Performing Realization The Sufi Music Videos of the Taalibe Baye of Dakar
Oludamini Ogunnaike
he Su communities of Dakar have begun to receive serious scholarly attention for their remarkable artistic traditions. Roberts and Roberts’s groundbreaking work on the visual arts of Dakar ( ), work by McLaughlin e subtlety of vessels, in reality, comes from the subtlety of the mean- (, ), Niang ( ), and Hill ( ) on ings they contain Su inuences in popular Senegalese music, and Buggenhagen’s And these meanings are heightened by the subtlety of their vessels work on Mouride pilgrimage videocassettes and DVDs ( ) ings have been made dierent, while all is yet one T have begun to bring these traditions the wider scholarly attention For our spirits are wine and our forms are vine —Ibn al-Fāriḍ and appreciation they deserve. In addition to these art forms, at Khamriyyah the turn of the century, a new genre of Su art began to emerge in Dakar, Senegal: the Su music video. is new genre of Su art diers signi cantly from older videos of performances of Su poetry or music, in that it utilizes the features of the music video genre instead of merely being a recording of a performance of a dierent genre (e.g. the widely available video recordings of poetry recitations and musical concerts). I was introduced to these videos by disciples of the branch of the Tijaniyyah founded by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (d. ), known as Baye Niasse, during a research trip in which I interviewed shaykhs and disciples in Dakar and Medina Baye between January and May Metre and Rhyme cannot contain meaning . is branch of the Tijaniyyah is the most popular Su order For not every vessel can hold every meaning Meaning can never be contained in speech in West Africa, and is known for its controversial practice of tarbi- e Red Sea cannot be held in a jug yah, in which disciples are given an intense regimen of formulas —Maḥmūd Shabistarī to recite until they experience fanā’, annihilation in God. When Gulshān-I Rāz I asked disciples about their experiences of this intense spiritual training, many of them told me that they couldn’t describe their experience in words, but that these music videos could express O O is an assistant professor of religious studies things better than words could. Later, I learned that many disciples at the College of William and Mary. He teaches courses on Islam, Is- systematically watch these videos as a way of reminding them of lamic philosophy, spirituality, and art, as well as African and African their experiences of annihilation in God (fanā’) and of cultivating diasporic religions. Professor Ogunnaike’s research examines the phil- a particular ethical/ psychological/spiritual disposition of focus- osophical dimensions of postcolonial, colonial, and precolonial Islamic ing on (tawajjuh) their spiritual master (shaykh), the Prophet, and and indigenous religious traditions of West and North Africa, especially God. e Su tradition is replete with examples of artistic forms Susm and Ifa. He is currently working on a book entitled Su sm and that serve similar functions—expressing ineable spiritual realities Ifa: Ways of Knowing in Two West African Intellectual Traditions and and inducing/cultivating certain states and dispositions in their maintains a digital archive of West African Su poetry. oogunnaike@ wm.edu audiences—but these music videos mark the transition of this tra- dition into a new artistic genre.
african arts AUTUMN 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 3 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 1 Screenshot from Aïda Faye’s “Delül Ci Yalla” music video, directed by Noël Gueye. Photo: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aj-jZTqCgUI
In this paper, I will analyze two of the most popular of these that these music videos, and the genre as a whole, are perhaps Su music videos, “Delül Ci Yalla” by Aïda Faye and “Baye Your best understood as a “remix” of the popular local genres of zikrs Side” by Maxi Krezy featuring Fadda Freddy and Ndongo D, and poetry recited at Su gatherings throughout Senegal, as they examining the various discursive and nondiscursive strategies share many of the same formal features, functions, and aesthetic/ they employ to express and perform the ineable experiences of performance theory. Finally, I will discuss how these videos are spiritual realization and sanctity. As in most Su texts, the lyr- used as a part of a conscious program of ethical and spiritual ics of both songs are studded with dense allusions to the Qur’an, self-cultivation, and the implications of this and other new-me- ḥadīth, classical Su poetry, and Su doctrines and symbols. dia practices for studies of contemporary African art, as well as However, perhaps even more interesting are the visual symbols Su and Islamic studies. these videos employ to allude to, embody, and perform these is study is intended to be a “close reading” of the sym- ideas, practices, and experiences. bols and symbolism of the two music videos, and so will only For example, in Aïda Faye’s video, she actually “performs” address the social contexts of the performers, the artistic intent the practice of tarbiyah, sitting on the beach (the favored site and process of the performers/producers, and other issues when of these practices among younger disciples in Dakar) with her directly relevant to unpacking the visual and lyrical symbols and prayer beads, adopting many of the physical postures and facial allusions of the two pieces. Readers interested in the history of expressions evinced by disciples undergoing tarbiyah, all while Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse’s branch of the Tijaniyyah are encouraged employing richly layered visual symbolism to illustrate the dier- to consult Rüdiger Seesemann’s excellent work, e Divine Flood ent states (aḥwāl) disciples experience during this process. ese ( ), as well as Zachary Wright’s insightful Living Knowledge images are skillfully combined with lyrics partially derived from in West African Islam ( ), and especially Joseph Hill’s dis- the invocations used during the process of tarbiyah and from the sertation Divine Knowledge and Islamic Authority: Religious poetic oral traditions of Wolof/Arabic Su teachings alluding to Specialization among Disciples of Baay Nas ( ) and his recent fanā’. In her performance, Faye mainly relies on these allusions article “Baay Is the Spiritual Leader of the Rappers: Performing and visual symbols instead of direct lyrics because the experi- Islamic Reasoning in Senegalese Su Hip-Hop” ( ) for a ences of tarbiyah are understood to be ineable by nature. deeper description of the contemporary social, political, and reli- Maxi Krezy’s “Baye Your Side” is a sampling and remix of Bob gious contexts in which these videos were produced. e present Marley’s “High Tide or Low Tide.” e song’s title and chorus study, however, is meant to serve more as a commentary upon come from a pun on the refrain of Marley’s song, “I’ll be by your these two intertextually dense and richly allusive music videos side,” which in the remix becomes, “I’ll be Baye your side,” “Baye than a description of the social scene in which they emerged. “(“father” in Wolof) being the term of aection by which dis- is study is signi cant for several reasons. First, I hope it can ciples refer to Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse. While this rap video is serve as a kind of corrective (extending Asad’s [ ] recommen- more discursively oriented than Aida Faye’s, it also employs a dations to these not-merely-discursive artistic traditions) to the number of fascinating visual eects and symbols to illustrate the tendency of anthropological studies of the Su arts of Senegal to experience of annihilation in the shaykh (fanā’ fī’l shaykh), while miss or gloss over the allusions to wider traditions of Islamic liter- the lyrics employ a wide array of esoteric symbols and concepts atures and symbols, oen quoting ḥadīth and famous Arabic Su to petition and praise Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse and expound his sayings and verses of poetry as “local Wolof proverbs.” Secondly, doctrines. this study will present the aesthetic theories of meaning and per- I will attempt to elucidate the immanent “performance theory” formance current among the audience and performers of these at work in these two videos, with reference to contemporary and music videos, instead of merely subjecting the videos to the lens of classical Su texts of the tradition, in order to better understand contemporary Western theories of performance. Relatedly, it will the aesthetic choices and strategies employed. I will further argue examine the creative strategies which these artists use to perform,
