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West Africa

A Mauritanian Retreat: In Search of Murabit al-Hajj

A journey through the Mauritanian wilderness to visit Murabit al-Hajj Night was upon us- that uncompromising, pitch-black type that enshrouds...

Medina Baye: A Wayfarer’s Journey Home

One of the peculiar sensations seasoned wayfarers fail to mention, as you pack your bags in preparation for your journey...

Sacred Footsteps

Podcast | Islam in West Africa

In episode three, Zara talks to Mustafa Briggs about the history of Islam in West Africa. They discuss the roots of Islam in the region, the intellectual achievements of Timbuktu and other centres of learning, sufism and the empowerment of women through scholarship that can be seen throughout West African history. Mustafa also tells us about his upcoming lecture series 'Beyond Bilal'.

The Female Scholars and Saints of Senegal

When talking about the history and legacy of Islam in West Africa, many people are now discovering the vast scholarly...

Photography as a Tool of Power and Subjugation: How the Camera was Used to Justify Black Racial Inferiority

“When we speak of ‘shooting’ with a camera, we are acknowledging the kinship of photography and violence.” Teju Cole This visual essay...

Sacred Footsteps

Podcast | Models of Liberation in West Africa

Mustafa Briggs speaks to Professor Rudolph Ware, author of the 'Walking Quran', about models of liberation in West Africa. They talk about the West African approach towards power and religion, and consider the diverse response of the ulama to the challenges presented by the transatlantic slave trade and European colonialism. They also discuss how racist colonial policies had the unintended effect of preserving sufism and traditional Islam in the region.

Between the Rock and the Baobab Tree: Spiritual Seclusion in The Gambia

Mustafa Briggs on spiritual seclusion in The Gambia The small coastal town of Gunjur lies just an hour away from...

How African Muslim Manuscripts Contradict What We Were Taught About ‘Slaves’

Nsenga Knight on the African Muslim manuscripts and writings that contradict the dominant narrative on ‘slaves’ and Africa, and how...

The Prophetic Poetry of Medina Baye

It’s a warm evening in the small Senegalese village of Medina Baye. Night prayers have just been completed, and the...

Islam in Yorubaland

Faith and Struggle: Islam in Yorubaland

The story of Islam in any region – from Persia to Punjab, Sumatra to the Sahel – is unique, each...

Farah El-Sharif

Models of Liberation | The Politics of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse

Neither Napoleon nor Lenin and Marx are divinely inspired So do not be fooled by their theories But a book...

Mountain of Mauritania: Visiting Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Ould al-Khadim

It was a blistering hot day right in the middle of the Mauritanian Sahara desert, and my friends and I...

sacredfootsteps

Online Seminar: Plato and the Early Islamic Tradit

Online Seminar: Plato and the Early Islamic Tradition with @joshuabeneventi

This seminar will provide an overview of the transmission of Platonic thought to the Islamic world. There will be a focus on key Islamic philosophers, including al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd and Suhrawardi, and their adaption and expansion of Platonic ideas within an Islamic context.

The seminar is part of our series on the intellectual tradition of Islam.

⭐️ £39 | 3 hour online seminar | BOOK YOUR PLACE: sacredfootsteps.com or via the link in our bio ✨

On the hills in and around Cape Town you will find

On the hills in and around Cape Town you will find dozens of Muslim graves, the oldest of which are 17th century. Some have small domed structures built over them, known locally as kramats, and belong to notable and influential men whose deeds are well-known. But there are many other men, the details of whose lives are only now, slowly, coming to light thanks to the meticulous work of the Cape’s Muslim historians – the descendants of these very men.

📖 READ the full article by @zara_choudhary via the link in our bio✨ A shoutout to @petersen_daiyaan for his invaluable input to this article

Online seminar: The Worldview of Islam with Syed M

Online seminar: The Worldview of Islam with Syed Muḥiyuddīn Al-ʿAṭṭās | Sunday 12th January

This online seminar will present an outline of the fundamental elements and salient features of the worldview of Islam.

Being derived from the statements of Revelation regarding reality and truth, elements of this worldview possess the characteristics of finality and stability, presenting the concept of God, Man, knowledge, life, the world and happiness as interpreted in the Islamic intellectual tradition by theologians, philosophers and metaphysicians.

Challenges to the interpretation of this worldview will also be discussed, both historically and in the contemporary age in the form of secularisation as a philosophical programme. The main guiding text for this seminar will be Professor Syed Naquib Al Attas’ introduction in his Prolegomena to the metaphysics of Islam.

