In 1879, Sayyid Barghash of Zanzibar sent an expedition to explore a route from Mozambique to Lake Nyasa, led in part by Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAziz al-Amawi. Al-Amawi, a prominent Sufi scholar and judge, chronicled the journey, providing a rare, non-European perspective on the region and Zanzibar’s mainland ambitions. His manuscripts, recently discovered in Oman, offer valuable insights into Zanzibar's influence on the African mainland before European annexation.

Join us for this talk

with  

Valerie Hoffman

Research Professor Emerita of Religion at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Hoffman specializes in Islamic thought and practice. She has authored key works on Sufism, Ibāḍī Islam, and Islamic gender ideology, and has held prestigious fellowships, including Fulbright and Carnegie awards. Hoffman also served as Director of the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and head of the Department of Religion at the University of Illinois.

Wednesday, October 23, Coble Hall #306 

12:00 - 1:00 pm