VOL. 51, NO. 3 AUTUMN 2018 african arts Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 | not only their particular urban, Muslim, and Tijani identities, but concerning them in order to make oneself understood to everyone also their experiences of spiritual realization, as well as the ways in who tastes their avor, whatever kind of perception it may be, but as for the Author [God]—“ere is nothing like unto Him” ( :). which these videos are used by other Tijani disciples as a reminder Hence it is impossible for a technical term to tie him down since (dhikr) to provoke or cultivate certain spiritual states and disposi- that which one individual witnesses of Him is not the same as what tions. ese music videos represent a signi cant new dimension of another witnesses in any respect. is is the manner in which He the artistic landscape of the increasingly transnational communi- is known by the gnostics. Hence no gnostic is able to convey to ties of African Su sm, and I hope this study is but the rst of many another gnostic what he witnesses of his Lord, for each of the two gnostics witnesses Him who has no likeness, and conveying knowl- of this new tradition. edge can only take place through likeness. If they shared a form in common … they would establish a technical term as they willed. If AIDA FAYE’S “DELÜL CI YALLA”: PERFORMING THE INEFFABLE one of them accepted that, then everyone could accept that. How do you communicate an experience to someone who has never had it? Or relatedly, how do you translate one form of per- e gnostics among the folk of Allah know that “God never dis- closes Himself in a single form to two individuals, nor in a single sonal experience (a sight, a smell, a feeling, a taste) into another form twice.” Hence for them the situation does not become tied form (speech, writing, music, images, etc.) that others can appre- down, since each individual has a self-disclosure speci c to him- ciate? Poets and painters, composers and critics, philosophers, self, and man sees Him through himself …. Hence he cannot actors, and really all of us creatively struggle with these basic designate a technical term concerning this through which any pos- itive knowledge would accrue to those who discuss it. questions each and every time we attempt to communicate even the most everyday experiences and feelings. If this is true of the So the gnostics know, but what they know cannot be communi- frustration of standing in line or the taste of chocolate, how much cated. It is not in the power of the possessors of this most delightful more so of that which is ineable, impossible to de ne or share? station, higher than which there is no station among the possible things, to coin a word which would denote what they know (Ibn Su artists such as Aida Faye have the added creative challenge of ‘A r a b i quoted in Chittick : ). attempting to communicate the experience of that which has no likeness. e famous Andalusian Su theorist, Ibn ‘Arabi (d. ), whose writings are oen cited by and had a strong inuence upon So what is a Su artist to do? How can one communicate the the Tijani tradition, explains the seeming impossibility of this task: experience of the Real which has no like and is never experienced in the same way twice? Like the false-color images of infrared e science of tastings is the science of qualities. Tastings cannot cameras or deep-space telescopes, various traditions of Islamic be told about except by those who experience them when they (especially Su ) art have found ways to present various concepts come together on a designated technical term. However, when they and intangible spiritual realities to the senses, but what can one have not come together on a term, the tasters cannot communi- do when it comes to e Real Itself, or even one’s necessarily cate their tastings. is concerns knowledge of those things other unique experience of that which has no likeness? Even the Qur’an than God which can be perceived only through tasting, such as sen- sory objects and taking pleasure in them and the pleasure which is remarkably laconic about the Prophet’s experience of the Divine is found through knowledge acquired by reective consideration. Reality at the apex of his heavenly ascent (mi’rāj): He revealed unto It is possible to establish technical terminology in all of this in an his servant what He revealed. e heart was not untrue in what it approximate manner. As for the tasting which occurs during the saw …. When enshrouded the lote tree that which enshrouded it, the witnessing of the Real, in that there can be no technical terminol- ogy. at is the tasting of the mysteries/secrets (al-asrār) and lies eye swerved not nor went astray (:– , –). outside considerative [rational] and sensory experience. e rea- e answer to this paradox lies in the second half of the verse, son for this is as follows: ere is nothing like unto Him ( :), which reads, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing. Like many Su s before and aer him, e things—I mean everything other than God— have likes and similarities. Hence it is possible to establish technical terminology Ibn ‘Arabi “resolves” this seemingly paradoxical verse (how can
3 Integration of multiple selves Aïda Faye, “Delül Ci Yalla,” directed by Noël Gueye Photo: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aj-jZTqCgUI
african arts AUTUMN 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 3 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 something without likeness also be “seeing” and “hearing”—since be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj-jZTqCgUI) these are likenesses, being attributes that we and many animals We will begin by commenting upon the lyrics of the song share?) by explaining that God’s transcendent incomparabil- before turning to the visual symbols of the music video. e song ity (tanzīh) actually necessitates His immanent comparability is sung in Wolof with numerous Arabic quotations and phrases (tashbīh). e argument basically goes: If you declare God to (in bold below) and its lyrics can be translated as: only be completely transcendent, that actually limits Him, since you are saying that He cannot be immanent. But if God is truly ere is no god but God, ere is no god but God transcendent, then He cannot be limited, even by transcendence, Chorus: Return to God, before you are returned to Him and so He must also be immanent. In short, God transcends His Allāh, Allāh, Allāh. ere is no god but God, God. transcendence and is thus Immanent; His incomparable incom- ere is no god but God parability incomparably encompasses similarity. is is the You must know God before death comes. foundation of the special Su science of allusion (ishārah), sign Chorus: Return to God, before you are returned to Him. (ayah), and symbol (ramz). If you don’t return to God until you die, As with many Su artists before her, Aïda Faye (along with Chorus: Return to God, before you are returned to Him. the video’s director, Noël Gueye) relies on this special, evocative You must die before you die. form of symbolism in order to communicate, or more precisely, Chorus: Return to God, before you are returned to Him. evoke a particular experience of the encounter with the Real, fanā’ He is the One and Only (Fig. ). It is important to note that in these Su discourses, such Purity, but not water, subtlety, but not air symbols, whether verbal, visual, or both, operate in a manner that Light, but not re, spirit but not body is very dierent from that of stop signs, mascots, logos, or other Allāh, Allāh, Allāh. ere is no god but God signs that we commonly call “symbols.” Within such Su dis- You threw not when you threw, but rather God threw courses, the symbol (ishārah, ayah, or ramz) is not an arbitrary Allāh, Allāh, Baye, ere is no god but God signi er linked to its signi ed through convention, but is rather Chorus: Return to God, before you are returned to Him. ontologically continuous with that which it symbolizes. Like the ere is no god but God tip of an iceberg, the symbol is the symbolized as it appears in a Chorus: Return to God, before you are returned to Him. particular domain. Because of these ontological connections, such Allāh, Allāh, Allāh symbols are understood to convey the presence (ḥaḍrah) of that ere is no god but God which they symbolize, and thus evoke or provoke an encounter God is God with it. As in the above quotation, Su authors oen use the term “tasting” (dhawq) to refer to direct experience, and so the symbol ANALYSIS OF THE LYRICS or sign can be likened to aroma, perfume, or scent (rīḥ, shamm), Shahādah. e invocation of the shahādah (“there is no god as it oen is in Su poetry. Just as an aroma has an actual physi- but God”) is part of daily Tijani practice, and the repetition of cal continuity and identity with its source and provokes a reaction this phrase is an integral part of the process of tarbiyah. In these in those with a functional sense of smell (salivation, hunger, etc.), contexts, the recitation of the shahādah is understood to erase the so too do symbolic Su allusions have an ontological continuity awareness or consciousness of anything other than God, leading with the experiences or realities they embody, and they also evoke to the state of fanā’ that is the goal of tarbiyah. Aïda Faye is famous responses in su ciently sensitive audiences. for her powerful recitations (zikr in Wolof, dhikr in Arabic) of Having succinctly outlined this approach to symbolism, we will the shahādah at Tijani gatherings, which frequently send listen- now examine how it is employed in Aïda Faye’s music video as a ers into ecstatic states (aḥwāl), and seldom leave dry eyes in the means of communicating the experience of fanā’. (e video can audience. (One such performance can be heard at https://www.
