Ahmadou Bamba - The Muslim Who Fought French Colonialism Through Non-Violence

we often talk about very old people on this channel what i mean by that is that we usually talk about people who lived like in the middle ages or like really long time ago but we must not forget that there are also very significant and important figures that have appeared very recently in history and even perhaps today that have affected the world of religion in in significant ways and one of the most inspirational and impactful figures in the islamic world in the last century or so is the senegalese sufi saint and social revolutionary amadobamba he not only serves as a great example of west african sufism or islam in general but also as a figure who resisted french colonialism but did so through non-violence a peaceful approach that was probably for that reason very successful so let's explore one of the most significant muslim personalities in recent memory and the sufi order that he started [Music] [Applause] [Music] islam in west africa is a really fascinating topic especially when it comes to sufism indeed in some ways the situation in countries like senegal or the gambia kind of mirrors the way that much of the islamic world looked for most of history with sufism playing a major role in religious social and political life not only are these countries overwhelmingly muslim in their demographics also according to pew research center only a few years ago 92 of muslims in senegal are affiliated with a sufi brotherhood and the numbers are similar in neighboring countries as well this may be surprising to many people who assume that sufism is some small sect but this is what the situation has been like or at least similar to this is what the situation has been like for most of history and in many places still today as we can obviously see here it's perhaps no surprise then why i did both my bachelor's and master's theses on west african sufism and spent extended periods of time with the sufi brotherhoods there in any case among the two most prominent sufi orders in senegambia that is senegal and the gambia is the muridiya which has significant political and social influence and was founded relatively recently by the 20th century figure ahmadu bamba in most ways the order is based on his teachings of non-violence peace education and an emphasis on a strong work ethic and is still led by his descendants to this day i actually met one of his grandsons myself just a little side note bragging anyway who was ahmadu bamba then let's explore his life and his teachings ahmadu bamba in bake was born in senegal in 1853 in what were very uncertain and unstable times his birth and upbringing coincided with some very significant events in the country primarily the gradual colonization and takeover by france who would come to rule the region for the better part of a century in other words bamba grew up in an environment that was filled with conflict war and tensions the french colonial power started a program of assimilation where the locals were put in french schools to learn the french language conform to quote-unquote french culture and eventually become frenchmen hopefully this naturally also comes with an eroding and erasing of much of the local traditions and cultures as you might imagine and as is usually the case the senegalese people weren't very happy with these developments and various forms of resistance erupted senegal at this time was a diverse place there were many different tribes and tribal chiefs both pagan and muslim that ruled different regions islam had made its way into the area gradually over the centuries but really started to gain a foothold when the different sufi orders started to make headway there in the late 18th century the khadiri orders started spreading in senegal and in the 19th century the tijania also became very popular reactions from muslim spiritual leaders and scholars or mara boots as they are often known there to the arrival of the french would vary some were more positively inclined towards the french or at least promoted peaceful coexistence rather than active resistance such as the popular tijani figure al hajj malik sea and many other khadri sheikhs as well others however chose to fight back in the form of armed jihad to drive out the occupying europeans ahmadu bamba and his family lived in a region that became a hotbed for this activity various religious and political leaders took up arms against the french and a lot of violence erupted not only did the locals fight the french but various tribal chiefs and local rulers also started fighting each other over land or influence sometimes as proxies for the other sides were fighting it was a mess in many different ways growing up amadobamba would have witnessed firsthand the devastation and ugliness of war and he even lost family members including young siblings his family were not warriors indeed bamba came from a line of religious scholars and his father was a very well respected expert on the quran and islamic law at a young age and in the midst of all the chaos ahmadu was given a thorough education in all the religious sciences memorizing all of the quran studying the hadiths of the prophet and learning the principles of jurisprudence especially the maliki school of law that was most prominent in this region he would also study sufism to some degree but that journey would begin in earnest later on even though he and his family stayed out of politics as such they were kind of drawn into the conflict anyway when his father was given the position of judge and chief advisor to la jor a local king who became one of the key and last players in armed resistance against the french as ammo bamba reached early adulthood and became something of a scholar himself he worked as assistant