DOCSLIB.ORG

Staging Touba: the Performance of Piety

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Staging Touba: the Performance of Piety Journal of Religion in Africa 48 (2020) 312-346 brill.com/jra Staging Touba: The Performance of Piety Kate Kingsbury Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada [email protected] Abstract Touba, in Senegal, is the equivalent to Mecca for Sufi Mouride Muslims, who embark on an annual pilgrimage called Le Grand Magal to celebrate the founder of their faith, Cheikh Amadou Bamba. When devotees describe their sacred city they frequently com- pare Touba to heaven, juxtaposing it to the materiality and chaos of other Senegalese cities, as though it was distinct from these lieux. Yet Touba shares many similarities in terms of its economic importance with other metropolises. Mourides despite pre- senting themselves as a united religious community, have differences of opinion and even praxis. This paper explores the imagination of Touba and the Mouride order by Mourides, positing that the sacred sites of Touba comprise a stage for the performance of piety and the generation of a particular Mouride ontology through which they see Touba, their order and the world. Keywords Senegal – Touba – Mourides – Pilgrimage – Magal – Africa – Religion In 1887, a Senegalese Sufi saint wandering across the arid sands of the Sahelian desert on a mystical retreat to find God, sought respite from the blistering sun, recount hagiographic tales. In the middle of the arid wilderness he came across a lone baobab tree. Reclining against its trunk in the shade of its canopy, it is said that he experienced a hierophanic vision. The angel Gabriel soared down from the heavens to deliver a divine message to the sitting Sufi. Gabriel prophesied that one day that barren spot would comprise an immense sacred centre. That day the Sufi Saint, the founder of the Mouride order known as Cheikh Amadou Bamba, named the lieu Touba. By 1963 Touba boasted the © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/15700666-12340150Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 05:16:34PM via free access Staging Touba: The Performance of Piety 313 largest mosque in West Africa and a few decades later the once desolate loca- tion became the second largest city in Senegal. In 2019, like every year since Bamba’s death, millions of Senegalese assem- bled to celebrate and venerate the Cheikh. Many, like Bamba, are impelled to visit due to mystical visions, such as Aida and her husband, both originally from Christian families. Aida kept dreaming of Touba and the Sufi saint Bamba. She related that she constantly encountered the Cheikh’s devotees in her home- town of Dakar. They told Aida the tale of Touba. Convinced it was a sign, she and her husband Ousmane journeyed to Touba for the first time in 2001 where they both converted to Mouridiyya. Aida told me ‘I experienced a revelation. I felt that I had found my place at last in this heaven on earth. I felt sanctity, Godliness, and a deep sense of piety. I knew this was a place of God, it was my community and His forever.’ … Touba, located in the Western Sahel, was established as a small village in 1887. It was built to honour Cheikh Amadou Bamba, the religious leader who found- ed the Mouride faith in 1883 (Guèye 2002:56). The Mourides are a uniquely Senegalese Sufi order who account for approximately a third of the nation’s population1. There are also numerous Mouride migrants living abroad (Bava 2003, Riccio 2006). The city now boasts the largest mosque in West Africa, known as La Grand Mosquée. Inside the edifice is Bamba’s tomb. It is a holy city for disciples, who are known as talibés. Every November, on the 18th day of the Islamic month of Safar, approximately 5 million Senegalese2, travel to Touba to attend le Grand Magal, an annual religious rite honouring the found- er of the faith. Talibés circumambulate holy monuments and provide obla- tions to their religious leaders, in particular the Khalifa General, the head of all Mouride marabouts, in order to receive blessings in their ventures and pay their respects (Coulon 1999). Touba is a bustling globalised metropolis, and as detailed the second largest city in Senegal. It is connected, through trade and through mobile migrant Mourides, to the four corners of the globe. Like any metropolis it can be chaotic, noisy and even dangerous, especially as due to its religious status it benefits from being beyond state legislature, functioning as an autonomous territory run by Mouride leaders (Guèye 2002:186, 313). As such it has become a haven for selling black market goods and refuge for recidi- vists seeking to escape authorities. Yet, Touba is depicted by disciples as a peaceful city, even as paradise on earth. It is said, by talibés, to be distinct and different from other major urban Journal of Religion in Africa 48 (2020) 312-346 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 05:16:34PM via free access 314 Kingsbury conurbations, such as Dakar or Rufisque. According to this point of view, Touba is characterised by a Durkheim dichotomy contrasting an ‘ideal and transcen- dental world’ far from the secular, profane ‘material world’ (Durkheim 1965:52) of Dakar and the rest of Senegal. Indeed, Touba frequently features in disciples’ accounts as a critique of the secular, materialist, modern world. As Momar told me, the Mouride owner of my local shop, who was keen to educate me on Le Grand Magal before my first Magal in 2007: ‘Touba is a place for communion with God, far from the troubles of Dakar, where you forget greed and envy.’ Le Grand Magal is portrayed by Mourides as a purely religious affair where all Mourides unite in devotion, yet there are many other sides to this rite, and to this city beyond those portrayed in academic articles and disciples accounts as I shall evince. This paper probes below the surface of the city as imagined and portrayed by Mourides, to deconstruct depictions of Touba and evince its complexities. The Mourides and the Mouride faith itself are far less homogeneous than dis- ciples, marabouts or even certain scholars3 describe and Touba, although por- trayed by Mourides as far from the chaos of other cities, is hectic and full of the contradictions that are inherent to all large metropolises. Touba is the site of continual controversy and contestation. Marabouts, each with their own per- spectives and interests, vie for land, power, resources and followers. Disciples of different orders, known as tariqas, like their leaders, have alternative con- ceptions of what it means to be Mouride. It is not uncommon for talibés of dissimilar orders and branches to feud and even engage in physical fights, each claiming their marabout is prepotent. Yet despite these apparent contradictions, depictions of the city by Mourides always focus on the idea of a unified corpus of devotees in a tran- quil haven that is often stated to be heaven on earth. Nevertheless, as Schielke reminds us, to assume that all pious peoples in their endeavours and rites are consistently coherent and that religion itself is practiced in a manner that is perfectly unflawed and free of discrepancies is naïve and short-sighted (2009, 2015). Furthermore, it denies scholars the opportunity to understand the ‘frag- mented nature’ of faith and the faithful who as a rule, rather than an exception, embrace ‘double standards, fractures and shifts’ in their spirituality, morality and religious realities (Schielke 2009:S38). I posit that in the context of these contradictions and inconsistencies, the rites that take place once a year at le Grand Magal serve to veil the disunity and disorder that exists, whilst reifying, reinforcing and coalescing the symbolic Mouride system. Touba’s central mosque, engirded by a plethora of other reli- gious sites, functions as a theatrum sacri. It is a stage for religion to be enacted, Journal of Religion in DownloadedAfrica 48from (2020) Brill.com09/29/2021 312-346 05:16:34PM via free access Staging Touba: The Performance of Piety 315 belief to be affirmed and a model of the Mouride worldview to be manifested and reified by disciples. It is a façade that conceals the chaos of Touba. These rites allow an impalpable religious ideology to exist in the imagination by being rendered incarnate in mimetic ‘techniques du corps’ (see Mauss 1936). On this stage, religious rites are regularly enacted, physically, materially and psychically generating and regenerating Mouridiyya. Faith ‘must always be ac- tively made and be witnessed being made’ (Gharavi 2011:18). The rites enacted ensure Mourides continue to view Touba and their reli- gious order through the lens of this symbolic system. This explains why disci- ples and their leaders use a specific spiritual lexicon to describe the metropolis and their pilgrimage experiences, whilst omitting to mention the mundane activities that take place in Touba. Like beauty, ‘holiness exists in the eye of the beholder’ (Verschaffel 2012:36). Mourides envision Touba through the optic of this sacred worldview, having no access to a ‘reality’ independent of that sym- bolic lexicon. As Turner has expounded in his concept of ‘social drama’, functionally rit- uals are also vital for resolving potential conflicts (Turner 1974). They act as redressive mechanisms easing societal tensions by allowing for crises to be provisionally resolved through acts that bring about communitas, which he de- scribes as an intense community spirit which functions as a means of ‘binding diversities together and overcoming cleavages’ (Turner 1974:206). Communitas itself becomes a symbol. The devotees physically become part of a sacred dramaturgy that reinforces belief in the religious symbolic system, bolstering their own belief conjointly with that of fellow disciples. The Greek word drama is derived from dromenon which means religious ritual, literally things done (Harrison 1951:49).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Road Travel Report: Senegal
