Baay Fall Sufi Da’iras Voicing Identity Through Acoustic Communities Julia Morris ALL PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR EXCEPT WHERE OTHERWISE NOTED nder the flickering glow of the street lamps right as she incorporates ouza into the dance, one of the hottest of a Dakar banlieu, the da’ira (religious asso- styles on the Dakar scene.3 ciation) of Baay Fall1 spiritual guide Sëriñ Another taalibe takes over as the lead vocalist. “Jërejëff Bamba” Saliou Fall2 begins to gather. The interlocking (“Thank you Bamba”), shouts a taalibe; “Waaw, Mame Cheikh rhythms of the xiin drums sound through the Ibra Fall” (“Yes, Mame Cheikh Ibra Fall”) interjects another. A night, calling Baay Fall Sufi disciples or taal- group rap begins, “Who loves Sëriñ Saliou Fall? Put your hands ibes to come together and sing their faith. A speaker dangles from in the air!” Sëriñ Saliou stands up and begins to dance to the Ua tree branch, emitting a scratchy whir, through which a woman’s syncopated drumbeats and hypnotic rhythms of the dhikrs, arms voice reverberates, chanting the sacred Baay Fall dhikr (religious waving in the air. The Yaay Fall go wild, rushing up to dance chant of remembrance) Sam Fall, giving thanks to Allah. The by his side. Two groups take shape: men and women sepa- dhikr vocalist, the dhikrkatt, moves smoothly between chants, rately dancing in a fever of religious song. Fists hit the air. The with the xiin drum ensemble altering their rhythmic accompa- melodic repetition creates a hypnotic effect. In the glow of the niment accordingly. As the soloist’s voice weaves melodic lines streetlights, the frenzied movement of bodies, the soundscape in praise of Allah and Cheikh Amadou Bamba—the founder of of drum and song, taalibes become more and more a part of the the Mouride Sufi brotherhood—she clutches multiple mobiles in religious groove (Fig. 2).4 her hand, set to record her every word. Passing over your mobile Every Thursday and Friday night, Sufi prayer gatherings, orga- to the dhikrkatt is a sign of true appreciation of their vocal skills, nized by da’ira religious associations, fill most street corners of later listened to outside the space of the da’ira (Fig. 1). Dakar, bringing together taalibes of Senegal’s Sufi tariqas (orders) The xiin leader strikes a swinging rhythm with a stick in to sing their faith. In the face of rapid urbanization and the increas- his right hand, while the other drummers, the bàkkatts, add ing difficulties of maintaining religious networks between widely interlocking rhythms in a rapid succession of rolls and rests, dispersed populations at home and abroad, da’iras have become emphasizing beats that are visually punctuated by the dancers’ important features of the Senegalese social and urban landscape, movements. Cars and taxis manoeuvre around this sacred space, uniting a marabout’s (spiritual leader) taalibes in spiritual commu- sometimes stretching a hand out of their car window to pass nities both within the city and in the diaspora at large. over a 100 CFA coin. As the taalibes become more and more involved with the UNITING IN PRAYERFUL SONG music, the once-subdued swaying is interrupted as men break The vast majority of Senegalese belong to a Sufi Muslim order in out in spontaneous dance movements in front of the power- a country in which roughly 94 percent of the population practice ful battery of drums: two Baay Fall taalibes breakdance before Islam (CIA World Factbook 2012). Islam came to Senegal from running up to Sëriñ Saliou and touching his hand to their fore- North Africa in the eleventh century (Gamble 1957) but it was heads, while a Yaay Fall (female follower) taalibe initiates new not until the arrival of the ascetic and mystical Islamic movement moves into the dance circle, swinging her arms from left to of Sufism, under the figureheads of Senegalese religious leaders, 42 | african arts SPRING 2014 VOL. 47, NO. 1 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00121 by guest on 29 September 2021 131127-001_42-53_CS6.indd 42 11/28/13 9:34 AM 1 Yaay Fall taalibes of Sëriñ Saliou Fall recording a such as the founder of the Mouride order Cheikh Amadou Bamba dhikrkatt’s religious song on their mobile phones in (1850–1927) and Tijānī founder El Hajj Malik Sy (1855–1922), that their Friday night da’ira ceremony. These recordings the majority of Senegalese converted to Islam. While several Sufi are often set as ringtones, maintaining their da’ira’s identity far beyond the ritual space. Dakar, Senegal, tariqas are followed in Senegal, it is the Mourides who are the February 11, 2011. most dynamic of them with regard to their prominence in cultural expression and political and commercial economy.5 Founded in 2 Sëriñ saliou Fall’s taalibes dancing in circular for- mation around the dhikrkatt as she sings praises to the late nineteenth