'Where East meets West': the development of Qur'anic education in Darfur

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Periodical article

Title:	'Where East meets West': the development of Qur'anic education in Darfur
Author:	Seesemann, Rüdiger
Year:	1999
Periodical:	Islam et sociétés au Sud du Sahara
Issue:	13
Pages:	41-61
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Sudan
Subjects:	Islamic education education
Abstract:	Education and learning are among the central tenets of the religion of Islam. The author argues that taking a closer look at Koranic schools can offer an insight into the functioning of the social fabric in Muslim societies. In this article he looks at the case of Koranic education in Darfur in the West of Sudan. It seems that at least until the twentieth century, when Darfur was integrated into the political framework of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the Darfur Sultanate and its people were politically and culturally oriented more to the West (Borno, Wadai) than to the East. Specific features allow the 'khalâwî' or schools of Darfur to be identified with what the author calls the 'Western tradition' of Koranic education. He then turns to the figure of one of the promoters of Koranic educational reform, 'Alî Bîtâ'î (born 1930). The account of recent trends in Islamic educational institutions in Darfur shows that there are at present various influences at work that affect the traditional system of Koranic education. The relations with the West tend to be superseded by eastern influences. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]