to his father in this position although later chroniclers will often state that he was very unhappy with the fact that his father was working so closely with a political figure and only supported him because of filial piety essentially already very knowledgeable and with a real talent for rhetoric bamba had already sort of started having people come to him for answers to their questions people were drawn to him his character and his wisdom even at this point sources claimed that he was showing some serious interest in spiritual matters he would often go away into nature for extended periods to contemplate or to pray he had also already started to write spiritual poetry in arabic something that he would become very famous for later but it wasn't until his father's death in 1883 when he would have been 30 years old that bamba's spiritual quest really started for real so to say uh he seems to have immediately sort of broken ties with all the political leaders including la jorda and instead went on a spiritual journey he had already been initiated into the clad sufi order either by his father or his uncle and was of course involved with sufism because basically everyone was but at this time he started taking this path very seriously and he even went on a journey he traveled away to mauritania which was a center for scholarship and a center also for sufism at this time in these travels he perfected his knowledge of the religious sciences even more and focused especially on sufism or tasawolf arabic the mystical or inner purification of the heart to reach intimacy with god he met with many sheikhs or masters including one of the foremost teachers of the qadhari order and trained under them until he himself had become a sheikh a spiritual master but it is said that he was also initiated into several other sufi orders at this time too the shadolia and the tijania in other words he really became deeply involved in sufism once he had returned to senegal and his family he did so no longer just as a respected scholar but as a realized sufi teacher who immediately started attracting devoted followers this is the start of the community that would eventually grow into one of the most major sufi brotherhoods in the world when la jorda was finally defeated in 1886 the french hoped that they had finally stamped out all resistance in the region and could thus complete their process of domination in the region in some ways they were right because it is from this point that they essentially held absolute power over all of what we call senegal today but as ahmadu bamba started to amass an increasing number of followers and thus gaining an incredible amount of power the french eventually started getting really nervous about him as his reputation spread his status increased even more through his spiritual charisma knowledge of the religion and devotion to the prophet muhammad he soon started to be considered the or reviver of the religion for that century so for context there is a hadith that states that in every century there will come a reviver that will well revive the religion of islam and many of his followers considered ahmadu bamba to be that reviver for that century not only this but he was also considered the khutub azaman or the pole of the age a title of spiritual pole of the world around which everything turns as well as being called the rasool the servant of the messenger referring to his devotion to the prophet muhammad in particular and indeed amundabamba had not just amassed a group of followers in a way he had actually started a movement a movement of education and spiritual development that aimed to transform its followers there are many stories about his practices and teachings at this time he would often go away on long spiritual retreats by himself he would also spend time teaching his followers and instructing them on the spiritual way he would also set up his system of education and he would write a lot and a lot of poetry this poetry is often very instructional so sort of instructions again on this how to follow the spiritual path but also a lot of praise poems to the prophet muhammad or to god as part of this spiritual mission he founded two cities or villages at that time one which was called darussalam the abode of peace and another called tuba which means blessing and is probably referring to a tree in paradise in the islamic tradition called tuba which in sufism has often come to represent spiritual perfection especially the latter city tuba was very dear to bamba he had been looking for a place to found a spiritual center and found it when he was out on a retreat and suddenly had a vision of light while he was praying under a tree subsequently he founded the city tuba there which became the center of his movement from then on he commemorated the founding of the city with the following verses quote oh god my lord i pray unto you to make this blessed city a place of peace and safety by the grace of the prophet i pray unto you to make this blessed city a place of worship faith and righteousness and a place to acquire knowledge i pray unto you to make this city a garden of eden for every worshiper and a place guarded from every outcast demon i pray unto you to make this city a place which will grant the benefit of the pilgrimage to any believer who wants to go to mecca but cannot afford it i pray on to you to forgive the past and future sins of the dwellers of tuba and of whosoever visits it in search of fulfillment i mean god o god ameen o god the city of tuba founded by ahmadu bamba is today the second largest city in all of senegal and the center for his followers even to this day in a way you can kind of understand why the french were a little nervous here is this marabout or religious leader who is gaining more and