Sufism, Mahdism and Nationalism

Limamou Laye and the Layennes of Senegal

Douglas H. Thomas

• Publisher: Continuum
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781472528025
• eBook ISBN:
  9781441133809
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Historia africana

Limamou Laye, an Islamic leader from present-day Senegal, has proclaimed himself the reincarnation of Muhammad, with his son later proclaiming himself to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Limamou Laye established a tariqa, or Sufi organization, based upon his claims and the miracles attributed to him. This study analyzes Limamou Laye's goals for his community, his theology; as well as the various elements ­­- both local and global - that created him and helped him to emerge as a religious leader of significance. This book also explores how the growth of Islamic communities in Senegambia stems from an evolving conflict between the traditional governments and the emerging Islamic communities. Douglas H. Thomas demonstrates that Sufism was the obvious vehicle for the growth of Islam among West Africans, striking a chord with indigenous cultures through an engagement with the spirit world which pre-Islamic Senegambian religions were primarily concerned with.

Chapter 1

Islam, Muhammad, Jesus and the World

While living in Liberia, I was walking one Saturday night on the campus of the rural university where I worked. A man approached me and asked me for a dollar to buy more beer. He reeked of palm wine and was visibly inebriated, so I reproached him for his behavior. In an attempt to play on his sense of religious responsibility, I added, “and you dishonor God by asking me in front of this chapel and getting drunk tonight. Will you be ready for church in the morning?” Clearly exasperated, he replied, “Why do you have to bring God into this?”

This seemingly simple question carries so much ideological and cultural baggage. Precolonial African religions exerted authority and concern for all areas of life. Colonization brought Western Christianity, which, in turn, brought the idea of the secular, that is, areas of existence outside the domain of religious thought and/or action. These gray areas were quickly filled with African traditional beliefs and practices that missionaries were quick to renounce but nearly impossible to eradicate even after over a century of colonial and neocolonial cultural genocide. Though on life support, traditional African religions are not dead.

Benjamin Ray defines religion as “a complex of ideas and practices that gives ultimate meaning to human existence and enhances the quality of life.” If we are to subscribe to that definition, what is the purpose of the secular? The secular is a relatively new concept whose origin lies in the so-called European Enlightenment. Religion is indeed a complex of ideas and practices that encompasses the life of the believer and gives meaning to that life. This concept of religion supersedes mere rules and regulations and extends to one’s way of thinking and behaving. In order for Westerners to analyze Islam or African religious life, we must first rid ourselves of the notion of the secular and begin afresh. With this in mind, we turn to Islam.

Islam came to Africa centuries before Western Christianity. Unlike Western Christianity, Islam has rules to govern every area of life and seeks to fundamentally alter one’s worldview by realigning the cosmos in a way that Western Christianity failed to do. Islam did not seek to replace the traditional African gods. Islam sought to destroy those gods and everything associated with them. Much like the initial onslaught of Christianity in Western Europe, many African beliefs and practices have been transformed to accommodate Islam as have many Islamic practices crossed into traditional African religions. Over the centuries, however, with rounds of Islamic renewal campaigns (both violent and peaceful), the practice of Islam has come closer to the orthodox ideal. Yet there remains a worldview that is as intensely African as it is Islamic. For some, the belief in the supremacy of Muhammad’s prophetic office does not stand at odds to the belief in righting wrongs through maraboutic magic. For many, praying five times a day does not seem to conflict with the practice of leaving milk out for family spirits. The personal attraction of Islam’s message runs counter to the cultural specificity of its medium, which continues to leave large areas of spiritual practice uncovered.

Islam as a belief evolved over centuries into an international religion that has successfully obliterated traditional geographical and cultural barriers. The rapid successful spread of Islam cannot be overlooked or easily explained away in an age when communication and travel were long, arduous, and perilous. The system of broadcasting the message along with the formulation of the message has been instrumental in the success of Islam. In this chapter, we will analyze the history, formation, and formulation of Islam as a historical and theological force.

