History Of Islam In Africa

Chapter 20: Sufi Brotherhoods in Africa

CHAPTER 20 Sufi Drotl1erl1oo~s il1 Africa KltutS.Vik.;rAlthough it is evident that Islam in Africa is closely interwoven with sufism, there has been considerable disagreement over the result of this influence; has it been a political and radical force or a conservative and pious one? Partly, this stems from a lack ofclarity over the term sufi brotherhooditself This is a translation of the Arabic term tariqa, which covers a much broader range of meaning than those normally conveyed by the English terms order or brotherhood. To simplify matters, we may distinguish between two meanings of the word. On the one hand, a tariqa is a method, or Way, that a Muslim may follow to reach a personal religious experience.1 On the other hand, tariqa is used for the organizational framework that may be set up to transmit and practice this method. Only the second of the two meanings fits with our concept of brotherhood, but this organization is a consequence of, not a prerequisite for, the sufi experience: We may, and do, have tariqa-Ways without tariqa-brotherhoods; but we cannot have tariqa-brotherhoods without tariqa-Ways. These organizational frameworks, the orders or brotherhoods, may then acquire functions beyond those of practicing the sufi Way, which in particular circumstances may make the tariqa-brotherhoods into political or economic actors that thus become "visible" to the student of political and social history. But it should always be remembered that these are external, and, in essence, haphazard results of the tariqas existence. They are never the result ofthe contents ofthe tariqaWay or the religious experience around which the brotherhood was set up. For this reason, it is possible to look past the social and political epiphenomena that make the order seem one day militant and the next otherworldly, and focus instead on how they see themselves and the relations between them. The central core ofa Way is the wire/, the prayer ritual that is specific for the Way and that is transmitted from teacher to student in a chain of transmission (silsila) l(nut Vik.¢r from the founder, and beyond him to the Prophet or a Companion, down to the present day. With the wird is transmitted not only a mystical knowledge, but also an identity and, ultimately, an authority that constitute the tariqa as a spiritual entity. The wird may form part of a ritual, or dhikl; that is performed regularly among a group of adherents of the Way. This dhikr is performed at regular, often weekly, gatherings. Together with the often massive gatherings on the date ofbirth (mawlid) or death (htlwliyya) ofthe founder, it makes the Way externally visible. Once a group offollowers has formed around a Way and its shaykh, it may be formally organized, with more advanced initiates (muqaddams) becoming teachers and midlevelleaders. This, then, is the Way as brotherhood, and its structure will normally grow in complexity if the shaykh develops a following beyond the local community and remote groups are formed. However, the shaykh may also remain a local figure, with no particular organization required. Thc Arl'ival ofSl.-tfiS»1 iJ1 Wcst Africa 442 The organization of a brotherhood is thus often a practical and pragmatic response to the growth of a particular shaykh's audience. However, it is also possible to see the solidification of a sufi identity and organization as part of a more general historical development. That is the case when we look at the early history ofsufism in West Africa, which was closely linked to the Sahara and the history of the "scholarly lineages" there. These lineages were transmitters ofknowledge from a Maghrib where sufism had played a dominant role since the thirteenth century,2 but within a different social context from that of the Maghrib. Such groups are a typical feature of the Sahara, cutting across ethnic and language barriers from the ztlwtlya of Mauritania, through the Tuareg inesleman, and on to the Libyan mrtlbit.3 These were groups that in various ways lost power to "warrior" or "noble" tribes or groups; developing a "spiritual" role could, for them, become a strategy to raise their standing in relation to the other tribes socially-and also economically, in that such a role easily went together with developing trading relations. It could also be transformed into political capital by giving them functions as mediators between conflicting "warrior" tribes. These groups eventually became the carriers of Islamic scholarship and sufi influence in the interface between North and West Africa...