more followers and founding cities basically out in the middle of nowhere where all of these followers can gather together to to listen to his teachings some french friendly locals in the region reported probably accurately that bamba could have amassed an army of thousands of people at any time if he so wished even though informants for the french reported that bamba was benign they still saw him as a great threat to their power a marabout with this much power could very easily turn into another movement of armed jihad or resistance the thing is they weren't entirely wrong amanda bamba was indeed engaged in jihad even to some degree jihad against the colonial powers and he claimed so himself but his jihad was not one of armed conflict or war instead his was a jihad of non-violence a jihad of the soul and as he called it a jihad of the pen here it is useful to get a bit of a broader perspective of what jihad actually means because i can feel that some of you are a little confused right now jihad does not translate to holy war as i'm sure most of you know it literally means struggle or striving and can refer to many different things in the quran jihad is basically never used to refer to war or violence directly instead jihad in general means to strive for one's religion that can mean to strive for a struggle for peace of being kind there is environmental jihad that is fighting against climate change the sufis in particular like to use the term jihad enoughs or the struggle against the cell for the ego to denote the spiritual struggle of fighting your negative drives and ego driven behaviors and to purify the soul and jihad can also mean struggle in the form of armed struggle or war for the sake of religion which many people are familiar with that is indeed one aspect of what jihad can mean and we can talk more about the concept of jihad in a separate episode dedicated to it but what is important to remember here is that jihad is a much broader term than what is usually imagined and armed conflict is only one of those meanings so in this way ahmadu bamba was fighting a jihad but it was a jihad of education and refinement of character for the rest of his life he would stay devoted to a non-violent cause as the only alternative to reach a peaceful society in this case making him similar to other 20th century figures like gandhi and martin luther king the practical part of his jihad was based on education the movement he had started and which was centered in places like tarus salaam and tuba was one based on an educational system called tarbia it was not only a sufi order in the traditional sense a mastery student relationship where these students would travel on the spiritual path to intimacy with god it was that too but also a much more comprehensive system where the students were educated in the basics of the religion they were taught things like quran and hadith the jurisprudence but also a deeper spiritual education aimed at transforming the person and society from the inside through the sufi technologies of the heart this would create a firm basis for ethical human beings people who were kind righteous and embodied all the positive aspects of the islamic ideals in the words of michel r kimball quote the focus of tarbia is to groom participants who are distinguished and self-motivated to strive for excellence have a sense of mission conduct a balanced life live in peace with themselves and their environment and gain discernment with the necessary knowledge understanding and skills to make a difference in society by taking an active role both individually and collectively in the reform process that seeks to better the community the country and the world ahmed obama's movement was also one that was radical in other ways for the culture in the region at the time he would take on basically anyone as a student and progression in the hierarchy was based on merit and level of devotion rather than social standing in the sort of cast and tribal system of senegal slaves and griots local musicians and praisingers could become sheikhs and masters basically anyone was welcome as part of his movements the members of which were known as murids a common word in sufism meaning something like student or more literally a seeker after god it is also this designation that became the basis for the name of the order that he founded the muridia or murid order even though bamba was a renunciate to some degree and sufism obviously involved a certain level of asceticism his brotherhood was also one that emphasized an active participation in society bamba himself had a family and he encouraged his followers to have a profession to be able to provide and nurture for their families this was important in order to live a fully spiritual life according to him in particular the murids became known for their strong work ethic and their prominence in producing peanuts it is true that the murid community had a certain level of self-sufficiency as one of its goals all of this not only worried the french of course but also angered a lot of the local chiefs and leaders who didn't like that bamba was collapsing some of the hierarchies and sort of caste system that existed in this region at the time and so they all sort of gathered together to paint him as the enemy many of the locals reported to the french that bamba was gathering weapons to prepare for war and even though you know the french sent people to search through the communities the community of ahmadu bamba they found nothing but still the process had already started that is amadobamba was a threat to the colonial powers and something needed to be done about it this culminated in 1895 when the french decided to have bamba arrested and tried this starts a new phase in his life a phase when he not only passively