Sheikh Al-Hajj Salim Suwari was a 13th-century West African Soninke karamogo (Islamic scholar) who focused on the responsibilities of Muslim minorities residing in a non-Muslim society.
Hailing from the Sahelian town of Ja (Dia) in the core Mali area, Al-Hajj Salim Suwari had performed the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca several times and devoted his intellectual career to developing an understanding of the faith that would assist Muslim minorities in residing in "pagan" lands (dar al-kufr).
In this teaching Suwari followed a strong predilection in Islamic political philosophy for any government, albeit non-Muslim or tyrannical, as opposed to none: (e) The military jihad was a resort only in self-defense if the faithful were threatened.
But the Suwarian tradition was resilient and useful, and it is probably similar to the positions of many African Muslim communities who found themselves in situations of inferior numbers and force, took advantage of their networks for trade, and enjoyed good relations with their "pagan" hosts.
[5] Al-Hajj Salim's scholarly activity was centered on the town of Jagha in the bilâd as-sûdân (Western Sudan), but his influence was greatest along the southern fringes of the Manding trade network, and corresponds to the period of the disintegration of the old Malian empire.
Wilks describes it as "pacifistic and quietist in content," implying a tolerant and respectful approach to non-Muslims, while in the words of Sanneh, one of the imperatives of the tradition is its "travel or mobility (al-safar) involving the penetration of distant lands for the purposes of religion.