Sufi Islamic Discourse in Africa: From the Greatest Jihad to the Establishment of the African Caliphate

Hamdy A Hassan

doi:10.3390/rel11120639

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, African Muslim societies were marked by the emergence of a reformist Sufi Islamic discourse aimed at changing and moving away from traditional Islamic practices. Although this discourse was influenced, to some extent, by external sources of inspiration, it was linked to the local African context. This study demonstrates that the reformist discourse of major Sufi figures such as Sheikh Amadu Bamba in Senegal and Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio in Nigeria reflects a number of common features of Islamic reform in Africa, yet their reform programs were shaped by the conditions of the local context. This research contribution aims to understand the actual role that the discourse of Sufi spirituality played—and still does—in the religious, economic, and political life of Muslim societies in Africa. This study has shown that despite the prevailing belief that Sufi discourse does not tend to politicize as it tries to maintain a safe distance away from matters of politics and governance in order to achieve its message of moral and spiritual purity, it may turn into violent radicalism as embodied by the jihadist Sufi experience in West Africa.

Highlights

Islam has become, as Mazrui (1986) emphasizes, one of the main components of the triple cultural heritage of Africa
It is important to note that the contemporary Salafi jihadism collides with the Sufi discourse as a heterodox interpretation of Islam. It embraces the legacy of the purification of Sufi brotherhood in the nineteenth century through “Salafizing” its jihadist campaigns (Kassim and Zenn 2017). Salafi jihadists such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Boko Haram in Nigeria are building on this process of Salafization by expanding its scope to include jihadist Sufi discourse against colonial rule in the nineteenth century
He believes that unbelief is shown by actions and not by intentions or what is harbored by hearts. He repeatedly warned against accusing Muslims of unbelief or declaring the entire community as nonbelievers. This is one of the important characteristics that distinguish the reformist thought of Usman Dan Fodio, which distinguishes it from some of the reform movements that emerged after that in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which described the society with Jahiliyyah [pre-Islamic ignorance] and Kufr and called for the need to establish an Islamic state by force

Summary

Introduction

As Mazrui (1986) emphasizes, one of the main components of the triple cultural heritage of Africa. The second category includes works by anthropologists, historians, and specialists in Islamic studies They attempt to understand Sufism as a political force in a local context, and as a religious force in general. Salafi jihadists such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Boko Haram in Nigeria are building on this process of Salafization by expanding its scope to include jihadist Sufi discourse against colonial rule in the nineteenth century This Sufi legacy, highly respected by many Muslim communities in Africa, helps explain the rise of radical Salafism in many areas of traditional Sufi orders in Africa.

Islamic Discourse and Motives for Its Renewal

The Appeasing Sufi Discourse

Sufi Jihadist Discourse

Conclusions