    ROAD TRAVEL REPORT: SENEGAL KNOW BEFORE YOU GO… Road crashes are the greatest danger to travelers in Dakar, especially at night. Traffic seems chaotic to many U.S. drivers, especially in Dakar. Driving defensively is strongly recommended. Be alert for cyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians, livestock and animal-drawn carts in both urban and rural areas. The government is gradually upgrading existing roads and constructing new roads. Road crashes are one of the leading causes of injury and An average of 9,600 road crashes involving injury to death in Senegal. persons occur annually, almost half of which take place in urban areas. There are 42.7 fatalities per 10,000 vehicles in Senegal, compared to 1.9 in the United States and 1.4 in the United Kingdom. ROAD REALITIES DRIVER BEHAVIORS There are 15,000 km of roads in Senegal, of which 4, Drivers often drive aggressively, speed, tailgate, make 555 km are paved. About 28% of paved roads are in fair unexpected maneuvers, disregard road markings and to good condition. pass recklessly even in the face of oncoming traffic. Most roads are two-lane, narrow and lack shoulders. Many drivers do not obey road signs, traffic signals, or Paved roads linking major cities are generally in fair to other traffic rules. good condition for daytime travel. Night travel is risky Drivers commonly try to fit two or more lanes of traffic due to inadequate lighting, variable road conditions and into one lane. the many pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles sharing the roads. Drivers commonly drive on wider sidewalks. Be alert for motorcyclists and moped riders on narrow Secondary roads may be in poor condition, especially sidewalks.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient and Modern
    Ancient and Modern: What the History of Religion Teaches Us About Contemporary Global Trends Philip Jenkins Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities at Pennsylvania State University Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion ARDA GUIDING PAPER Ancient and Modern: What the History of Religion Teaches Us About Contemporary Global Trends Religious developments in the contemporary world attract a great deal of scholarship drawing on a wide range of methodologies — ethnographic, economic, and sociological — but the historical component is still not as prominent as it should be. Certainly modern scholars have traced the historical origins of modern conditions, for example in terms of the Christian missions that created the flourishing churches of Africa and Asia, or the contemporary rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Having said this, surprisingly little work on contemporary conditions draws on the vast and flourishing scholarly literature concerning religion in earlier centuries, in the ancient, medieval and early modern worlds. Historians dwell in one academic world while scholars of contemporary religion inhabit another, and the two sides have little contact.1 Yet such a separation is unfortunate, in that the earlier history contains a vast amount of information and case-studies that are highly relevant to contemporary conditions. More important, perhaps, these studies tell us repeatedly that contemporary trends that we believe to be modern and unprecedented are in fact no such thing, and that they have often appeared in earlier eras. It is futile, then, to try and explain these supposed novelties in terms of strictly modern developments. Moreover, contemporary scholarship often describes processes that assume a historical trajectory, but often, the historical pattern is assumed rather than demonstrated.
    [Show full text]
  • MYSTIC LEADER ©Christian Bobst Village of Keur Ndiaye Lo
    SENEGAL MYSTIC LEADER ©Christian Bobst Village of Keur Ndiaye Lo. Disciples of the Baye Fall Dahira of Cheikh Seye Baye perform a religious ceremony, drumming, dancing and singing prayers. While in other countries fundamentalists may prohibit music, it is an integral part of the religious practice in Sufism. Sufism is a form of Islam practiced by the majority of the population of Senegal, where 95% of the country’s inhabitants are Muslim Based on the teachings of religious leader Amadou Bamba, who lived from the mid 19th century to the early 20th, Sufism preaches pacifism and the goal of attaining unity with God According to analysts of international politics, Sufism’s pacifist tradition is a factor that has helped Senegal avoid becoming a theatre of Islamist terror attacks Sufism also teaches tolerance. The role of women is valued, so much so that within a confraternity it is possible for a woman to become a spiritual leader, with the title of Muqaddam Sufism is not without its critics, who in the past have accused the Marabouts of taking advantage of their followers and of mafia-like practices, in addition to being responsible for the backwardness of the Senegalese economy In the courtyard of Cheikh Abdou Karim Mbacké’s palace, many expensive cars are parked. They are said to be gifts of his followers, among whom there are many rich Senegalese businessmen who live abroad. The Marabouts rank among the most influential men in Senegal: their followers see the wealth of thei religious leaders as a proof of their power and of their proximity to God.
