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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The 'Ishriniyat' of Al-Fazazi: An aspect of the precedence of the Kanem-Borno empire in Arabic and Islamic scholarship |
Author: | Raji, R.A. |
Year: | 1989 |
Periodical: | Annals of Borno |
Volume: | 6-7 |
Pages: | 1-10 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Nigeria Northern Nigeria |
Subjects: | Islamization religious literature Bornu polity Kanem polity history traditional polities |
Abstract: | This paper discusses the significance of the Kanem-Borno empire as the earliest centre for the diffusion of Arabic and Islamic learning in the central Sudan. This is attested by its foreknowledge of an Islamic text with the widest circulation after the Koran in the Sudanic region, the ''Ishr¯in¯iy¯at' of Ab¯u al-F¯az¯az¯i (d. AD 1230). The ''Ishr¯in¯iy¯at' is a collection of 29 odes in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. It was composed in the year 604/1207-1208. The ''Ishr¯in¯iy¯at' ultimately penetrated into Nigeria where it tremendously influenced not only the religious practices of the Muslim population, but also their cultural, literary and social life. The author discusses the penetration of Islam into the Kanem-Borno empire, the historical background to the ''Ishr¯in¯iy¯at', the author's motive for writing it, the significance of the work, and several Hausa legends dealing with the penetration of the ''Ishr¯in¯iy¯at' into the Kanem-Borno empire. Ref. |