BAMBA, AHMAD (1853–1927)

Ahmad Bamba was the founder of the Muridiyya (Mouride) Brotherhood. Born in the Baol region in Senegal, Ahmad was initiated into the Qadiriyya Brotherhood (tariqa) by Shaykh Sidia in Mauritania. He founded his own brotherhood in 1886 and established the town of Touba (Senegal) as the capital of his order in 1887. Shaykh Ahmad Bamba was highly respected for his learning and piety but he also attracted followers who were struggling against the French occupation.

The new brotherhood spread rapidly and was associated with rumors of a possible uprising. In 1895, Ahmad Bamba was exiled to Gabon and was not permitted to return to Senegal until 1902. His return attracted a wave of new followers and more rumors of rebellion. The French exiled him again in 1903, this time to Mauritania. Ahmad returned to Senegal in 1907. Again large numbers of followers flocked to him and the French were concerned. After 1910, however, the French began to trust the Muslim leader somewhat more, even turning to him for help on occasion. Most notably, he recruited troops and raised money for French efforts in World War I. For this he was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1919. Ahmad Bamba, however, collaborated reluctantly. He was a religious man and a mystic, given to meditation and scholarship. His brotherhood was organized on a principle of total obedience, hard work, and self-denial and became the most powerful religious group in Senegal.

See alsoAfrica, Islam in ; Colonialism ; Tariqa ; Touba .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Behrman, Lucy C. Muslim Brotherhoods and Politics in Senegal. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1970.

Coulon, Christian. Le Marabout et le Prince: Islam et Pouvoir auSénégal. Paris: Pedone, 1981.

Creevey, Lucy. "Ahmad Bamba 1850–1927." In Studies inWest African Islamic History, Vol. 1: The Cultivators of Islam. Edited by John Ralph Willis. London: Frank Cass, 1979.

O'Brien, Donal Cruise. The Mourides of Senegal: The Political and Economic Organization of an Islamic Brotherhood. Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1971.

Lucy Creevey