Pluralism and Adaptation is a collection of four multimedia collections that explore two characteristics of Islamic faith in Senegal and Ghana: pluralism and adaptation. Pluralism looks at how people of different religious persuasions— including Islam, Christianity, and Judaism —have coexisted and mutually respected one another for centuries. Adaptation studies the ways in which Islam has taken hold in a particular society and culture that have changed over time.
Specifically, the four collections look at: failed Islamic states in the 18th and 19th centuries that were futile attempts at spreading Islam through the Senegambia via the "jihad of the sword"; Senegambia branches of the Qadiriyya Sufi order and the Buk Kunta's translational religious community; commercial and gender morality among lay traders in the Kumasi region of Ghana; and discourses of Muslim scholars in colonial Ghana during the early 20th century.
Together, these collections help portray the often under-studied and misrepresented story of vibrant, contemporary Islamic practice in sub-Saharan Africa. The Pluralism and Adaptation collections serve as important resources in disseminating knowledge and access to these materials.