fights his jihad of the pen but starts being actively persecuted by the colonial powers and yet continues to fight his non-violent pacifist struggle against them his dedication to this cause is clear from his own statements in which he makes it clear that his understanding of islam and his dedication to the prophet is what is ensuring him that non-violence is the only correct path as he is taken to a cell awaiting trial in sanui the capital he wrote each time i recall this night this governor and the ignominy i felt like having recourse to arms but al-mahdi the eraser of sins and pains the prophets peace be upon him forbade me and quote the most worthy of gratitude who was worshipped for the sake of his face these texts were a spiritual education from the living god who never dies the one who guarded me from using weapons against the aggressor he indicates that in the greatest moments of oppression and humiliation he did indeed feel the urge to raise arms to fight back perhaps violently but he chose not to because quote the prophet forbade him in other words this was the only way for him according to his understanding of correct islamic orthodoxy i like this because it nuances his character he wasn't some black and white figure he didn't consider violence to never be appropriate but that it was not the answer in this case or probably in most cases he had seen enough violence going up he had seen how war destroyed families destroyed people and even religion fighting war and using violence was even detrimental to islam it wouldn't lead to the spread of the religion but to the opposite it would lead people away from it he is thought to have said quote the scuffles that you lead you and those like you who attempt to wage holy war will lead you only to an irremediable loss despite this and strangely in hindsight of course the french still saw him as too much of a threat and decided to send him into exile to the jungles of gabon where condemned people were often sent with the assumption that they would not survive they couldn't execute him because that would make him a martyr of course so this was the best option according to the french but even though it seemed to calm down his movement at first it also kind of backfired on them today the day bamba was arrested and subsequently sent away into exile is celebrated by murids as a turning point when bamba started the journey to spiritual perfection indeed the seven years that he spent in the jungles were spent in even more intense spiritual practices which according to murids resulted in him reaching the highest stages of sainthood in gabon he also wrote some of his most famous works of poetry in short when bamba returned to senegal from exile in 1903 after his followers had negotiated with the french he was more powerful than ever the fact that he had survived this exile was seen as almost a miracle basically and he started gaining more and more followers perhaps even more so than before the exile at the same time the french had started doubling down on their policy of suppressing all forms of muslim religious leaders that started amassing followers or that could have any sort of power in that way their policy was quote to prevent marabouts from creating centers of meeting religious proselytizing or pilgrimage with a threat of punishment for anyone who did they had bamba under constant surveillance as they still considered him a threat to their power and because he was still getting more and more powerful as well as the fact that rumors were continuing to spread among his enemies and that he sometimes actually did show some resistance and defiance against worldly power they decided to have him arrested again only six months after he had returned from gabon once again amanda bamba was sent into exile this time to mauritania under the guardianship of a french friendly khadri sufi sheikh called this exile which lasted from 1903 to 1907 was very different from the previous one here ahmadu bamba spent his time with his fellow sufis he was well respected and even started a school to continue his mission of tarbiyah here it is also said that it was in mauritania that the muri diya sufi order was consecrated fully as it is here that he is considered to have received the widow of the order from a vision of the prophet muhammad himself a weird is a kind of prayer cycle that is performed daily by initiates in a sufi order and which is unique to that order or sometimes even to the individual sheikh previously bamba had recited the words of the qadhari shadoli and tijani orders but now he had a weirded of his own thus completing the formation of the muridia into a full sufi tariqa of its own ahmadu bamba was allowed to return home to senegal in 1907 and this time he would stay for the rest of his life he had spent most of 12 years in exile in total but could now return triumphantly once again the french gradually realized that he probably wasn't a threat and became increasingly more accommodating to him and the murids even so he would spend the rest of his life essentially under house arrest first in tien and from 1912 he was allowed to move to another house in dior bell in his native land of baul it wasn't tuba but at least he was home the last years of amadobamba's life remained intense he continued his activities of fighting the jihad of the soul and pen further established his system of education which was being led in different locations by different shaykhs the order grew exponentially in this period more so than it ever had and established itself widely across the region he opened up new places of learning and houses of retreats and sufi practices he grew his family and continued to write incredible amounts of poetry it is in this period of his life in 1913 that the only known photograph of