4 Trees coming together Aïda Faye, “Delül Ci Yalla,” directed by Noël Gueye Photo: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aj-jZTqCgUI
VOL. 51, NO. 3 AUTUMN 2018 african arts Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 | youtube.com/watch?v=dPjdxRloLr). As in this song, public recitations of poetry at Su gatherings (gammu in Wolof) oen emerge in the midst of, and are interspersed with, zikr/dhikr of the shahādah. us the repeated motif of the shahādah con- nects the song with the daily invocation of the shahādah during the performance of litanies (which can be public or private), its private invocation during the process of tarbiyah, as well as its public invocation in zikrs at gatherings. is close connection between the repeated refrains of the song and the repetition of Qur’anic phrases and prayers (such as the shahādah) in private and public spiritual practice is important, as Diagram 1 Arcs of creation and return it reveals a shared aesthetic and methodology of repeated invoca- tion (dhikr/zikr). e prolonged repetition of a phrase, whether is process of descent from and return to God is understood in a song, poem, or litany, invites the performer and listener to to occur cosmically, with the creation of the universe; individu- consider its dierent meanings. Each new invocation or repeti- ally, with the birth and death of each person; spiritually through tion represents an invitation to a new and fresh approach to—a spiritual practices that lead to fanā’; and instantaneously through new revelation of—the same reality in a new context. the perpetual renewal of creation described above. us the According to the celebrated Su doctrine of tajdīd al-khalq fī kulli chorus of the song can be understood as calling the audience anāntin or “the renewal of creation at each instant,” everything in to undertake the voluntary, spiritual return to God, before the the cosmos participates in this perpetual and instantaneous reve- involuntary eschatological return takes them back to God. While lation from and return to God. Like the images from a projector or the song’s lyrics focus on these spiritual and posthumous returns on a TV screen, everything in the world is created anew at every to God, as we will explore later, the images of the music video instant, producing the appearance of continuity. us, in this cos- allude to the cosmic and instantaneous returns, which form the mology, although you may seem to be repeating the same thing metaphysical background of the other two returns to God. over and over again, the reality is that each recitation is new and “You must know God before death comes.” distinct because you yourself are new and distinct at every instant. is perpetual creation in the domain of the cosmos is mirrored in Combined with the chorus, this verse equates knowledge of the persistent repetition of invocation in the domain of language, God with the voluntary, spiritual return to Him, and underscores and is one of the reasons why repetition features so prominently in the fact that it must take place before the involuntary return of zikrs and songs such as this one. physical death. e next verse equates this return of knowledge Chorus: Return to God, before you are returned to Him. e with death: motif of return runs through the music video’s title, verses, “If you don’t return to God until you die, you must die before images and is repeated over and over again in its chorus. e you die” theme of “returning to God” is also major motif in the Qur’an, is verse cites the famous ḥadīth, “die before you die,” to which is studded with verses such as Verily from God we come underscore and prove the equation begun in the previous verse: and to Him we are Returning ( :) and To Him the whole aair is returned (: ). Now, a “return” implies an original “coming Knowledge of God = Return to God = Death from,” and this cycle of descent from and return to God is oen Clearly the Prophetic injunction to “die before you die,” indi- described and depicted as two “arcs” (Diagram ). cates that this rst “death” is dierent from the second. Within
5 “Allah” appearing on a rock beneath Faye’s knees Aïda Faye, “Delül Ci Yalla,” directed by Noël Gueye Photo: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aj-jZTqCgUI
african arts AUTUMN 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 3 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 Su sm these two deaths are commonly known as voluntary (spiri- is is a verbatim quotation of one of the most famous verses tual) death (al-mawt al-ikhtiyārī), and involuntary (physical) death of Su poetry, from the celebrated wine-ode (al-khamriyyah) (al-mawt al-ijbārī). While the second death is commonly known, by the Egyptian Su poet Ibn al-Fāriḍ (d. ). is verse (and this rst death, which is equated with fanā’ is less commonly expe- the poem as a whole) is variously interpreted as a description rienced and understood. So what is fanā’? Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse of the Divine Essence, the remembrance/invocation of God describes it as the state in which the disciple (dhikruLlāh), and the pre-eternal light or reality of the Prophet Muhammad (nūr Muḥammadī or ḥaqīqah Muḥammadiyah)— doesn’t see himself, he doesn’t see other than Him, and nothing of the the logos-like reality that is described as the rst creation of God created things, he doesn’t see anything except for the oneness of God through which all of creation came into being. In this verse, the in everything, and this is what is referred to as Real Unlimited Being, where there is no name, no attribute, no action, and no trace, and he qualities of the four elements (water, air, re, and earth [body]) becomes veiled from them [created things] by God just as before he are invoked and then negated, leaving an apophatic unity of was veiled from God by them (Niasse : ). quality or meaning (ma‘anā) beyond separate elements or forms (ṣuwwar). is apophatic turn is reiterated in the next verse, a is state is the culmination of the process of tarbiyah, in which direct quotation from the Qur’an: disciples experience everything, including their own conscious- You threw not when you threw, but rather God threw (:) ness, as God. us they oen make ecstatic utterances such as “I am God,” or “everything is God,” as all traces of multiplicity are is verse describes the beginning of the battle of Badr, in erased. However, this is not the end of the process. In coming to which the Prophet hurled a handful of stones at the larger army fanā’, the disciple is taken from multiplicity to unity, but the next of Quraysh, symbolically destroying them. Ibn ‘Arabi and other step is to unite this unity with multiplicity in a station which is Su authors, including Shaykh Ibrahim, oen quote this verse known as subsistence (baqā’) or the annihilation of annihilation to illustrate the fact that God is the only real “agent” behind all (fanā’ al-fanā’). In this station, the disciple is neither veiled from actions (see Niasse : :) and to illustrate the special state God nor from things, but rather sees things in God and God in of annihilation that is identi ed with the Prophet and described ḥ things. e next verse continues the argument begun above by in a adīth in which God is said to become the “hearing, sight, declaring, He is the One and Only. is verse not only describes hand, and foot” of his beloved servant (see Chittick : –). the unity experienced in fanā’, but on a more practical level In the paradoxical meeting of human and Divine which is fanā’, extends the argument begun in the previous verses. In the most God is identical with His servant from one perspective, and yet basic Islamic understanding, God being “One and Only” means is not, from another. As one scholar notes, quoting Ibn ‘Arabi: that everything comes from Him and must eventually return to “You did not throw, so He negated, when you threw, so He a rmed, Him. As the One and Only, nothing and no one can escape Him, but God threw, so He negated the engendered existence (kawn) so here the artist can be read as exhorting the audience not to of Muhammad, and a rmed Himself as identical (‘ayn) with postpone the inevitable return to God, but rather to embrace it. Muhammad…” reveal[s] the truth that it is God alone who is the When combined with the previous verses, the message seems to agent of all acts, the agent who acts through all the faculties of man. be: you can go either kicking and screaming or with open arms, is truth is a rmed by Ibn ‘Arabi by reference to the words of the famous ḥadīth qudsi, known as the ḥadīth al-taqarrub, “draw- so get to work and return to God. With this argument complete, ing near,” in which God says that when He loves a servant, He is the lyrics now turn to a description of the ineable state experi- “the hearing with which he hears, the sight by which he sees, the enced at the end of the return, fanā’. hand with which he strikes and the foot whereon he walks.” Ibn ‘Arabi draws attention to the important fact that God speaks in the Purity, but not water, subtlety, but not air present tense, saying “I am his hearing, his sight, and his hand,” Light, but not re, spirit but not body “God’s words ‘I am’ show that this was already the situation, but the
6 Eyes opening and closing Aïda Faye, “Delül Ci Yalla,” directed by Noël Gueye Photo: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aj-jZTqCgUI
VOL. 51, NO. 3 AUTUMN 2018 african arts Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 | 7 Disappearing into the ocean Aïda Faye, “Delül Ci Yalla,” directed by Noël Gueye Photo: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aj-jZTqCgUI
servant was not aware. Hence the generous gi which this nearness e primary written source of Tijani doctrine, the Jawāhir gives to him is the unveiling of the knowledge that God is his hear- al-Ma’ānī, records a similar cosmogonic account attributed to ing and his sight (Shah-Kazemi n.d.) Shaykh Aḥmad Tijānī (d. ), the founder of the Tijaniyyah:
is unveiling or realization occurs during fanā’, which is the Know that the Real took out a portion of His Divine Light of the culmination of the process of return and the means through utmost purity and made it a substance, then he placed in that por- which it is achieved—the disciple realizes that it was never him tion what He willed … and He made that portion of Light the site or her, but rather God all along. As Rumi famously wrote, “For of the outpouring of all the Divine Mercy that He apportioned for creation in His pre-eternal knowledge. en he poured out upon years I knocked at the door, but when it nally opened, I found I His creation the knowledge and mercy he had deposited in the had been knocking from the inside!” is theme is reinforced in Muḥammadan Reality…. is light is the Muḥammadan Reality the nal verse of the song which states, “God is God”—the nal and the mercy that ows through its essence, it pours out upon all realization of fanā’. existence, so nothing in existence receives mercy, except through his noble essence (pbuh) …. e rst mercy is the outpouring of existence upon all existents so that they emerge from nonexistence ANALYSIS OF VISUAL SYMBOLS into existence, and the second mercy is the outpouring of Divine Having explored some of the allusions in the lyrics of the song, mercies and blessings upon all beings through which they continue we will now analyze some of the visual symbols of the music to enjoy existence (Sidi ‘Ali Harāzim Barrādah : –). video. As with the lyrics, most of these revolve around the theme of emanation from and return to God, and the related process In both accounts, and in the video, the Muḥammadan Reality and experience of spiritual realization. is described as the rst creative act of God, a piece of His Light Opening Sequence. e evocative opening sequence of the through which the rest of creation is brought into being, just as music video is an illustration of several popular Su cosmogonic the earth is brought into visibility from invisibility by the rising accounts. A small dot expands to form a white circle, which is sun. In the video, the sun is juxtaposed with the Arabic letter rst letter of which then vanishes bā’ (or the point beneath this letter) which, as the ,( ب) ’then replaced by the Arabic letter bā in a brilliant explosion of light from which the earth emerges. the Qur’an, is frequently used to symbolize this aspect of the en the screen cuts to an image of a sunrise and the letter bā’ Muḥammadan Reality in accordance with the traditions, “All ies into place in front of the sun. is sequence makes refer- that is in the revealed books is in the Qur’an, and all that is in ence to a number of Su doctrines regarding the origin of the the Qur’an is in the Fātiḥah, and all that is in the Fātiḥah is in cosmos, such as this one from a twentieth-century, South Asian the basmalah” and “All that is in the basmalah is in the letter Bā’, Su author: which itself is contained in the point that is beneath it” (Lings : ). More prosaically, the idea is that just as all of the let- Allah placed his grace (the Nūr, which shines with the resplen- ters of a book are but a series of dots, or more precisely, just as dence of millions of millions upon millions of suns), all of His the ink of this dot ows through all letters (which themselves mysterious secrets, and the eighteen thousand universes, both seen and unseen, within His essence, His dhāt. One part of that essence emerge from the dot of ink of the pen’s nib), so too does the light He made into a circle (sukūn), made that circle into a dot (nuqtah), of the Prophetic reality ow through and constitute the reality made that dot atomless (without limit [or extension] in time or of all existent things. us the opening sequence of Aïda Faye’s space), made that atomless thing into the mystery called Rahmatul- video combines the symbolism of light and letters to illustrate ‘ālamīn [mercy of all the worlds-a Qur’anic title of the Prophet], ḥ that mystery into Rasūl [the Messenger], the Rasūl into the secret the emanation of the Mu ammadan Reality from the inscruta- and then placed the mīm, ble Divine Essence, and the emergence of the cosmos from this ,[م] sirr), and that secret into the mīm) along with the complete essence, attributes, and secrets of His cre- Muḥammadan Reality. ations within man’s heart (Muhaiyadeen : ). Clouds. e very next image to appear is that of clouds passing
african arts AUTUMN 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 3 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 8 The artist “performs” tarbiyah on the beach Aïda Faye, “Delül Ci Yalla,” directed by Noël Gueye Photo: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aj-jZTqCgUI
in front of the sun. is image continues the theme of manifesta- From the Muḥammadan Reality, God created the sea. From the sea, tion or creation begun in the opening sequence, and is probably a God created foam. e sea cannot be quiet because it was created from a living being and reects the manifestation of God … Of all reference to the Qur’anic verse “and you see the mountains which creatures, the sea is the one that resembles God most in richness, you deem xed, but they are passing away like clouds” ( :), wideness, and generosity. In the sea, we nd sh and pearls; boats which Shaykh Ibrahim quotes as an illustration of the perpet- can circulate without harming the sea in any way. From foam, God ual transformation of God’s manifestations, “Allah may manifest created earth. From earth, God created Adam and Eve. at is why in a tree, but the next moment, this manifestation may move Shaykh Ibrahim said that: “Only God existed before anything else existed, and even now that other beings seem to exist, in fact, only to another tree, or something else. e manifestation of Allah God exists” (Shaykh Hadi Niasse, cited in Kane : ). are constantly evolving and never at a standstill … Allah says in the Qur’an, You see the mountains you deem to be solid, but they us, the previous images of exploding light and letters repre- are moving like clouds ( :)” (Niasse : ). us clouds sent the emergence of Muḥammadan Reality, while these images symbolize the evanescence of creation, and the image of clouds of the ocean represent the next phase in the process of creation in front of the sun illustrates the veiling nature of these Divine and their reversal, as the artist—an earth-made daughter of self-manifestations, which must eventually vanish, revealing the Adam and Eve—returns into the sea and the Divine Reality. face of the Sun. As the Qur’anic verse that is probably the origin Integration of Multiple Selves. On the beach, we are then shown of the Su terms fanā’ and baqā’ says, Everything upon it is pass- seven ghostly images of the artist that disappear into the artist ing away, and there remains the face of your Lord (: ). herself (Fig. ). ese seven images seem to represent the seven Ocean and Beach/Reverse Waves. e next image to appear in ascending levels of the soul described in written and oral Su doc- the music video is of the artist walking towards the beach, prayer trines—the soul that commands to evil (nafs al-‘ammarah), the beads in hand. Many of the disciples of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse blaming soul (nafs al-lawwamah), the inspired soul (nafs al-mul- in Dakar perform their long litanies of tarbiyah on the beach— hamah), the tranquil soul (nafs al muṭma’innah) the content soul not only because of its beauty and solitude, but also because of its (nafs al rāḍiyah) the pleasing soul (nafs al-marḍiyah) and the per- symbolism. e beach is signi cant because it is a liminal zone, or fect soul (nafs al-kāmilah)—all being integrated into the artist as barzakh, between land and sea, earth and water, and is thus natural she advances through these stages in her spiritual journey. Ẓ symbol for the transition between the outward/sensory (al- āhir) Trees Coming Together. Next we see two baobab trees merge into ṭ and the inward/spiritual (al-Bā in) that tarbiyah represents. a larger tree (Fig. ), much like the images that are produced when Furthermore, the ebb and ow of the waves and tides of the you push your eyes together and then release them. One disciple ocean is an o-cited symbol in Su poetry and prose of the per- told me that this image reminded him of the experience in tarbiyah petual emanation from and return to God. e video highlights “when you realize e Outward/Apparent (al-Ẓāhir) and Inward/ this through the arresting image of waves running in reverse, and Hidden (al-Bāṭin) that seemed dierent, are just one reality.” is the repeated motif of the artist wading into the ocean. image underscores the theme of the unity emerging from duality Moreover, as in the previous sequences of images, this ocean or multiplicity simultaneously developed in the lyrics. scene extends the narrative of creation and return by alluding to “Allah” Appearing on a Rock. Another image that evokes a Islamic cosmogonic accounts in which the ocean symbolizes the common set of experiences reported during tarbiyah is depicted “primordial waters” that predate the creation of the world. As one in Figure , in which the word “Allah” appears on a rock atop of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse’s sons explained: which the artist is singing the shahādah. Disciples commonly described “seeing God everywhere” or “in everything” during Before, only God existed. When he wanted other beings to come to existence, he manifested himself in himself. From the being that tarbiyah, which led them to reevaluate the meaning of verses of was his manifestation, God created the Muḥammadan Reality. the Qur’an such as there is nothing that does not hymn His praises,
