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Knut Sigurdson Vikør's picture

Knut Sigurdson Vikør

Emeritus, History
Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion
  • E-mailknut.vikor@uib.no
  • Phone+47 55 58 27 11
  • Visitor Address
    Øysteinsgt. 1
    Bergen
    Room 
    511
  • Postal Address
    Postboks 7805
    5020 Bergen
  • 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.

Introduction to the History of the Middle East

Islam and politics

Themes in the history of the Middle East 

(all in Norwegian)

Academic article
  • Show author(s) (2020). Ibadism and Law in Historical Contexts. Oñati Socio-legal Series. 960-984.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Er Libya eit land? Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier. 162-172.
  • Show author(s) (2004). The truth about cats and dogs: The historicity of early Islamic law. Historisk Tidsskrift (Norge). 1-17.
  • Show author(s) (1997). A Zanzibari Waqf of Books: the library of the Mundhiri family. Sudanic Africa - A Journal of Historical Sources. 1-21.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Shi'ismen - historias lim. TFMS : Tidskrift för Mellanösternstudier. 79-93.
  • Show author(s) (1996). A Zanzibari waqf of books: the library of the Mundhiri family. Sudanic Africa - A Journal of Historical Sources. 5-24.
  • Show author(s) (1992). The Sanusi Letters: a checklist. Sudanic Africa - A Journal of Historical Sources. 149-162.
  • Show author(s) (1991). The Man Who Believed in the Mahdi. Sudanic Africa - A Journal of Historical Sources. 29-52.
  • Show author(s) (1990). Modernitet og tradisjon i islam. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. 481-97.
  • Show author(s) (1987). Ibn Idris and al-Sanusi - The Teacher and his Student. Islam et sociétés au Sud du Sahara. 70-82.
  • Show author(s) (1987). Al-Sanusi and Qadhafi - Continuity of Thought? Maghreb Review. 25-28.
Lecture
  • Show author(s) (2021). Reflections on the 2011 Arab Uprisings from Norway: Ten Years After.
Popular scientific lecture
  • Show author(s) (2018). Panelsamtale: Kva er det med Saudi Arabia?
  • Show author(s) (2018). Panelsamtale: KRIG: Hvorfor Midtøsten.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Islamsk lov i moderne stater i Midtøsten.
  • Show author(s) (2007). The genesis of the Palestine problem and the creation of the State of Israel.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Politisk islamisme.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Milits, velferdsorganisasjon og parti: Historia til Hizballah.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Kurdistans historie.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Kulturkonflikt i middelalderen: Kva samfunn var det korstoga møtte i Midtausten?
  • Show author(s) (2006). Jihad og velferd: Hamas og Hizballah.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Folkereligiøsitet i Islam. Kva trur og tenker vanlige sunnier, shiaer og sufier?
  • Show author(s) (2006). Eventyret om eventyra: 1001 natts historie.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Clash of civilizations? Islam i vesten og den nye terrortrusselen.
  • Show author(s) (1998). Politcal language, action and religion.
  • Show author(s) (1998). Islamsk lov: Historia om slavinnas son.
  • Show author(s) (1997). Jihad, ilm and tasawwuf�two justifications of action from the Idrisi tradition.
  • Show author(s) (1997). Islamsk lov i eit ikkje-islamsk samfunn: kva er det?
  • Show author(s) (1996). Sufism and revolt. Tijanis, Sanusis and Safavids.
  • Show author(s) (1995). The development of ijtihad and Islamic reform, 1750-1850.
  • Show author(s) (1995). The New Sufi Brotherhoods of the 19th Century.
  • Show author(s) (1995). An attack on the freedom of interpretation: Hasan al-'Attar's Risala fi 'l-ijtihad.
  • Show author(s) (1993). Muhammad b. Ali al-Sanusi- A Fasi graduate in the Central Sahara.
  • Show author(s) (1992). Jihads in West Africa: A global theme in a regional setting.
  • Show author(s) (1991). The Sanusiya, the Beduin and Sufi identity.
  • Show author(s) (1990). Muhammad b. Ali al-Sanusi and three opponents of ijtihad.
Academic lecture
  • Show author(s) (2021). Reflections on the 2011 Arab Uprisings from Norway: Ten Years After.
  • Show author(s) (2021). New tariqas in the nineteenth century: What was “new” in their activities? The case of the Sanusiya.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Contemporary Debates on Islamic Law.
  • Show author(s) (2019). The Ibāḍī nahḍa and the integration into Sunni Algeria.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Matrilineality among the Tuareg.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Libya, Maghreb and the transition to statehood.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Ibrāhīm Bayyūḍ’s legal opinions.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Ibrāhīm Bayyūḍ and the Ibāḍī Nahḍa.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Ibadism in Law and Historical Contexts.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Issues of ijtihad in contemporary usul studies.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Forskning på islam i Norge, i internasjonalt perspektiv.
