Info For Y'all The Wolof People: Africa`S Darkest, Tall In Addition To Regal-Looking People
The Wolof are an ethnic grouping found inwards Senegal, The Gambia, in addition to Mauritania.In Senegal, the Wolof shape an ethnic plurality where nearly 43.3% of the population are Wolofs.
In The Gambia, nearly 16% of the population are Wolof. Here, they are a minority, where the Mandinka are the plurality amongst 42% of the population, yet Wolof linguistic communication in addition to civilisation have got a disproportionate influence because of their prevalence inwards Banjul, The Gambia's capital, where a bulk of the population is Wolof.
In Mauritania, nearly 8% of the population are Wolof. They alive largely inwards the southern coastal part of the country.
Wolof people alive inwards the 'Savanna zone' of northwest Senegal. They tin live found from the Senegal river inwards the northward to the The Gambia river inwards the due south (indicated past times the light-green areas on the map). They are the largest people/group of Senegal, in addition to brand upward 43.5% of the total population of Senegal in addition to number nearly 3 million.
In rural areas the Wolof are mainly farmers.
The Wolof linguistic communication is a West Atlantic linguistic communication of the Niger-Congo family. It is an of import linguistic communication every bit it is used every bit the linguistic communication of merchandise fifty-fifty exterior the main Wolof areas. About 30% of the population speak Wolof every bit their firstly linguistic communication in addition to nearly 80% empathize it.
History
The Wolof firstly entered Senegal from the northward E inwards nearly the 11th Century coming to the lower Senegal Valley. They are said to live composed of an amalgam of Mandingo, Sereer in addition to Fula. Cheikh Anta Diop believes that they came from the Nile valley in addition to that the Wolof were usage of the formation of the ancient Egyptian civilisation. From the 13th to the 15th centuries, Wolof kings conquered in addition to ruled a large expanse called the Djolof. Towards the halt of the 16th century this broke upward into the chiefdoms of Walo, Baol, Cayor, Sine in addition to Saloum.
Wolof tribe man, Cheikh Anta Diop, the nifty African historian/scholar
These inwards plough where destroyed past times the French inwards the 19th century, the concluding Wolof King, Lat Dior, beingness defeated inwards battle in addition to killed inwards 1886. Since the times of the Wolof Kingdoms until recent times the Wolof lived inwards highly stratified societies based primarily on blood relationships. There were 3 highly separated castes: freemen (gor or jambur); those of slave descent (jaam); in addition to artisans (ñeeño). Intermarriage rarely took identify betwixt the castes. The Wolof have got e'er had closer contacts amongst the European powers than the other people groups inwards Senegal in addition to were also largely behind the slave merchandise betwixt the 15th and 19th centuries.
Wolof Queen Ndeté-Yalla, Senegal, showing her robes in addition to bead jewelry, 1850s; based on a drawing made from life past times a Senegalese Catholic priest. For details, see http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery, Image Reference Boilat03.
http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/news1206/news1206-1.htmlThe French built factories along the Senegal River to exploit the gum-producing expanse in addition to to merchandise inwards slaves. Wolof chiefs also traded slaves thus giving them a source of revenue in addition to power. In 1815, the slave merchandise became illegal, although slaves were silent beingness traded tardily inwards the 19th Century. This had of import ramifications for the powerfulness of the chiefs in addition to the physical care for of Islamization.
At this fourth dimension families headed past times marabouts (i.e. elders who considered themselves every bit Muslim clerics) were immigrating from the east. The chiefs oftentimes valued the marabouts for their prayers in addition to amulets, books in addition to rosaries, in addition to magic powers. In render the marabouts were given Earth in addition to allowed to start villages. The marabouts like shooting fish in a barrel detached themselves from courtroom life in addition to became the leaders of the commoners living inwards the countryside.
At this fourth dimension the courtroom was characterized past times 'a dissipated vogue of living'. Overindulgence, extravagance, drunkenness, in addition to immorality were rampant in addition to were basically stimulated past times the soldiers. By contrast the marabouts lived lives regulated past times the Koran, less extravagant, reserved in addition to disciplined which also led to improved economical conditions. The soldiers of the courtroom tended to oppress in addition to mistreat the people but left the marabouts lonely for fearfulness of their magic. 'Mistreated people' also began to go to the marabout villages every bit a refuge thus increasing the marabouts' following.
From the 17th Century onwards the influence of the marabouts had increased so much, that they revolted against the courtroom army. The chiefs were weakened past times their loss of command over merchandise in addition to revenues after the decline of the slave merchandise in addition to because to a greater extent than in addition to to a greater extent than of the wealth from the merchandise inwards peanuts went to the marabouts. This brought them money in addition to hence guns which together amongst the evolution of the peanut merchandise contributed to the success of the marabout revolution (jihad).
Colonial policy inwards Senegal in addition to The Gambia was directed to establishing peace so merchandise could develop. Irrespective of whether governors chose the side of the marabouts or chiefs the influence of the marabouts grew in addition to Islam spread to a greater extent than chop-chop in addition to thoroughly. Thus today nearly 99.9% of Wolof people are Muslim.
Characteristics in addition to Importance of the Wolof
The Wolof people are a really nighttime skinned, tall, proud, regal-looking people. They tend to live lazy nearly learning other languages, in addition to have got a domineering in addition to contemptuous mental attitude toward their neighbours. in addition to are really ethnocentric. Open sensuality is usage of their lifestyle.
Gambian Wolof adult woman doing her gig
The Wolof have got been to a greater extent than affected past times the West than other Senegalese groups. However, they have got the most highly developed feel of national identity of whatever of the Senegalese. Through the years, they have got played a major usage inwards the import-export merchandise every bit middlemen in addition to primary producers of the main cash crop, peanuts. They tend to live a major chemical constituent of the civil service in addition to play an of import usage inwards political parties. In fact Wolofs concur a disproportionate portion of cabinet posts in addition to seats inwards the National Assembly. They are highly urbanized in addition to they are the main chemical constituent inwards the major cities of Senegal (Dakar, St.Louis, Thies, Kaolack). In the urban areas they may live found inwards businesses such every bit fabrics, dressmaking, dyeing, jewellery making, in addition to elaborate hair-dressing.
