DECOLONIZING AFRICAN ISLAMIC HISTORIOGRAPHY: ITS CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Abstract

This paper attempts to highlight on the decolonization of African Historiography on Islamic perspective. It aimed to challenge the dominant Eurocentric western views and promote a more balanced understanding of African Islamic Historiography and culture. The study scrutinizes the historical context of African Islamic historiography and analyzes the European intrusion into Islamic Historiography. It also explores the roles of Muslim historians in developing and maintaining sound historical narratives written by native African scholars. The research adopted a qualitative method, which includes descriptive, historical and analytical approaches. It found out that, the Glorious Qur’an and Sunnah provide divine legitimacy for moral and historical truth in narrative construction. Therefore, Ajami literature mirrors original Islamic Historiographies, often ignored and misrepresented in the Western/colonial academic circles. Moreover, decolonizing African Historiography needs to adopt a multidisciplinary approach, this means to study African History, particularly Islamic History and its culture through the divine sources and literature interpreted by the indigenous works of Muslim scholars in the region. It also explores that Islamic Historiography in Africa preexisted colonialism and must be recognized as an authentic intellectual tradition. The paper concludes that decolonizing African historiography is a ladder towards promoting a more inclusive and equitable representations of African histories and culture. Finally, it recommends the integration of Afrocentric historical narratives into African History curricula and research as long as they met the criteria for Islamic principles, so that national, Ministries of education and universities can integrate African-centered material, oral sources and indigenous knowledge into history curricula.