Sufism and Jihad in Modern Senegal: The Murid Order (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora)

251 Pages·2007·1.74 MB·English

by  John Glover

SUFISM AND JIHAD IN MODERN SENEGAL
Toyin Falola, Senior Editor
The Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History
University of Texas at Austin
(ISSN: 1092–5228)
A complete list of titles in the Rochester Studies in African History and the
Diaspora, in order of publication, may be found at the end of this book.
SUFISM AND JIHAD IN MODERN
SENEGAL
THE MURID ORDER
John Glover
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER PRESS
Copyright © 2007 John Glover
All rights reserved.Except as permitted under current legislation, no part of this work may
be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted,
broadcast, transmitted, recorded, or reproduced in any form or by any means, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner.
First published 2007
University of Rochester Press
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
www.urpress.com
and Boydell & Brewer Limited
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
www.boydellandbrewer.com
ISBN-13: 978–1–58046–268–6
ISBN-10: 1–58046–268–5
ISSN: 1092–5228
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Glover, John, 1969–
Sufism and Jihad in modern Senegal : the Murid order / John Glover.
p. cm. — (Rochester studies in African history and the
diaspora, ISSN 1092-5228 ; v. 32)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58046-268-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-58046-268-5 (alk. paper)
1. Muridiyah—Senegal—History. 2. Islamic sects—Senegal—History.
I. Title.
BP195.M66G56 2007
297.4(cid:1)8—dc22
2007015099
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
This publication is printed on acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgments vii
Note on Transliteration ix
Introduction 1
1 Sociopolitical Change, Islamic Reform, and Sufism in West Africa 23
2 Conflict and Colonization: A New Generation of Sufi Reformers 54
3 The Construction of the Murid Synthesis: Perceptions of
Amadu Bamba and Maam Cerno 82
4 Translating the Murid Mission: The Founding of Darou Mousty 109
5 Symbiosis: Colonization and Murid Modernity 136
6 Murid Taalibe: Historical Narratives and Identity 165
Conclusion: Murid Historical Identity 189
Appendix 1 193
Appendix 2 194
Notes 197
Bibliography 223
Index 229
ILLUSTRATIONS
Maps
1.1 Precolonial West Africa 25
1.2 Precolonial Senegambia 36
5.1 Northwestern Senegal 145
Figures
I.1 Darou Mousty 3
2.1 Shaykh Amadu Bamba M’Backé 56
3.1 Shaykh Ibrahima Faty M’Backé (Maam Cerno) 84
4.1 M’Backé Kajoor 112
5.1 The mausoleum of Maam Cerno 154
5.2 The forage of Darou Mousty 161
5.3 The grand mosque of Darou Mousty 162
6.1 The next generation of Murid Taalibe of Darou Mousty 178
7.1 The grand mosque of Darou Marnane 190
A.1 Copy of the letter calling for the establishment of
Darou Mousty 193
A.2 First page of Moussa Kâ’s epic, The Testimony of Maam
Cerno Birahim 194
Tables
4.1 Sufi affiliation in the district of Darou Mousty 111
4.2 Average rainfall in Darou Mousty 112
4.3 Guet province, 1911 113
4.4 The original Taalibe of Darou Mousty 116
6.1 The stages of life for a Murid Taalibe 180
6.2 The Jawriñ of Maam Cerno and their functions 184
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research and writing of this book would have been impossible without the
aid of many scholars, friends, and family members over the years on this side
of the Atlantic and in West Africa. This project grew out of my dissertation,
“The Hope in this World and the Next: Maam Cerno and the Settlement of
Darou Mousty, 1912–47” (2000) completed at the University of Illinois at
Chicago (UIC), and my thanks begin there. The members of my dissertation
committee, William Hoisington, Marion Miller, and Margaret Strobel, pro-
vided critiques of this work in its earliest form that helped greatly in guiding
my revisions. John Hanson was also an extremely valuable member of the com-
mittee who provided many helpful suggestions. In addition, Lansiné Kaba,
Guity Nashat, and Fariba Zarinebaf-Shahr helped me lay a foundation for this
work, and I benefited greatly from their knowledge. I would also like to thank
my comrades from my years at UIC, Steve Brown, Gareth Canaan, Jason
Digman, Ali Dramé, Peter Jones, Stan Rose, and Misbahudeen Ahmed-Rufai.
Above all, I owe a special debt to James Searing who, as a professor, adviser,
dissertation committee chair, and friend, has played a pivotal role in my devel-
opment as a historian. His courses opened up an amazing breadth and depth
of knowledge about African history to me and demonstrated the value of a
