The Masjid in Contemporary Islamic Africa

Michelle Moore Apotsos

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781108473347
• eBook ISBN: 9781108682466
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: African History
• Index: History

This volume examines the emergence of alternative spaces and architectural landscapes of Islamic practice in contemporary Africa through the lens of the masjid, whose definition as a "place of prostration" has enabled Muslim populations across the continent to navigate the murky waters of the contemporary condition through a purposeful renovation of spiritual space. Drawing from multiple disciplines and utilizing a series of diverse case studies, Michelle Apotsos reflects on the shifting realities of Islamic communities as they engage in processes of socio-political and cultural transformation. Illustrated through the growth of forward-thinking and in flexible environments that highlight how Muslim communities have developed unique solutions to the problem of performing identity within diverse contexts across the continent, she re-imagines the major themes surrounding definitions of Islamic architectural space in the contemporary period in Africa and the nature of the "modernity" as it has unfolded across diverse contexts on the continent.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Preface: Framing the Masjid in Contemporary Islamic Africa
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: “A Place of Prostration”: The Concept of Masjid in Contemporary Africa
• 1 Spaces Both Radical and Revolutionary: The Intersectional Masjid
• 2 Monument, Memory, and Remembrance: Rethinking the Masjid Through Contemporary Heritage Regimes
• 3 “All the Earth Is a Mosque”: The Masjid as Environmental Advocate
• 4 Masjids on the Move: Mobility and the Growth of “Portable” Islamic Space
• Conclusion: Looking to the Future: The Masjid as a Space on the Edge
• Bibliography
• Index