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but you understand not their praise (:)—“their praise” being e music video’s performance of tarbiyah and fanā’ is some- their very existence in/as God, which is only understood as the thing quite dierent from a discursive description of it, as the disciple begins to enter fanā’. performance elicits an almost reexive sympathetic/mimetic Eyes Closed/Eyes Open. As Aïda Faye continues to passionately response. It’s one thing to hear about someone yawning or get- sing the shahādah on the beach, we are shown close-up shots ting shot, it’s quite another thing to see it. e latter almost always of her tearful eyes closing and then opening, representing the provokes a reexive response—and this seems to be the function artist turning away from the world of appearances and opening of this performance of spiritual realization: to serve as a reminder her eyes to the world of reality (Fig. ). Consistent with broader to those who have undergone this process, and as an encourage- Islamic embodied responses to the sacred, disciples who have ment or provocation to those who have yet to do so. undergone tarbiyah oen report that they cried during and/or aer their experience, and several teared up even recounting BAYE YOUR SIDE: PRAISE AND THE PERFORMANCE OF their experiences to me or while watching the video, explaining ANNIHILATION IN THE SHAYKH that “it takes me back there, to when I did my tarbiyah.” e song “Baye Your Side” by Maxi Krezy, Fadda Freddy, and Disappearing into the Ocean. As the singing and music begin Ndongo D (Fig. ) is primarily a song praising Shaykh Ibrahim to fade, the artist is now no longer on the shore, but waist-deep Niasse, the founder of their branch of the Tijani order, and pray- in the ocean and sinking out of sight (Fig. ). is is a clear and ing for his protection and assistance on the spiritual path. Before powerful symbol of the self vanishing in the Divine, of the com- delving into the remarkable lyrics and fascinating visual imagery pletion of the process of fanā’. us the artist completes the cycle employed in their video, it is important to understand a bit about of creation by vanishing into the dark depths of the sea, returning the wider genres of praise-poetry that inuence it. e song and to the original blackness in which the music video began. music video of “Baye Your Side” are a remix not only of a Bob Performance and Reminder. rough these symbols and lyr- Marley song and certain musical and visual hip-hop tropes, but ics, the artist takes the audience from pre-eternity (azal) when also of the more traditional madīḥ genres of Arabic Su poetry according to the ḥādith, “God was and there was nothing with and Wolofal praise poetry that extol the virtues and attributes Him” (see Chittick : and Ṣaḥīḥ Bukharī Book , ḥadīth of great shuyukh and awliyā’ (saints), exhibit their esoteric doc- ) to the creation of the cosmos through the emanation of and trines (and the performer’s knowledge of them), and implore from the Muḥammadan Reality, to the process of spiritual return their succor and protection (e video can be seen at https:// through tarbiyah and fanā’ in which the artist comes to existen- www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpnPXJcWk). tially realize the commentary upon this ḥādith: “it is now even as As Islam and Arabic literary genres entered West Africa, they it was” (see Chittick : and Ṣaḥīḥ Bukharī Book , ḥadīth entered a region with a plethora of robust and rich traditions of ).e artist actually performs this process of spiritual reali- praise poetry, many of which continue to thrive to the present day. zation and fanā’ by singing lyrics used in tarbiyah, by shooting ese genres of praise poetry usually invoke the memories, feats, the music video in a location commonly used for tarbiyah, and and attributes of ancestors and/or mythical heroes. Moreover, and by actually adopting many of the postures and expressions disci- possibly relatedly, the most popularly performed (and produced) ples commonly adopt in tarbiyah, all while carrying the prayer genre of Arabic-language literature is praise poetry (madīḥ). ese beads used during this process (Fig. ). Furthermore, the lyrics poems in praise of the Prophet, Shaykh Aḥmad Tijānī, and vari- creatively draw on Qur’anic verses, ḥadīth, and Su traditions ous Senegelase shuyukh such as Shaykh Aḥmadu Bamba, Shaykh and literature used to explain fanā’ and tarbiyah, while the visual Ibrahim Niasse, and al-Ḥājj Mālik Sy frequently invoke esoteric sequences allude to the various states disciples report experienc- doctrines to describe and praise the spiritual attributes and reali- ing, as well as symbols the Su tradition commonly employed to ties (ḥaqā’iq) of these gures, as well as their manifestations in their describe these experiences. temporal features and actions. is dimension is not absent from
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traditional West African oral genres, which are more than mere or annihilation (fanā’). Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse described his own attery or historical epics, but also describe mythical and meta- experience of annihilation in these realities in the following way: physical realities. For example, Karin Barber describes the Yoruba tradition of oriki as “collections or strings of name-like attributive A momentous occurrence happened to the humble servant writing epithets, ‘praises’ which are neither narrative nor descriptive, but this in the year aer the Ḥijrah of Muḥammad, upon him be blessings and peace. It was this: I came to abide for a hundred thou- vocative. ey are addressed to their subject or ‘owner,’ and are felt sand years among the days of the Lord. ere I heard the purest, to encapsulate, and evoke in some way that subject’s essential pow- pre-eternal speech in intimate conversation. I became bewildered ers and qualities” (Barber : ). e name of this unique Yoruba and restless, as both rapture and aching were joined in me. genre of orature is derived from the combination of ori (source, en I plunged headlong into the Divine Presence, and I witnessed head, destiny/inner self) and the verb ki (to greet, salute, or even there the reality of the reality of the reality of the reality, in utter provoke/evoke), and thus it means to salute and evoke one’s ori- essentiality, exclusivity, and blind eacement. Nothing was le of gin or inner self. us both forms of praise-poetry, the madīḥ and sensory feelings. I dwelled like this for two thousand years. the traditional praise genres, despite their many dierences, both en something was with me. Existence emerged from me like invoke and evoke their audience’s inner potentialities and realities, shadows or smoke. And I sought aer this existence, and then I was with the Messenger of the Divine Essence, the servant of the Divine which are identi ed with spiritual, biological, or cultural ancestors. Essence and Its secret. And he came close to me and stayed sus- Relatedly, in both types of genres, the recitation or performance of pended until I disappeared in him. He became my essence. en I these works is thought to invoke the presence (ḥaḍrah) of those was overcome with joy, for I was the beloved of the Divine Essence, named and described in them. Despite these similarities, these two Its secret, Its desire. I was he who held Its comprehensive station, to whom the perfection of the Divine Essence was manifest. I resided traditions have remained largely separate, despite existing side by in my state of rapture for one million years. side for centuries; however, they appear to converge in contempo- In this manifestation in the unseen, I did not nd any servant of the rary popular music such as Fatou Guewel’s (herself from a gewel Divine Essence except myself. But then there was another manifes- family) songs in praise of Shaykh Aḥmadu Bamba and his mother tation, in the unseen of the unseen, and I saw the Divine Majesty Mame Diarra Busso. is union of praise genres extends even to in the Divine Beauty. In this presence of the unseen of the unseen, more pop-oriented songs, such as “Baye Your Side.” I was called and named, “O Aḥmad al-Tijānī!” I knew for certain In the music video, the disciples of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse that the Real had no desire for anything, aer the secret, except for me. I kept company with this servant of the Divine Essence, and I employ the invocatory/evocatory dimensions of these traditions helped him and aided him for two million years. to recall, perform, and perhaps even induce the state of annihi- en God made me the father of humanity, and the spiritual support lation in the shaykh (fanā’ fī shaykh), who, like the Prophet, is for the entirety of existent beings, the Adam of souls and spirits. I car- understood as being a profoundly inner spiritual reality of his dis- ried the trust (amānah), and I was addressed with, “O Dāwūd, surely ciples. In the cosmology and anthropology of Shaykh Ibrahim’s we have made you the vicegerent (khalīfah) on the earth” (: ). branch of Tijani Su sm, everything and everyone in the cosmos I looked at the earth, and saw its state, the worlds of sense and of meaning, and then the celestial gathering. “We built the heaven with comes from God through the logos-like spiritual reality of the might, and We it is who made the vast expanse. And we have laid out Prophet, through the spiritual reality of Shaykh Aḥmad Tijani, the earth. Gracious is He who spread it out! And all things We have and then through Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse and his representa- created in pairs, that haply you may reect. erefore ee to Allah, I tives. Since everything in the cosmos comes from these realities, am a warner to you from Him. Set up no other gods besides God. I they must also return to these realities, and in a sense essentially am a warner to you from Him (:–). So I came back to my sen- sory feeling, and it was as if the time period of its occurrence was [no are these realities. As already mentioned, the return to God more than the distance between] the even and the odd. Glory be to through these realities is of two types: voluntary and involun- God the Majestic. He selects whom He will for what He wills, and no tary. e involuntary return is through physical death, and the one outstrips His wisdom. “And He is not asked about what He does, voluntary return is spiritual and is described as a kind of death but they are the ones asked.” ( : ) (Cissé : –).
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e disciples’ experience of annihilation in Shaykh Ibrāhīm, on the criminal-sounding English “penal gang.” However, pinal, which is performed in the music video of “Baye Your Side,” is in the local language of Pulaar, means “to wake up,” and the group understood to be possible because of Shaykh Ibrahim’s status as the glosses “gang” as an punning abbreviation of the Wolof word “father of all humanity and the spiritual support for the entirety of gangoor, meaning, “group or crowd.” e invocation of Marley existent beings.” It is because Shaykh Ibrahim is understood to be in the title and song sample is also signi cant, since he, reggae already identical with the inner realities of these disciples that their music, and Rasta style and culture have become important mark- fanā’ fī’l-shaykh, their existential recognition of this identity, is pos- ers of a kind of black Atlantic, musico-spiritual counter-culture sible. In Tijani sources, these relationships are oen illustrated (oen with Pan-Africanist overtones) that has become popular in diagrams depict two complementary perspectives of the Real, in coastal Senegal, Ghana, and Morocco, among other countries such as the Innermost/Hidden (al-Bāṭin) and the Outermost/All- (for example, see McNee ; Morris ). Encompassing (al-Ẓāhir/al-Wāsi‘). e emanation (fayḍ) from one Chorus and Verse . For the sake of brevity, we will only exam- level of being/consciousness (wujūd) to the next is complemented ine the chorus, second verse, and outro of the song before moving by the fanā’ of one level in the next (Diagram ). on to discuss the images employed in the music video. e cho- With this background, we will now turn to an analysis of the rus of the song goes: lyrics of the song “Baye Your Side,” before turning to its visual symbolism, and conclude with a comparison of these two videos We’re praying to God, to be crazy for Baye and suggestions for future research. Niasse Coumba Abdallah. I’ll be Baye your side. Barham, LYRICS We’re praying to God, to be crazy for Baye Title. First of all, like the song’s sample, the title of “Baye Your Niasse Coumba Abdallah. Side” invokes and puns on the chorus of Bob Marley’s “High Tide I’ll be Baye your side. or Low Tide.” is kind of bilingual punning is a common feature of contemporary Su hip-hop in Senegal. For example, another e term for “crazy” in Wolof, du, is oen used by Taalibe Senegalese hip-hop group calls itself Pinal Gang, an obvious pun Baye (disciples of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse) to refer to describe themselves during and aer the process of tarbiyah, in which they experience annihilation in God, the Prophet, Shaykh Tijānī, Diagram 2 Emanation and annihilation, microcosmic and sometimes Shaykh Ibrahim. is term is aectionately used (left) and macrocosmic (right). to describe the radical transformation of consciousness this process entails—thus the chorus can be glossed as a request for the “Divine Madness” of annihilation in Shaykh Ibrahim (fanā’ fī’l-shaykh) which results in him (“Baye”) always being “by your side,” just as annihilation in God and the Prophet imply perpet- ual nearness and identity with them (see Homan ). In the second verse, Maxi Krezy raps:
You’re the souls and the places. You’re skies and the earth and the seas. You’re the times and the spaces. You’re the master of the skies who brings the light In the universe.
african arts AUTUMN 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 3 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 So Baye, be my love. e Awliyā’ (saints) are the sons of Baye Niasse. I’ve followed you from pre-eternity (Azal) e owner of the sta that splits the seas is Baye Niasse. And the light, that lightning in the heaven, when the angels were Bismillāhi starts with the letter of Bā’. Baye Niasse glorifying Adam, which is when the enemy refused to bow. And the point that is under the letter of Bā’ said: “Baye Niasse.” at’s when Iblis was cursed and was cursed, e birds are tweeting and singing for Baye Niasse. en Adam’s ood of light moved to his son [Seth], that’s why he Baye, he cracked open our hearts and put secrets in them came alone without a twin like his brothers [Cain and Abel]. And he melted us in the deepest oceans. … e greatest teacher is Baye Niasse. Your light was the one that was put into the father of all Muslims, And the greatest doctor of the hearts is Baye Niasse. and then the re became cooolness and peace to Ibrahim, Sheik Mamour Insa is Baye Niasse. and the light passed through Yunus to Yusuf, Idrissa, Harun, Musa, See all our paths are Baye Niasse Nuh, Ayyub, Mariama the virgin to ‘Isa, then that light moved to See, even our hands and eyes are Baye Niasse the Noble city of Mecca Oh our families are Baye Niasse. (Makkat al-Mukarramah) and call itself Muḥammad ibn ‘Abdallāh And even our ears are Baye Niasse. [the name of the Prophet], And all we are is Baye Niasse. en the Muḥammadan Reality (Ḥaqīqah al-Muḥammadiyah) Maxi Krezy is Baye Niasse. continued to soar over to Medina Baye and called itself Ibrahim Fadda Freddy is Baye Niasse. ibn ‘Abdallah [Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse]. Oh, Nongo D also is Baye Niasse. Baye … Baye … Baye … BAAAAYE. ese verses summarize the Tijani (and general Su ) prophe- tology in which God rst creates the Light of the Prophet (nūr e rst verse is an expression of the Tijani conception of saint- Muḥammadī), which is then passed on through the line of Qur’anic hood, derived from Ibn ‘Arabi’s theories in which all saints receive prophets until it comes to the Prophet Muḥammad; the lyrics then their sanctity from the seal of Muhammadan Sanctity (khatm identify this light as being manifest in the person of Shaykh Ibrahim al-wilāyah al-Muḥammadiyah), who in the Tijani tradition is Niasse. is particular doctrine is also alluded to in the passage by identi ed with Shaykh Aḥmad Tijānī. In Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse’s Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, where he identi es it with the Qur’anic branch of the order, Shaykh Ibrahim was called the “seal of the “trust” (amānah) and vicegerency (khilāfah). e “lightning in the seal” and was believed to be the intermediary between Shaykh heaven” is an allusion to the description of the pre-existent reality Aḥmad Tijānī and all other saints, who are thus his “sons.” e of the Prophet found in the Tijani prayer the Jawharat al-Kamāl second verse is an allusion to the Qur’anic verse en We inspired (recited several times daily as a part of the Tijani litany), whose rst Moses, saying: Smite the sea with thy sta. And it parted, and each sentences describe the Muḥammadan Reality as: part was as a mountain vast … ( :) and the common mystical interpretation of the story of the Exodus as symbolizing the soul’s O God, blessings and peace be upon the source/essence/spring passage from darkness and oppression (ẓulmah) into light (nūr). (‘ayn) of Divine Mercy, Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse is here likened to the prophet Musa, as e realized ruby that encompasses the center of understandings being the one who has the God-given means of blazing and lead- and meanings, e light of the existentiated existents, ing souls along the path from the “slavery” of sin and ignorance e Adamic possessor of the Divine Truth into the “promised land” of sanctity and knowledge. e next e brightest ash of lightning that lls the rain clouds of blessing. verses employ the same symbol of the letter bā’ and the bismillah discussed above, except that here, Shaykh Ibrahim is described as Outro. e song then builds to the outro, in which Fadda being a word spoken by the dot underneath this bā’, underscoring Freddy sings: the doctrine of the emanation of his spiritual reality from that of the Muḥammadan Reality, which is identi ed with the dot.
