The Marabout & the Muse

These essays attest to the vitality of African traditions that also belong to the world of Islam. Islamic texts are presented here as essential components of the African cultural and social environment with which they enter into full dialogue.

This collection focuses on particular regions, including the Maghreb, Somalia, and Northern Nigeria; on notable authors, like Assia Djebar and Nuruddin Farah; and on crucial issues, like the involvement of women authors in Islamic literature and the entrance of Islamic orthodoxy into indigenous African texts. Many of the authors demonstrate the tension between the path of purity and that of mixing which continues to inform the development of Islamic literature in Africa.