From Jeliya to Ajami, Ancestral Knowledge and the Future of Islamic Authority in Mandinka Intellectual Traditions

This roundtable examines Mandinka intellectual traditions as systems for transmitting religious knowledge across generations. The discussion focuses on the relationship between jeliya, the Mandinka tradition of oral mastery, and the Ajami manuscript tradition. Mandinka forms of knowledge transmission, including genealogical narration, proverb, poetic performance, and disciplined memory, organize authority within Islamic scholarship in West Africa. Ajami writing emerges within this environment as a medium for Mandinka language, ethical teaching, devotional expression, and theological reflection. Knowledge circulates through lineages that link teachers, performers, and ancestors. In contexts shaped by migration, educational change, and new media, Mandinka traditions continue to carry inherited knowledge while adapting to new conditions. The session treats Mandinka scholarship as a case for studying indigenous epistemologies of religious authority and the role of language, memory, and lineage in sustaining intellectual traditions.