prof. a tayob
Prof. Abdulkader Tayob
Islamic Studies, Religion and Public Life
Prof. Abdulkader Tayob has published extensively on the history of religious movements and institutions in South Africa. He now works on Islam and public life in Africa, and contemporary intellectual trends in modern Islam.
Current Research Projects
Comparative study of Muslim Publics in public spheres of Africa. My hypothesis is that Muslim Publics traced a particularly unique trajectory in the contemporary history of Islam in Africa. In general, Muslim institutions, movements and actors have inscribed distinctive publics in non-political spheres. Expanding on my work in South Africa, I have completed research trips in Kenya (2003); Ghana (2004); Zanzibar (2005); and Nigeria (2006). Presently working expanding research in East Africa, with a particular focus on religious leadership in post-Cold War period. Writing a review essay on Islam in Africa.
Modern Islamic thought. Using religion as a lens and conceptual framework, this project traces the contours of a major shift in thinking about Islam in the modern world. I am working on a major book with Hurst for publication in 2009.
Islamic Education. A study of Islamic education in South Africa, their implication for democratization and globalization.
Selected Publications
2009 forthcoming. The Shifting Politics of Identity. In Islam and Modernity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
2009. "Divergent Approaches to Religion in Modern Islamic Discourse", Religion Compass 3: 13pp.
2008. "The Past and the Present of African Islam", Religion Compass 2: 1-12.
2008. "Islamic Politics in South Africa Between Identity and Utopia", South African Historical Journal 60(4), no. 4: 583-99.
2008. "Muslim Public Claiming Heritage in Post-Apartheid Cape Town", Journal for Islamic Studies 24-25: 76-102.
2005. The Demand for Shari `ah in African Democratisation Processes: Pitfalls or Opportunities? In Comparative Perspectives on Shari'ah in Nigeria , edited by P. Ostien, J. M. Nasir and F. Kogelmann. Ibadan : Spectrum Books Limited.
2005. Secularisation in Islam. In How to conquer the barriers to intercultural dialogue , edited by C. Timmerman and B. Segaert. Brussels : P.I.E.- Peter Lang.
2004. The Study of Religion and Social Crisis: Arab-Islamic Discourse in Late Twentieth Century. In New Approaches to the Study of Religion , edited Peter Antes, Armin W. Geertz and R. Randi Warne. Vol. 1: Regional, Critical, and Historical Approaches, 101-126. Berlin : Walter de Gruyter, 2004.
2005. “The Struggle over Muslim Personal Law in a Rights-Based Constitution: A South African Case Study.” Recht van de Islam (RIMO) 22 (2005): 1-16.
2004. Reading Religion and the Religious in Modern Islam. Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands. http://www.ru.nl/contents/pages/11712/ruoratietayobbinnenwerk.pdf
2004. Race, ideology, and Islam in contemporary South Africa . In Islam in World cultures: comparative perspectives , edited by R. M. Feener. Santa Barbara , California : ABC CLIO.
2003. Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. 2 volumes. Thompson-Gale, Macmillan , New York . Associate Editor with Richard C. Martin as Chief Editor. Author: Religious Institutions, al-Hajj Salim Suwari, Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
1999. "Defining Islam in the throes of modernity", Studies in Contemporary Islam, vol. 1, no. 2: 1-15.
1999. Islam in South Africa: Mosques, Imams and Sermons. Florida .
1999. Islam - a Short Introduction. Oxford .
1999. Religion and Politics in South Africa: From Apartheid to Democracy- Religion and Society in Transition, vol. 1. Edited with Wolfram Weisse of the University of Hamburg . Waxman.
1998. ‘The Claremont Main Road Mosque', in Peter Clarke (ed.), New Trends and Developments in the World of Islam, London , 134-146.
1996. ‘Islamic revivalism in South Africa : identity between internal re-definition and nation building', in James Cox, Jacob Olupona and Jan Platvoet (eds.), The Study of Religions in Africa: Past, Present and prospects, England : Cambridge , 293-309.
Department of Religious Studies, University of Cape Town
