Abdul is an over-educated, under-employed Senegalese father two two young children whom I befriended in the spring of '09 when he was selling ice cream at the Shady Shack (a snack bar adjacent to ISD). Abdul is in disguise: he is a university professor of philosophy and linguistics posing as a dishwasher. You might not recognize him were you sitting beside him on a car rapide; he might not reveal himself were you to engage him in conversation. But Abdul is a thinker, a passionate and articulate learner, with a warm, attentive and generous presence.
Abdul and I are reading the Holy Quran together, back to front, the shorter suras coming first. In this way, he is my Sunday School teacher, helping to interpret the ins and outs of Islam and Sufism as they are practiced in Senegal. Abdul offers a unique perspective, being of the culture, but educated in the sciences. He also shares an interest in the practice of Sufism, and a more internal/psychological interpretation of the Holy Quran.
I've included a handful of video clips of Abdul, recorded during a couple of our weekly chats:
Clip1: prophesy, numerology and the Hadis
Clip2: Islamic view of Judgement
Clip3: Islamic view of the soul, sin and forgiveness
Clip4: Sufism in Senegal1
Clip5: Sufism in Senegal2
Clip6: divination and ones personal rab
Clip7: rowans and their influence in our lives
Clip8: rowans and their influence in our lives
Clip9: West African view of jinns, and how our cultural world view shapes our sense/perception of reality
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