Description:
Studies the epistemologies of two of the most influential intellectual/spiritual traditions of West Africa: Tijani Sufism and Ifa.
Brief description: Oludamini Ogunnaike is Assistant Professor of African Religious Thought and Democracy at the University of Virginia.
Review Quotes:
"A barzakh, or isthmus, is a liminal space 'where two seas meet.' Voyaging these two seas of esoteric knowledge--the Fayda Tijaniyya and Ifa divination--this book promises a sea change in Africana studies, Islamic studies, intellectual history, and academic philosophy. The community of the flood is likely the world's largest Sufi movement, and Ifa a primary vessel for traditional sacred knowledge in West Africa and the Atlantic, yet both remain marginal in the academy. Ogunnaike offers an exploration of their shared praxis and metaphysics, writing from inside them to produce insights of stunning brilliance. This revolutionary book is a scholarly watershed."
--Rudolph T. Ware, author of The Walking Qur'an: Islamic Education, Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa