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Mbaye Lo

Mbaye Lo

Professor of the Practice of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
mbaye.lo@duke.edu
Box 90414, Durham, NC 27708-0414
2204 Erwin Road Room 231, Box 90414, Durham, NC 27708
Office hours Monday & Wednesday 2-5 pm  

Selected Publications

Remembering Suḥaym: The Tragic Fate of Arabia's First African-Born Poet

Journal Article Research Africa Reviews · April 30, 2025 One of the most overlooked figures in African diaspora studies is Suḥaym ʿAbd Banī Ḥassḥās (Suḥaym, the slave of the Ḥassḥās clan). His neglect arises from several factors: the general neglect of critical archival research on the African diaspora in Arabia ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Omar ibn Said

Internet Publication · April 19, 2023 Omar ibn Sayyid (Said is the more prevalent Anglicized version of his name; 1770–1863), a West African Muslim scholar, was enslaved in North Carolina from 1810 until his death in 1863. Omar was captured in Futa Toro, modern-day Senegal in 1807 and transpor ... Full text Cite

I Cannot Write My Life Islam, Arabic, and Slavery in Omar Ibn Said's America

Book · 2023 "This work centers on the life and writing of Omar Ibn Said, born in 1770 in a border region between Senegal and Mauritania that played a significant role in Islamic nations. ... Cite

Sheikh Moussa Kamara’s Islamic Critique of Jihadists

Book · January 1, 2023 Sheikh Moussa Kamara was one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. His scholarship spanned many disciplines, including history, the ethnography of Sudanic Africa, theology, and poetry. His objection to jihad is one of his most pertinent works. ... Cite

Black Africans in Arabic Sources: A Critical Assessment of Method and Rhetoric

Chapter · September 27, 2020 Featured Publication Blacks of African background played a pioneering role in the intellectual and political life of pre-Islamic Arabia. Their presence weighs heavily on some of the illustrative language of the Quran as well as on the historical timeline used in Al-Sīra al-Nab ... Cite

9780429325816

Chapter · March 20, 2020 The rise of Muslim institutions of higher learning in the 21st century represents a major change and challenge to traditional Muslim education. There are two Muslim credentialing centres for Muslim universities, and both are based in Africa – the Federatio ... Link to item Cite

Political Islam, Justice and Governance

Book · November 6, 2019 This book argues that political Islam (represented by its moderate and militant forms) has failed to govern effectively or successfully due to its inability to reconcile its discursive understanding of Islam, centered on literal justice, ... ... Full text Link to item Cite

Introduction

Chapter · April 24, 2019 Full text Cite

The Arabic Classroom Context, Text and Learners

Book · April 18, 2019 Featured Publication Collected here is recent scholarly work, and also critical writing from Arabic instructors, Arabists and language experts, to examine the status of the teaching and learning of Arabic in the modern classroom. ... Cite

The Rise of the Islamic State and How to Reverse it

Chapter · February 11, 2016 This volume is composed of sixty-six chapters divided into sections on a) radical Islamist OPFORs (opposition forces) and context and b) U.S.-allied policy and counter radical Islamist strategies. ... Cite

Introduction: Africa's Muslim institutions of higher learning: moving forward

Chapter · January 26, 2016 Muslim Institutions of Higher Education in Postcolonial Africa examines the colonial discriminatory practices against Muslim education through control and dismissal and discusses the education reform movement of the post-colonial experience ... ... Link to item Cite

Remembering the Arab Spring: Perspectives and Reflections

Journal Article Siyasah Dualiyyah (Journal of International Politics) · February 2015 Featured Publication Cite

The Rise of the Islamic State and How to Reverse It

Other Small Wars Journal · November 2014 Cite

Islamic Radicalism and the End of time

Other al Arabiyya Institute of Studies · August 10, 2014 Cite

Beyond Duality, for Plurality

Journal Article The Immanent Frame · July 2014 Featured Publication Invited Response ... Cite

Egypt and the Elusiveness of Shar’iyyah

Journal Article The Immanent Frame · April 23, 2014 Featured Publication Invited Contribution ... Cite

