Islam and Social Change in French West Africa: History of an Emancipatory Community (African Studies, Series Number 110)

Exploring the history and religious community of a group of Muslim Sufi mystics who came largely from socially marginal backgrounds in colonial French West Africa, this study shows the relationship between religious, social, and economic change in the region. It highlights the role that intellectuals – including not only elite men, but also women, slaves, and the poor – played in shaping social and cultural change and illuminates the specific religious ideas on which Muslims drew and the political contexts that gave their efforts meaning. In contrast to depictions that emphasize the importance of international networks and anti-modern reaction in twentieth-century Islamic reform, this book claims that, in West Africa, such movements were driven by local forces and constituted only the most recent round in a set of centuries-old debates about the best way for pious people to confront social injustice. It argues that traditional historical methods prevent an appreciation of Muslim intellectual history in Africa by misunderstanding the nature of information gathering during colonial rule and misconstruing the relationship between documents and oral history. Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 5 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Contents......Page 9 List of maps and figures......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Note on orthographic conventions......Page 15 Abbreviations used in references......Page 17 Introduction......Page 19 IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE AND THE COLONIAL EPISODE......Page 22 TRADITIONS, REPERTOIRES, AND SOURCES......Page 29 STRUCTURE OF THE ARGUMENT......Page 40 PART ONE ‘‘THE SUFFERING OF OUR FATHER’’: STORY AND CONTEXT......Page 45 1 Sufism and Status in the Western Sudan......Page 47 THE WESTERN SUDANIC TRADITION......Page 50 THE MIDDLE SENEGAL VALLEY: COLONIAL INTERVENTION AND THE RECONFIGURATION OF AUTHORITY......Page 63 CONCLUSIONS......Page 77 2 Making a Revival: Yacouba Sylla and His Followers......Page 78 KAÉDI, NIORO, AND THE LIGHT OF A NEW REFORM......Page 80 YACOUBA SYLLA......Page 89 REVIVAL......Page 92 CONCLUSIONS......Page 100 A PRISON COMMUNITY......Page 101 FODIE SYLLA AND THE END OF MILITANCY......Page 107 CONSOLIDATING THE COMMUNITY......Page 111 RETURN TO ACTIVISM......Page 117 FROM HISTORY TO MYTH......Page 128 CONCLUSIONS......Page 134 PART TWO ‘‘I WILL PROVE TO YOU THAT WHAT I SAY IS TRUE’’: KNOWLEDGE AND COLONIAL RULE......Page 137 4 Ghosts and the Grain of the Archives......Page 139 THE GRAIN OF THE ARCHIVES: ISLAM, KNOWLEDGE, AND CONTROL......Page 144 GHOSTWRITERS IN THE ARCHIVES: RELIGIOUS COMPETITION AND BORROWED KNOWLEDGE IN THE COLONIAL LIBRARY......Page 156 MYTHS OF YACOUBA, MYTHS OF EMPIRE......Page 169 5 History in the Zâwiya: Redemptive Traditions......Page 177 SYNECDOCHE AND SUFISM: YACOUBA SYLLA, TILMÎDH SHAYKH HAMAHU'LLÂH......Page 180 A COMMUNITY OF SUFFERING......Page 189 GOD’S WORK: THE ZÂWIYA, THE PLANTATION, AND THE NATION......Page 197 CONCLUSIONS......Page 200 PART THREE ‘‘WHAT DID HE GIVE YOU?’’: INTERPRETATION......Page 205 6 Lost Origins: Women and Spiritual Equality......Page 207 WOMEN AS PARTICIPANTS......Page 209 MAHR, ADULTHOOD, AND HONOR......Page 213 THE VISION OF FATIMA......Page 218 STRUGGLES FOR CONTROL......Page 222 7 The Spiritual Economy of Emancipation......Page 226 DEFINING SLAVERY AND ABOLITION......Page 228 PATHS TO PERSONHOOD......Page 235 CONCLUSIONS......Page 242 8 The Gift of Work: Devotion, Hierarchy, and Labor......Page 245 WORK’S GIFTS......Page 246 THE GIFT OF HISTORY......Page 258 CONCLUSIONS......Page 267 9 ‘‘To Never Shed Blood’’: Yacouba, Houphouët, and Côte d’Ivoire......Page 271 DEFINING FREE LABOR......Page 274 GIVING AND MORAL TUTELAGE......Page 278 MORAL GEOGRAPHY......Page 287 GIFTS OF THE PAST......Page 