Open Collections

Atte oudeyi, Azizou

Database of Religious History (DRH)

The country named Senegal is a creation of French colonialism in the late nineteenth century. The majority of the population are Muslims. One of the most influential Muslim groups is the Muridiyya founded by Ahmadu Bamba at the dawn of French colonialism. The capital of Muridiyya is Touba. The Murids practice a mystic Islam. The Murids are now spread throughout the world with the largest diaspora in New York. They hold social, political, and economic power in Senegal. Ahmadu Bamba was born in a learned Muslim family and was educated by his parents. He chose Sufi path for its Islamic mysticism. He was attracted to Sufism for its ascetism and rejection of materialism in a context of the Wolof ruling class exploitation and the beginning of French colonization. He preached a peaceful Islam in his resistance against French colonialism. He privileged education because in his Sufi's conception of Islam, the war is against one’s soul (nafs in Arabic) or the bestial self of human being. He conceived the Tarbiyya as a mystical pedagogy to promote good work ethic and control the nafs. He organized his disciples into working groups known as daara tarbiyya which later became villages and towns. Bamba combined a mysticism rooted in Sharia with a focus on educating the heart. Islamic jurisprudence and the oneness of God was primordial to him, and he saw them as the soul and body of Islam. He rejected extreme ascetism and sees a Murid or a disciple as being an integral part of one’s community and being a mystic at the same time. The only time ascetism is allowed in Muridiyya is when the shaykh has to prepare himself for an imminent danger or when living in a politically corrupt environment where he is not listened to. His conception of Muslim education is focused on the Murid’s contribution to his community. Seeking a lifelong knowledge both esoteric and exoteric should be the primary goal of the disciple and the Qur’an should be at the center of this knowledge while striving to apply this knowledge in everyday life. The Taalim or exoteric education’s goal is to feed the brain, the tarbiyya or the esoteric knowledge is about strengthening the soul and the tarqiyya which is the highest and leadership level concerns a complete detachment from material world. In Bamba’s teachings, the Murid student should strive early in his life to combat ignorance, to be useful to his community, to enrich the science of Islamic religion and to put in practice the teachings while submitting to his Shaykh or teacher when seeking God.

Other

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0416023

Non UBC

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/