Mauritanian Wolof fishermen
During the course of instruction of their history the Wolof have got absorbed many traits from other cultures thus portion a multifariousness of cultural characteristics amongst their neighbours. Language is i such element. Despite this the Wolof have got remained a distinct ethnic grouping which is really appealing to people of other groups. In fact those inwards unopen contact amongst them, peculiarly inwards the towns, tend to adopt Wolof traits in addition to claim themselves to live Wolof fifty-fifty when the link is somewhat tenuous. One peculiarly of import characteristic of the Wolof is their capacity to influence the ways of others, accommodate to changing situations yet rest a distinct culture. They are admired past times other groups due to their first in addition to powerfulness to adapt. Both the Serer in addition to the Lebu have got undergone 'Wolofization'.
Wolof people
Religion
The Wolof Style of Islam
Islam is an inseparable usage of Wolof culture. However Wolof lodge is considerably freer than most Muslim societies. For instance women are costless to appear inwards public. One of import characteristic of Wolof Islam is that it tends to live centred around membership of i of the 3 main brotherhoods. About 30% of Wolofs belong to the Mourides, nearly 60% belong to the Tijaniyas, in addition to nearly 10% belong to the Qadiriyas. During the Colonial menses the brotherhoods were the main agency past times which the Sufi shape of Islam was spread. Since independence Islam has go the primary forcefulness inwards Senegalese lodge due to the brotherhoods' powerfulness to accommodate to changing social conditions, the spread of Koranic primary schools, in addition to Senegal's growing ties amongst the Islamic world.
Prayer inwards a sand
Pre-Islamic beliefs last only to a little extent amid the Wolof in addition to are found mainly inwards isolated rural areas. When Islamic beliefs were adopted, procedures at naming ceremonies, circumcision, marriage, divorce, in addition to burial started to follow Islamic patterns. However it has been noted that the Islam of the Wolof is strongly mixed amongst spiritism. Numerous taboos operate inwards Wolof society. For example, a important women may non operate inwards the fields or it is believed the harvest volition live less; a knife is placed beside the caput of a newborn babe until it is vii days old to protect it from evil spirits. Marabouts (Muslim clerics) practise white magic, for a price. Their practices include writing special Koranic texts on paper in addition to and so placing them inwards little leather pouches or washing the ink from these texts amongst water, in addition to preserving it inwards bottles or sprinkling it over the body.
Senegalese Wolof marabout Chiekh Bethio Thioune surrounded past times supporters every bit he endorses former
Senegalese Wolof president Abdoulaye Wade.
Animistic beliefs
Wolof lodge gives the impression of revolving around Islam, in addition to Islam does inwards fact concur a cardinal identify inwards Wolof society. However it is practiced at 2 levels. The visible bird is "orthodox" Islam amongst its ritual prayers, fasts in addition to festivals. But at the pump of their beliefs in addition to practices is "folk" Islam, a syncretistic mix of Sufi Islam in addition to African traditional religion.
Wolof traditionalist/animist
Many of the pre-existing animistic practices have got been given Islamic dress. That is to say, they are performed past times Muslims, in addition to the names of Allah in addition to Muhammad invoked. It is inwards folk Islam where people bargain amongst the of import issues of life: wellness in addition to sickness, the fearfulness of evil spirits, witches in addition to dark magic, advancement inwards life. Amulets in addition to charms are worn to protect the wearer from all sorts of maledictions. Wives volition seek to preclude their husbands from marrying a 2d married adult woman past times seeking someone amongst magical powers. People volition seek to acquire ahead of their competitors through dark magic, all the spell giving the appearance of beingness their best friends. Sacrifices are made to the theatre unit of measurement spirits, theatre unit of measurement totems are respected in addition to ceremonies for the exorcism of spirits have got changed piddling from pre-Islamic days.
The novel born babe is protected from evil spirits past times placing a knife, a branch from the echallon tree in addition to charms beside its head. And it is from the pre-existing beliefs that many of their silent strongly held superstitions arose, such every bit the taboos on a woman, important for the firstly time, working inwards a land or going angling amongst a man; the knife carried past times women inwards their menses of mourning after the expiry of their husbands to chase evil spirits away; taking Mon every bit the twenty-four hours of relaxation every bit this is the twenty-four hours that the spirits of the globe rest; or taboos on cutting the fingernails of a babe which is beingness pectus fed for fearfulness that it volition go a thief.
Social Organization
Castes
Youssou Ndour, Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 wolof in addition to nifty African instrumentalist from Sebegal
Wolof tribe human being Ousmane Sembene amongst his trademark pipe, Great African Film-maker
It has been observed that the freeborn caste tend to maintain a favoured spot past times holding on to their erstwhile status in addition to past times applying the Islamic rules to a greater extent than strictly than those of slave descent or artisans. Slave-descendants no longer operate for the descendants of their erstwhile masters but the freeborn silent have got stuff advantages due to their position. However today materially the slave-descendants should live able to gain a spot comparable to that of the freeborn. Similarly hamlet heads were almost e'er of freeborn status in addition to e'er inwards villages of mixed castes. Intermarriage betwixt castes is non common.
Two famous Wolofs: Former Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade in addition to international instrumentalist Akon
The freeborn consider themselves to a greater extent than religious than slave-descents since to a greater extent than of them go on the pilgrimage to Mecca. However the costs for slave-descendants are much higher every bit they must compensate their erstwhile masters during their absence. People who render from the pilgrimage gain the championship of El Hadji (men) or Adjouratou (women) in addition to also gain much prestige. Since slave-descendants in addition to artisans cannot occupy positions of potency or prestige inwards mixed communities these groups tend to concur on to tribal organized religious belief in addition to the ceremonies in addition to activities related to the age-set scheme to a greater extent than than the freeborn. Slave-descendants in addition to artisans also have gifts from the freeborn inwards render for carrying out ritual services for them.
Aminata Sow Fall, the famous Senegalese African writer
Indicators of wealth
Kinee Diouf Senegalese Wolof international model
Wolof woman
Wolof ceremonial traditions
Ceremonies such every bit weddings, funerals, in addition to baptisms, spell non unique, have got traditional elements distinctive to the Wolof. Many aspects of these traditional ceremonies have got merged in addition to been modified through the 20th century.
