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Muhammad S. Umar (Ph.D.)

Associate Professor of Islam

Department of Religious StudiesArizona State University

Tempe AZ 85287

ADDRESS

International Institute

Bunche Hall 10266

University of California

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1486

(310) 206-5781

e-mail: emess@imap1.asu.edu

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION1997 Ph.D. (History and Literature of Religion) Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

1991 Graduate Certificate in African Studies, Northwestern University

1990 Master of Art (History and Literature of Religion) Northwestern University1988 Master of Art (Islamic Studies) Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria

1983 Bachelor of Art (Islamic Studies), University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria

ACADEMIC AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, PRIZES etc.

2003 Recipient of Global Studies Fellowship at International Institute of University of California, Los

Angeles

2001 Preceptor for Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa, four-year research project

funded by the Ford Foundation at Program of African Studies, Northwestern University,

Evanston, IL.

2001 Nominated for Outstanding Teacher, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State

University

1998 Faculty Grant in Aid, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

1998 Nominated for Outstanding Teacher, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona StateUniversity

1998 Semi-Finalist, Spencer Foundation and National Academy of Education Post-Doctoral Fellowship

1996 Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin

1995 Northwestern University Scholarship

1994 Teaching Assistantship, Department of Religion, Northwestern University

1992 International Doctoral Research Fellowship for Africa, American Council of Learned Societies

and Social Science Research Council

1991 Teaching Assistantship, Department of Religion, Northwestern University

1990 Teaching Assistantship, Department of Religion, Northwestern University

1989 Northwestern University Fellowship

1983 R.A.O. Akinjide Prize in Religious Studies, University of Jos

1982 Merit Award, Federal Republic of Nigeria Scholarship Program

1981 Merit Award, Federal Republic of Nigeria Scholarship Program1980 Scholarship Award, Plateau State Government, Nigeria

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-reviewed articles in learned journals

1) Islamic Discourses on European Visitors to Sokoto Caliphate in the Nineteenth Century, manuscript

pages 1-38, accepted for publication in Studia Islamica, 95 forthcoming in the Fall of 2003.

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2) Profiles of New Islamic Schools in Northern Nigeria, manuscript pp. 1-37, accepted for publication

in The Maghreb Review, forthcoming, 2003.

3) Islamic Arguments for Western Education: Muazu Hadejias Hausa Poem,Ilmin Zamani,Islam et

Societies au du sud du Sahara, 16 (2002): 85-106

4) Fatwa and Counter-Fatwa in Colonial Northern Nigeria,Journal for Islamic Studies, vol. 21 (2001):

pp. 1-35

5) Education and Islamic Trends in Northern Nigeria: 1970-1990s,Africa Today, 48 # 2 (Summer

2001), pp. 127-150.

6) Muslims Eschatological Discourses on Colonialism in Northern Nigeria, Journal of the

American Academy of Religion, 67 #1 (March 1999), pp. 59-84.

7) ___.and John O. Hunwick, Your Humble Servant: The Memoirs of 'Abd Allah al-Ghadamisi of

Kano, 1903-1908. Part III: Commentary, Sudanic Africa, 11 (2000), pp. 95-105.

8) ___.and John O. Hunwick, Your Humble Servant: The Memoirs of Abd Allah al-Ghadamisi of

Kano, 1903-1908. Part II: Serving Colonial Masters, Sudanic Africa A Journal of Historical

Sources, 9, (1998), pp. 91-134.9) ___. and John O. Hunwick, Your Humble Servant: The Memoirs of Abdallah al-Gadamasi, 1903-

1908. Part I: The British Conquest of Kano Sudanic Africa, 7 (1996), pp. 61-96.

10) The Role of European Imperialism in Muslim Countries,Islam and The Modem Age, XVII (4),

1987, pp. 175-209.

Chapters in edited volumes

11) The Tijaniyya and British Colonial Authorities in Northern Nigeria, In Jean-Louis Triaud and David

Robinson, eds.,La Tijaniyya: Une confrerie musulmane a la conquete de 'Afrique , (Parias: Karthala,

2000), pp. 327-355

12) Sufism and its Opponents in Nigeria: The Doctrinal and Intellectual Aspects, in Frederick deJong and Bernd Redtke, eds., Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Controversy and

Polemics, (Leiden: Brill, 1999), pp. 357-385.

