Unveiling Modernity in Twentieth-Century West African Islamic Reforms

In this book Ousman Kobo analyzes the origins of Wahhabi-inclined reform movements in two West African countries. Commonly associated with recent Middle Eastern influences, reform movements in Ghana and Burkina Faso actually began during the twilight of European colonial rule in the 1950s and developed from local doctrinal contests over Islamic orthodoxy. These early movements in turn gradually evolved in ways sympathetic to Wahhabi ideas. Kobo also illustrates the modernism of this style of Islamic reform. The decisive factor for most of the movements was the alliance of secularly educated Muslim elites with Islamic scholars to promote a self-consciously modern religiosity rooted in the Prophet Muhammad’s traditions. This book therefore provides a fresh understanding of the indigenous origins of “Wahhabism.”

Ousman Murzik Kobo, Ph.D (2005), University of Wisconsin-Madison, is Professor of History at Ohio State University. His research and teaching interests include 20th century West African social and religious history as well as the social history of West African migrants in the United States. His publications include The Development of Wahhabi Reforms in Ghana and Burkina Faso, 1960–1990: Elective Affinities between Western-Educated Muslims and Islamic Scholars (Comparative Studies in Society and History, 2009).

[...] 'this book is extremely relevant because it contributes to our knowledge as regards the extent to which secular ideas promoted by the Western educated were relevant in Muslim leadership structures which aims at promoting efficiency and it usefulness in the political sphere. Furthermore, the book is useful for higher institutions of learning. Other scholars can build on this by exploring the Salafi resurgence from the historical perspective and the transformations that these movements have undergone in modern Ghana'.

Yunus Dumbe, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, in Research Africa Review Vol. 1 No. 1, June 2017
https://sites.duke.edu/researchafrica/ra-reviews/vol-1-no-1/