Some Wolof proverbs canbe checked here:http://wolofresources.org/language/download/proverbs.pdf
Action
1. “Maa mën” : defal ñu gis. (2)
“I tin do it”; (then) do it so nosotros tin see.
“Actions speak louder than words.”
2. Àkk àkkum gaynde, vocal songum bukki. (6)
Charge amongst the spirit of a Panthera leo but assault similar a hyena.
Enthusiasm earlier action, composure at the instant of action.
3. Def ca ba ngay man. (12)
Do it spell y'all can.
“Strike spell the iron’s hot.”
“Opportunity knocks but once.”
“Seize the day.”
“Time in addition to tide hold off for no man.”
4. Fa ñuy tëgge ab xàndoor, deesu fa ñaani njël ; fa ñu koy bey lañu koy ñaane. (11,12)
Where they brand hilaires (an African tool for removing weeds from a field) they do
non pray for dawn; it is those who are weeding who pray for it.
It is inwards the identify where a goodness thought is spot into exercise that its value becomes visible, non in
the identify where the thought was spoken.
5. Jabar, doonte ne yeena jéllooy sàkket, ab xer damm. (2,3)
(In the affair of a) wife, fifty-fifty if y'all only have got a wall of reeds betwixt you, a post
tin break.
Even if a union seems like shooting fish in a barrel to organise, the futurity bridegroom volition e'er have got to do
to a greater extent than in addition to pass to a greater extent than than he anticipates.
Tanor owns a large garage in addition to his concern is going well. One day, i of his cousins is
promoted to caput of an of import world service. Tanor expects that his cousin volition give
him the contract to maintain the service vehicles. Some fourth dimension after he learns that the
contract has been given to some other mechanic. Tanor makes known his resentment to i of
his friends who says to him that he had been besides confident in addition to that he should have got gone to
run across his cousin correct after his promotion, in addition to quotes this proverb.
6. Maa la men deesu ko wax, dees koy jëf. (11,12)
“I am improve than you” is non something which is said; it is shown past times action.
“Actions speak louder than words.”
It is non words which count but action.
7. Nit la mu jëf la du la mu wax. (15)
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 human being is measured past times what he does, non what he says.
“Actions speak louder than words.”
8. Soo jiwul, doo góob. (20)
If y'all do non sow, y'all volition non reap.
“Nothing ventured, nada gained.”
“The sluggard craves in addition to gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully
satisfied.” (Proverbs 13:4 NIV)
9. Wax yomb na, wànte def yombul. (13,20)
Talk is easy, but doing is not.
“Actions speak louder than words.”
“It is easier said than done.”
10. Jëm ci làmb di bàkku, jóge cay bàkkoo ko gën. (11,12)
Dem sa làmb ja di bàkku jóge fa di bàkkoo ko gën. (7,14)
It is improve to boast coming from the wrestling match, than to boast on the way to
the match.
“Actions speak louder than words.”
Glory comes from the results of action, non from talk.
“The virile someone monarch of State of Israel answered, "Tell him: ‘One who puts on his armour should not
boast similar i who takes it off.’"” (1 Kings 20:11 NIV)
11. Pëndub tànk a gën pënduw taat. (2,6,8)
Tànk yu pënd a gën taat yu pënd. (14)
Dust on the feet is improve than dust on the behind (from sitting).
Action is improve than sitting doing nothing.
Magatte Wade, Wolof in addition to a Senegalese international enterpreneur/CEO/founder of
Adina World Beat Beverages, a San Francisco
Advice
12. Boroom làmmiñ du réer. (20)
Someone amongst a natural language volition non acquire lost.
One should e'er enquire when i doesn't know.
“Listen to advice in addition to have got instruction, in addition to inwards the halt y'all volition live wise.”
(Proverbs 19:20 NIV)
13. Tere, tere, mu të, bàyyil mu gis. (2,6,7,14,15)
Prohibit, prohibit, he refuses to listen, leave of absence him to see.
If someone refuses to remove heed to advice, leave of absence him to uncovering the consequences himself.
“Blessed is the human being who e'er fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart
falls into trouble.” (Proverbs 28:14 NIV)
14. Ku la ne “sangul”, sab taar la bëgg. (2,8,19)
Ku la ne “sangul”, sab taar a tax. (11,12)
Whoever tells y'all to go in addition to bathe wants y'all to live beautiful.
The someone who gives y'all goodness advice is your friend in addition to has your best interests at heart,
fifty-fifty if it is hard to hear.
“Wounds from a friend tin live trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” (Proverbs
27:6 NIV)
15. Déggal ndigal i ñett, bàyyil ndigal i ñett. (1)
Follow the advice of 3 people, in addition to ignore the advice of 3 (others).
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 saying of Kotche BARMA. When he said this he was advising people to follow the
advice of one's father, one's woman parent in addition to one's eldest son, in addition to to resist the advice of one's
wife, one's slave in addition to one's griot. The firstly 3 are motivated past times the interests of the man,
whereas the latter are motivated past times self involvement in addition to are only interested inwards his belongings.
Wolof miss from The Gambia
Art
Wolof adult woman dancing
The Tama of the Wolof
Drums, especially the Wolof talking drum (tama) tin live found everywhere in addition to are heard at every major event. The xalam or Wolof lute is harder to uncovering but silent plays a usage inwards Wolof celebrations every bit the traditional story-tellers or griots go around seeking their livelihood.
Wolof man African human being playing the xalam
Bibliography
- Bravmann, R.A. 'A Fragment of Paradise' The Muslim World, Vol.78 January 1988
- Gellar, S. Senegal An African Nation Between Islam in addition to the West (Westview Press: Colorado 1982)
- Molla, C.F. 'Some Aspects of Islam inwards Africa South of the Sahara' Int. Rev. Miss., Vol. 56 1967
- Ray, B. African Religions, Symbol, Ritual, in addition to Community (Prentice Hall Inc.: New Jersey, 1976)
- Venema, L.B. The Wolof of Saloum: Social Structure in addition to Rural Development Centre for Agricultural Publishing in addition to Documentation. Agricultural Research Report 871. Wageningen. 1978.
