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Garcia Novo, MartaAuthor

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Writing the History of Islamic Law in West Africa: Sahelian Scholars in Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti's Biographical Works

Publicated to:Welt des Islams. 64 (2-3): 132-167 - 2024-05-01 64(2-3), DOI: 10.1163/15700607-20230025

Authors: Marta G. Novo

Affiliations

Univ Autonoma Madrid, Dept Arab & Islamic Studies, E-28049 Madrid, Spain - Author

Abstract

This article examines the biographies of West African fuqaha' in Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti's (d. 1036/1627) tabaqat works. Out of the more than seven hundred entries about the life and works of Maliki ulama' featured in Nayl al-ibtihaj and Kifayat al-muhtaj, it is peculiar that the fourteen tarajim of scholars of West African origin relate almost exclusively to those from the author's hometown, Timbuktu, in the same self-referencing parochial manner as the Timbuktu Chronicles, and refer to intellectual activities chiefly of members of the powerful Aqit household to which the author belonged. This study contextualizes these biographies within the tenth-/sixteenth-century West African tradition of Islamic learning and Islamic jurisprudence as well as within the general historical and sociopolitical context, situating them within and the ideological beginnings of bidan hegemony.

Keywords

Ahmad baba al-tinbuktiFiqIslam in west africaMalikismWest african history

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Welt des Islams due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Literature and Literary Theory.

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-28:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 15 (PlumX).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is: