Fighting the Greater Jihad: Amadu Bamba and the Founding of the Muridiyya of Senegal, 1853-1913 (New African Histories)

319 Pages·2007·1.61 MB·English

by  Cheikh Anta Babou

Fighting the Greater Jihad
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Series editors: Jean Allman and Allen Isaacman
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Cheikh Anta Babou, Fighting the Greater Jihad: Amadu
Bamba and the Founding of the Muridiyya in Senegal,
1853–1913
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Fighting the Greater Jihad
Amadu Bamba and the Founding of the
Muridiyya of Senegal, 1853–1913
w
Cheikh Anta Babou
ohio university press
athens
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Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701
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©2007 by Ohio University Press
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14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 5 4 3 2 1
An earlier version of one section of chapter 4 appeared as “Educating the Murid:
Theory and Practices of Education in Amadu Bamba’s Thought,”Journal of Reli-
gion in Africa 33, no. 3 (2003): 310–27. An earlier version of chapter 7 appeared as
“Contesting Space, Shaping Places: Making Room for the Muridiyya in Colonial
Senegal, 1912–1945,”Journal of African History46, no. 3 (2005): 405–26.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Babou, Cheikh Anta Mbacké.
Fighting the greater jihad : Amadu Bamba and the founding of the Muridiyya
of Senegal, 1853–1913 / Cheikh Anta Babou.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8214-1765-2 (hc : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8214-1765-7 (hc : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8214-1766-9 (pb : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8214-1766-5 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Bamba, Ahmadu, 1852–1927. 2. Muridiyah—Senegal—Biography. 3. Islam
and politics—Senegal—History.4. Islamic sects—Senegal. I. Title.
BP80.B238B33 2007
297.4'8--dc22
2007023162
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Note on Orthography xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Islam, Society,and Power in the Wolof States 20
Chapter 2 The Mbakke: The Foundations of Family Traditions 33
Chapter 3 The Emergence of Amadu Bamba, 1853–95 51
Chapter 4 The Founding of the Muridiyya 77
Chapter 5 Murid Conflict with the French
Colonial Administration, 1889–1902 115
Chapter 6 SlowPath toward Accommodation I
The Time of Rapprochement 141
Chapter 7 Slow Path toward Accommodation II
Making Murid Space in Colonial Bawol 162
Conclusion 175
Appendix 1 IjaazaDelivered to Momar A. Sali by Samba Tukuloor Ka 185
Appendix 2 Sharifian Genealogy of Amadu Bamba from
His Mother’s Side 187
v
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Appendix 3 Amadu Bamba’s Sons and Daughters and Their Mothers 189
Appendix 4 List of the Transmitters of the Qadiriyya wirdWhom
Amadu Praises in His Poem “Silsilat ul Qadiriyya” 191
Notes 193
Bibliography 263
Index 285
vi w Contents
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Illustrations
map
Important places in Amadu Bamba’slife xiv
figures
Figure 2.1 Maaram’s sons and daughters 35
Figure 2.2 The Mbakke and Sy families 37
Figure 2.3 The Mbakke and Jakhate families 38
Figure 2.4 Momar Anta Sali’s sons and their mothers 46
Figure 3.1 Amadu Bamba’s paternal and maternal lineages 53
plates
Following pages 140
Plate 1. Amadu Bamba’sarrival in the port of Dakar on his return from
exile in Gabon
Plate 2. Amadu Bamba teaching disciples in front of his house
Plate 3. The trial of Amadu Bamba
Plate 4. Homecoming celebration in Daaru Salaam
Plate 5. Sokhna Njakhat Sylla, a wife of Amadu Bamba
Plate 6. Cell in the basement of the governor-general’s palace where
Amadu Bamba was kept in custody while awaiting trial
Plate 7. Mausoleum of Jaara Buso, Amadu Bamba’s mother, in Porokhaan
Plate 8. Gigis tree in Porokhaan where Amadu Bamba’s father, Momar
Anta Sali, taught his disciples
vii
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Plate 9. Mosque of Diourbel
Plate 10. Mosque of Tuubaa
Plate 11. Murid businesses in “Little Senegal,” Harlem, New York City
Plate 12. Murids marching during the annual celebration of Amadu
Bamba Day (July 28) in New York City
Plate 13. The late Cheikh Murtala Mbakke, youngest son of Amadu
Bamba, and Mayor David Dinkins at New York City Hall
Plate 14. William Ponty, governor-general of French West Africa
(1908–15)
Plate 15. Amadu Bamba
Plate 16. One of the four small minarets of the great mosque of Tuubaa
Plate 17. The well of mercy, dug at the instruction of Amadu Bamba in
Tuubaa
Plate 18. Mihrab,or prayer niche, of the mosque of Tuubaa
viii w Illustrations
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Preface
This book concerns the genesis and development of the Muridiyya of Sene-
gal, and especially the role of education in its founding. Previous works have
shed light on the political and economic dimensions of the Murid tariqa,and
scholars have expounded on its remarkable capacity to adapt Islam to the
local cultural context. This research draws on the abundant but largely un-
tapped Murid internal oral, written, and iconographic sources, as well as
archival data, to offer a comprehensive reconstruction of the history of the
Muridiyya that pays special attention to the impact of the often overlooked
Murid sheikhs’ and disciples’ voices. The book focuses on the early years of
thetariqa’sfounding, but the discussion of issues such as ethics, educational
practices, sacred space, and memory provides clues for understanding the un-
usual ability of the Murid order to maintain cohesion and continuity across
space and time.
Iwish to acknowledge the assistance and support provided by several insti-
tutions. A fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation’s African Dissertation
Internship Awards funded one year of field and archival research in Senegal.
A merit fellowship from the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State
University made possible a semester of leave devoted to writing. I have bene-
fited from the support of the West African Research Center in Dakar, which
graciously offered office and computer facilities during my fieldwork in Sene-
gal. I am also grateful to Saliou Mbaye, Mamadou Ndiaye, Babacar Ndiaye
and all of the staff of the National Archives in Senegal. For their help, I would
like to thank Al Hajj Mbakke, former head of the library Sheikh ul Khadim in
Tuubaa; Serigne Mustafa Jatara, his successor; and their assistants. Gora Dia
and his colleagues at the library of Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire
(IFAN) have aided greatly. I thank Jean Pierre Diouf and Abou Moussa Ndongo
at the documentation center of the Council for the Development of Social
Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) for their assistance.
Iam particularly grateful to my hosts, colleagues, and informants in Sene-
gal. My friends Aida and Grégoire Lawson welcomed me into their beautiful
ix
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