The objective of the study-day, which is intended for Africanists and researchers in different disciplines, is to deconstruct the religious matrix in Africa and question extremist aberrations, in a bid to understand their underpinnings and attempt to propose solutions to them. The participants might want to address the following questions: what are the characteristics and the forms that the practice of faith in Africa takes? How has Islam adapted itself to the realities of cultural and ethnic diversity in Africa? Is there now a purely “African” Islam? How does Islam fare in societies that are politically secular?

Rationale

Islam now claims upwards of one billion and a half followers across the world. Almost half of these people live in Africa. “Black Islam”–an appellation so common during the colonial era, is marked by an impressive diversity, in the image of the cultural and ethnic pluralism that is the staple feature of the continent. Africa is also a continent on which two major religions, Christianity and Islam, manage somehow to co-exist, side by side with other older creeds and faiths, which, in the absence of dogmas or sacred texts, are transmitted orally from one generation to another.

Driven by its universalist calling, the peaceful advent of Islam in Africa has certainly modified local religious practices and enlisted the conversion of a large portion of the population in a number of countries. However, and contrary to its own fundaments, it has also resulted, albeit indirectly, in the resurgence of violence in some parts of the continent.

Islam which, as a matter of principle, has set for itself the task of federating populations around a system of beliefs and values, has paradoxically become a source of division and turned into a compromising ideology, owing to a biased and overzealous interpretation that some extremists have given to the sacred texts of Islam. This has, in turn, given rise to sectarian-based aberrations which threaten the region and, as a spinoff, the world at large. In the face of the surge of extremism, Morocco may be set as an example in religious policy making –one that consists in promoting the image of a middle-ground religion—a moderate religion that preaches tolerance, moderation, and peace.

The objective of the study-day, which is intended for Africanists and researchers in different disciplines, is to deconstruct the religious matrix in Africa and question extremist aberrations, in a bid to understand their underpinnings and attempt to propose solutions to them.

Topics

The participants might want to address the following questions:

• What are the characteristics and the forms that the practice of faith in Africa takes?
• How has Islam adapted itself to the realities of cultural and ethnic diversity in Africa?
• Is there now a purely “African” Islam?
• How does Islam fare in societies that are politically secular?
• What will become of a theocratic system in an era marked by increasing secularization?
• How does African Islam cope with intercultural and interreligious blending?
• Is the Islamic faith practiced in the same way in Timbuktu, Rabat, and Zanzibar?
• In what ways is African Islam different from the Islam practiced in the Middle East or in Arabia?
• Where do the postcolonial studies devoted to Islam in Africa stand in regard to the above questions?

How to apply

Paper proposals (in the form of a 250-word abstract), along with a short biographic and bibliographic note should be sent to the following address before April 10, 2022:

colloqueislamafricain@gmail.com

The conference will be held on May 10 and 11, 2022

The contributions to the conference will eventually be published as collective work.

Organizing Committee

• Abderrahman Gharioua (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Amal Sfaira (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Bouchra Chakir (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Hssein Khtou (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Nadia Halim (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Jamal El-Qasri (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Samira Nair (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)

Scientific Committee

• Abderrahman Gharioua (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Amal Sfaira (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Bouchra Chakir (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Hssein Khtou (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Nadia Halim (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Jamal El-Qasri (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)
• Samira Nair (Dar El Hadith El Hassania Institution)