13) Arabic Source Material for the History of the Struggle for Nigerias Independence: A Preliminary

Inquiry, in Yusufu Bala Usman and George A. Kwanashie, eds.Inside Nigerian History, 1950-1970:

Events, Issues and Sources, (Ibadan: University of Ibadan for Nigeria Presidential Panel on Nigeria

Since Independence History Project, 1995), pp. 338-52.

14) ____ and John O. Hunwick, Polemical Literature: For and Against Sufism, in John O. Hunwick,

comp.Arabic Literature of Africa: The Writings of Central Sudanic Africa, (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1995),

pp. 550-59.

15) Changing Islamic Identity in Nigeria from 1960s to the 1980s: From Sufism to Anti-Sufism, in LouisBrenner, ed.Muslim Identity and Social Change in Sub-Saharan Africa, (Bloomington: Indiana

University Press, 1993), pp. 154-178.

16) Islam in Nigeria, in J.A. Atanda, G. Ashiwaju, and Y. Abubakar, eds.Nigeria Since Independence,

The First 25 Years: Religion, (Ibadan: Heinemann, 1989) vol. ix, pp. 71-97.

17) Islam: Western Africa,Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara (New York: Charles Scribners

Sons, 1997), Volume II, pp. 395-99.

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Essays under active review for publication

18) Mass Islamic Education and the Emergence of Female Ulama in Northern Nigeria: Background,

Trends, and Consequences, 27 pp., under consideration for publication in a forthcoming edited

volume in Brills series on Islam in Africa.

Book reviews in peer-rev iewed journals

19) Review ofControlling Knowledge: Religion, Power, and Schooling in a West African Muslim

Society, by Louis Brenner (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2001, a book review

accepted for publication in Comparative Education Review, (2002), manuscript pp. 1-4.

20) Review ofThe Times of Politics (Zamanin Siyasa): Islam and the Politics of Legitimacy in Northern

Nigeria, 1950-1966, by Jonathan T. Reynolds (Lanha m, NY: University Press of America, 1999),

Journal of African History, vol. 43 # 2 (2002), 357-58.

21) Review ofViolence in Nigeria: The Crises of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies by Toyin

Falola,Journal of African History, 41 # 1 (2000), pp 168-69.

22) Review ofIslamic Reform and Political Change in Northern Nigeria by Roman Loimeier,Journalof African History, 40 # 1 (1999), pp. 148-49.

23) Review ofSufis and Anti-Sufis: The Defense, Rethinking and Rejection of Sufism in the Modern

Worldby Elizabeth Sirriyeh,Journal of Islamic Studies, 11 # 1 (2000), pp. 76-78.

24) Review ofIslamic Personal Law and Practice in Nigeria by Suleiman I Nechi and Samaila A.

Mohammed, (Nigerian) Weekly TrustDecember 3-9, (1999), p. 40.

25) Review ofAfrican Islam and Islam in Africa: Encounters between Sufis and Islamists edited by David

Westerlund and Eva Evers. Athens: Ohio University Press, in cooperation with the Nordic African

Institute, Uppsala, 1997, The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 33 # 1 (1998): pp.

15-17.

26) Review ofThe Diary of Hamman Yaji: chronicle of a West African Muslim Ruler, edited by James

Vaughan and Anthony Kirk-Greene, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1995,Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 67/4 (1997), pp. 661-662.

Short essays

27) Is Maitatsine Here to Stay, Clarion, the Official Organ of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian

Universities, 1:3 (1985), p. 5.

28) Comment,Newsletter, Program of African Studies, Northwestern University, Fall, 1996, p. 2.

Successfully completed research projects

29) Muslims Intellectual Responses to British Colonialism in Northern Nigeria, 1903-1945, Ph.D. diss.

Northwestern University, 1997, 495 pp.

30) Historical Roots of Contemporary Islamic Revivalism, M.A. thesis, Northwestern University, 1990,

54 pp.

31) Sufism and Anti- Sufism in Nigeria, M.A. thesis, Bayero University, 1988, 270 pp.

32) Islamic Revivalism Today: The Case ofJamat Izlat al-Bida wa Iqmat al-Sunna , B.A. thesis,

University of Jos, 1983, 108 pp.

