Traditions of Innovation

In this essay, Ware contributes to the Kitabkhana discussion of his book, The Walking Qur'an. The essays in the book forum, he writes, open onto questions of historiography and philosophy, theology and epistemology. Ware responds to these various approaches, defining his project as one that directly challenges received academic wisdom but, at the same time, is built on structures of thought erected by previous scholars—African, Muslim, Occidental, or otherwise. As he explains, his attempt at a positive innovation is rooted in the traditions of Africa, Islam, and the academe.