Isaac Samuel
@rhaplord.bsky.social
Finance | History | Trance
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Substack https://www.africanhistoryextra.com/
Patreon http://patreon.com/isaacsamuel64
Substack https://www.africanhistoryextra.com/
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A 17th-century West African scholar: the philosophical theology of Muḥammad al-Wālī (fl. 1688)
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
Reposted by Isaac Samuel
Thanks for this! My copy of "Why Nations Fail" is scrawled over with indignant marginal comments. Astonishing ignorance of African history; shamelessly cherry-picks *European* history. Few books ever deserved such an inflated reputation less: unfortunately, it's easy to see why that came about.
December 9, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Thanks for this! My copy of "Why Nations Fail" is scrawled over with indignant marginal comments. Astonishing ignorance of African history; shamelessly cherry-picks *European* history. Few books ever deserved such an inflated reputation less: unfortunately, it's easy to see why that came about.
I read this paper so you don't have to
Here are some reasons why all of its claims are total bullshit
1) Tsetse fly free regions like the Sahel have some of the lowest levels of agricultural production and population density on the continent
Here are some reasons why all of its claims are total bullshit
1) Tsetse fly free regions like the Sahel have some of the lowest levels of agricultural production and population density on the continent
December 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I read this paper so you don't have to
Here are some reasons why all of its claims are total bullshit
1) Tsetse fly free regions like the Sahel have some of the lowest levels of agricultural production and population density on the continent
Here are some reasons why all of its claims are total bullshit
1) Tsetse fly free regions like the Sahel have some of the lowest levels of agricultural production and population density on the continent
Reposted by Isaac Samuel
The developments described by Khaled El-Rouayheb (tahqiq vs. taqlid), extended as far as modern Ghana.
“Knowledge (ʿilm) is essential to the doctrine of faith. It relates to the truth, by means of proof (dalīl).
The imitator is he who accepts the words of the ʿulamāʾ (scholars) without proof and then falls back to blind acceptance.”
al-Wālī, Chad, 1688.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
The imitator is he who accepts the words of the ʿulamāʾ (scholars) without proof and then falls back to blind acceptance.”
al-Wālī, Chad, 1688.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Texts from the Periphery: Manuscript cultures in West Africa's frontier regions.
At the turn of the 20th century, one of the most remarkable contributions to African ethnography was produced by Umaru al-Kanawi, a Hausa scholar born in Kano (Nigeria), who, after a brief stay in Sal...
www.africanhistoryextra.com
December 7, 2025 at 7:12 PM
The developments described by Khaled El-Rouayheb (tahqiq vs. taqlid), extended as far as modern Ghana.
al-Wālī's works circulated widely and have been discovered in manuscript collections across Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, and Algeria.
17th-century manuscript by al-Wālī found at the University of al-Azhar, Egypt,
Currently at Leiden University, Netherlands.
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
17th-century manuscript by al-Wālī found at the University of al-Azhar, Egypt,
Currently at Leiden University, Netherlands.
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
December 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
al-Wālī's works circulated widely and have been discovered in manuscript collections across Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, and Algeria.
17th-century manuscript by al-Wālī found at the University of al-Azhar, Egypt,
Currently at Leiden University, Netherlands.
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
17th-century manuscript by al-Wālī found at the University of al-Azhar, Egypt,
Currently at Leiden University, Netherlands.
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
The Fulbé constituted another significant scholarly diaspora in the region, especially the Toroɓɓe clerisy, which included some of the most prominent scholars in the kingdoms of Bornu and Bagirmi (modern Chad).
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
December 7, 2025 at 6:49 PM
The Fulbé constituted another significant scholarly diaspora in the region, especially the Toroɓɓe clerisy, which included some of the most prominent scholars in the kingdoms of Bornu and Bagirmi (modern Chad).
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
Return of the Sultan of Bagirmi from the Expedition, 4th July 1852.
Massenya, Chad.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Massenya, Chad.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
December 7, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Return of the Sultan of Bagirmi from the Expedition, 4th July 1852.
Massenya, Chad.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Massenya, Chad.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Bonduku, Côte D’ivoire. ca. 1889.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
December 7, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Bonduku, Côte D’ivoire. ca. 1889.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
A Hausa-style mosque at Salaga, Ghana. ca. 1886.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
December 7, 2025 at 6:27 PM
A Hausa-style mosque at Salaga, Ghana. ca. 1886.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
19th-century copy of the prayerbook ‘Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt’, written in northern Ghana.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
December 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
19th-century copy of the prayerbook ‘Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt’, written in northern Ghana.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Long-distance networks of pre-colonial West Africa
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
December 7, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Long-distance networks of pre-colonial West Africa
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
The West African scholar al-Wālī (fl. 1688) was a rationalist whose writings combined classical/Greek philosophy and local oral traditions to challenge the ‘blind acceptance’ of religious authority
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Texts from the Periphery: Manuscript cultures in West Africa's frontier regions.