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Current research projects in progress

33) Revising dissertation and incorporating additional primary materials in the form of colonial records

that I collected from Nigerian National Archive in course of field work for my research on education

during fall 1999, and Spring/Summer 2000. Revised manuscript is under consideration for publication

in Brill Series on Islam in Africa.

34) Sarauta (Hausa Chieftaincy), Islam, and Democracy: Reciprocal Influences among Three Political

Traditions, 70 pp. Draft of a work in progress, commissioned by African Center for Democratic

Governance, Abuja, Nigeria, to appear in projected volume(s) on The Impact of Traditional Political

Institutions and Values on Democracy in Nigeria. I presented parts of this work at Woodrow Wilson

Center , Expected date of completion is summer 2004.

35) Expanding the Vocabulary of Liberal Islam, research proposal selected through international

competition for funding at UCLA International Institute Global Fellows Program for academic year

2003/2004. In this research project I address some of the imperative questions arising in the aftermath

of September 11, 2001. While Muslim leaders, individuals and organizations were quick to denounce

the perpetrators of the tragedy of September 11, observers are puzzled by the inability or unwillingness

(or both) of moderate Muslims to speak out loudly and clearly against the militant voices of Muslimextremists, who could not possibly be speaking on behalf of all Muslims. What role does traditional

Islamic religious learning play in advocating violent extremism or fostering tolerance and peaceful

coexistence? What intellectual reasons contribute to the intriguing silence of Muslims on thediscursive front of the war against the militant voices of extremists? I expect this project to answerthese and related question in a projected volume tentatively titledExpanding the Vocabulary of Liberal

Islam.

Professional Presentations and Conference Papers

Islam and Political Transition in West Africa: A Nigerian Case-Study, invited paper presented to

conference on Deprivation, Violence, and Identities: Mapping Conemporary World Conflicts,

convened by Ohio State University Centers for Regional and Area Studies, Columbus, OH, October 3-4, 2003

Islam and Political Violence in Nigeria, a presentation invited by the Swayer Seminar on

Contending with Conflict: A Comparative and Historical Approach to Three African Cases,

organized with support from the Andrew D. Mellon Foundation and the Graduate School of EmoryUniversity, the Institute of African Studies, in association with other area studies programs at Emory,

September 25, 2002.

Islam and Democratic Transition in Nigeria: Paradox and Predicament, invited presentation at

Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C. April 12, 2002

Islamic Currents of Globalization in the Educational Arena: The Evidence From Northern Nigeria,invited presentation, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA.,

March 27, 2002

Islam and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Era of Globalization, Departmental Colloquium, Department of

Religion, Northwestern University Evanston, IL, October 18, 2001

Mass Islamic Education and Emergence of Female Ulama in Northern Nigeria: Background, Trends

and Consequences, Invited Paper Presented at Workshop on Islamic Libraries and Literary/Scholarly

Traditions, Organized by Institute of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA), Program of African Studies,

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, May 25-26, 2001, pp.23

Profiles of New Islamic Schools in Nigeria, Invited paper presented at the Workshop on

Innovations and Their Contextualization in African Islamic Societies, African Center, University of

Bayreuth, Federal Republic of German, 9-10 February 2001, pp21.

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An Islamic Argument for Western Education, Paper presented at the Workshop on Islamic Thought

in Africa, Program of African Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, May 12-14, 2000.

Transformation of Islamic Learning in Northern Nigeria, 1970s-1990s: Defining a Research Agenda,

paper presented at the 18th

annual national conference of the Nigerian Association of Teachers of

Arabic and Islamic Studies, Kano, 28 July-1 August, 1999, 8.pp.

Western secular education and Islamic fundamentalism: A Case-Study from Northern Nigeria, 1970s-

1990s presentation at the conference on Islam and Politics organized by University of Wisconsin

Joint Center for International Studies at Milwaukee and Madison, April 8-12 1999.

Western Education vs. Islamic Education: A Northern Nigerian Debate in Hausa Poems, paper

presented at the Midwest Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Concordia

Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, March 20-21, 1999, pp. 22 pp.

British Colonial Policies toward Islam in Northern Nigeria, paper presented at the African Studies

Association 41th. Annual Meeting, Chicago, October 29-November 1, 1998, 16 pp.

Civil Society and Contemporary Islamic Trends in Nigeria, invited paper presented at the conference on

Globalization, Political Islam, and Urban Social Movements, UC Berkeley, March 6-8, 1998, 14 pp.

