Robert Launay is Professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University. He is author of Beyond the Stream: Islam and Society in a West African Town, an Amaury Talbot Award winner.
Highly recommended. * Choice * Islamic Education in Africa makes a significant contribution not only to our understandings of Islam in Africa but also to the broader study of how Islam is learned and woven into the fabric of society. By showing in meticulous detail the enduring and unwavering commitments of African Muslims to Islamic education while providing persuasive explanations about how and why knowledge transmission has continued to be the central bone of contention that divides them, it is a landmark in the anthropology of education. * American Ethnologist * As the debate on the decolonization of education in Africa gains increasing importance in academia, Islamic Education in Africa is a thoughtful reflection that challenges Eurocentric knowledge on Islamic educational systems, harnessing a debate on alternative future landscapes for education and schooling in Africa. -- Marta Scaglioni * African Studies Review * This edited volume is a welcome contribution to debates on Islamic schooling in Africa both past and present, and will be of interest to scholars working on 'indigenous' perspectives and 'alternative' types of education more broadly. It is relevant to anyone working on policy, educational decisionmaking and youth experiences of schooling in African countries with Muslim populations. * Compare * Launay's edited volume is an excellent and timely contribution to the literature, likely to become a major reference on Islamic education on the African continent. Everyone with an interest in the topic should read it! * Journal of Religion in Africa * Islamic Education in Africa is a thoughtful reection that challenges Eurocentric knowledge on Islamic educational systems, harnessing a debate on alternative future landscapes for education and schooling in Africa. -- Marta Scaglioni * AFRICAN STUDIES REVIEW * This is a very rich collection of articles that covers diverse perspectives on Islamic Education in Africa, written by some of the top-of-the-range experts in their respective fields. * Muslim World Book Review *