Dr. Sulayman S. Nyang (12 August 1944 — 12 November 2018)
was a professor and former chairman of the African Studies Department at
Howard University
Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
in
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
, D.C. He was a co-principal investigator of the
Project MAPS and also a former deputy
ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
and head of chancery of the
Gambia
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
Embassy in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...
. Nyang served as consultant to several national and international agencies and on the boards of the African Studies Association, the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies,
America's Islamic Heritage Museum, and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists.
He wrote extensively on
Islamic
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
n and
Middle Eastern
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
affairs. He held a master's degree in public administration and a
Ph.D. in government from the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
. Nyang was an advising scholar for the award-winning, PBS-broadcast documentaries ''
Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet'' (2002) and ''
Prince Among Slaves'' (2007), produced b
Unity Productions Foundation
Selected books
*''Islam, Christianity and African Identity'' (1984)
*''A Line in the Sand: Saudi Arabia’s Role in the Gulf War'' (1995), co-authored with Evan Hendricks
*''Religious Plurality in Africa: Essays in Honor of John S. Mbiti'' (1993 and co-authored with Jacob Olupona).
See also
References
Gambian writers
Gambian academics
Howard University faculty
University of Virginia alumni
1944 births
2018 deaths
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