  • Show author(s) (2008). An Islamic enlightenment in the 19th century? Sufism, law and a German debate.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Neo-Sufism or anti-madhhabism: How to describe the views of Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Sanusi.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Liberal or conservative? Two Syrian views on “the woman between Shari'a and society".
  • Show author(s) (1999). Sufism and social welfare in the Sahara.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Sufi reform or takfir: Ahmad b. Idris and the Wahhabi debate.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Mystikk og politikk: Sufismen som revolusjonært potensiale.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Mellom Gud og stat: Shari'a frå dogme til lov.
  • Show author(s) (1999). "The only madhhab is the Qur'an and Sunna": A nineteenth-century attack on legal method.
  • Show author(s) (1998). The Shari'a and the nation state: who can codify the divine law?
  • Show author(s) (1998). Muhammadan piety and Islamic enlightenment: Survey of a historiographical debate.
  • Show author(s) (1991). A Sanusi treatise on jihad.
Book review
  • Show author(s) (2023). Review of Carrying on the Tradition: A Social and Intellectual History of Hadith Transmission across a Thousand Years. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 226-228.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Hilde Henriksen Waage: Spillet om Syria. Historisk Tidsskrift (Norge). 257-260.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Review of : Zachary V. Wright: Realizing Islam: The Tijaniyya in North Africa and the Eighteenth-Century Muslim World. (Chapel Hill 2020). Journal of Islamic Studies. 138-141.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Review of: Francesco Piraino & Mark Sedgwick (eds.): Global Sufism: Boundaries, Structures and Politics. (London: Hurst & Company, 2019). Journal of Islamic Studies. 259-262.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Melding av: Cecilie Hellestveit: Ulykkelige Arabia. Verden etter Jemen. (Oslo 2021). Klassekampen. 10-10.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Review of Anver M. Emon & Rumee Ahmed (eds.): The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Law (Oxford 2018). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 333-334.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Review of: Ismail Warscheid, Droit musulman et société au Sahara prémoderne. La justice islamique dans les oasis du Grand Touat (Algérie) aux XVIIe – XIXe siècles. Leiden, Brill 2017. Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines. 1180-1184.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Review of: Ayman S. Ibrahim, The Stated Motivations for the Early Islamic Expansion (622-641). A Critical Revision of Muslims’ Traditional Portrayal of the Arab Raids and Conquests. New York: Peter Lang, 2018. Social Sciences and Missions. 431-433.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Review of: Ousmane Oumar Kane, Beyond Timbuktu. An intellectual history of Muslim West Africa, Cambridge MA, 2016. Islamic Africa. 127-129.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Melding av: Bendik Sørvig, Syria: Den tapte revolusjonen. Oslo 2017. Klassekampen. 8-8.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Review of: David S. Powers, Zayd. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 2014. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 850-852.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Review of: Charles C. Stewart, Arabic Literature of Africa. 5: The Writings of Mauritania and the Western Sahara. Leiden, Brill 2016. Islamic Africa. 232-236.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Melding av: Cecilie Hellestveit, Syria: En stor krig i en liten verden. Oslo: Pax 2017. Dag og Tid. 28-29.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Review of: Christian Müller, Der Kadi und seine Zeugen: Studie der mamlukischen Ḥaram-Dokumente aus Jerusalem. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2013. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 643-644.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Melding av: Øystein Sørensen, Bernt Hagtvet, Nik. Brandal (red.), Islamisme. Ideologi og Trussel. Oslo: Dreyer 2016. Dag og Tid. 26-26.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Melding av: Oddbjørn Leirvik, Islam og kristendom: Konflikt og dialog (Oslo 2014). Kirke og kultur. 198-201.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Melding av Hilde Henriksen Waage, "Konflikt og stormaktspolitikk i Midtøsten", Oslo 2013. Historisk Tidsskrift (Norge). 364-367.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Sufism: A Global History. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 318-319.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Review of: Nigel Green, Sufism: A Global History, Chichester 2012. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 318-319.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Review of: Jan Michiel Otto (ed.), Sharia Incorporated: A Comparative Overview of the Legal Systems of Twelve Muslim Countries in Past and Present. Leiden 2010. Islamic Law and Society. 330-332.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Review of: Shamil Jeppie, Ebrahim Moosa and Richard Roberts (eds.), Muslim Family Law in Sub-Saharan Africa: Colonial Legacies and Post-colonial Challenges. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 2010. Islamic Law and Society. 324-326.
