Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE: The Form and Function of West African Sufi Madih
What is Sufi Madih?
The Form and Function of Sufi Madih
The Impossibility of Praise
Madih as Du'a'
Madih as Hilya
Madih as Dhikr/Salawat
Madih as Being
The Perfect Human (al-Insan al-Kamil) and the Praiseworthy Station (al-Maqam al-Mahmud)
PART TWO: The Living History of Intertextuality: Sources of the West African Tradition
Qur'an and Hadith
Sira, Shama'il, and Salawat Literature
Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Arabic poetry
Classics of Praise Poetry
Al-'Ishriniyyat
Non-Arabic Influences
Formal Features of the Tradition
Hyper-intertextuality and intersubjectivity
'Big Arabic'
Conclusion
Appendix: Peaks of the West African Madih Tradition
Bibliography

About the Author

Dr Oludamini Ogunnaike holds a PhD in African Studies and the Study of Religion from Harvard University and is Assistant Professor of African Religious Thought at the University of Virginia.