- Peace is Everything David Maranz International Museum of Cultures Dallas 1993
- La Philosophie morale des Wolof Assane Sylla IFAN 1994
- La Famille Wolof Abdoulaye-Bara Diop Karthala 1985
- La Société Wolof Abdoulaye-Bara Diop Karthala 1981
- The Wolof of Saloum Social Structure & Rural Development LB Venema Centre for Agricultural Publishing & Documentation Agricultural 1978
- SOURCE: http://wolofresources.org/beliefs.htm
- Wolof adult woman wearing a traditional blueish dress, Banjul, the Gambia
WOLOF ADHERENCE TO MUSLIM BROTHERHOODS
The communities which foreran the brotherhoods grew up inwards the early years of Islam and were based in Islamic mysticism, or Sufism. The members of the small Sufi communities in the early on period lived an ordered life in which private moral and physical discipline, as well as mystical theology and ritual, were emphasized. These orders had only limited appeal to the few men willing to give up their worldly possessions and live an ascetic life to achieve a state of union with God. Later, however, the organizational basis of these communities changed, the stress on private moral and physical discipline declined, in addition to the Muslim orders took on the form which attracted followers throughout the Far and Near East and North Africa. By the end of the eleventh century the informal communities of ascetics were being converted into organized brother- hoods whose members, living together inwards regulated communities, adhered to a torso of
spiritual rites.
Islamic Wolof men
The change inwards emphasis from individual self-discipline to mystical theology, which is of particular importance to this study, came in the late twelfth and early on thirteenth centuries and is often associated with Ibn al-Arabi of Murcia (d. 1240 A.D.), whose esoteric mystical interpretation of Islam pointed the way for the development of the later brotherhoods in which the mass of brothers could satisfy their religious duties by devotion and obedience to a handful of mystically adept leaders. In improver the brotherhoods in the after period softened the strict rules of orthodox Islam, stressing the state of a man's heart rather than his actual behavior, and popularizing Muslim traditions to make them understandable at the lowest level. Local practices and beliefs alien to Islam were tolerated as long as they did not contradict the desired union with Allah which all true brothers wished to achieve.
Although these factors vulgarized and distorted Islamic teachings, they also made Islam appealing to uncomplicated men. The mass of members of the orders apparently often forgot the teachings of the Qu'ran and of Muhammad; ignorant of the major doctrintes of Islam, they concentrated on obedience to their leaders. This attitude was made possible largely because of the emphasis of later Sufism, which stressed the ability of the brotherhood leader to act as intermediary between Allah and man. Whereas early Sufism had emphasized private effort, it was later believed that most men could not achieve union amongst the Divine by themselves. Concurrent with the shift in emphasis pre- Islamic beliefs in magic were mingled with Islam. Belief grew inwards legends about the miracles performed by early mystics in addition to the magical ability of current leaders who had received divine grace or baraka from Allah. The leaders were revered as saints, and their tombs became the centers of pilgrimages because of the miracles which might occur there. Montet, a French writer, reports that in Morocco in the nineteenth century such leaders were believed to have innumerable powers: they could, for example, elevator large loads alone, repel bullets, or go for long periods without food and water; they could be ubiquitous, go invisible, or be instantly transported to far-off places; or they could walk on H2O or dry up an ocean; and they were capable of keeping away evil spirits, healing the sick, and resurrecting the dead. Montet concludes from his observations in Kingdom of Morocco that Sufism had degenerated into anthropolatry:
"Living or dead, the saints, however illiterate they may be . . . are adored."
The leaders of the brotherhoods were called shaykhs, or in North and West Africa, Marabouts. Marabout is a French term coming from the Arabic discussion for fortified military camp or monastery and is used for a Muslim holy man, whether or not he is connected with the brotherhoods. According to the Not surprisingly, this devotion of the brotherhood members to their leaders was practically demonstrated through material contributions. An offering, or ziara, which was sometimes quite large, as well as the member's dime, or tenth of his crops, were paid to the brotherhoods. Land around the middle of the brotherhood was worked by the members
(usually lay affiliates and total brothers together), and the men made payments (habus or wakaf) to the brotherhood for the use of this land. The leaders also received other types of contributions including payments for initiation and labor corv&es since adepts of an order were morally obliged to sow and harvest for their leader. Through these and similar contributions the brotherhoods, and to a greater extent than specifically the leaders, had large material resources. Indeed, the periodic payments and labor corvees were not all that a Marabout could demand. As Depont and Coppolani said, everything a human being had could be taken by the leaders: "the goods of their
followers are their property, their horses are their mounts and their huts . . . are accessible to these venerable parasites."
Because of the frequent contributions of money by the members and the absolute control exercised by the leaders, the brotherhoods appeared to many French observers as states within the French colonial state. Indeed the French commentators had to recognize that the members' blind obedience to the leaders in addition to their loyalty to the brotherhood as a whole were the major sources of political strength of the Muslim orders. With the brotherhoods tightly unified behind them, the leaders could speak with great authority. Consequently, the tariqas oftentimes wielded enormous political power inwards North Africa and elsewhere. As one nineteenth-century writer aptly commented: "Never has autocracy shown itself with more prominent and decided appearance; never either has the dogma of obedience been proposed in addition to accepted inwards more formal or absolute terms. It is therefore permissible to affirm that in this double principle of authority on one side and personal abnegation and passive obedience on the other, resides the principal factor of the extraordinary power of the Muslim religious orders. "
The Advent of the Brotherhoods in West Africa
Thus, the tight organization of the Muslim brotherhoods and the unquestioned authority of the leaders made the brotherhoods particularly suited as vehicles of social and political reform when they began to attract converts among the Wolof at the end of the nineteenth century. Before this, although they had been in contact with Muslims for many centuries, the Wolof had not felt the full impact of the orders. Soon after their appearance in the Middle East the brotherhoods had spread to North Africa, where in the twelfth century they stimulated the powerful Almohad (al-muwahhidun) movement with its strong appeal to the mass of Berbers. Shortly thereafter the North African brotherhoods began to filter into West Africa, where their introduction coincided with and reinforced the general Islamization of the area immediately to the south of the Sahara.
