SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This paper presents three previously unpublished texts that provide insight into Amadou Hampâté Bâ’s personal understanding of Islam and Sufism. Two of the texts are examples of Hampâté Bâ’s earliest attempts to translate the oral teachings of his spiritual teacher, Tierno Bokar, into French; the third text consists of extracts from interviews with Hampâté Bâ in 1978 during which he reflected on themes that appear in the earlier texts, as well as more broadly on Islamic theology and Sufism. In addition to contributing to our understanding of Hampâté Bâ’s own religious ideas, these texts illustrate something of both the content and the intellectual vitality that can inform the oral transmission of religious knowledge, an aspect of Islamic religious culture that has been less explored by students of Islam and Muslim history in Africa than the region’s rich literary heritage. An introduction contextualizes the texts and analyzes their content.