The seminar is part of our series on the intellectual tradition of Islam.

⭐️ £39 | 3 hour online seminar | BOOK YOUR PLACE: sacredfootsteps.com or via the link in our bio ✨

WEDNESDAY 18th DECEMBER✨ Join us for a monthly

WEDNESDAY 18th DECEMBER✨

Join us for a monthly gathering via Zoom, reciting the Ratib of Imam al-Haddad, with reciters live from Tareem and various locations around the world.

The recitation will be accompanied by commentary in English by Malaysian scholar Sayyid Muhiyuddin al-Attas, based on the book by Habib Alawi b. Ahmad b. Hassan b. Imam Abdullah al-Haddad.

⭐️ To participate, use the QR code on the post to join the Whatsapp group, or click on the link in our bio✨

In collaboration with @peacemeal_, @nur.saaadah, Ahlaha, @amanah_hak, Majelis Rasulullah Amsterdam and al-Fath.

Excited to announce our new series of introductory

Excited to announce our new series of introductory seminars covering various foundational topics and key figures within the rich intellectual tradition of Islam.

These classes are intended for students in higher education, as well as teachers, writers, and those interested in understanding depths of the Islamic worldview✨

12 Jan ‘25 | The Worldview of Islam | Syed Mohyideen al-Attas

19th Jan ‘25 | Plato and the Early Islamic Intellectual Tradition | @joshuabeneventi

26th Jan ‘25 | Islamic Historiography: the Development of the Methodology of History | @abuayyubchronicles

15th Feb ‘25 | An Introduction to Ibn ‘Arabi | Dr @ali_z_hussain

22nd + 23rd Feb ‘25 | The Intellectual Thought of Allama Iqbal | @saadyacoob

⭐️ £39 per seminar. Click on the LINK IN OUR BIO to sign up✨ | NOTE: We’ve made the decision to reduce the fee to £39. We aim to keep costs affordable and the seminars as inclusive as possible. Scholarships and financial assistance are available for those who require support. Email us at courses@sacredfootsteps.com to find out more.

“Our Ratib is like an iron wall for every city i

“Our Ratib is like an iron wall for every city in which it is recited.” — Imam al-Haddad

Join us for a monthly gathering via Zoom, reciting the Ratib of Imam al-Haddad, with reciters live from Tareem and various locations around the world. The recitation will be accompanied by commentary in English by Malaysian scholar Sayyid Muhiyuddin al-Attas, based on the book by Habib Alawi b. Ahmad b. Hassan b. Imam Abdullah al-Haddad.

In collaboration with @peacemeal_, @nur.saaadah, Ahlaha, HAK, Majelis Rasulullah Amsterdam and al-Fath.

📖 READ: Allamah Muhammad Iqbal: The Theorist of

📖 READ: Allamah Muhammad Iqbal: The Theorist of Muslim Modernity by @saadyacoob via the LINK IN OUR BIO✨

One of the most important thinkers of the last century, ʿAllāmah Muhammad Iqbāl was born in Sialkot in 1877. A third generation Muslim, his thought offers us a basis for building a civilisational movement rooted in the love of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.

The core question that fueled Iqbāl’s thought was the issue of colonial domination. Iqbāl was born in the British Rāj, a territory that was larger and more populous than its ruling empire.
If the Indian population was to rise up and resist British domination together, British rule would become entirely unsustainable. The question for Iqbāl, then, was the nature of British methods of control and the framework for resisting them.

Intellectually, the British had convinced the Muslims of their civilizational inferiority, and spiritually, the vibrant traditions of taṣawwuf in India, which had once guided emperors and commoners alike, had begun to spiritualise their despair – an attitude that he viciously attacked in his poetry.

Well read in the literary, theological, and philosophical traditions of English, German, Urdu, and Farsi, Iqbāl’s inquiry led him to the realisation that the British exerted control over India as a whole, but especially over Indian Muslims. What one finds in close examination of his thought is an urgent desire to reconcile the tension between what he believes to be Quranic priorities and modern realities – not at a granular level but rather at a core, conceptual level.

By the time of his passing, Iqbāl was considered the most prominent Muslim intellectual in India, and his thought influenced important Muslim intellectuals around the world. His work calls us to take up the divinely ordained role of Islam and Muslims in the world, to cast off despair and don the cloak of hope in Allah’s majestic mercy.

Words: @saadyacoob Video: @mhmal1k