Alphonse Gouilly, a twentieth-century French administrator and scholar, has divided the Islamization process into five periods which help to place the advent of the brotherhoods in their proper context. The first period, which Gouilly calls the Berber phase, was in the eleventh century, when the Almoravids (al-murabitun) conquered the hitherto pagan kingdom of Ghana in the western Sudan. The second, or Mandingo, phase took place during the fifteenth century, when converted Negro Africans, using Islamization as a weapon of their states, began to convert other Africans. In the sixteenth century came the Sonrai period when, owing particularly to the kingdoms on the eastern Niger, Islam spread rapidly in the Niger area. During the Peul phase in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Tukulors in the Futa Toro (Senegal), the Futa Djalon (Guinea), and the Hausa regions (Northern Nigeria) conducted holy wars to spread their version of Islam to neighboring pagan and Muslim tribes. The last phase came at the end of the nineteenth century when various Islamic states fought to spread their authority, using the cover of Islam as a justification. Although missionaries and traders belonging to the orders had entered West Africa long before, Sufi brotherhoods were particulary important in the fourth and 5th periods.
The brotherhood which apparently first appeared in West Africa was the Qadriyya tariqa. Founded by the sharif21 Si Muhammad Abd al-Qadar al-Djilani (1079-1166), originally from Baghdad, the order spread over the Middle East and North Africa at an early date. It shortly divided into myriad branches, some re- taining only the most tenuous connections with the motherhouse in the Middle East. The Qadiri order was introduced into the Sahel region in the fifteenth century by Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Maghrib. But it was Al-Mukhtar ibn Ahmad (1729-1811), the son of one of al-Maghrib's disciples of the Arab Kunta tribe, who founded a center for the order north of Timbuktu which became the base for the order in West Africa.
The second of import brotherhood to come from North to West Africa was the Tijaniyya order founded by a Qadiri named Sharif23 Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tijani (1735-1815). At the age of twenty-one he traveled from Ain Mahdi (Morocco) to Mecca. After his return to North Africa he had a revelation from the Prophet (c. 1781) and, as a result, founded the Tijani brotherhood. Sometime thereafter al-Tijani sent a missionary from the Ida Ou Ali ethnic group, Muhammad al-Hafiz ibn al-Mukhtar ibn Habib al-Baddi, to Mauritania. There, he converted the Ida Ou Ali, who then had considerable influence in the proselytization of the surrounding area, including portions of Senegal.
Following al-Tijani's death, his spiritual successors quarreled, causing a division of the order into two motherhouses, one at Fez and one at Ain Mahdi. Most of the of import Tijaniyya branches in West Africa are affiliated with the erstwhile center. Intensive missionary activity was conducted in West Africa in association with various commercial undertakings. The most of import conversion in this period was that of Umar Tall (1794/7-1864), a member of the Tukulor ethnic group inwards the Futa Toro. While in Mecca, where he arrived in 1828, he met one of al-Tijani's close companions, who named him Moqaddim of the order in West Africa. Umar Tall then returned to West Africa, going firstly to the area presently called Northern Nigeria, where he remained until 1838. He in addition to so went to Massina and the Futa Djalon, and did not return to his domicile territory until 1846, by which time he claimed the rank of khalif in the Tijani order and had gathered an army of volunteers. In 1851-1852 he launched a holy war and conquered a large part of the Sudan touching on Senegal inwards the Futa Toro region. When Al-Hajj Umar died inwards 1864, much of the large area he had converted reverted to its old religious traditions. The Futa Toro, however, because it was peopled by a majority of Tukulor, remained almost solidly Tijani. Furthermore, the Islamization movement was continued by Umar Tall's disciples, who conducted various smaller holy wars, some of which were of major importance inwards the conversion of the Wolof.
Equally important among the Wolof was the Murid brotherhood, which was founded in 1866 by a Wolof Marabout of Tukulor ancestry of the M'Bake family, Muhammad Ibn Muhammad ibn Habib Allah (1850-1927), called Ahmad Bamba. In to a greater extent than or less 1880 Ahmad Bamba was initiated into the Qadiri tariqa by Shaykh Hajj Kamara, and later, judging this insufficient, he traveled to Mauritania to be initiated by Shaykh Sidia, the head of a major Qadiri branch derived from the Kunta center. He joined Lat Dyor's entourage, and, by 1886, when Dyor was killed, Bamba had gained a reputation for learning and piety. In that same year he received a revelation of his mission to found his own order, which he based in Touba (in Diourbel).
From the outset the French authorities feared Ahmad Bamba, who they believed hoped to re-establish a Wolof state under his own control. He had attracted followers of Lat Dyor, Al-Bur Ndyaye, Maba, and many others identified amongst opposition to the colonialists. Rumors circulated about his anti-government statements and occasionally about the large scale collection of arms in addition to volunteers by his followers. Bamba lived his life under close surveillance by the French and was exiled in 1895 and again inwards 1897.
The Reasons for the Wolof Conversion
A partial answer to the second question raised in this paper, concerning the factors in the Senegalese province of affairs which made the brotherhoods particularly attractive to the Wolof, is that the Wolof, already imbued with Islamic ideas, were particularly receptive to an intensive Islamization effort by the brother- hoods. But to a greater extent than fundamental reasons can be found from an examination of traditional Wolof society at this time.
SENEGAL: Woloff Marabout, or Priest from, old print, 1890
The nineteenth century was a menses of confusion and insecurity for the Wolof, who sought first to express their opposition to the colonial authorities both as individuals and as a group, by adherence to the brotherhoods. Their organizational strength and the authority of their leaders made the brotherhoods peculiarly suitable organizations for political protest, providing the members amongst strong protection against injury or punishment in a deal against any hated grouping and promising them Paradise if they died fighting for the brotherhood. Religious sects or "revitalization movements" have played such roles at various times in Africa: The Christian Harris movement in the Ivory Coast was, for example, such a group; and Suret-Canale states that the development of new religious groups is a response to "the sharpening through the effects of colonialism, of the internal contradictions of African society." Respected authorities on North African Islam, such as Depont and Coppolani, complained that the orders there were recruiting many discontented elements of society and were becoming major centers of resistance. Of the brotherhoods in Senegal which resisted the colonialists, some of the most powerful were branches of the Tijaniyya led by Umar Tall and his disciples and Ahmad Bamba's Murid order, which became a symbol of resistance shortly after it founding in 1866. It is hard to know whether or not Bamba deliberately attempted to opposed the French; indeed, it is quite probable, as Suret-Canale has suggested, that the Murids did not have "a revolutionary character principally and directly turned against the colonial domination," but that they were led to express protests against colonial oppression only to the extent that the colonial regime oppressed them. It makes little difference in this context what Ahmad Bamba's actual intentions were, for the results were similar whether or not he wished to fight the French. His reputation among the Africans, as well as among the French, was that of opposing the colonialists; the discontented flocked to him as they had to the brotherhoods in North Africa, and, although their first strong following came principally from the Wolof, the Murids later drew from other ethnic groups as well.