13 Performers overlaid with portrait of Shaykh Ibrahim Maxy Krezy featuring Fada Freddy n Ndongo, “Baye Your Side” Photo: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=7Vpn1PXJcWk
VOL. 51, NO. 3 AUTUMN 2018 african arts Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 | e following verses poetically describe the process of tarbiyah theories of these genres into a new medium. Both videos employ and identify the artist’s own shaykh murabbi (initiating shaykh), performances and richly layered visual symbolism instead of Shaykh Mamour Insa, with Shaykh Ibrahim. en begins a series direct lyrics (especially in the case of Faye’s video) in part because of identi cations with Shaykh Ibrahim which echo the famous the states of fanā’ (annihilation in God in “Delül Ci Allah” and ḥadīth nawāl, which reads, “My servant does not cease drawing annihilation in Shaykh Ibrahim in “Baye Your Side”) are under- near to me through supererogatory acts of worship until I love stood to be ineable, so the artists avail themselves of symbols and him. en when I love him, I become his hearing with which images common to Su discourse and perform the experience of he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he tarbiyah and annihilation in Shaykh Ibrahim (respectively) com- grasps, and his foot with which he walks ….” (see Chittick : mon to many in their audience. is serves as a reminder (dhikr) – and Ṣaḥīḥ Bukharī Book , ḥadīth ).is ḥadīth is com- to the initiated and an encouragement to the uninitiated, much monly cited by Su authors as a description of annihilation in as the various local genres of Su poetry are used. God (fanā’ fī Llāh), and thus the similar language found in this is kind of intertextuality is characteristic of music videos verse can be understood as a description and declaration of the more generally, as Darley notes: artists’ annihilation in Shaykh Ibrahim (fanā fī’l-shaykh). In common with other genres of contemporary visual culture at IMAGES issue here, music video exists as a form that refers primarily to Right aer this description of the artists’ eyes, hands, and ears other texts … music video is part of an accelerating tendency to take already (re)produced signs themselves as the subject of refer- being Shaykh Ibrahim, the video cuts to an evocative image ence or as material for ‘new’ or further instances of (audio) visual depicting the artist’s head enshrouded or completely annihilated textuality (Darley : ). in light (Fig. ). is serves as a powerful visual illustration of and commentary on the verses of the song describing annihilation. is postmodern proliferation of free-oating signi ers charac- Moreover, this theme of annihilation in the shaykh is under- terizes situationist analysis of new media in general. As Lawrence scored by the repeated and almost subliminal ashes of images Law writes (building on Guy Debord’s theory of “the spectacle”): of Shaykh Ibrahim (such as at : of the music video) and the artists own shaykh, Shaykh Mamour Insa Diop (: of the music We live in a spectacular society, that is, our whole life is surrounded video). ese repeated and unexpected appearances of the images by an immense accumulation of spectacles. ings that were once of the shuyukh parallel disciples experiences during tarbiyah of directly lived are now lived by proxy. Once an experience is taken “intermittent ashes of light” that eventually become more stable out of the real world it becomes a commodity. As a commodity the spectacular is developed to the detriment of the real. It becomes a and permanent as they fully experience annihilation. Moreover, substitute for experience (Law ). they give the viewer the impression of getting brief glimpses of the omnipresent realities of the shaykh(s), and the fading in and out However, these music videos, which come from a very dierent between the images of the artists and those of these shaykhs illus- theoretical and social context than that from which situation- trates the relationships of identity and annihilation between them. ist theory emerged, function in a very dierent way. ese Su Even more subtly, in several scenes (oen during the chorus), music videos point their audiences not only beyond the domain what appears to be a magni ed version of a popular picture of of media spectacles, but also beyond the spectacle of everyday life Shaykh Ibrahim (Fig. ) is overlayed with footage of the artists towards the direct experience of the Real itself. performing, giving the appearance that they are actually inside of ese music videos are oen used to serve similar functions or surrounded by Shaykh Ibrahim (Fig. ). is is another sub- as zikrs and praise poetry: to invoke and evoke spiritual reali- tle but powerful and evocative symbol of the artists’ relationship ties (ḥaqā’iq) and provoke spiritual states (aḥwāl) as a part of a with Shaykh Ibrahim, as depicted in Figure . conscious program of ethical and spiritual self-cultivation. Some When disciples played this video for me, they oen teared up disciples reported semi-regularly watching these videos on their or explained that it took them back to their experiences of tar- phones, complementing their daily practice of prayers, litanies, biyah, “made them feel close to Shaykh Ibrahim,” or reminded and recitation of poetry. is new genre of music video coexists them “who they really were, and the mystery/secret (sirr) of with and complements the Wolof, Pulaar, and Arabic poetry of who Shaykh Ibrahim really is.” us we can see how this video Senegalese Su sm in some senses, extending these genres onto represents a performance of a particular mystical experience or the smartphones and screens of twenty- rst-century urban state (the ḥāl of fanā’ fī’l-shaykh) that simultaneously serves as youth. I hope these Su music videos attract more scholarly a reminder (dhikr), an invocation/evocation, and even a prov- attention and commentary, although the academy is only now ocation of this state for those who have experienced it, and an beginning to pay serious attention to the older art forms upon invitation to those who have yet to do so. e performance both which these music videos are based. Nevertheless, future studies comes from and leads back to the state of annihilation in Baye should also focus on the musical elements of these music videos, Niasse, just as Aïda Faye’s music video is a performance of anni- which for reasons of brevity, I was unable to seriously address hilation in God (fanā’ fī’l Allāh) that is understood to spring from in this paper. Although this genre and medium are new, its and lead back to this state. intended function is the same as all Su art, to imitate the Divine creative act by reaching out into the world of form and metaphor CONCLUSION to return it to the world of spirit and meaning. ese two videos illustrate how such “Su music videos” draw upon well-established traditions of zikrs and praise-poetry, creatively extending the characteristic features, symbols, and
