Salafi Theology and Islamic Orthodoxy in West Africa

The publication of Rudolph Ware’s The Walking Qur’an revives the debate surrounding fundamentally divergent understandings of Islamic identity, the epistemological divide between Salafism and traditionally trained African Muslim scholars. This article extends Ware’s findings into the field of articulated theology, suggesting a virulent contestation for orthodoxy where traditionalists are hardly outflanked by the supposed scripturalism of Salafi doctrine.