Islam: The Beginning

Conventional wisdom tells us that Islam began when Muhammad received his first revelation. The Qur’an, however, describes Islam as a continuation of Judaism and an answer to Christianity with the understanding that the Jews and Christians had contorted the message, thereby making them unworthy.¹ So Islam is proclaimed as the one true religion which by definition predates Muhammad’s revelation. This perception of Islamic theological history sets the timbre of the evolution of the religion. Islam ceases to be something new and just a repackaging of a primordial communication from the creator to a new people and a reminder to all others. The arching question arises about Muhammad’s position. Can he be just another messenger for the same message from God? The essence of the message is clear: submit to the will of God. It is essentially the same message that Moses pushed and the other Jewish prophets came to reinforce that message. Moses stands out as the lawgiver and thereby the solidifier of the covenant first between Abraham and God and then between Jacob’s children and God. Though Moses is a lawgiver, the tragic cadences of Jeremiah’s warnings, the steadfastness of Daniel, and the regretful story of Jonah among others still stand out to give an often cruel poetic substance to the essential message.

In Islam, there would be no Daniel or a lion’s den, no Jonah’s whale, and no mournful lamentations from an Islamic Jeremiah. Muhammad ended the revelations with his person. Once Islam went global, not only was Muhammad the last Arab prophet, but also the last prophet of the world. This change catapulted Muhammad from a mere conduit of the message to the Arabs to the unique prophet of the world. This change also repositioned Muhammad to the center of Islam. As messenger, he is essential to Islam. It is no wonder that early-on Europeans called Muslims Muhammadans, or followers of Muhammad. Before we delve into Muhammad’s positioning in the Islamic cosmos, we must first revisit the founding of the religion.

In 610, Muhammad retreated to the caves above Mecca for meditation. While there he said he received his first revelation from the angel Jibreel. From this initial revelation, he received people who believed in his proclamations. This put him at variance with the citizens of Mecca who had become rich from the worship of gods and goddesses at the Kaba in Mecca. He was protected by his grandfather Abdul-Mutalib who also raised Muhammad. Once Abdul-Mutalib died, Muhammad’s uncle, Abu Talib, became his protector. Eventually, Muhammad’s proclamations against polytheism led to him and his followers being persecuted and emigrating to Yathrib, later known as al-Madīnah l-Munawwarah or the radiant city, today known as simply Medina. The people of Yathrib asked Muhammad to come and settle a dispute that led to his change of headquarters. The people of Mecca pursued him, however, and even after the battle of Badr, where the people of Mecca were defeated, their harassment continued. City by city, the Muslims conquered the whole of the Arabian Peninsula culminating in the taking of Mecca where they cleaned out the Kaba and dedicated it solely to the worship of Allah. Shortly thereafter, Muhammad died.²

After all the challenges faced during Muhammad’s lifetime, the test of the group’s survival occurred during the first century after Muhammad’s death. The first challenge was over the next leader. Muhammad’s cousin, father-in-law, closest aide, Abu Bakr took the helm though many thought it should have gone to Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad. Then there was the issue of orthodoxy and theological unity. There were bits and pieces of the revelations floating around the Ummah in addition to various versions. Uthman insisted that one version be used leading to the standardization of the text.³