african arts AUTUMN 2018 VOL. 51, NO. 3 Downloaded from| http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar_a_00414 by guest on 26 September 2021 Notes quoted above: “God was and there was nothing with Kane, Ousmane. . Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellec- Him,” and its commentary, “It is now as it was then.” tual History of Muslim West Africa. Cambridge, MA: 1 On the controversies surrounding Shaykh Ibra- 22 For example, the Tijani classic of al-ḥājj ‘Umar Tall, Harvard University Press. him’s tarbiyah, see Seesemann 2011: ch.2–3, Epilogue. Rimāḥ ḥizb al-Raḥīm ‘alā Nuhūr ḥizb al-Rajīm (1876– 2 A ḥadīth of the Prophet not found in canonical Law, Lawrence. . Images and Everyday 1878) contains several such diagrams, one on p. 30. sources but commonly cited by Su authors. Life [pamphlet]. https://archive.org/details/ 23 is is a traditional Senegalese “praise title” for 3 Al-Khamriyyah, Ibn al-Fāriḍ. SpectacularTimesImagespdf those of the Niasse family. I am grateful to Fatoumata 4 A verbatim quote of Qur’an 8:17. Seck for bringing this to my attention. Lings, M. . A Su Saint of the Twentieth Century. 5 I am grateful to Mahmoud Oumar ierno Athie 24 An allusion to Qur’an 2:34. Aligarh, India: Premier Publishing. for his help in translating the lyrics of this song. 25 An allusion to Qur’an 21:69, We said: O re, be 6 Based on the Qur’anic passages, Every day He McLaughlin, F. . “In the Name of God I Will Sing coolness and peace for Abraham (Pickthall translation). is upon a [new] aair (55:29) and “they are in doubt Again, Mawdo Malik the Good: Popular Music and the 26 e home and burial place of Shaykh Ibrahim about a new creation” (50:15). Senegalese Su Tariqas.” Journal of Religion in Africa Niasse and physical center of his branch of the Tijani order. 7 An allusion to the Qur’anic description of the ( ): – . 27 I am grateful to Mahmoud Oumar ierno Athie Prophet’s proximity to God at the height of his Noctur- and Fatoumata Seck for their help in translating the McLaughlin, F. . “Islam and Popular Music in nal Ascent (mi’rāj) in Surah Najm, two bows length or lyrics of this song. Senegal: e Emergence of a ‘New Tradition’.” Africa nearer (53:9). See Chittick 2014. 28 Based on and alluding to the ḥadīths, “I was a (): –. 8 It is also reminiscent of the ḥadīth (possibly prophet while Adam was between water and clay” spurious) o-cited by disciples of Shaykh Ibrahim McNee, Lisa. . “Back from Babylon: Popular (variant cited in Bayhaqī n.d.: 1:83, ḥadīth 110) and the Niasse in which God says, “Seek to know Me before Musical Cultures of the Diaspora, Youth Culture, and previously cited, “e rst thing that God created was you worship Me, for if you do not know Me, how could Identity in Francophone West Africa.” Critical Studies my light.” you worship Me?” (M.D., interview with the author, (): – . 29 M.D. and other taalibes, interview with author, March 19, 2014. Dakar, Senegal. French/Arabic. Unless March 12, 2014, Dakar, Senegal. French. Morris, Julia. . “Baay Fall Su Da’iras: Voicing otherwise indicated, all translations are by the author). 30 M.D. and other taalibes, interview with author, Identity rough Acoustic Communities.” African Arts 9 One could even call this the “return of the March 12, 2014, Dakar, Senegal. French. (): –. return,” which would complete the cycle in Figure 2: 31 If a picture is worth a thousand words and music from creation to the Real, and then back to creation. Muhaiyaddeen, M. R. Bawa. . e Resonance of Allah: is the universal language, it would seem completely 10 Likewise, in the Ibrīz of ‘abd al-‘Azīz Dabbḡh, an Resplendent Explanations Arising from the Nūr, Allāh’s futile to try to discursively capture a music video, and important sourcebook of Tijānī doctrine, Shaykh Dabbāgh Wisdom of Grace. Philadelphia, PA: Fellowship Press. thus many fascinating aspects of these videos (includ- describes the cosmos as emerging from the egg of the ing their musical dimensions) had to be excluded from Niang, Abdoulaye. . “‘Preaching Music’ and Islam Muḥammadan Reality. See O’Kane and Radtke 2007: 752. this paper for the sake of brevity. in Senegal: Can the Secular Mediate the Religious? e 11 ese ḥadīth are quoted by the Yemeni Su author Case of Rap and Mbalax Music.” African Communica- and prominent commentator upon Ibn ‘Arabi, ‘abd tion Research (): –. al-Karīm Jīlī (d. 1424) in his treatise commenting upon References Niasse, I. . “Al-Sirr al-akbar wa’l-Kibrīt al-Aḥm ar.” them, al-Kahf wa’l-Raqīm, which was most likely the basis Asad, Talal. . “e Idea of an Anthropology of In Muhammaḍ Maigari (ed. and commentary), for this work of the Algerian Shaykh Aḥmad al-‘Alawī. Islam.” Qui Parle ( ): –. 12 e Muḥammadan Reality is also frequently al-Shaykh Ibrahim Aniyas [sic] al-Sinighālī hayātuhụ identi ed with the Qur’anic “Pen” due to the ḥadīth: Barber, K. . I Could Speak until Tomorrow: Oriki, wa arāʾuhu wa taʿālīmuhu, pp. –. Beruit: Dār “the rst thing God created was my light” (Biḥār al-An- Women, and the Past in a Yoruba Town. Washington, al-ʿArabiyya. DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. wār 57:309) and “e rst thing God created was the Niasse, I. . Pearls from the Divine Flood: Selected pen” (Tirmidhī, ḥadīth 94). Bayhaqī. n.d. Dalā’il al-nubuwwah, vol. . Beirut: Dār Discourses from Shaykh Al-Islam Ibrahim Niasse, trans. 13 In his Jawāhir al-Rasā’il, Shaykh Ibrahim al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyah. Zachary Valentine Wright. Atlanta, GA: African Amer- Niasse cites this verse as an allusion to the previously ican Islamic Institute. discussed doctrine of tajdīd al-khalq, the renewal of Buggenhagen, Beth. . “Islam and the Media of creation at every instant. See Niasse n.d.: 2:126. Devotion in and out of Senegal.” Visual Anthropology Niasse, I. . Fī Riyāḍ al-Tafsīr li-l-Qur’ān al-Karīm. 14 In his earliest-known work, Rūḥ al-Adab, Shaykh Review ( ): –. vols. Tunis: al-Yamāma. Ibrahim Niasse advises Tijani disciples to sit on the Chittick, W. . Su Path of Knowledge: Ibn Niasse, I. n.d. Jawāhir al-Rasā’il wa-yaliyya ziyādat shore and contemplate the waves rolling in (verse 94). Al-ʻArabi’s Metaphysics of Imagination. Albany: State al-jawāhir al-ḥāwī ba‘ḍ ‘ulūm waīlat al-wasā’il, ed. While in other Taalibe Baye Music videos (e.g., Ling- University of New York Press. Aḥmad Abū’l Fatḥ. vols. Nigeria: Aḥmad Abū’l Fatḥ. star and Maxi Krezy’s “Dieuredief Baye”: https://www. Chittick, W. . e Self-disclosure of God: Principles youtube.com/watch?v=G jkjCdEBg), the ocean can O’Kane, J., and B. Radtke. . Pure Gold from the of Ibn Al-ʻArabī’s Cosmology. Albany: State University be employed as a symbol of the celebrated fayḍah or Words of Sayyidi ‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Dabbagh. Boston, of New York Press. ood of spiritual illumination which Shaykh Ibrahim MA: Brill. brought, I do not believe this is the primary referent of Chittick, W. . “Ibn ‘Arabi.” Stanford Encyclope- Roberts, A.F., and M.N. Roberts. . A Saint in the the symbol of the ocean in this video. dia of Philosophy,
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