century under Amadou Bamba, the Mourides Allah, the Mouride spiritual guides, and Sëriñ Saliou are a uniquely indigenous social organization. Within Senegal, himself. Dakar, Senegal, February 11, 2011. religious affiliation follows ethnic lines and the Mouride broth- erhood is mostly Wolof,6 with roots in the Cayor, Jolof, and Baol regions. The order arose in the aftermath of the Wolof army’s Iconic images of Amadou Bamba and Ibra Fall appear defeat by the French in 1886 and, with its religious ideology throughout the city (Fig. 4), from devotional murals to com- encouraging a clear code of personal conduct, gained many fol- mercial advertising, familiar and ever-present spiritual guides lowers who found an alternative authority system and leader in sutured into the urban landscape, producing a profoundly Amadou Bamba (Cruise O’Brien 1971; Villalón 1995). meaningful, daily engagement with Mouridism (Fig. 5). In A The Baay Fall are a distinct branch of the Mourides who Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal (2003a), Allen F. adhere to the teachings of Cheikh Amadou Bamba and one of Roberts and Mary Nooter Roberts discuss how the visual cul- his first disciples, Cheikh Ibra Fall (1858–1930). Nicknamed the ture of the Mourides produces a sacred image-scape within the “Light of Mouridism,” Ibra Fall is the guiding light for millions city. They examine how the iconic images of Amadou Bamba of devoted Baay Fall who follow his distinct methods of Islamic construct a powerful religious imaginary, acting as symbols of practice (Fig. 3). Ibra Fall’s complete submission to Amadou devotion and prayer. Whereas the Roberts’s work concentrates Bamba is seen to represent the purest devotion of a taalibe to on the visual culture of the Mourides, I focus on the ways in his marabout, and forms the example for Baay Fall adherents, which Mouridism is experienced through music. Their notion of who dedicate their lives to adoring and serving their marabout. how the “urban space … marked and saturated with the Saint’s Like Ibra Fall himself, most Baay Fall do not observe the daily presence … renews a Mouride sense of identity and profound prayers or fasting prescribed by Islam, instead substituting con- community engagement” (Diouf 2003:13) resonates well with the stant prayers and work under the direction of their marabout. musical performance of Mouridism within a da’ira. The visual VOL. 47, NO. 1 SPRING 2014 african arts | 43 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/AFAR_a_00121 by guest on 29 September 2021 131127-001_42-53_CS6.indd 43 11/28/13 9:35 AM iconography contributes to a potent religious imaginary that is powerfully sounded and felt in the space of a da’ira. The highly vivid Baay Fall da’ira ceremonies have an overtly specific char- acter and identity and, in their song, rhythm, and dance, both produce and sustain an acoustic Baay Fall community. There is certainly no lack of literature on the Mourides. How- ever, most Mouride scholarship focuses primarily on the philo- sophical, political, and economical dimensions of the brotherhood (Behrman 1977; Copans 1980; Coulon 1981; Cruise O’Brien 1971; Piga 2002; Robinson 1991; Vilallón 1995), failing to mention musi- cal practices in any significant way except in relation to Senega- lese pop culture, with minimal discussion on the acoustic setting of da’ira rituals.7 The word “music” certainly encounters difficul- ties in the context of Islamic religious practices, and the Arabic term sama better expresses the place of music within Sufi thought, a highly sacred practice used as a means of spiritual exploration within devotional exercises. Music has played an important part in voicing and constructing Mouride identity and has made a tremendous impact on the Senegalese popular music scene (see McLaughlin 1997, 2000). Senegalese Sufi music carries a strong ethnic and religious identity that is easily adopted into popu- lar culture, and pop music videos are filled with references to Mouridism in both their musical content and visual aesthetic, yet popular culture has, in turn, fed back into da’ira rituals through a complex mix of sacred and secular practices. Thus, an analysis of da’ira musical practices brings new perspectives to the study of Mouride musical culture and furthers an understanding of Sen- egalese popular culture at large. This article, based on fieldwork with Sëriñ Saliou Fall’s da’ira in the Dakar suburb of Liberte-4 in 2011, illustrates the ways in which Baay Fall taalibes give dynamic voice to their da’ira in their public rituals. The majority of Baay Fall literature goes lit- tle beyond focusing on the sect’s “eccentric beliefs and conduct” 3 An image of Cheikh Ibra Fall, the Baay Fall spiri- tual leader and foremost disciple of Cheikh Amadou Bamba, emerges from a Dakar wall, a common sight within the city.