This is a history of intersections. An analysis of the development of the Murid Sufi order in Senegal in West Africa necessitates a certain blurring of historical and geographical boundaries and paradigms. This is at once a study of West African history, Islamic reform, Sufism, and European colonization. More specifically, this book examines the history of one branch of the Murid order, its founder, its primary town and environs, and its disciples in relation to Murid perceptions of their place in multiple intersecting histories. Furthermore, this Sufi order is presented as a participant in modernization rather than an opponent or...

This chapter proceeds from the contention that the advent of the Murid Sufi order was a part of a larger historical process involving the progression of Islam across West Africa. In this sense, it is necessary to examine the major trends within the history of Islam in West Africa and how those trends both shaped and reflected the larger societal context of West African history. To go a step further, the societal context within West Africa was continually affected by events from outside of the region emanating from either North Africa or the Middle East and later from Europe. What...

This statement was made by a Murid historian and archivist, living in Darou Mousty, in reply to the question of how Amadu Bamba and the advent of the Muridiyya had affected the history of the region. It is actually a commonly held view among Murids and is not confined solely to Murid intellectuals. Two of the most important aspects of this historical interpretation are the allusions to a state of political anarchy prior to the emergence of the Muridiyya and the belief that jihad is truly a “holy war of the soul” or an internal struggle within oneself rather than...

In the years following 1886, Amadu Bamba’s notoriety and influence increased, and as more and more disciples were attracted to him, the Muridiyya began to constitute a real force in the new colonial society that was emerging. Within this new environment, French power, though not fully established, was respected by all. The colonial chiefs and the more conservative elements of the Muslim faction, meanwhile, had their own agendas that sought to preserve their own status and power. The Murids, due to their growing numbers, were perceived by some sëriñ of the older generation and the new colonial chiefs as religious...

An examination of the founding and early settlement of Darou Mousty provides us with an excellent laboratory in which to examine how the Murid synthesis was actually acted upon by Murid leaders and disciples. In other words, how did a new community translate Amadu Bamba’s reformist and Sufi ideology into their daily lives and actions, and in a sense, pursue this avenue of modernization. We must also consider how this Murid community related to the colonial administration and the modernization that was coming into rural Senegal from French rule. Darou Mousty largely reflected how relations between the French and the...

In the era following World War I, Darou Mousty continued to grow and to enjoy a good deal of relative prosperity. Maam Cerno further strengthened his position as the Murid leader of Cayor while the town became an even more attractive location for immigrants. Considering all of the satellite villages that Maam Cerno created near Darou Mousty and the agricultural production of the region, it could be argued that Maam Cerno had effectively created a sphere in which Murid modernization could take place. After World War I, Darou Mousty was transformed from a Murid settlement into the Murid center of...

In his influential book Imagined Communities, Benedict Anderson examined the emergence of Western nationalism as a cultural artifact that was spawned as the result of the coming together of different historical forces.¹ It was imagined because the community was so large that not all of the members knew each other and therefore had to trust in a common image or ideal that bound them together in the absence of personal relationships. It was a community because in spite of individual differences and inequalities within the group, a feeling of belonging in an ultimately egalitarian sense existed among all members of...

Following two days of interviews in Wolof with a Murid intellectual and archivist in Darou Mousty, my research assistant and I were exiting his compound when our host shook my hand and said to me in English, “I know your country very well.” The man with whom we had been discussing Murid history then laughed and told me that he had driven a taxi in the Bronx for a number of years. After earning enough money, he had returned home to devote himself to studying and preserving the history of the order and that of Darou Mousty and Maam Cerno,...