  • Show author(s) (2011). The challenge of political Islam: non-Muslims and the Egyptian state. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. 370-U152.
  • Show author(s) (2011). The Islamic judge of Iraq and the Abbasid state (132/750-334/945). Journal of the American Oriental Society. 176-178.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Review of: Mathieu Tillier, Les cadis d’Iraq et l’état abbasside (132/750–334/945). Damas 2009. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 176-179.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Review of Rachel M. Scott, The Challenge of Political Islam: Non-Muslims and the Egyptian State. Stanford 2010. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. 370-371.
  • Show author(s) (2009). The Trans-Saharan Slave Trade. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 341-342.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Rebel between Spirit and Law: Ahmad Zarruq, Sainthood and Authority in Islam, av Scott Kugle. Islamic Law and Society. 234-236.
  • Show author(s) (2009). L’aventure ibāḍite dans le Sud tunisien (VIIIe–XIIIe siècle). Effervescence d'une région méconnue, av Virginie Prevost. ACTA ORIENTALIA (København). 223-226.
  • Show author(s) (2008). A history of modern Libya. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 334-335.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Melding av: Alessandra Vianello & Mohamed M. Kassim, eds., Servants of the Sharia: The Civil Register of the Qadis' Court of Brava 1893-1900. Leiden: Brill 2006. African Studies Review. 207-208.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Melding av David Robinson, Muslim Societies in African History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2004. Al-Masāq. 72-74.
  • Show author(s) (2002). Melding av Youssef M. Choueiri, Arab Nationalism: A history. Oxford 2000. Political Studies. 440-441.
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
  • Show author(s) (2004). Sudanic Africa (13, 2002): Fontes Historiae Africanae Bulletin of Information, Selected articles 1979-1987. Sudanic Africa.
Popular scientific article
  • Show author(s) (2019). Libya: Frå Qadhafi til Khalifa Haftar. Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier. 52-56.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Kronosentrisme. REPLIKK – Tidsskrift for samfunnsvitskap og humaniora. 47-47.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Landprofil 2014-2015: Libya. Fellesrådet for Afrika. 1 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Boko Harams brutale historie. Bergens Tidende. 16-17.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Fredelig val i Tunisia. Forsvarets forum. 52-52.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Kvar går Syria. Forsvarets forum. 54-54.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Hjartet i den arabiske verda. Levende Historie. 15-23.
  • Show author(s) (2007). 'Den rette praksisen'–Sunnismen i islam. Religion og livssyn : Tidsskrift for religionslærerforeningen i Norge. 4-9.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Fortolking i islamsk lov. Atrium, Studentmagasinet for HF-fakultetet, UIB. 42-43.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Europeisk lov og islamsk lov. Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier. 36-43.
  • Show author(s) (1998). Algerie: kvifor valden? Syn og Segn. 172-179.
  • Show author(s) (1995). Islamsk lov og reform i Afrika. 3. verden magasinet X. 24-25.
Feature article
  • Show author(s) (2016). Saudisk maktspråk. Stavanger Aftenblad. 1 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Maktkampen mellom sunni- og sjia. VG : Verdens gang. 1 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Alle mot alle. Bergens Tidende. 1 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2015). “Islam og kristendom mykje det samme”. Stavanger Aftenblad. 42-42.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Ikkje akkurat ein stat. Bergens Tidende. 45-45.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Kan ikkje stoppast med bomber. Bergens Tidende. 55-55.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Lov og rett i Dubai. Bergens Tidende. 1 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Libya: eit splitta land. Dagbladet. 72-73.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Libya etter Gaddafi. Bergens Tidende. 34-34.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Dei kristne i Midtausten. Bergens Tidende. 23-23.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Kva skal reformeras? Klassekampen. 14-15.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Eit pragmatisk parti. Klassekampen. 3-3.