the sheikh was taken this one it shows bamba in his characteristic wide attire and covering his head and also parts of his face an image that has come to mean a lot to his followers to this day and will often adorn walls on the home of murids around the world above all he never backed down from his non-violent principles and the quest for peace and stability he fought his jihad for the rest of his days with unwavering commitment to the pacifist path in the last decades of his life he was on increasingly good terms with the french even supporting them in the first world war since he saw them as protecting muslim lands from invasion he had always led a movement of resistance but this resistance was never one of violence or even of overthrowing the government per se above all it was a resistance in support of spiritual and ethical purification but also to some degree against the colonialist policies of eroding traditional local traditions he wanted to preserve the spiritual core of society through education and thereby create a more aware population that would in that way resist colonial influence not by taking over the government directly or something but as a gradual transformation of society from the inside and most importantly by peaceful means it is thus not that surprising that bamba did allow many of his followers to attend french schools and learn the french language for example that in itself was not a problem as long as they also had a solid spiritual and religious foundation to stand on for his whole career he had insisted and tried to reassure the french that he was not interested in trying to raise arms against them or even interested in worldly politics whatsoever in perhaps the most forceful and clear statement of his commitment to non-violence he stated quote whoever gives even five franks for the sake of god will be compensated further i have agreed to certain conditions with god such that even if the mahdi descends to earth i would not assist him in battle i will not kill neither scorpion nor serpent nor anything that is living according to the direction i have taken it is absolutely forbidden for me to shoot from a weapon such that even if the mahdi were to revive and if i were to take up arms my mission would be lost bamba says in a poem quote o my lord spare me the harm of all the creatures and protect them from any harm that may come from me bamba sought peace above all and even in his last years he assured the french that he and his followers were not interested in creating disturbances quite the opposite actually bamba praised the relative peace that prevailed under french rule which was much preferred to the uncertain times of pre-colonial times which was characterized by a lot of conflict he even issued an official fatwa which made clear his stance arguing that there was no valid reason at the present time to wage armed jihad pointing to the specific context in which the prophet muhammad had done so and referring to islamic law arguing among other things that the french rule was to be accepted because muslims were still allowed to practice their religion in the country and that they being christians belong to the so-called people of the book oh my muslim brothers do not get involved in the so-called jihad which would only result in human losses and material destruction not to mention the havoc it would wreak in the country if you say to me that jihad is prescribed by islamic law and by sunnah my response is that it was so in times and circumstances that are different from yours and for people who are different from you we should treat christians the way they were treated by prophet muhammad they lived in a peaceful cohabitation without any hostility nor contempt thus he emphasized peaceful coexistence while simultaneously fighting very firmly to preserve and cultivate the islamic tradition against foreign opposition in today's world it is especially interesting to consider that ahmad bamba's total commitment to peace and non-violence stemmed directly from his reading and understanding of the islamic religion and its teachings just like someone like gandhi claimed that he took inspiration from the hindu bhagavad-gita in his policies and stances and martin luther king in his civil rights movement looked to the bible for inspiration ahmadu bamba took inspiration in his stands in his non-violent policies his non-violent jihad in the quran and the examples of the prophet muhammad ammo bamba passed away in the summer of 1927 by then in his 70s and was buried in his beloved city of tuba where a mausoleum and mosque was soon erected and eventually became the largest mosque in all of west africa he left behind an immense legacy whereas the other muslim leaders who chose the path of armed resistance were defeated and soon forgotten ahmadu bamba's passive his struggle was and became more successful than anyone could have imagined his murid order had already become a significant religious economic and social force in the country and would only become even more so as the years went on after his death today it is estimated that about a third of the population in senegal and the gambia belonged to the muridia and they play a major role in the social and even political life of the country in this way he was arguably very successful many of his closest followers became famous sheikhs even in his own day and their influence continued after his passing the most famous of these is probably the very interesting figure called ibrahim fal one of bamba's earliest followers who became famous and somewhat controversial for his complete devotion to the sheikh he would be so devoted to serving him in fact that he sometimes even neglected some of the basic islamic rituals like the daily prayers which not everyone appreciated including