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The French Médersa in West Africa: Modernizing Islamic Education and Institutionalizing Colonial Racism, 1890s–1920s


This article examines the origins and development of colonial Franco-Muslim education, with specific reference to the Médersa of Saint-Louis in Senegal. Often described as a failed experiment on the part of the French administration, the médersa nevertheless marked the first effort to “modernize” Islamic education in West Africa. This article argues that the médersa evolved, and eventually closed, in tandem with local engagement and the establishment of the racist idea of islam noir. It also highlights the role of Algerians and the Algerian médersa system in West Africa to argue for the importance of a trans-Saharan approach to Islamic education in the colonial period.