  • Show author(s) (2005). Når blir islamisme til jihad? Klassekampen. 3-3.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Korleis "modernisera" islam? Ny tid. 18-19.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Review of Eva Evers Rosander and David Westerlund (eds.), African Islam and Islam in Africa: Encounters between Sufis and Islamists, London 1997. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 329-330.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Er fatwaer farlige? Bergens Tidende. 30.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Algerie: veg ut av tunnelen? Bergens Tidende. 28.
  • Show author(s) (1998). Review of Samuel Decalo, "Historical Dictionary of Chad" (3rd edn), Lanham, MD 1997. International Journal of African Historical Studies. 486.
  • Show author(s) (1998). Melding av: Jean-Louis Triaud, "La Légende noire de la Sanûsiyya. Une Confrérie musulmane Saharienne sous le regard français (1840-1930)", Paris 19. International Journal of African Historical Studies. 424-428.
  • Show author(s) (1998). Melding av: Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen, "Defining Islam for the Egyptian State: Muftis and fatwas of the Dar al-Ifta". Leiden 1997. Chaos - Skandinavisk tidsskrift for religionshistoriske studier. 155-158.
  • Show author(s) (1997). The 'Islamophile' Italians before Libya. Saharan Studies Association Newsletter. 6-7.
  • Show author(s) (1997). Melding av: Sidi Amar Ould Ely / Julian Johansen, "Handlist of manuscripts in the Centre de Documentation et de Recheches Historiques Ahmed Baba, Timbuktu", i. London, 1995. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 143-144.
  • Show author(s) (1997). Melding av: Astrid Meier, "Hunger und Herrschaft. Vorkoloniale und frühe kolonale Hungerkrisen im Nordtschad", Stuttgart 1995. International Journal of African Historical Studies. 368-370.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Melding av: Muhammad Khalid Masud, "Shatibi's Philosophy of Islamic Law", Islamabad 1995. Periodica Islamica. 41-42.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Melding av Lars Erslev Andersen (ed.), Middle East Studies in Denmark,. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 135-136.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Melding av: Robert B. Charlick, Niger: Personal Rule and Survival in the Sahel. International Journal of African Historical Studies. 446-447.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Melding av Albert Hourani, De arabiske folks historie. Klassekampen. 1.
Doctoral dissertation
  • Show author(s) (2017). Kemalism and the Soviet Union. Ideological Transformations in Turkey and Problems of Interpretation, 1920-1970s.
  • Show author(s) (1992). Sufi and Scholar on the Desert Edge. Muhammad b. Ali al-Sanusi (1787-1859).
Interview
  • Show author(s) (2015). Jødehatets religiøse røtter.
  • Show author(s) (2007). –Totalt feilslått analyse.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Ein kaotisk stat.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Om shi’a og sunni i Irak.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Om profetbilda.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Om avrettinga av Saddam.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Om Israels tilbaketrekking.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Om 11. september.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Kan ikke knekke Hamas.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Frykter hardere klima for muslimer.
  • Show author(s) (2005). Om korsfarartida.
  • Show author(s) (2005). Om folkerøystinga i Algerie.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
  • Show author(s) (2022). When does a Ṭarīqa Become a Ṭarīqa? The Story of a Break-up. 31 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Pathways and Formations of ‘African Sufism’. 12 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Legal Authority and Interpretation in Islamic Law. 18 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Sufi Sultanates and Imamates. 10 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2019). The Islamic Tradition: A History. 16 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Islamisme i Libyas opprør. 22 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Islamic Law: The Sources. 12 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Tripoli: Hovudstad for landet som braut sammen. 22 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Trade and Religion in the Central Sahara: The Ibāḍīs and Kawar. 11 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2017). What's in a name? The third branch of Islam and its naming. 24 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Muslim Subjects and the Rights of God. 23 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Libya: The Failures of Success. 34 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Islamic Law in the Modern World: States, Laws and Constitutions. 18 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Sufism and colonialism. 21 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Inscrutable Divinity or Social Welfare? The Basis of Islamic Law. 18 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2014). The Origins of the Sharia. 13 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Shari'a. 15 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Religious Revolts in Colonial North Africa. 17 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Sudan, Somalia and the Maghreb to the end of the First World War. 27 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2006). The shaykh as mujtahid: A Sufi conception of ijtihād? (El šayḫ en el papel de muǧtahid: ¿una concepción sufí del iǧtihād?). 28 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Sufism and foreign rule in Africa: politics and piety. 20 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Ahmad b. Idris. 2 pages.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Jihad in West Africa: A global theme in a regional setting. 22 pages.
