“38As in the case of ownership and purchase, we see in this list that scribes of diverse origin (Ḥaḍramī, Somali, Brawanese, Comorian — al-Qumrī meaning “The Comorian”) acted as copyists over a period of seventy years. It is also worth noting that the oldest locally produced manuscript was copied by a man of Somali origin (Shārū b. ʿUthmān al-Sūmālī, Fig. 5.6). In other words, knowledge of Arabic and Islamic text was relatively widely diffused in terms of ethnic background. More detailed research to identify hitherto unidentified copyists and their background, as well as their other roles in society, will undoubtedly give further nuance to this picture”
Fig. 5.6 Example of local copying in the nineteenth century. Alfyya [The One Thousand, verse of 1000 lines] with marginal commentary by Ibn ʿAqīl copied by Shārū b. ʿUthmān b. Abī
Bakr b. ʿAlī al-Sūmālī in 1858 (EAP466/1/15, image 574), CC BY-ND.
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The article below discusses the Siyu rulers alliance with some Somali sheikhs in administering Siyu. It also discuses a potential link between some of the artefacts Somalia and the Geledi sultanate:
Fig. 5.6 Example of local copying in the nineteenth century. Alfyya [The One Thousand, verse of 1000 lines] with marginal commentary by Ibn ʿAqīl copied by Shārū b. ʿUthmān b. Abī
Bakr b. ʿAlī al-Sūmālī in 1858 (EAP466/1/15, image 574), CC BY-ND.
5. Localising Islamic knowledge: acquisition and copying of the Riyadha Mosque manuscript collection in Lamu, Kenya
In Lamu, Islamic practice and intellectual traditions in the late nineteenth century were strongly marked by the foundation of the Riyadha Mosque, established by Ṣāliḥ b. ʿAlawī Jamal al-Layl, known in East Africa as Habib Saleh (1853-1936).2 He was a descendant of early migrants from Ḥaḍramawt...
The article below discusses the Siyu rulers alliance with some Somali sheikhs in administering Siyu. It also discuses a potential link between some of the artefacts Somalia and the Geledi sultanate:
