A00084 - Ali Mazrui, Author of The Africans

Mazrui, Ali 
Ali al-Amin Mazrui (b. February 24, 1933, Mombasa, Kenya — d. October 12, 2014, Vestal {Binghamton}, New York, United States) was a Kenyan American political scientist who was widely regarded as one of East Africa’s foremost political scholars.

Mazrui, the son of a prominent Islamic judge, received a scholarship to study in England at Manchester University (B.A., 1960). He continued his education at Columbia University (M.A., 1961), New York City, and Nuffield College, Oxford (D.Phil., 1966). He returned to Africa to teach at Uganda’s Makerere University (1963–73), but his opposition to Ugandan President Idi Amin and his often controversial views on African development obliged him to leave the region. From 1974 to 1991 Mazrui taught political science at the University of Michigan.  He then moved to the State University of New York at Binghamton (now Binghamton University, SUNY), where he founded (in 1991) and directed the Institute of Global Cultural Studies.

Mazrui also held faculty positions at other universities worldwide, was a consultant to international organizations, and wrote more than 30 books on African politics and society as well as post-colonial patterns of development and underdevelopment. Among his best-known works were Towards a Pax Africana (1967), The African Condition: A Political Diagnosis (1980), Black Reparations in the Era of Globalization (2002), and The African Predicament and the American Experience: A Tale of Two Edens (2003). He also wrote and presented the nine-hour BBC-PBS TV co-production The Africans (1986) and was featured in the documentary Motherland (2009). Mazrui’s honors included the Association of Muslim Social Scientists UK (AMSS UK) Lifetime Academic Achievement Award (2000).

A00083 - 'Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur, Emir of Harar

'Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur, also known as Amir Hajji 'Abdu'llahi II ibn 'Ali 'Abdu's Shakur, (18??-1930) was the last Emir of Harar from 1884 (or 1885, various sources carry various dates) to January 26, 1887, when the state was terminated, following the defeat of the Harari troops at the Battle of Chelenqo (January 6).

Emir 'Abd Allah was the son of Muhammad ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur by Kadija, the daughter of Emir 'Abd al-Karim ibn Muhammad.  To secure his hold on the emirate of Harar, his father had married 'Abd Allah to the daughter of Ahmad III ibn Abu Bakr, his predecessor. When the Egyptians evacuated Harar, 'Abd Allah became the logical choice to rule Harar, and was given a few hundred soldiers trained by one of the British officers, 300 to 400 rifles, some cannon, and munitions, a force barely sufficient to garrison Harar and Jaldessa, let alone police the trade routes and ensure the security of the state.

Emir 'Abd Allah grew paranoid of the growing Ethiopian threat to his domain, and accused the resident Europeans of co-operating with Negus Menelik II.  His situation deteriorated by July 1885.  The population grew uncontrollable, European traders became virtual prisoners in their homes and shops, and the adjacent Galla raided the town.  In response, Emir 'Abd Allah introduced a new currency which impoverished the local population.  The neighboring Oromo and Somali deserted Harar's markets and the town's economy collapsed.

Emir 'Abd Allah responded to the first Ethiopian military probe with a night attack on their camp at Hirna which included fireworks. The unmotivated troops panicked at the pyrotechnics and fled toward the Asabot and Awash Rivers. When the Negus Menelik personally led a second attack a few months later, the Emir misjudged the quality of these troops and attempted to repeat his earlier success of a second night attack. Had he allowed the enemy to attack the walled city, where his few Krupp cannon might have been effective, the Shoans might have suffered a defeat with serious political consequences. But that is not what 'Abd Allah did.  As a result, the battle at Chelenqo destroyed 'Abd Allah's army in fifteen minutes.

With his wives and children, the Emir fled into the empty country east of Harar, leaving his uncle Ali Abu Barka to submit to Menelik and ask clemency for Harar.

The former Emir 'Abd Allah later returned to the town to live as a Sufi or religious scholar.  'Abd Allah died in Harar in 1930.