Islam in Senegal
Sufi brotherhoods expanded with French colonization, as people turned to religious authority rather than the colonial administration.
Islam's influence in the area began with the conversion of King of Takrur, War Jabi in 1040,[4] likely as a result of the Trans-Saharan trade between North and West Africa.
The popularity of the Tijaniyyah brotherhood marks this shift; Islam became "a rallying point for African resistance to the French".
[5] Omar Saidou Tall first created a Tijani brotherhood in West Africa after he was initiated into the Tijaniyya during his hajj to Mecca.
[5] In his attempt to create a Tijani Islamic empire in Senegal, Tall is described as the "most eminent of the Muslim clerical warriors".
[5] In the cities, especially the Four Communes the French created, Muslim Sufi marabouts, religious authorities, were involved in Senegalese politics.
[5] However, Muslim Reform movements responded angrily to the marabouts' collaboration with French authorities, calling these moves hypocritical.
[7] The most common of these Reformists was the Union Culturelle Musulmane, founded by Cheikh Toure in 1953,[4] led by religious scholars, some of whom studied in Cairo universities.
As Mbacke states, the administration's "ultimate aim was to dominate minds" in order to take over the nation, and they saw Islam as standing in their way.
[6] Having enforced a secular state, the French also limited the establishment of Qur'anic schools, created secular rather than Islamic curriculum in public schools, restricted public access books on Islamic topics, limited contacts with Senegal and the Middle East, restricted hajj pilgrimages to Mecca, arrested and killed Muslim scholars.
[8] The two largest orders are the Tijaniyyah and the Muridiyyah or Mourides, although the pan-Islamic Qadiriyyah and the smaller Layene brotherhood are also represented in parts of the country.
This order was brought to Senegal by El Hadj Umar Tall (1780-1840), who attempted to create an Islamic empire and organize all Muslims.
[5] There are three dynasties of Tijanis, depending on the marabout a following owes most allegiance to: the Sy and Niasse in Wolof and Serer, and the Tall in Tukulor.
[6] Every year, thousands of Senegal make a pilgrimage to Touba for a religious festival held by the Mourides to honor Cheikh Bamba.
They are often rejected by the larger Muslim population for beliefs some call un-Islamic, including their founder's assertion that he was a Prophet.
On the contrary, scholars have found that this practice has existed for centuries, acts as a source of moral training for children, and is actually in decline.
These groups meet informally to sing religious songs, pray, engage in other types of devotion, and discuss the history of their brotherhood.
They often organize or play significant roles within daairas[check spelling], a brotherhood's smaller community associations.
Women play a public role in the community doing volunteer work, collecting money for the marabout, organizing religious visits, or promoting the daaira's activities on the radio or television.
Since the 1970s, and especially with the arrival of the Mozdahir community and their leader Cherif Mohamed Aly Aidara in the early 2000s, the number of native Shi'i Senegalese has steadily increased in both urban and rural areas.
