Badru, Pade

Dr. Pade Badru is Professor of Pan African Studies and Sociology at the University of Louisville.

2006 0-7734-5535-3
This book on Islam and Islamic cultures focuses on the practice of Islam among indigenous people of West Africa. The author shows the importance of the sub-region in the development of Islam by documenting the long history of the religion in Black Africa. New ground is broken by analyzing the increasing impact of globalization and economic underdevelopment on the Islamic experience in West Africa. The author further contends that the worsening economic crisis and the total destruction of traditional systems of social and economic support by globalization in the developing world have led to a search for alternative spiritual meanings. He concludes that the prevailing image of Islam now portrayed in the West, is one that is not geared toward informing the public about the religion of Islam, but one certain to generate further hatred towards the religion and people of Arabic heritage.