Religion and Religious Teachings in Al-Qaeda

Journal Article · 2014 Featured Publication Cite

Mandela’s Dilemma: Western Politics, Native’s Ethics

Other The Herald-Sun · December 20, 2013 Cite

Mandela’s Dilemma: Western Politics, Native’s Ethics

Other al Arabiyya Institute of Studies · December 18, 2013 Cite

Morsi, the Last Muslim Caliph of Egypt

Other Mondoweiss.net · July 28, 2013 Cite

The Arab Revolution Within the Twenty-First Century Revolutions

Other al Arabiyya Institute of Studies · April 6, 2013 Cite

The Arab Revolution in World Revolutions

Other Al Arabiyya · April 2013 Cite

Challenging authority in cyberspace: Evaluating Al Jazeera Arabic writers

Journal Article Journal of Religion and Popular Culture · January 1, 2013 Featured Publication The Arab Spring has been widely branded as a social media revolution. Evidence has shown that many Arab citizens consider Al Jazeera one of the most popular and credible Arab news networks, making it important to explore the manner and the extent to which ... Full text Cite

The Discourse of Islamic Militancy

Other The Immanent Frame · November 15, 2012 Republished from Duke IC Article “Freedom vs. Justice — The Problem with Islamic Militancy" November 14, 2012. ... Cite

Freedom vs. Justice —The Problem with Islamic Militancy

Other Duke IslamiCommentary · November 14, 2012 Cite

Egypt at the Crossroads

Journal Article The Immanent Frame · July 16, 2012 Featured Publication Cite

Egypt at the Crossroads:

Other The Immanent Frame · July 2012 Cite

Democracy is at Work in Egypt

Other Sites@Duke · May 30, 2012 Link to item Cite

Democracy is at Work in Egypt

Journal Article · May 2012 Featured Publication Cite

Debating Secularism in the Arab Spring

Other SudaNile · April 9, 2012 Cite

The Discourse of the Arab Spring

Other Sudanile · February 5, 2012 Cite

Bin Laden, CEO of al-Qaida

Other The Herald-Sun · May 12, 2011 Cite

Reforming Higher Education in Africa: the Case of IUA

Report · 2011 Commissioned Report by the IUA Board of Trustees. ... Cite

Contextualizing "Muridiyyah" within the American muslim community: Perspectives on the past, present and future

Journal Article African Journal of Political Science and International Relations · June 2010 Featured Publication This paper examines the presence of the West African Sufi order, known as the Muridiyyah, within the broader context of muslims in America. The advent of the Murids in the American muslim community has not been the object of much research. This paper draws ... Cite

Civil Society-Based Governance in Africa: Theories and Practices: ( A Case Study of Senegal)

Book · 2010 This book examines the liberal conception of civil society and its applicability to the context of Africa. Although the book acknowledges the reality of civil society as a paradigmatic way of thinking about democracy and good governance, it questions the c ... Cite

Muslim Marriage Goes Online: The Use of Internet Match-making by American Muslims

Journal Article Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. · 2009 This paper analytically explores the recent rise of Internet use among American Muslims who are looking for marriage. Because American Muslims are a heterogeneous community consisting of individuals who, while confessing to a single article of faith, come ... Cite

The Evolution of Arabic Literature in West Africa

Journal Article Afro-Arab Selections for Social Sciences · January 2009 Cite

Eavesdropping on Civil Society Associations in Senegal

Journal Article Dirasaat Ifrikiyyah Journal · December 2007 Cite

Seeking the Roots of Terrorism: a Traditional Islamic Perspective

Journal Article Journal of Religion and Popular Culture · 2005 Link to item Cite

Arabic and the Development of ‘ajami Writings in Africa

Journal Article El-Multaqa. Journal · October 2000 Cite

The intricacy of Power Transfer in Africa: Nigeria, a Case Study

Book · 1998 In Arabic. Reprinted in 2001. ... Cite

The Arabic Classroom: Context, Text and Students (In Progress)

Book Featured Publication Edited volume of conference papers. ... Cite