  • Show author(s) (1998). Politisk islam - fundament eller utvekst? 14 pages.
  • Show author(s) (1997). Sahara Desert. 4 pages.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Muhammad b. Ali al-Sanusi ­ A Fasi graduate in the Central Sahara. 11 pages.
  • Show author(s) (1995). Umar al-Mukthar. 2 pages.
  • Show author(s) (1995). Sanusiyah. 2 pages.
  • Show author(s) (1994). The Sanusiyya Tradition. 12 pages.
  • Show author(s) (1993). Mystics in the Desert: The Sanusiya and the Sahara. 13 pages.
Encyclopedia article
  • Show author(s) (2020). Māʾ al-ʿAynayn. 97-99. In:
    • Show author(s) (2020). The Encyclopedia of Islam: Three [2020].
  • Show author(s) (2020). Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Karīm Sammān. 131-132. In:
    • Show author(s) (2020). The Encyclopedia of Islam: Three [2020].
  • Show author(s) (2020). Muḥammad al-Mukhtār al-Shinqīṭī. 129-130. In:
    • Show author(s) (2020). The Encyclopedia of Islam: Three [2020].
  • Show author(s) (2020). Majdhūb, Muḥammad. 137-138. In:
    • Show author(s) (2020). The Encyclopedia of Islam: Three [2020].
  • Show author(s) (2020). Maghreb from 1830. 84-88. In:
    • Show author(s) (2020). The Encyclopedia of Islam: Three [2020].
  • Show author(s) (2020). Idrīsiyya. 60-61. In:
    • Show author(s) (2020). The Encyclopedia of Islam: Three [2020].
  • Show author(s) (2020). Ibrāhīm al-Rashīd. 58-60. In:
    • Show author(s) (2020). The Encyclopedia of Islam: Three [2020].
  • Show author(s) (2019). Al-Fāshir. 32-33. In:
    • Show author(s) (2019). The Encyclopedia of Islam: Three.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Kawār. 147-148. In:
    • Show author(s) (2018). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three 2018. 2018-2.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Askiyā Muḥammad. 6-8. In:
    • Show author(s) (2018). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three 2018. 2018-2.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Bourguiba, Habib, Gaddafi, Colonel Muammar al-, Libya, Sanusiyah, Tunisia. 5 pages. In:
    • Show author(s) (2017). The Cambridge Dictionary of Modern World History.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Morocco. 740-745. In:
    • Show author(s) (2016). Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, 2nd edn.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Darb al-Araba'in. 1 pages. In:
    • Show author(s) (2015). Encyclopedia of Islam - Three, vol 2015. 4.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Bornu. 65-68. In:
    • Show author(s) (2015). Encyclopedia of Islam - Three, vol 2015. 4.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Dandarawiyya. 100-101. In:
    • Show author(s) (2013). Encyclopedia of Islam III, vol IV.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Bilma. 72-73. In:
    • Show author(s) (2013). Encyclopedia of Islam III, vol IV.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Chad. 113-117. In:
    • Show author(s) (2011). Encyclopedia of Islam, Three, vol II.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Bagirmi. 62-63. In:
    • Show author(s) (2011). Encyclopedia of Islam, Three, vol II.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Ahmadiyya-Idrisiyya. 42-45. In:
    • Show author(s) (2010). Encyclopaedia of Islam - Three.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Den arabiske våren. 3 pages. In:
    • Show author(s) (2009). allkunne.no.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Sanusi, Muhammad ibn Ali al-. 4:367-367. In:
    • Show author(s) (2008). New Encyclopedia of Africa.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Islam: Sufi orders. 3:59-62. In:
    • Show author(s) (2008). New Encyclopedia of Africa.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Jihad. 120-121. In:
    • Show author(s) (2007). Statsvitenskapelig leksikon.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Fatwa. 63-63. In:
    • Show author(s) (2007). Statsvitenskapelig leksikon.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Sudan. 3 pages. In:
    • Show author(s) (2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization. An Encyclopedia.
  • Show author(s) (2005). Kalifatet. 261-261. In:
    • Show author(s) (2005). Aschehoug og Gyldendals store norske leksikon, 4. utg.

More information in national current research information system (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

  • 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”.

History of Islam, early modern period

History of Muslim Africa

History of North Africa

Islamic law

Fields of competence 
Middle East
Sufism
Shari'a
Libya
Islam