293 Glossary......Page 307 ARCHIVES......Page 311 OTHER UNPUBLISHED AND PUBLISHED SOURCES......Page 312 Index......Page 313 Books in This Series......Page 325 Half-title 3 Series-title 5 Title 7 Copyright 8 Contents 9 List of maps and figures 11 Acknowledgments 13 Note on orthographic conventions 15 Abbreviations used in references 17 Introduction 19 IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE AND THE COLONIAL EPISODE 22 TRADITIONS, REPERTOIRES, AND SOURCES 29 STRUCTURE OF THE ARGUMENT 40 PART ONE ‘‘THE SUFFERING OF OUR FATHER’’: STORY AND CONTEXT 45 1 Sufism and Status in the Western Sudan 47 THE WESTERN SUDANIC TRADITION 50 THE MIDDLE SENEGAL VALLEY: COLONIAL INTERVENTION AND THE RECONFIGURATION OF AUTHORITY 63 CONCLUSIONS 77 2 Making a Revival: Yacouba Sylla and His Followers 78 KAÉDI, NIORO, AND THE LIGHT OF A NEW REFORM 80 YACOUBA SYLLA 89 REVIVAL 92 CONCLUSIONS 100 3 Making a Community: The ‘‘Yacoubists’’ from 1930 to 2001 101 A PRISON COMMUNITY 101 FODIE SYLLA AND THE END OF MILITANCY 107 CONSOLIDATING THE COMMUNITY 111 RETURN TO ACTIVISM 117 FROM HISTORY TO MYTH 128 CONCLUSIONS 134 PART TWO ‘‘I WILL PROVE TO YOU THAT WHAT I SAY IS TRUE’’: KNOWLEDGE AND COLONIAL RULE 137 4 Ghosts and the Grain of the Archives 139 THE GRAIN OF THE ARCHIVES: ISLAM, KNOWLEDGE, AND CONTROL 144 GHOSTWRITERS IN THE ARCHIVES: RELIGIOUS COMPETITION AND BORROWED KNOWLEDGE IN THE COLONIAL LIBRARY 156 MYTHS OF YACOUBA, MYTHS OF EMPIRE 169 5 History in the Zâwiya: Redemptive Traditions 177 SYNECDOCHE AND SUFISM: YACOUBA SYLLA, TILMÎDH SHAYKH HAMAHU'LLÂH 180 A COMMUNITY OF SUFFERING 189 GOD’S WORK: THE ZÂWIYA, THE PLANTATION, AND THE NATION 197 CONCLUSIONS 200 PART THREE ‘‘WHAT DID HE GIVE YOU?’’: INTERPRETATION 205 6 Lost Origins: Women and Spiritual Equality 207 WOMEN AS PARTICIPANTS 209 MAHR, ADULTHOOD, AND HONOR 213 THE VISION OF FATIMA 218 STRUGGLES FOR CONTROL 222 7 The Spiritual Economy of Emancipation 226 DEFINING SLAVERY AND ABOLITION 228 PATHS TO PERSONHOOD 235 CONCLUSIONS 242 8 The Gift of Work: Devotion, Hierarchy, and Labor 245 WORK’S GIFTS 246 THE GIFT OF HISTORY 258 CONCLUSIONS 267 9 ‘‘To Never Shed Blood’’: Yacouba, Houphouët, and Côte d’Ivoire 271 DEFINING FREE LABOR 274 GIVING AND MORAL TUTELAGE 278 MORAL GEOGRAPHY 287 Conclusions 293 GIFTS OF THE PAST 293 Glossary 307 Note on References 311 ARCHIVES 311 INTERVIEWS 312 OTHER UNPUBLISHED AND PUBLISHED SOURCES 312 Index 313 Books in This Series 325 Exploring the history and religious community of a group of Muslim Sufi mystics who came largely from socially marginal backgrounds in colonial French West Africa, this study shows the relationship between religious, social, and economic change in the region. It highlights the role that intellectuals - including not only elite men, but also women, slaves, and the poor - played in shaping social and cultural change and illuminates the specific religious ideas on which Muslims drew and the political contexts that gave their efforts meaning. In contrast to depictions that emphasize the importance of international networks and anti-modern reaction in twentieth-century Islamic reform, this book claims that, in West Africa, such movements were driven by local forces and constituted only the most recent round in a set of centuries-old debates about the best way for pious people to confront social injustice. It argues that traditional historical methods prevent an appreciation of Muslim intellectual history in Africa by misunderstanding the nature of information gathering during colonial rule and misconstruing the relationship between documents and oral history. -- Description from http://www.amazon.com (April 24, 2012). Exploring the history of a group of Muslim Sufi mystics and their religious community in colonial French West Africa, this study shows the relationship between religious, social and economic change in the region. It highlights the role that the people played in shaping social and cultural change.