Jihad of the Pen: The Sufi Literature of West Africa. RUDOLPH WARE, ZAKARY WRIGHT and AMIR SYED

Abstract

Sufism has a strong religious presence throughout much of West Africa and Sufis have produced major literature and bodies of work in this region. Jihad of the Pen explores the new generation of research on the rich Arabic source material of Islamic Africa, particularly West Africa, and introduces the Sufi scholars of Africa while examining their spiritual and political influence. This volume brings together writings by ʿUthman bin Fudi (d. 1817, Nigeria), ʿUmar Tal (d. 1864, Mali), Ahmadu Bamba (d. 1927, Senegal), and Ibrahim Niasse (d. 1975, Senegal), who, between them, founded the largest Muslim communities in African history and are partly responsible for the flourishing of Sufism in West Africa (p. 2). Jihad of the Pen offers fresh translations of Arabic source material in prose and poetry that proved formative of a veritable Islamic revival across West Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Among recurring themes are etiquette (adab), reflection on education (tarbiya), importance of the spiritual path, love for the Prophet, Qurʾānic verses, faith (īmān), the acquisition of divine knowledge (maʿrifat Allāh), and the remembrance (dhikr) of God. All of which demonstrate a shared, vibrant scholarly heritage in West Africa that drew on the classics of global Islamic learning, and made major contributions to Islamic intellectual history. Their writings also demonstrate the significance of the saintly authority that these scholars articulated, their spiritual influence over their students’ understanding of Islamic doctrine and Sufi teachings.