African Spirituality, Politics, and Knowledge Systems

Toyin Falola is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor of History and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. He has served as the General Secretary of the Historical Society of Nigeria, the President of the African Studies Association, Vice-President of UNESCO Slave Route Project, and the Kluge Chair of the Countries and Cultures of the South, Library of Congress. He is a member of the Scholars’ Council, Kluge Center, and the Library of Congress. He has received over 30 lifetime career awards and 14 honorary doctorates.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsNotes on SourcesIntroduction: Sacred Words and RealmsPART I. Indigenous Systems1. Diviners and Indigenous Knowledge2. Shamanism as a Knowledge System3. Magic and WitchcraftPART II. Islam 4. Sufism as a Knowledge System5. Political and Intellectual Thoughts of Usman Dan Fodio6. Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba and the Muridiyya Sufi OrderPART III. Christianity 7. Missionaries and Knowledge Production8. Pentecostalism: Philosophies and Prractices9. African Spiritual ChurchesConclusionNotesBibliography Index

This book is an excellent resource on how religious practices and beliefs engender knowledge systems in Africa. Toyin Falola makes the crucial point that we cannot adequately comprehend contemporary African politics and socio-economic events if we do not understand the continent’s history of religion and religious production of knowledge. The book’s magisterial sweep and comprehensive coverage of the religions and religion-based knowledge systems in Africa are remarkable. The author delivers his findings, analyses, and historical details in very accessible prose.