With the Power of the Sword, Gold and the Koran. Competition and
Conflict in Muslim Sub-Saharan Africa (From the Pre-Colonial Age to
the Present)
Location:Germany
Workshop Date:2011-11-18 (in 15 days)
Islam has influenced Sub-Saharan Africa since early European mediaeval
times. Powerful Islamic empires and revolutionary movements moulded
their history. Until today these regions have confronted very
different forms of Islam. This workshop wants to reconsider the
influence of Islam in the political, social and religious domains of
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Program:
Friday, 18.11.2011
14:00 Opening Remarks
(Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp, Kassel)
14:30 The Jula in Burkina Faso: From Pre-Colonial Elite to
Ethno-Political Association
(PD Dr. Katja Werthmann, Mainz)
15:15 The Fall of the Walasma' Dynasty (Ethiopia, 16th Century)
(Amélie Chekroun, Paris)
16:30 Guns, Honour and Islam: The Decline and Fall of the Songhay
(Christian Holst, Kassel)
18:00 Public Lecture
Die Muslime in Afrika im Spannungsfeld zwischen vorkolonialem Erbe und
Globalisierung
(Prof. Dr. Roman Loimeier, Göttingen)
Saturday, 19.11.2011
09:00 Moving Movements – 19th Century Jihads in the Hausa Region
(Stephanie Zehnle, Kassel)
09:45 Expansion of Islam and Political Competition on the Swahili
Coast in the 19th Century
(Clélia Coret, Paris)
11:00 Translocal Muslim Networks and Local Social Orders in Tanganyika
and Eastern Congo, 1920s to 1960s
(Katharina Zöller, Bayreuth)
11:45 The Giving and Receiving of Zakat: Relationships between the
'Wealthy' and 'Needy' Citizens of Jos, Nigeria
(Dauda Abubakar, Berlin)
12:30 Final Discussion
Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp
Neuere und Neueste Geschichte
FB 05 Gesellschaftswissenschaften
Universität Kassel
Nora-Platiel-Str. 1
D-34109 Kassel
tel 0561 804-3099
Organisation: Stephanie Zehnle M.A.
Email: zehnle@uni-kassel.de
On Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 9:19 AM, kayode ketefe <kayodeketefe@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Eid-el-Kabir: How obedience to God can help Nigeria
>
> KAYODE KETEFE
>
> In a few days time, the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, more popularly known as Eid-el-Kabir, will be celebrated by the Islamic faithful throughout the world. The festival is rooted in scriptural accounts of both the Islamic and Judeo-Christian theology as evinced in the Al Qur'an Kareem (The Glorious Qur'an) and the Old Testament respectively. The homogenous accounts (Qu'ran Chapter 37; Genesis Chapter 22) highlight how, in a singular act of obedience to a divine command, Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), took Ishmael, his treasured son which was begotten in his old age, to a location and prepared him for ritual of immolation as piety to God.
>
> As he got set to cut the throat of the blindfolded son in utter compliance, behold! A ministration came from heavens; Allah conveyed the good tidings stopping the killing and revealed that a ram had been approved by Him as a vicarious replacement for the human sacrifice. God added that Ibrahim had passed the ultimate test of faith and would be amply rewarded. The ram was promptly slaughtered while both father and son returned home in ecstatic joy.
>
> This exemplary story of Prophet Ibrahim's fully manifested intent to sacrifice his most adored progeny is well known to us, what many do not however bother about is to imbibe its essence. The demonstration of this sublime virtue of selfless yield to the divine fiat is a reference point in man/God relationship. Ideally, as the embodiment of all knowledge and wielders of all powers, God should be seen as the Guiding Light to the path of redemption. Mortals are finite while God is infinite; what remains hidden to man is laid completely bare to God with no more than just a single glance of his famed omniscient eye.
>
> Yet, most humans tend to disregard divine guidance through obstinacy borne of sheer selfishness. There are enough injunctions in our religious books that would have made the society better if willingly obeyed, alas, what we often have is a case of selective obedience if not outright disobedience or crooked manipulative interpretations of God's words to suit our pre-conceived foibles and whims.
>
> Thankfully, God may not require us to kill our children today to prove our unconditional submission to his will, but how many of us are truly eager to comply with even the comparatively easier obligations he requires of us in our modern times? The two Holy Scriptures are replete with passages urging virtues of honesty, righteousness, integrity, good neighborliness and love. But do we practise them?
>
> Underscoring the imperative of yielding to God, The Qur'an, in its Chapter 4, Verse 125, says: "Who could have a better religion than someone who submits himself completely to God and is a good-doer, and follows the religion of Abraham, a man of pure natural belief? God took Abraham as an intimate friend."
>
> Now, if we find it difficult to submit to God in the relatively easier obligations confronting us today, how miserably would we fail if called upon to make superior sacrifice like Prophet Ibrahim? Superior sacrifice consists of giving away one's most prized possession.
>
> What translates to most prized possession is different from person to person.
>
> To some people, their riches, manifested in millions, billions or trillions of bank currencies and other earthly assets rank supreme, to others, their chain of degrees and other certificates come before everything else; others place the highest premium on their looks, some people's most adored valuables are sporting talents, tribal or national identity, or some other mundane human values. How many Nigerians today can give up their most prized possession in deference to the divine commandments?
>
> Indeed, most of the problems facing us as a country today stem from the people's attitude of superimposing the personal preferences and selfish agenda over all other things, including God's acclaimed commandments and directives. God says do not kill, we always find excuses to kill, he says do no steal, we steal for personal aggrandisement, he says show love to your neigbour, we engage in basest sadism borne of wanton hatred.
>
> Politicians who steal recklessly from the public treasury know quite alright that God abhors stealing, yet rather for them to give up selfish pursuits in the light of the creator's antipathy to the vice, they expect God to compromise his standards and overlook the disobedience!
>
> What about those who kill and maim other people for money and other selfish or misguided reasons?
>
> As we prepare to celebrate this year Eid-el-Kabir, let us remind ourselves that the essence of this great festival is total submission to the will of God; it is not reckless bingeing and partying; it is not mere storing of ram meat in cellars for the hedonistic purpose of titillating the palate in drawn-out consumption many weeks after the Sallah; neither is it an occasion to flaunt our wealth.
>
> The demonstrative purpose of Prophet Ibrahim's sacrifice story is to underscore the virtue of total submission to the will of Almighty Allah; following His will invariably inspire the spirit of love, charity, caring for others and selflessness. Barka de Sallah in advance!
>
>
>
> NOTE: See also "Easter: How message of love can help Nigeria" also by this author which is available on this UsaaAfricaDialogue series.
>
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