    [Show full text]
  • Shailly Barnes
    RELIGION, SOCIAL CAPITAL AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SAHEL: THE NIYASS TIJANIYYA IN NIGER Shailly Barnes eligion is not often pursued as a source of engagement in the international Rdiscourse on development. While faith-based organizations have received a greater audience and exerted greater influence in the past few years under the Bush administration, it is still uncommon for international development agencies to incorporate religious loyalties, insights and communities into their regional or national agendas. This pattern of development practice grew, perhaps, from an attempt to pursue a secular agenda that offended none and therefore was accept- able to all. However, in neglecting the religiosity of the poorest of the poor, the development agenda fails to acknowledge and learn from some of the most innova- tive, influential and sustainable development actors: the religious leadership of the world’s poor. In the Islamic countries of sub-Saharan Africa, certain religious leaders are making great strides in advancing an ambitious development agenda among their constituent population of believers, who are among the poorest of the poor. In Niger, a country that consistently ranks at the very bottom of many development indicators, the religious leadership of the Niass Tijaniyya, one of the predominant Sufi brotherhoods in Niger, is engaged in a variety of anti-poverty, empowerment and literacy programs that touch the lives of the poorest Nigeriens. Its progress in women’s human, economic and reproductive rights is especially remarkable consid- ering the education and poverty levels of the adult population in Niger. The efforts and progress of these actors are of great value to international development agencies and actors as we pass the midway mark to accomplishing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
    [Show full text]
  • Concours Direct Cycle a Option "Diplomatie Arabisant"
    N° de Date de Prénom(s) Nom Lieu de naissance table naissance 1 Abdel Kader AGNE 01/03/1989 Diourbel 2 Dieng AIDA 01/01/1991 Pattar 3 Adjaratou Sira AIDARA 02/01/1988 Dakar 4 Alimatou Sadiya AIDARA 06/01/1992 Thiès 5 Marieme AIDARA 06/02/1991 Nioro Du Rip 6 Mouhamadou Moustapha AIDARA 28/09/1991 Touba 7 Ndeye Maguette Laye ANE 10/06/1995 Dakar 8 Sileye ANNE 10/06/1993 Boinadji Roumbe 9 Tafsir Baba ANNE 19/12/1993 Rufisque 10 Gerard Siabito ASSINE 03/10/1991 Samatite 11 Tamba ATHIE 19/08/1988 Colibantan 12 Papa Ousseynou Samba AW 02/11/1992 Thiès Laobe 13 Ababacar BA 02/09/1991 Pikine 14 Abdou Aziz BA 08/02/1992 Rufisque 15 Abdoul BA 02/02/1992 Keur Birane Dia 16 Abdoul Aziz BA 22/11/1994 Ourossogui 17 Abdoul Mamadou BA 30/08/1992 Thiaroye Gare 18 Abdrahmane Baidy BA 10/02/1991 Sinthiou Bamambe 19 Abibatou BA 08/08/1992 Dakar 20 Aboubacry BA 01/01/1995 Dakar 21 Adama Daouda BA 08/04/1995 Matam 22 Ahmet Tidiane BA 22/02/1991 Mbour 23 Aliou Abdoul BA 26/05/1993 Goudoude Ndouetbe 24 Aly BA 20/01/1988 Saint-Louis 25 Amadou BA 01/12/1996 Ngothie 26 Amidou BA 06/12/1991 Pikine 27 Arona BA 02/10/1989 Fandane 28 Asmaou BA 03/10/1991 Dakar 29 Awa BA 01/03/1990 Dakar 30 Babacar BA 01/06/1990 Ngokare Ka 2 31 Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane BA 03/06/1990 Nioro Du Rip 32 Daouda BA 23/08/1990 Kolda 33 Demba Alhousseynou BA 06/12/1990 Thille -Boubacar 34 Dieynaba BA 01/01/1995 Dakar 35 Dior BA 17/07/1995 Dakar 36 El Hadji Salif BA 04/11/1988 Diamaguene 37 Fatimata BA 20/06/1993 Tivaouane 38 Fatma BA 12/01/1988 Dakar 39 Fatou BA 02/02/1996 Guediawaye 40 Fatou Bintou
    [Show full text]
  • Water Woes in Senegal's Holy City
    News Water woes in Senegal’s holy city With the annual festival of the Great Magal just weeks away, administrators in Touba – Senegal’s second city – are gearing up for a massive influx of people and the disease they may bring with them. Felicity Thompson reports. You can be too popular. The residents Touba because the founder and saint, without sanitation or water systems,” of the west-central Senegalese city of Cheikh Amadou Bamba, owned the he says. “Women walk at least one kilo- Touba, situated some 200 km from land and founded his holy city,” ex- metre to find water.” Meanwhile septic the capital Dakar, know all about that plains Dr Masserigne Ndiaye, Medical tanks are a rarity. “They are too costly problem, having seen their “village” Director of the Diourbel region, where for most