Muslims Eschatological Discourses on Colonialism in Northern Nigeria, paper presented at conference

on The Apocalyptic Other: Millennial Views of Unbelievers among Jews, Christians, and Muslims

organized by the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University, November 2-4, 1997, 20 pp.

British Colonial Policies towards Christian Missionaries in the Muslim Areas of Northern Nigeria, paper

accepted and presented at the Upper Midwest Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion,

Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, April, 12-13, 1996, 30 pp.

The Tijaniyya and British Colonial Authorities in Northern Nigeria, invited paper presented at

International Workshop on Tijaniyya Traditions and Societies in West Africa in the Nineteenth and

Twentieth Centuries, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, April 1-5, 1996, 22 pp.

Sufism and its Opponents in Nigeria: The Doctrinal and Intellectual Aspects, invited paper presented atsymposium on Sufism and its Opponents, Department of Oriental Languages and Culture, Utrecht

University, the Netherlands, May 1-6, 1995, 32 pp.

Disputations on the Islamic Legality of Reciting the Quran over the Radio in Northern Nigeria, invited

paper for a workshop on Cases and Contexts in Islamic Law organized by Center for Middle Eastern and

North African Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1994, 21 pp.

Muslims Intellectual Responses to British Colonialism in Northern Nigeria, paper presented at the

International Conference on the Sokoto Caliphate and the Europeans, 1880-1906 organized jointly by York

University, Canada, and Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, Nigeria, 1993, 19 pp.

Invited Quest at the Workshop on the Place of Islamic Law in Islamic Societies: Historical Perspectives

organized by the Center for Comparative Study of Islamic Societies and Civilizations, WashingtonUniversity, St. Louis, 1992.

Sayyid Qutb wa Manhajuhu f al-Tafsr, paper presented at the Graduate Seminar Series, Department of

Islamic Studies, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria, 1986, 20 pp.

WORK EXPERIENCE

2003 Tenured Associate Professor of Islam, Department of Religious Studies, Arizona State University,

Tempe, AZ

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1997-2002 Assistant Professor of Islam, Dept. of Religious Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

1996 Lecturer, Departments of Religious Studies and History, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI

1995 Instructor (World Religions) Northwestern University Summer Session, Evanston, IL

1994 Teaching Assistant, Department of Religion, Northwestern University

1994 Research Assistant, Computer Catalog for Arabic Manuscripts, Furqan Islamic Foundation,

London

1994 Visiting lecturer, Department of Religion, Northwestern University

1994 Ins tructor (World Religions) Northwestern University Summer Session

1993 Consultant on Arabic Manuscripts, Arewa House, Center for Historical Research and

Documentation, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

1992 Research Assistant, Computer Catalog for Arabic Manuscripts from Northern Nigeria, M.J.

Herskovits Library of African Studies, Northwestern University,

1992 Teaching Assistant, Department of Religion, Northwestern University

1991 Tutor for Summer Intensive Arabic, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago,

and Program of Asian and African Languages, Northwestern University

1991 Teaching Assistant, Department of Religion, Northwestern University

1990 Teaching Assistant (Summer Intensive Arabic) Program of Asian and African Languages,

Northwestern University

1989 Assistant Lecturer (Islamic Studies) Department of Religious Studies, University of Jos, Jos

Nigeria

1984 Graduate Assistant (Islamic Studies), Department of Religious Studies, University of Jos, Jos,

MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION

1997 African Studies Association

1997 American Academy of Religion

AREAS OF TEACHING COMPETENCE

Islam

Islamic History

Islamic Revivalism in the Modern World/Islam and Modernity

Islamic Law (Principles and Rules of Islamic Jurisprudence)

Sufism

Islamic Scriptures (Quran and its Exegesis, Hadith and Ilm al-Hadith)Islam in West Africa

Islam and Colonialism

Phenomenology of Religion

Theories and Methodologies of Academic Study of Religion

Phenomenology of Islamic Religious Traditions

Comparative History of Religion

Survey of World Religions

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Western Religious Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

Islam and African Religions

Arabic Language and Literature

Arabic Language for Beginners

Classical Arabic LiteratureHistory of Arabic Literature

Islam in African Literatures (Hausa Poetry and Prose)

Languages

Hausa (Native Speaker)

Arabic (near native proficiency)