Al-Chadili has been a Professor of African History, Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences, University of Hassan II Casablanca, Morocco, since 1986. She is a graduate of Sorbonne University, and holds a PhD in Contemporary African History, University of Hassan II, Ain Chok, Casablanca, Morocco (2000). She headed the History Department for ten years and was in charge of developing the Masters in History program. She was also Chairperson of the Research and Cooperation Committee and Deputy Dean. Currently, she is head of the research lab “History, Heritage and Memory”, and head and founder of the Morocco and Africa Research Group since 1997. Al-Chadili is in charge of developing the PhD in History program at the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences, University of Hassan II, Ain Chok, Casablanca, Morocco.
Al-Chadili published several books, articles and papers in national and international periodicals, including: Islam and the State in Sub-Saharan Africa, a study and editing of a manuscript titled ‘Easy Guide to the History of Land of the Tukulor’, by Mohammad Blo; Moroccan African Relations, and Africa in International Politics: introduced and edited by Bahija al-Chadili, Morocco and Africa Research Group in cooperation with the Institute of African Studies and Research, Cairo University, University of Hassan II Casablanca Publications, 2014. She participated in several national and international symposia and conferences, and prepared and organized several international conferences and academic meetings.
Paper Abstract: Creation and Spread of Arabic-Script Manuscripts Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa
Arabic-script manuscripts in Sub-Saharan Africa represent a huge wealth of material for studying African civilizations and culture. They are countless, spreading over a vast area. Recent catalogues of manuscripts in Sub-Saharan Africa will remain incomplete as long as many manuscripts are kept in private libraries.
This paper seeks to highlight the circumstances and factors that contributed to the creation and spread of the manuscripts culture and its historical traditions, both in Arabic and local “foreign” languages in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on key social changes that gave rise to this big volume of writings, the need to use Arabic script to write in local languages, and the communication channels that contributed to the spread of this trend.
We will look at the main historical periods that saw the rise of these writings, with focus on the nineteenth century given its big production, and examine the Hausa-speaking countries as an example, due to the spread of a variety of Arabic-script local manuscripts in them.
This paper analyses the following:
- The key circumstances and factors that contributed to the creation of the manuscripts culture in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- The spread of historical traditions of Arabic and foreign manuscripts;
- Intellectual, social and political channels that contributed to their spread.
- Types of texts and their historical significance.