Former Senegalese preisdent Abdoulaye Wade (a Wolof) consulting a marabout
A 2d factor in the Senegalese situation which pushed the Wolof toward the brotherhoods was the Muslim orders' initial stance as vehicles of social reform. There were conflicts among the social classes or sectors inside the Wolof as there were within other ethnic groups in Senegal. Although this attraction is the most nebulous to speculate upon because of the extreme difficulty of knowing exactly which social sectors within the ethnic groups were opposed or allied, it is a vital consideration, for friction among various parts of the population was an of import element in Senegalese politics. A disruption of the balance between sectors could and did in many cases lead to the emergence of certain sectors' interests in a new group which would be a stronger champion of its interests than the individual sector had been. The brotherhoods thus provided a chance for the dissatisfied sectors of the Senegalese population
A 2d factor in the Senegalese situation which pushed the Wolof toward the brotherhoods was the Muslim orders' initial stance as vehicles of social reform. There were conflicts among the social classes or sectors inside the Wolof as there were within other ethnic groups in Senegal. Although this attraction is the most nebulous to speculate upon because of the extreme difficulty of knowing exactly which social sectors within the ethnic groups were opposed or allied, it is a vital consideration, for friction among various parts of the population was an of import element in Senegalese politics. A disruption of the balance between sectors could and did in many cases lead to the emergence of certain sectors' interests in a new group which would be a stronger champion of its interests than the individual sector had been. The brotherhoods thus provided a chance for the dissatisfied sectors of the Senegalese population
to seek to better their position. This was true not only among the Wolof, but also among the Tukulor and other tribes in the area. Thus Suret-Canale, as good as the Senegalese scholar Chiekh Tidjane Sy and others, believes that Al Hajj Umar's Tijani branch expressed "the need for liberation of former captives, of women, of youth, against the tyranny of traditional 'feudal' or familial cadres." In the early on twentieth century the nearby French Soudan provides some other example of such a grouping when the Rimaybe and the Bella, former captives of the Peul and the Tuareg respectively, sought a change inwards their situation through joining the Hamalliyya, a Tijani sub-group. People of low social caste, unsatisfied chiefs, and Marabouts all tried to find the solution to their problems inwards this brotherhood. Thus, in his explanation of one of the major Hamallist uprisings inwards 1930, a French commandant notes that the major Hamallist Marabout in his region was recruiting erstwhile captives who, upon joining the Muslim order, broke completely with their former masters and even tried to kill them.
In Wolof territory inwards the end of the nineteenth century the Islamic holy wars led by the successors of Al Hajj Umar, such as Maba, expressed the desires of large groups of the population for an improvement inwards their position relative to other groups. Vincent Monteil, a noted French scholar, suggests inwards fact that the Muslim leaders sided with the Wolof peasants against the warriors and the nobles in a class war over frictions that had built up betwixt the 2 groups over centuries, as the nobles and warriors pillaged the peasants at will. Thus, jihad leaders, in carrying out their holy missions, were also acting every bit heads of a class revolution.
Monteil's view is not difficult to support, as many early European writers describe widespread pillaging by kings and nobles. There is additional proof inwards local traditions, such as the tale of the revolt in the Djolof kingdom inwards which the Mauritanians in addition to Marabouts sided amongst the people against the ruling classes, although these eventually reasserted their authority. French colonial authorities also tended to translate the Muslim wars among the Wolof every bit class wars. Robert Arnaud wrote inwards 1912: "In Wolof Earth formerly the intrusion of Islam constituted a veritable social revolution in addition to was inwards reality an opposition of the proletarian caste to the aristocracy, a grade struggle; the cultivators had really potent sentiments of repulsion against the warriors who exploited them. Thanks to Islam they formed a bloc against the aristocracy which had remained fetichist, the crowd against its oppressors. The warriors did non conceal the dislike they felt for the Marabouts."
However, to explicate the Muslim holy wars simply as social revolutions is probably non sufficient. Even accepting that at that spot was a widespread and fixed enmity betwixt the Wolof peasants and nobles, it appears that non only, or fifty-fifty mainly, the peasants sought to improve their social position past times joining the brotherhoods. All dissatisfied sectors of the Wolof turned to the Muslim orders, including the nobles who had lost their powerfulness through the French invasion.
A glance at the Murid motion shows some of the complexities of the situation. Ahmad Bamba,as the French administrator Paul Marty points out, was surrounded past times warriors and nobles who had been involved inwards the concluding struggles against the French, although the mass of his followers came from the rural population which was composed of erstwhile slaves or misfortunate freemen. This combination indicates that the nobles saw inwards the Murid motion an chance to regaintheir authority, whereas the erstwhile slaves, Marty suggests, saw inwards the Muridiyya a novel shape of safety to supervene upon the old, tightly controlled system to which they had been accustomed -- a safety which was no to a greater extent than than a new
type of slavery under the descendants of their erstwhile rulers. Marty may have got overlooked the fact that many peasants must have got turned to the Murids because the brotherhood seemed to furnish an escape from control past times their erstwhile rulers, but his analysis does illustrate the dot made hither that the motivations of the men who became Murids were varied and complex; that the want for social reforms was certainly a major factor stimulating the Wolof to bring together the brotherhoods, but that i cannot hence interpret the success of the brotherhoods amid the Wolof every bit being solely, or even primarily, due to the want of the lower classes to assert themselves against the nobles.
