Islam between Françafrique and Afrabia
By Wendell Hassan Marsh Upon his invasion of Egypt in 1798, Napoleon had a message for those Muslims suffering under Ottoman dominion. He would liberate Egypt and Islam and make them liberal, modern. Using rhetorical formulae and forms of argumentation put together by his army of Orientalists, Napoleon superficially provided the material that his critics at […]
Nasser and the African Revolution
Politically and socially Egypt is said to occupy three spaces as mentioned in President Gamal Abdul Nasser’s booklet Philosophy of the Revolution- Arab, Islamic and African( in that order). However this does not reflect the real priority Nasser gave to relations with other Independent African States and Liberation Movements during the fight against colonialism. The […]
1966
By Michael Vasquez After World War II, the idea was that there was going to be a cultural cold war and that it was going to be fought between the non-communist left and the – there was no right; the right was discredited by fascism – so the war was actually between the lefts… So, […]
Qibla
Qibla leader Imam Achmad Cassiem in conversation with Khalid Shamis. “When the founder of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Robert Sobukwe, came to Cape Town, specifically to Kensington and Ndabeni, he said at the launch of the branches in those areas, that Muslims are sitting on the blueprint but they’re not implementing it. Now, this is the first […]
The Pharaoh’s New Clothes
By Sophia Azeb Scene I. Arabité and its discontents The first issue of Cairo-based magazine Lotus: Afro-Asian Writings featured an extended excerpt from Léopold Sédar Senghor’s 1967 lecture at the University of Cairo, “Négritude and Arabism” (Arabité in subsequent publications). In it, Senghor asserts that Arabic-speaking Africans – the “Arab-Berber” – played an essential role […]