people,” Faye says. “It costs swell from 5000 people in the mid- Touba is located. The water is free for about US$ 340 (150 000 FCFA) for a 1960s to around 700 000 today. Indeed the same reason. septic tank and about US$ 115 (50 000 officially Touba is still a “village”, under It was the free land and water FCFA) for a toilet.” the management of a rural department, part of the package that got the Even in the heart of the city, waste but in reality it is a major conurbation attention of 24-year-old Ali Nguer disposal is a huge issue. “There is no with some big city problems. who now lives with his family in the sewage system,” says Ndiaye, explain- Touba was founded by Cheikh Omoul Khoura neighbourhood about ing the basic problem.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion & Spirituality in Society Religión Y Espiritualidad En La
    IX Congreso Internacional sobre Ninth International Conference on Religión y Religion & Espiritualidad en Spirituality in la Sociedad Society Símbolos religiosos universales: Universal Religious Symbols: Influencias mutuas y relaciones Mutual Influences and Specific específicas Relationships 25–26 de abril de 2019 25–26 April 2019 Universidad de Granada University of Granada Granada, España Granada, Spain La-Religion.com ReligionInSociety.com Centro de Estudios Bizantinos, Neogriegos y Chipriotas Ninth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society “Universal Religious Symbols: Mutual Influences and Specific Relationships” 25–26 April 2019 | University of Granada | Granada, Spain www.ReligionInSociety.com www.facebook.com/ReligionInSociety @religionsociety | #ReligionConference19 IX Congreso Internacional sobre Religión y Espiritualidad en la Sociedad “Símbolos religiosos universales: Influencias mutuas y relaciones específicas” 25–26 de abril de 2019 | Universidad de Granada | Granada, España www.La-Religion.com www.facebook.com/ReligionSociedad @religionsociety | #ReligionConference19 Centro de Estudios Bizantinos, Neogriegos y Chipriotas Ninth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society www.religioninsociety.com First published in 2019 in Champaign, Illinois, USA by Common Ground Research Networks, NFP www.cgnetworks.org © 2019 Common Ground Research Networks All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the applicable copyright legislation, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact [email protected]. Common Ground Research Networks may at times take pictures of plenary sessions, presentation rooms, and conference activities which may be used on Common Ground’s various social media sites or websites.
    [Show full text]
  • Les Valeurs Culturelles Des Confreries Musulmanes Au Senegal
    LES VALEURS CULTURELLES DES CONFRERIES MUSULMANES AU SENEGAL Recherche bibliographique, état des lieux des documents historiques, lieux de mémoire, étude et réflexion analytique Mamadou Mané Historien Décembre 2012 SOMMAIRE Introduction I. Les confréries musulmanes sénégalaises : aperçu historique, présentation ………………..……………………………………... 1-5 II. La dynamique d’adaptation des confréries aux changements, enjeux et défis nouveaux au sein de la société sénégalaise ……………….. 6-20 III. Les valeurs culturelles et morales des confréries au Sénégal ...…………. 21-32 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………… 48 2 INTRODUCTION Traiter des valeurs culturelles des confréries musulmanes au Sénégal, c’est avoir l’occasion d’évoquer, entre autres faits, la forte prégnance de l’Islam sur le vécu quotidien des Sénégalais qui se réclament aujourd’hui, à près de 95%, de cette confession. En effet, cette religion y est d’implantation relativement ancienne, sa pénétration remontant au XIe siècle, dans le sillage de la Mauritanie voisine où transitèrent, via le Maghreb au nord, les premières influences arabo- musulmanes qui avaient accompagné le commerce transsaharien dont le Sénégal constituait un des terminus au sud du Sahara. Rappelons, à cet égard, que c’est sur les bords du bas fleuve Sénégal, toujours au XIe siècle, que le mouvement arabo-berbère des Almoravides, vit le jour, avant de se fortifier et de se lancer, à travers le Maroc, à la conquête, à l’occupation et à l’islamisation de la péninsule ibérique où la présence musulmane dura quatre siècles, jusqu’en 1492, année de la prise de Grenade, en Espagne, par les forces coalisées de l’Europe chrétienne. Il y eut deux axes de pénétration de l’Islam au Sénégal.