truly comprehensive research methodology. He initially suggested exploring
Darou Mousty and Maam Cerno and has been consistently engaged with the
progress of this work in an encouraging and critical manner.
I would also like to thank Joe Lunn for his help over the years and Mamadou
Diouf whose comments on a conference paper helped me strengthen my argu-
ment about Murid modernity. My colleagues in the History department at the
University of Redlands have been tremendously supportive of me and this pro-
ject and were always around to celebrate and commiserate. Thanks to Robert
Eng, Kathy Feeley, William Foster, Marjorie Hilton, Kathy Ogren, James
Sandos, David Tharp, Jennifer Keene, Dede Kessler, and William Southworth.
Barbara Morris, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the
University of Redlands, generously provided funds that helped the book reach
completion, and I am very grateful for that.
Toyin Falola, editor of the University of Rochester Studies in African
History and the Diaspora Series, was a great help in shepherding the manu-
script through the various stages, and I greatly appreciated his sense of
viii Acknowledgments
humor. Suzanne Guiod and Katie Hurley offered truly valuable assistance in
the preparation of the manuscript.
My research and fieldwork in Senegal were greatly facilitated by many peo-
ple. Leigh Swigart and her family were enormously helpful even before I
arrived in Senegal and helped introduce me to Dakar. I would also like to
thank the West African Research Center and its staff for their help. The
archival research for this project was carried out in the National Archives of
Senegal, and I would like to thank its director, Saliou M’Baye, and Mamadou
Ndiaye for their patience and help. Ibou Sarr and Sidi Gaye provided an
excellent and very productive crash course in Wolof as well as valuable cul-
tural information that does not exist in any book. I thank them both and
remember our afternoon meetings with fondness.
Mactar Niang and his family were instrumental in the transition from
Chicago to Le Plateauand instructed me in the proper method to brew attaya.
Jerome Faye and his entire family and household provided a home away from
home in Yoff that I have missed greatly over the years and look forward to see-
ing again soon. Many thanks to Jerome, Therese, Manou, Augustine, William,
Olivier, Baba, and Marie. My time in Senegal was also enriched by my toubab
friends, Mark Hinchman, Francesca Castaldi, and Hillary Jones.
Mamadou “Pap” Gueye played a very instrumental role in the success of my
fieldwork in Darou Mousty and became a good friend. I must thank him for
his companionship, energy, interest, and patience. In Darou Mousty, I would
like to extend my respects and thanks to the late Sëriñ Abdu Quddus M’Backé
and Sëriñ Mustafa Apsa M’Backé for allowing me to conduct research in the
town and the surrounding area and for their support. I would also like to
thank the Murids who so graciously helped me in Darou Mousty and those
who took the time to be interviewed, Sëriñ Bassirou Anta Niang M’Backé,
Shaykh Astou Faye M’Backé, Sëriñ M’Baye Gueye Sylla, Sëriñ Moustapha
Njaay, Bacha Joob, Sëriñ Mactar Dramé, Baay Shaykh Tako Joob, Baay Sambu,
Musa Jahata, Aliou Badare Sène “Bada,” Bada Lô, Malik Cissé, Baay Moor,
Sëriñ Maam Mor M’Backé, Mactar Balla Fall of Kosso, and Moustapha Joob of
Taif Joob.
I owe a large debt to my mother and father who have always shown great
interest in this work and provided great help along the way. Thanks also to my
extended family, Steve and Jan Brown and Pat and Steve Williams. Finally, it is
almost impossible to find the right words that would express my gratitude to
my immediate family. Greatest thanks to my wife, Nicolle, for her support and
to my children, Duncan and Rowan, for their patience (you can have the
spare room in the attic back for a while).
NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION
The modern form of transliterating Wolof vocabulary has generally been
adhered to in this book. The only exceptions have been personal names of
those figures who wrote, or currently write, their names using the French
spellings. Their names have remained unchanged. As for place names, when
dealing with the precolonial period, I have used the precolonial forms;
however, when dealing with the colonial period, I have employed the
Frenchspellings, such as Kajoor/Cayor. Due to the irregular plurals in Arabic,
I have only used the singular forms of words such as shaykh. Those words that
have already been transcribed into other languages, such as marabout, have
remained unitalicized.