bamba himself nonetheless ibrahim fal remained a central leader in the murid community eventually being a sheikh himself he emphasized a strong work ethic and service and a sub movement within the muridia grew out of his leadership which became known as the bai fal the biphal is still prominent in the region today and is characterized by often wearing patched colorful clothing dreadlocks and sometimes intense musical performances but there were many other sheikhs in the community as well many of whom were members of bamba's family indeed after his death the top leaders of the order the so-called khalifas were essentially a succession of his sons and later his grandchildren but the order also consists of many sheikhs teachers and masters of various backgrounds and standings including of course converts because indeed the muridia grew to be one of the largest sufi brotherhoods in west africa and eventually the whole world there are communities of murids spread all around the globe from new york to paris and stockholm all of whom trace their spiritual lineage to amurobamba and his teachings of education non-violence and peaceful coexistence as we said earlier the city of tuba which was founded by bamba is today the second largest city in senegal after the capital of dakar it is also the place of one of the largest pilgrimages in the world indeed every year millions of murids around the world traveled to tuba to commemorate the arrest and exile of bamba to gabon that event which came to represent his ascension to chu sainthood if you remember it is a massive event in which people come to visit the city the mausoleum of bamba and to celebrate his life teachings and poetry this pilgrimage is known as the grand magal and has become one of the most important events or happenings in west africa having a major social political and economic impact on the country these practices which make the muridia stand out are fascinating aside from all the regular observances that all muslims perform like the daily prayers and so on as well as some of the more specific practices associated with sufism the murids have unique ways of applying the teachings of their master bamba's legacy in his order is not only in the general teachings that he conveyed but also very much in his writings as we have mentioned he was a very prolific poet who wrote in arabic with a proficiency that was unusual for someone from his region some of the most famous of these poetic works include the jawartu and the maglakorniran while mafat jinan or the locks of hell and the keys to paradise these poems or qasidah or qasam plural which express his teachings are incredibly important to the murids and make up a part of everyday practice for them indeed one of the most characteristic practices of the muridia is precisely the recitation of these poems which is something referred to precisely as hasadah in a way this is the zikr of the murid order zikr meaning remembrance is one of the key practices of sufism where the names of god or certain phrases are repeated or recited for extended periods of time and often in groups and in the muridia dikkur often takes the form of hasadah recitation murids will sit in a circle and recite from ahmadu bamba's poetry with certain melodies in a way it is a kind of musical experience and a very powerful one for anyone who has the privilege to experience it in real life [Music] just like with dhikr mureeds have often told me that reciting their claseda is kind of like a meditation right they can often sit for many many hours reciting continuously and that this is almost like a meditation that you feel refreshed afterwards if you go to any murid celebration especially in places like tuba and even more especially during the magal the pilgrimage you will hear crasada being recited everywhere it is a very powerful kind of thing and it's all pervading in this region and not just in the sound of the poetry and so on but also visually if you visit senegambia senegal or the gambia you will find pictures of bamba artistic representations of the famous photograph or other representations of events from his life often painted on houses you will see the bamba on houses you will see him on cars the photograph of bamba can also be sort of hanging in a car he is everywhere right everyone respects him a lot and the visual image of bamba is also considered to have a kind of to contain what is known as barakah in in sufi terms a kind of blessing right so you'll see this image everywhere the same is true for example in popular music a lot of the most popular artists in senegal or the gambia belong to the murid order for example the very famous artist and peace activist yusun dur it belongs to the murid order and he even made an album in 2004 i believe called santa yala released internationally as egypt which is an album that is dedicated specifically to amadobamba to the murray order and to the sufi orders and marabouts in in west africa in general it's a beautiful album was actually awarded a grammy award i think back then and it's really worth checking out if you're interested in the topic in 1960 senegal declared independence from france and has since formed a very unique political structure the sufi orders have and still do play a major role in senegambian society and this is perhaps especially true for the muridia as i mentioned leadership of the order has been carried on by a bombast descendant since his death and these motherboats have a lot of power and popularity the murid order in general is a significant force in society an economic powerhouse given for example their production of peanuts and a social one because such a large portion of the population are devoted to the mana boots these dynamics has led to the fact that during colonial times but especially