At the turn of the 20th century, one of the most remarkable contributions to African ethnography was produced by Umaru al-Kanawi, a Hausa scholar born in Kano (Nigeria), who, after a brief stay in Sal...
www.africanhistoryextra.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM
The West African scholar al-Wālī (fl. 1688) was a rationalist whose writings combined classical/Greek philosophy and local oral traditions to challenge the ‘blind acceptance’ of religious authority
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
West Africa’s “internal diasporas” transcended political boundaries:
Commerce, religion, and scholarship became a means for many to overcome ethnic and social boundaries
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Commerce, religion, and scholarship became a means for many to overcome ethnic and social boundaries
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Texts from the Periphery: Manuscript cultures in West Africa's frontier regions.
At the turn of the 20th century, one of the most remarkable contributions to African ethnography was produced by Umaru al-Kanawi, a Hausa scholar born in Kano (Nigeria), who, after a brief stay in Sal...
www.africanhistoryextra.com
December 7, 2025 at 5:28 PM
West Africa’s “internal diasporas” transcended political boundaries:
Commerce, religion, and scholarship became a means for many to overcome ethnic and social boundaries
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Commerce, religion, and scholarship became a means for many to overcome ethnic and social boundaries
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
“The rulers acted so tyrannically in public that they made their village like a cadaver on which they sat like vultures.”
Umaru al-Kanawi, Salaga, 1892.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Umaru al-Kanawi, Salaga, 1892.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Texts from the Periphery: Manuscript cultures in West Africa's frontier regions.
At the turn of the 20th century, one of the most remarkable contributions to African ethnography was produced by Umaru al-Kanawi, a Hausa scholar born in Kano (Nigeria), who, after a brief stay in Sal...
www.africanhistoryextra.com
December 7, 2025 at 5:22 PM
“The rulers acted so tyrannically in public that they made their village like a cadaver on which they sat like vultures.”
Umaru al-Kanawi, Salaga, 1892.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Umaru al-Kanawi, Salaga, 1892.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Texts from the Periphery: Manuscript cultures in West Africa's frontier regions.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
Texts from the Periphery: Manuscript cultures in West Africa's frontier regions.
At the turn of the 20th century, one of the most remarkable contributions to African ethnography was produced by Umaru al-Kanawi, a Hausa scholar born in Kano (Nigeria), who, after a brief stay in Sal...
www.africanhistoryextra.com
December 7, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Texts from the Periphery: Manuscript cultures in West Africa's frontier regions.
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/texts-from...
A 17th-century West African scholar: the philosophical theology of Muḥammad al-Wālī (fl. 1688)
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
December 7, 2025 at 4:25 PM
A 17th-century West African scholar: the philosophical theology of Muḥammad al-Wālī (fl. 1688)
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
www.patreon.com/posts/17th-c...
Tomorrow's article is about West Africa's internal diasporas and the writings of a 17th-century scholar
December 6, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Tomorrow's article is about West Africa's internal diasporas and the writings of a 17th-century scholar
Reposted by Isaac Samuel
Beautiful!
Copy of Al-Jazuli's "Dala'il al-khayrat" (waymarks of benefits)
ca. 1899 CE,
Somalia.
-collection of Constant Hamès
#randomxt
ca. 1899 CE,
Somalia.
-collection of Constant Hamès
#randomxt
December 5, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Beautiful!
Shrine-shaped pectoral depicting Osiris seated between Isis and Horus
743–712 B.C. Reign of Piankhy (Piye)
Pyramid Ku 51 (tomb of a queen of Pianky), el-Kurru, Sudan.
-Boston Museum of Fine Arts
#randomxt
743–712 B.C. Reign of Piankhy (Piye)
Pyramid Ku 51 (tomb of a queen of Pianky), el-Kurru, Sudan.
-Boston Museum of Fine Arts
#randomxt
December 5, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Shrine-shaped pectoral depicting Osiris seated between Isis and Horus
743–712 B.C. Reign of Piankhy (Piye)
Pyramid Ku 51 (tomb of a queen of Pianky), el-Kurru, Sudan.
-Boston Museum of Fine Arts
#randomxt
743–712 B.C. Reign of Piankhy (Piye)
Pyramid Ku 51 (tomb of a queen of Pianky), el-Kurru, Sudan.
-Boston Museum of Fine Arts
#randomxt
December 4, 2025 at 3:21 PM
a healthy dose of self-awareness
December 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
a healthy dose of self-awareness
The medieval cities and towns of Eritrea (ca. 1000-1900 CE)
www.patreon.com/posts/143143...
www.patreon.com/posts/143143...
December 3, 2025 at 12:43 PM
The medieval cities and towns of Eritrea (ca. 1000-1900 CE)
www.patreon.com/posts/143143...
www.patreon.com/posts/143143...
Medieval cities in the northern Horn of Africa (1200-1600 CE)
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/medieval-c...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/medieval-c...
December 3, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Medieval cities in the northern Horn of Africa (1200-1600 CE)
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/medieval-c...
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/medieval-c...
Reposted by Isaac Samuel
Standing at this so-called door in mid-November 2019 where tour groups would regularly congregate for the lectures by their guides — except on Mondays when numerous places on Gorée are closed — it was the ideal day to contemplate how it would have been impossible for so many to pass through there.
December 1, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Standing at this so-called door in mid-November 2019 where tour groups would regularly congregate for the lectures by their guides — except on Mondays when numerous places on Gorée are closed — it was the ideal day to contemplate how it would have been impossible for so many to pass through there.