It would also be a error to ignore the of import social implications of the Muridiyya (and other brotherhoods) since the novel lords, the Marabouts, were drawn from a wider department of the population than the old ruling class, at to the lowest degree in the early on years. There was in the early on years, moreover, a grade of social mobility in the brotherhoods which the old tribal scheme lacked. Land ownership in addition to political power inwards full general were now divided betwixt the aristocrats, who became Marabouts, and the old maraboutic families, some of which had been misfortunate in addition to without powerfulness earlier the nineteenth century. In improver a peasant disciple, if he worked hard in addition to obeyed his Marabout, could hope to live elevated to the spot of a lesser Marabout, an advance inwards status not unremarkably possible in the secular tribal system. Nonetheless, the nobility together amongst the maraboutic families provided the volume of the Marabouts, especially the of import ones, and the mass of peasants and depression caste artisans remained subjected every bit they had been nether the tribal system.
Whatever the nature of the social reforms which the Muslim brotherhoods espoused in the middle in addition to tardily nineteenth century, the "sclerosis" which Suret-Canale mentions shortly laid in. The momentum for change was lost and the maraboutic leadership became closely associated with the colonial regime and the old aristocracy. This had occurred in the Umarian Tijani brotherhood inwards Senegal earlier the Murids rose to importance, in addition to past times the early on 1900's it was truthful of the latter brotherhood every bit well. Colonial authorities began to remark on these alliances which became increasingly evident. A political report of 1904 states: "It is therefore necessary for us to uncovering with aid the alliance which tends to be formed between the aristocracy . and the Marabouts. The Marabouts enrich themselves by their (alms) collections, the aristocracy . . . to the contrary, which only drew its fortune from its arbitrary power in addition to its attacks which are no longer permitted, grows poorer from twenty-four hours to day. The descendants of the old families, therefore, give to the rich "sikh" [Marabout] their daughter or their relative in central for a large dowry."
The 1915 political report comments on the Marabouts' increasing collaboration amongst the colonialists: "And it is precisely because these religious chiefs profit from these situations that they have an involvement in being with us and in that case they would be our support. Their interests are in effect linked with ours and the more we develop the acquisitive faculty of the indigene past times the creation of new needs, the more we augment the wealth of the brotherhoods through the followers and of which the sum is higher than the taxes paid to the administration. It is for this reason that inwards this period of crisis [the first world war] we have nothing to fear from the maraboutic influence.
Most of the Muslim orders in Senegal, then, had become part of the "Establishment" by the early on twentieth century. After this period only the Hamalliyya, which developed inwards the early on twentieth century, was identified with social reforms, but it did not have much influence in Senegal and, like the other orders, lost most of its reforming character once it had become established.
Closely connected with the whole question of the reformist character of the Muslim brotherhoods at their foundation is the attraction which these groups had as substitutes or reinforcements for tribal society. This is the third, and peradventure the most important, reason for the conversion of the Wolof to Islam in the end of the nineteenth century. The phenomenon involved
is not at all unique to Senegal or to Africa. It is readily observable that, when the equilibrium of a grouping is disturbed, the members of that group tend to compensate by actions unusual to their normal pattern of living and often bring together substitute groups which promise to restore the lost balance. Another example of this behavior seems to be that described by David Apter among the Fon of Dahomey.
The Wolof had a highly developed state system, and their social structure was tightly connected to their religious beliefs and customs. The arrival in addition to entrenchment of the colonialists destroyed these living patterns and introduced novel elements which challenged old values and habits. In monastic tell to conquer the area, the French had to break the power of the Wolof kings and nobles. The Wolof kingdoms were broken into smaller units: those who resisted were beaten inwards war; those who did not, or who eventually made peace, found themselves dependent on the colonial system for their authority, as their former sources of powerfulness were destroyed and their lines of revenue abolished.46 Thus the Wolof were forced to look for a agency of replacing their old way of life.
A major factor in the disintegration of Wolof society for which the French were responsible was the introduction of peanuts as a commercial crop into the traditional agricultural system. Wolof family living patterns were closely tied to agriculture. Land was owned by the family as a whole and could not be sold. It was the duty of the chief of the family to distribute some of the land among the members of his family, who would work the major part of their time in the common field. The cultivation of a commercial crop of peanuts changed this system altogether. Farmers now had the strong incentive of money and the new goods it could buy to cultivate the small private plots which had hitherto been an unimportant addendum to their principal work in the common field. However, many farmers apparently continued to show token recognition to the position of the heads of their families through annual gifts in money or kind. One administrator wrote: The personal goods, formerly of negligible quantity at nowadays surpass in importance the collective family goods. Thus, by the forcefulness of things, a disaggregation of theatre unit of measurement solidarity [occurs] which has shown its consequences in all domains. "
The disintegrative force of the introduction of peanuts into the agricultural system was get-go to live felt in Senegal past times the halt of the nineteenth century. Peanuts had been grown inwards Senegal for a long fourth dimension -- the sixteenth-century traveler Andre Alvarez de Almada had noted them during his visit48 -- and the French had begun to foster their growth long earlier the mid-nineteenth century, but it was around this date that they began to encourage their cultivation inwards earnest inwards an elbow grease to brand Senegal a profitable colony. After 1850 peanuts were beingness produced for export inwards important amounts, and past times the halt of the century peanut growers were moving from the middle of production at Cayor to other regions to expression for novel fields and thus to extend the impact of peanuts .
The undermining of the powers of the chiefs and the introduction of commercial agriculture by the French are only 2 of the many factors contributing to the breakdown of the Wolof living patterns. In addition, the mere presence of the colonialists with their apparently superior way of life raised questions about old ways of doing things, and the institution of French forts in addition to trading centers drew increasing numbers of people into French service as clerks, soldiers, domestics, etc., thus adding a novel dimension to the economical in addition to social options opened upward to the Wolof. Furthermore, population movements to the northward of the Senegal every bit good as increased contact through merchandise in addition to state of war amongst the Futa Toro peoples are additional kinds of influences which may have got contributed to the insecurity of the Wolof inwards the nineteenth century, leading them to plough to the brotherhoods for reinforcement.
