Knut Sigurdson Vikør

Position

Emeriti, History

Affiliation

Research
  • Shari'a
  • Sufism
  • Saharan history
  • Islam in Africa

I work on Islamic history, in particular in North and West Africa in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but also with earlier interests. My first area was the history of central Sahara, I later studied the history of Sufi brotherhoods, in particular the Sanusiyya, and have also written on the history of Islamic law. In all these field, the focus has been on the social impact and relevance of these aspects of Islamic practice.

Teaching

Introduction to the History of the Middle East

Islam and politics

Themes in the history of the Middle East 

(all in Norwegian)

Publications
Encyclopedia article
Non-fiction book
Popular scientific article
Academic article
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Textbook
Book review
Website (informational material)
Academic lecture
Lecture
Popular scientific lecture
Doctoral dissertation
Feature article
Reader opinion piece
Interview
Popular scientific chapter/article
Masters thesis
Popular scientific book
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
Academic monograph
Report

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Sufi and Scholar on the Desert Edge. Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Sanusi and his Brotherhood. London og Evanston 1995

The Oasis of Salt. The History of Kawar, a Saharan Centre of Salt Production. Bergen/London 1999

Jihad, ‘ilm and tasawwuf - two justifications of action from the Idrisi tradition”, Studia Islamica, xc, 2000, 153-76

“Sufi Brotherhoods in Africa”, i N. Levtzion and R. Pouwels (eds.), The History of Islam in Africa, Athens, OH 2000, 441-76.

Between God and the Sultan: A history of Islamic law. London and New York 2005.

“The shaykh as mujtahid: A Sufi conception of ijtihad?” in A. Carmona (ed.), El Sufismo y las normas del Islam, Murcia 2006, 129-56 og 351-75.

The Maghreb since 1800: A Short History. London 2012

Projects
  • The conception of ijtihad (legal formulation) in debates over method in the 18th and 19th centuries
  • ”The Shari’a in the modern world: Faith, norms and state power”.