    [Show full text]
  • Path(S) of Remembrance: Memory, Pilgrimage, and Transmission in a Transatlantic Sufi Community”
    “Path(s) of Remembrance: Memory, Pilgrimage, and Transmission in a Transatlantic Sufi Community” By Jaison Carter A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Mariane Ferme, Chair Professor Charles Hirschkind Professor Stefania Pandolfo Professor Ula Y. Taylor Spring 2018 Abstract “Path(s) of Remembrance: Memory, Pilgrimage, and Transmission in a Transatlantic Sufi Community” by Jaison Carter Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Berkeley Professor Mariane Ferme, Chair The Mustafawiyya Tariqa is a regional spiritual network that exists for the purpose of assisting Muslim practitioners in heightening their level of devotion and knowledges through Sufism. Though it was founded in 1966 in Senegal, it has since expanded to other locations in West and North Africa, Europe, and North America. In 1994, protegé of the Tariqa’s founder and its most charismatic figure, Shaykh Arona Rashid Faye al-Faqir, relocated from West Africa to the United States to found a satellite community in Moncks Corner, South Carolina. This location, named Masjidul Muhajjirun wal Ansar, serves as a refuge for traveling learners and place of worship in which a community of mostly African-descended Muslims engage in a tradition of remembrance through which techniques of spiritual care and healing are activated. This dissertation analyzes the physical and spiritual trajectories of African-descended Muslims through an ethnographic study of their healing practices, migrations, and exchanges in South Carolina and in Senegal. By attending to manner in which the Mustafawiyya engage in various kinds of embodied religious devotions, forms of indebtedness, and networks within which diasporic solidarities emerge, this project explores the dispensations and transmissions of knowledge to Sufi practitioners across the Atlantic that play a part in shared notions of Black Muslimness.
    [Show full text]
  • Experiencing Islam: Women's Accounts of Religious Equality And
    Experiencing Islam: Women’s Accounts of Religious Equality and Inequality in Senegal Senior Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Undergraduate Program in Anthropology Janet McIntosh, Advisor Undergraduate Program in International and Global Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of the Arts by Nelly Schläfereit May 2015 Copyright by Nelly Schläfereit Committee members: Janet McIntosh – Anthropology Anita Hannig – Anthropology Kristen Lucken – International and Global Studies Declaration This senior honors thesis is submitted for review by the Anthropology Department of Brandeis University for consideration of departmental honors to Nelly Schläfereit in May of 2015. With regard to the above, I declare that this is an original piece of work and that all non-cited writing is my own. Acknowledgements I would like to take a moment to thank all of the people who have been directly and indirectly involved in producing this senior honors thesis. First, I would like the thank the entire department of Anthropology at Brandeis who made it possible for me to undertake this project despite the fact that I was planning on studying abroad during the fall semester. I would especially like to thank Professor Janet McIntosh, my primary advisor. Thank you for supporting me throughout this process, encouraging me when I had difficulties moving forward, and always making time to offer me your invaluable advice. Thank you also to Professor Anita Hannig for being my second reader, especially considering you were not officially on campus this semester. I was lucky to have my second reader so involved throughout the research and writing process, and I appreciate all of your advice and edits.