The brotherhoods, despite their tight hierarchical organization, had a long history in the Muslim world of a flexibility characterized by their habit of accepting the customs of the people amid whom they found themselves, imposing only their political authority in addition to a few major Islamic prescriptions. Thus it was non hard for the tariqas to adjust themselves to the Wolof situation, acting as
a replacement for the old framework of political and social authority in addition to providing a construction in which the Wolof could uncovering a defined usage to play. As elsewhere in Africa, where, as Marcel Cardaire points out, Islam succeeded because of the isolation of infidel tribesmen who, finding their old scheme crumbling, turned away to uncovering a novel one, the Muslim orders were able to assist the Wolof accommodate to changes inwards Senegal.
The Political Significance of the Wolof Conversion
While in general the Wolof as members of brotherhoods followed their old ways, despite the overlay of Muslim customs and sayings, their political leadership was definitely modified by the new affiliation. They now turned to the Marabouts when they wanted anything done, and the former nobles and kings, every bit they were absorbed into the ruling construction of the Muslim orders, found as Marabouts an even greater authority than their pagan counterparts had had. The Marabouts combined the feudal-type authority over land of the nobles with a much greater authority, based on organized religious belief as well as force, over the lives of their subjects. In dissimilar brotherhoods the position of the leaders was, not surprisingly, different. Of the branches of several orders which the Wolof joined, the Murid order had a noticeably more powerful leadership because of the emphasis which Ahmad Bamba had placed on the virtues of working
for one's leader and of complete discipline. The Murids' first loyalty was to their brotherhood personified by its Marabouts, whose every command had a considerable grade of authority. While the stress on discipline was less in other orders, all of the leaders of the brotherhoods among the Wolof had considerable political power.
It seems clear that the answer to the third question raised in the beginning of this paper has been largely answered. The Wolof conversion in the end of the nineteenth century was politically significant because the political leaders of the ethnic group became the Marabouts. How of import and unusual this fact was for the development of Senegalese politics can be seen by comparing the Wolof with their neighbors the Tukulor, who had been in contact with Islam at least since the eleventh century. Thorough Islamization of this group did non take place until the torodo (torodbe) drove out the pagan Peul Denyianke dynasty inwards 1776, but thereafter the Islamization of the Tukulor was intensified, in addition to a series of Muslim chiefs called almanys ruled until the end of the nineteenth century, when the French took over the area. Islam was thus a factor of nifty importance inwards Tukulor history for many centuries, and that ethnic grouping traditionally felt it was the carrier of Muslim civilization and was superior to the infidel groups around it. Since the early on eighteenth century, the Tukulor, led past times the torodo, had launched holy wars on their neighbors. By this time they were in direct contact amongst representatives of Muslim brotherhoods. Indeed, the Qadriyya orders, led past times members of the Ida Ou Ali and after of the Kunta groups, had many followers among the Tukulor, although amongst the coming of Umar Tall the overwhelming bulk of the grouping became Tijani. Interestingly enough, however, the Tukulor Marabouts did non go a major political forcefulness in the Futa Toro every bit they did amid the Wolof. This fact is all the to a greater extent than striking when i considers that the major branches of the Sufi brotherhoods amid the Wolof were founded past times Marabouts of Tukulor ancestry. There were, of course, powerful Tukulor Marabouts on regional and local levels, but most of the nationally politically important Marabouts who appeared inwards the early on twentieth century had a largely Wolof next and did non alive in the Tukulor regions. Why, then, should the brotherhoods amid the Tukulor, who were ex- posed to Islam longer than were the Wolof, live of significantly less political importance ?
One argue often spot frontwards inwards Senegal past times Tukulor in addition to non-Tukulor alike is that the Tukulor, through their long contact amongst Islam, became more closely acquainted amongst the Qu'ran in addition to the doctrines of Islam than did the Wolof and, being to a greater extent than educated inwards the religion, had less need for the Marabouts to human activity every bit intermediaries between them in addition to Allah. Furthermore, with a improve knowledge of Islam, they were less likely to glorify the powers of their Mara- bouts. Since the intellectual gap betwixt the Marabouts in addition to their disciples was smaller among the Tukulor than amid the Wolof, the Marabouts could hence gain less authority. But this interpretation is difficult to accept. Blind obedience in addition to extreme respect for the Marabout could live found inwards many brotherhoods, even amid peoples in North Africa amongst every bit long an acquaintance amongst Islam as the Tukulor. Nor does the lack of Qu'ranic educational activity explicate the exceptions to the rule who are Tukulor and have Tukulor followers.
A to a greater extent than satisfactory answer is found in the traditional socio-economic construction of the Futa Toro, where politics and lodge inwards general were directed past times important clan leaders, a clan in the Futa being comprised of several families, although not all of one family necessarily belongs to one clan. The leaders of these clans headed of import families which owned large concessions of the Earth in the nineteenth century, and indeed still do, despite Earth reforms. While the social structure of the Tukulor in the Futa Toro by no means remained unchanged throughout the many centuries since the introduction of Islam, the changes resulted onlyin an accretion of custom. Thus the fall of the Denyianke led to the rule of the Muslim almamys but did not alter the economic and political command of the area by Tukulor clan leaders. In fact, the almamys were named past times the great families, so that their power stemmed not from their role as Muslim leaders but from their theatre unit of measurement connections. The Marabouts in the Futa,then, never had the opportunity to rise to power. Even Al Hajj Umar, who united many clans for a short time in a religious war, did not change the Futa system. This continued social, economic, and political power of the clans amid the Tukulor should be compared to the decline in power of Wolof traditional rulers in the nineteenth century when the political and social scheme of that group was threatened by contacts with the French, and Marabouts and brotherhoods stepped inwards to reinforce and replace a disintegrating tribal system, thereby becoming politically powerful because they replaced the traditional kings and nobles. Thus, it is primarily inwards the differences between the pre- Islamic social structure of the two groups that the differences in their response to Islamization lie, resulting inwards the political dominance of Muslim leaders amid the Wolof.
Source:http://www.webafriqa.net/library/pdf_docs/wolof_muslim_brotherhood_19thc_216191.pdf
Kinee Diouf
Kinee Diouf
Circa 1950 Wolof adult woman (bare-chested)
kinee diouf
Wolof Woman
Wolof man, Akon
Wolof woman
Kinee Diouf
Wolof man, Akon
Wolof woman
Kinee Diouf
Mauritanian Wolof fishermen
0 Response to "Info For Y'all The Wolof People: Africa`S Darkest, Tall In Addition To Regal-Looking People"
Post a Comment