resources guide and a wealth of information on African-Islamic civilizations.

Islam and African Traditional Religions

This article discusses whether it is possible to be Muslim in an ‘African’ way.

Islam in Africa Organization

Islamic website that aims to present the history of Islam in Africa in an accessible way.

Art and Life in Africa Project

The Art and Life in Africa Project Group, headed by University of Iowa Professor Christopher Roy, is dedicated to the production of several visual resources based on a collection of materials and research in the field of African Art. The website includes photo, video and audio material on mostly West-African art by Muslim peoples.

West-Africa

Wonders: The Road to Timbuktu

Information, images and videos on the people, mosques, ancient universities and natural treasures of the environs of Timbuktu.

Sunjata

Information, links, audio/video and educational material on the great epic about the origin and history of the Mande people and their Malian empire.

Online Exhibition: Passport to Paradise

Online exhibition focusing on the art movement surrounding the founder of the West-African mystical Mouridiyya brotherhood, Ahmadu Bamba.

Dogon-Lobi

Excellent and extensive professional photo database with photo’s focusing on culture and architecture in the Niger region and Dogon country.

Timbuktu Educational Foundation

Beautiful site about the endangered collection of ancient Islamic manuscripts preserved one of the greatest centers of Islamic learning in West-Africa.

Libraries of Timbuktu for the Preservation and Promotion of African Literary Heritage

Site about the Timbuktu Manuscripts Project, a project that aims to preserve and study the heritage of Arabic manuscripts in Timbuktu.

Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu

Online exhibition by the Library of Congress on some of the legendary manuscripts of Islamic scholarship from the West-African city of Timbuktu.

Description of Timbuktu (c.1526)

Translation of a manuscript by the Arabic scholar and traveler El Hasan ben Muhammed el-Wazzan-ez-Zayyati, who was enslaved by Christians and commissioned by them to write a detailed survey of Timbuktu.

Drinking the Word of God

Virtual exhibition by Michigan State University exploring the ways in which Muslims in Niger and Cõte d’Ivoire employ religious traditions in their search for health, happiness and prosperity in their lives.

The World-Class University of Sankore, Timbuktu

Article about the famous African centre of Islamic learning, Sankore University in Timbuktu.

The Islamic Legacy of Timbuktu

Learning the Word of God

Article about Qur’anic education in Djenne, Mali.

Djenne: Living Tradition

Article about the Islamic heritage of Djenne, Mali.

Homepage of Muridiyya Khidmatul Khadim School

This is a school of the Muridiyya Sufi brotherhood led by the renowned Murid scholar and leader Cheikh Abdoulaye Dièye. Lots of information about the brotherhood of Muridism.

Sheikh al-Islam, Baye Niass

Both English and French; information about Senegalese Muridiyya scholar Baye Niass, overseen by Niass's son and historian Mahdy Niass, who has also published a biography on his father.

East-Africa

Wonders: The Swahili Coast

Information, images and audio material about the people, language and poetry of the Swahili Coast.

Mogadishu: Images from the Past

A cartographic and photographic record of Mogadishu, Somalia, from the late 18th created and maintained by a British resident of the city in the 1980s. Includes many images related to the Islamic architecture of the city.

The Advent of Islam in East Africa

Short introduction to the early spread of Islam in East Africa.

The Weaver’s Song

Article about traditional Somali weaving.

Somali Poetry

Article illustrating the centrality of poetry in all aspects of Somali social life.

Swahili Online

Resource on Swahili culture: music, Islam, language, links and features.

Mwambao

Website dedicated to (Muslim) Swahili culture. Includes taraab, classical Islamic poetry in Swahili (qasawid) and du`a.

South Africa

Islam in South Africa

Article about Islam in contemporary South Africa.

Oblique Figures: Imagining Islam in South African Art

Analysis of the vision of Islam that has developed in South African art.

Website of the Annual Review of Islam in South Africa

Periodical on Islam in South Africa published by the University of Cape Town. Covers a broad range of topics from art and culture to economics and politics.

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