    [Show full text]
  • DROIT SÉNÉGALAIS N° 8 - 2009
    - 1 - DROIT, POLITIQUE ET RELIGION - 3 - Faculté des sciences juridiques et politiques de Dakar Centre toulousain d’histoire du droit et des idées politiques DROIT SÉNÉGALAIS n° 8 - 2009 DROIT, POLITIQUE ET RELIGION sous la direction de Mamadou Badji, Olivier Devaux et Babacar Gueye Presses de l’Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - 5 - Copyright et diffusion : 2009 Presses de l’Université des sciences sociales de Toulouse 2 rue du doyen Gabriel Marty 31042 Toulouse cedex ISSN : 1958-3419 ISBN : 978-2-915699-91-3 - 6 - REVUE DROIT SÉNÉGALAIS Directeur de publication : M. le doyen de la Faculté des sciences juridiques et politiques Comité scientifique : - Ndiaw DIOUF - Mamadou BADJI - André CABANIS - Abdoullah CISSE - Aminata CISSE NIANG - Olivier DEVAUX - Madjiguène DIAGNE - Françoise DIENG - Seydou DIOUF - Alioune Badara FALL - Ismaïla Madior FALL - Babacar GUEYE - Ibrahima LY - El Hadj MBODJ - Isaac Yankhoba NDIAYE - Paul NGOM - Abdoulaye SAKHO - Alioune SALL - Moussa SAMB - Sylvain SANKALE - Filiga-Michel SAWADOGO - Joseph ISSA-SAYEGH - Amsatou SOW SIDIBE - Demba SY - Samba THIAM Comité de lecture : - MM. les professeurs Mamadou BADJI - André CABANIS - Françoise DIENG - 7 - - Alassane KANTE - Ibrahima LY - Michel Louis MARTIN - Demba SY - 8 - TABLE DES MATIÈRES DISCOURS D’OUVERTURE par Saïdou Nourou Tall……………………………………………. 11 LES OBJECTIFS DU COLLOQUE par Mamadou Badji……………..………………………………… 13 DE LA LAÏCITÉ À LA FRANÇAISE À LA LAÏCITÉ DANS LES CONSTITUTIONS DE L’AFRIQUE FRANCOPHONE par André Cabanis………………………………………………….. 19 LA LAÏCITÉ A L’ÉPREUVE DES FAITS AU SÉNÉGAL par Abdoulaye Dieye………………………………………………... 33 L'EGLISE CATHOLIQUE ET LES AUTORITÉS ADMINISTRATIVES FRANÇAISES AU SÉNÉGAL : DES DÉBUTS DIFFICILES par Sylvain Sankalé…………………………………………………. 55 POLITIQUE ET RELIGION EN AFRIQUE COLONIALE FRANCOPHONE : VISION ET INSTRUMENTALISATION DE L’ISLAM AU MAROC ET AU SÉNÉGAL (FIN XIXE-DÉBUT XXE SIÈCLE) par Olivier Devaux………………………………………………… 85 - 9 - Table des matières LE DROIT À L’EAU SELON L’ISLAM par Moussa Samb………………………………………………….
    [Show full text]
  • The Judgement of God. Migration Aspirations and Sufi-Islam in Urban Senegal
    PhiN-Beiheft 18/2019: 284 Sebastian Prothmann (Bamako) Ndogalu Yàlla – The Judgement of God. Migration Aspirations and Sufi-Islam in Urban Senegal Based on ethnographic research in Pikine, an urban area within the Dakar region, I argue that theistic predetermination plays a pivotal role in migration aspirations of young men in urban Senegal. At- tainments within this religious popular belief such as successful migration or material wealth are believed to depend on wërsëg (luck) predetermined by one's fate (Ndogalu Yàlla). Likewise, the phenomenon of irregular migration from Senegal to Europe is similarly perceived: 'Barça wala Bar- sakh' (Barcelona or die) is what young people in coastal Senegal used to call this form of migration. However, I will show that young men handle their fate proactively, as they accept the risks and uncertainties of migration at all costs. With their courageous behaviour and fearless acceptance of even life-threatening obstacles during irregular migration, young men show determination to chal- lenge their destiny while trying to positively define and strengthen both their masculine and their religious identities. Introduction When I visited Pikine and Dakar in 2010 for the first time, I was astonished by the proliferation of religious symbols throughout the public space. Mural paintings and sophisticated colourful glass paintings, so-called suweer, with portraits of famous religious persons, particularly Cheikh Amadou Bamba,1 Cheikh Ibrahima Fall,2 El Hadj Malick Sy,3 Ibrāhīm Niass4 or other important sheikhs, have sprouted all over the town. The noteworthy proliferation of iconic Sufi representations is significant for their status as well as to their infiltration and penetration in urban Senegalese 1 Cheikh Amadou Bamba, often called Sériñ Tuubaa (Cheikh of Touba), was the founder of the Murid brotherhood.
    [Show full text]