since independence senegal and the gambia has formed a very unique kind of social system one that is somewhat similar to certain earlier examples from islamic history but it's very unusual today in senegambia basically everyone in the population is connected to a marabout from one of the four major orders the tijaniya muridia order the marabouts are not only spiritual and religious guides but are significant for the social cohesion of the people as well they can for example support their followers financially if someone is in trouble and other such direct involvement with the people thus even though senegal for example is technically a secular democracy the government holds a great respect for the marabouts and they actually play a pretty important role in politics in fact the system in this region is one where the secular government is at the top but then the marabouts function almost like middlemen between the political leaders and the population representing the religious and spiritual foundation in a mutual relationship in a way they thus have a significant level of indirect political influence and power an example of this is that political candidates often travel to tuba to ask for the blessings of the murid marabouts before running or also sometimes visiting them after winning an election to thank them this gives the politician legitimacy on a certain level by connecting himself with the religious and ethical teachings of islam in the same way the politicians will in turn often support the marabouts and their followers monetarily and otherwise creating a kind of symbiotic relationship many political commentators argue that this political system with a symbiotic relationship between religion and secular politics is one of the factors behind the the fact that senegal has been and remains a relatively very functioning democracy and a stable society in many different ways it isn't a secular model where there is a complete separation of church and states like in many other places which would be very alien to this culture and this this region but neither is it a theocratic model like we see in places like iran instead it's a kind of third option where religion and politics do have a relationship with each other they work with each other and they inform each other but they are also separated in some significant ways the secular politicians are to some degree at the top but the religious leaders still play a very significant and important role as kind of intermediaries and and middlemen between these secular politicians and the general population senegal has developed its own way of doing things which seems to be working really well the religious leaders themselves and the population most of them want the state apparatus to remain secular but the fact that the marabouts and religious leaders the sufi leaders still has such an incredible influence and power ensures that religion still plays a very important role in society according to leonardo a villain quote as well organized institutions with an extraordinary high degree of popular legitimacy based both on an ideological religious foundation and on the responsiveness to political concerns the orders have been able to provide senegalese society with a degree of strength in the interactions with the state which is virtually unparalleled elsewhere in africa a strength that is probably an important factor in how fundamentalist groups seem to find very little foothold in this region and why for example a christian leopold sengor could be elected the first president of the country with wide support even from muslim religious leaders the figure of amadobamba played no small part in this current landscape in west africa his non-violent jihad was arguably a lot more successful than the violent uprisings of some of his contemporaries and has come to have a major impact on the world not only this but he inspires us to this day with his devotion to peace his commitment to his religious beliefs and his general resilience whether you are a murid or not if you're interested in more stuff about west african islam or west african sufism you can check out a previous documentary i made about the tejania pilgrimage to the city bogal which takes place annually which i referred to earlier in this episode i'll leave a link to that up here somewhere for now i'd like to thank everyone for listening i would like to thank all of my patrons as usual for supporting this channel monetarily without whom i would not be able to do this to do all you know all these videos require a lot of research of course now this video was based partly on my own research and stuff that i've researched a long time ago this has been a subject that i've worked with previously and that i have some experience with but still every video takes a lot of work of course and so the supports of you guys it means so much and it's invaluable to me so thank you all so much if anyone else wants to become a patron i will leave links to all that stuff in the description and in the pinned comments but in any case feel free to leave a comment like the video or subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and i will see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Let's Talk Religion

Views: 78,260

Keywords: Ahmadou Bamba, Amadu Bamba, praceful Islam, pacifict islam, islamic nonviolence, french colonialism, Senegal, The Gambia, Islam west africa, west african islam, west african sufism, Mouridiyya, Mourid order, Mouride, mourid brotherhood, Touba, Grand Magal, peace activist, Tijaniyya, Sufi brotherhoods, Islam in Senegal, African Islam, Africa religion, african spirituality, Sufism today, Serigne Touba, Muslim Gandhi, Gandhi

Id: HtzUfbHMoWE

Length: 42min 11sec (2531 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 15 2022