AEGIS ECAS 2007 - View abstract

Panel	56. Moving Frontiers: contestations in Muslim communities in Africa
Paper ID	568
Author(s)	Pezeril, Charlotte
Paper	View paper (PDF)
Abstract	The study of the Baay Faal community, which belongs to the Murid brotherhood, is interesting to account for the evolution of legitimacy, and thus of the Islamic frontiers in Senegal. The Baay Faal community takes its source in Sufism, esoteric path which had known (and still knows) serious problems to put forward its legitimacy within the Moslem world. The first soufis were discredited for their will to unite themselves with God, for the interaction of the holy men and even for their use of music. In the XIXth century, the Sufism developed itself in sub-Saharan Africa , concomitantly with the intensification of colonization. The observers were, at the time, unanimous to condemn this “black Islam” as “a pale copy of the original”. Besides this religious debate, the colonialist deeply despised colored people. In Senegal , criticisms concentrated on mouridism, accused of simplifying the Moslem faith, of exploiting the “ignorant masses” and of wanting to overthrow the French power. In fact, the observers considered Murids “false” Moslems not respecting worship practices. This shows they confused the Baay Faal with the whole of the Murid community. This confusion will only be dissipated in the 1950’s, stigmatizing Mourides for a long time on the international and national scene. However, at the same time, “black Islam” and Murids started to acquire a certain legitimacy: people started (slightly) to analyze their mystic and to recognize their religious depth. Since the 1970-80’, the Murids themselves have entered the debate by multiplying conferences, publications and, later, Internet sites. They make, especially the intellectuals, a return to the texts of Sheik Amadou Bamba (xaasaid) and insist on their orthodoxy. Within this framework, everyone is ought to understand that only the Baay Faal are exempted from the five daily prayers and the fast of Ramadan. Moslem world is nowadays influenced by radicalism. Facing this tendency, the brotherhoods let some reformist groups develop themselves inside their own community: Izbut Tarqiyya in the Murid brotherhood and Moustarchidines in the Tidjan one. Within this context, Baay Faal are more than ever criticized for their breach of certain Koranic pillars. However, they are also praised and admired for their absolute devotion to their Master. The disciples who don’t stick with this ideal, who are relatively disconnected from the maraboutic hierarchy, are called “Baye faux” in French (false Baye) or “Baay mbedd” in Wolof (Baye of the street). The frontier of legitimacy thus moves within the community, inciting some Baay Faal to defend the duty to respect all the sharia. This communication proposes to reconsider this history, thanks to a doctoral research done from 1997 to 2005 in Senegal , France and Belgium

The evolution of Moslem legitimacy's frontiers in Senegal