Evolving Prophethood

Throughout the leadership of the first four caliphs and on into the Umayyad period, the warriors of Islam spread their rule throughout North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe as well as Central, and Eastern Asia. The spread of the faith from the Semetic context of two older more influential religions to new regions necessitated a reorientation of the faith. Muhammad obviously rose in esteem. One of the earliest biographies of Muhammad attempts to cast Muhammad in relation to other prophets that came before him. Written in the 760’s by Ibn Ishaq, the Sirat Rassul Allah comprises three different parts. In the initial part Kitab al-Mubtada, Ibn Ishaq uses the stories of Biblical prophets as well as Arab prophets from the oral tradition. His use of the Isra’iliyat, collection of extra-Islamic accounts derived from Jewish sources, as well as the oral tradition contextualizes Muhammad in the world system. These sources are not strictly from the canonical texts, but they have an obvious origin in the Jewish sources. All the prophets in ibn Ishaq’s work have the same message as Muhammad and the telling is structured in such a way as to crescendo towards the coming of Muhammad.⁴ The end result is a new understanding of Muhammad and his mission. He ceased to be an Arab messenger with a mission to his people. He became a messenger for the world with an all-encompassing message. The Arab language and customs inherent in the practice of Islam did not disappear, however. The reorientation was more the result of new interpretations from new people with un-Arab cultures. The concretization of the message in the terms of the scholars did not always jibe with the emotional needs of the various adherents from different religious and spirituals backgrounds. A religion that could be felt was developed through mysticism of the early Sufis.

Sufism begins in Basra in the 8^th century as a response to the perceived moral laxity of Islam. There were two stages of the development of Sufism. Similar to the monastic life in early Christianity, early Sufism had little to no structure and was practiced more or less on an individual basis. Within roughly a generation, Sufism underwent a process of institutionalization where the initial stage of asceticism gave way to a structured focus on reaching God spiritually. Imitating Muhammad was the acknowledged way of reaching God. It was at this point that Islamic prophethood morphed into a messianism. Muhammad was always seen as unique as a human being and a prophet. It was in Sufi belief and practice, however, where his life and actions were seriously studied and imitated.

It was in the 8^th century that the use of “extra-Islamic” sources fell out of favor. Islamic sources for works on the religion were looked at as exclusive bearers of the truth.⁵ Muhammad took the center stage of religious beliefs and practices along with the Qur’an. Eventually, the idea evolved that Muhammad was the first created being and only perfect being. Around 900, Tustari wrote that Muhammad was the first of God’s three lights created. Ibn Arabi also wrote “love of the prophet leads to love of God.” The popular belief evolved that even pronouncing Muhammad’s name gave baraka. In comparison to all other previous prophets, Muhammad is on top. Echoing orthodox christology, Muhammad’s existence was said to predate his descent among men. The argument emanated from the fact that Muhammad was the conduit of Islam. As such he was the perfect Muslim and as such he evolved in the minds into the perfect human being. So his personality was not a conduit to God, but the only conduit to God.⁶

Schimmel argues that the beliefs and practices of what she calls Muhammad mysticism run counter to Muhammad’s wish that a personality cult does not develop around him. She also argues that Muhammad is not a part of Islam’s foundational phenomenon. Whatever the case, Muhammad mysticism spread throughout the Islamic world. By the late 11^th and early 12^th centuries, the celebration of Muhammad’s birthday spread along with the popular belief that Muhammad will be the intercessor on doomsday emanating from a Qur’anic verse that reads “We have sent you out of mercy from us towards the whole world.” The prevailing interpretation was that Muhammad was that mercy.⁷

These developments coincided with Islam’s spread into the areas that were formally Christian. Christological elements were included into Muhammad mysticism that culminated in the changing of Muhammad from prophet to messianic figure. This was not a turning of theological focus from Allah and the Qur’an. On the contrary, Muhammad’s importance was evidenced in his connection between Allah and the revealed word. This new theological arrangement, however, spread all over the world with Sufism. As Islam spread into areas that were previously Christian, there was an inevitable comparison between Jesus and Muhammad. With the pressures resulting from the wars between Muslims and Christians, another parallel public relations war of sorts raged between practitioners on both sides of the divide starting with a basic comparison of Jesus and Muhammad. The mysticism that developed around Muhammad quickly answered the comparisons.

Jesus and Islamic Eschatology

The role of Jesus in Islam is not as clearly defined as that of Muhammad. Jesus is understood to be a prophet, the offspring of Mariama, but definitely not the son of God. The Qur’an is clear in declaring that Allah has no children or a wife. It goes on to say that those who proclaim that Allah has a son do not know Him.⁸ The Qur’an also says Jesus was not crucified but taken up to God.⁹ With those two stipulations, the strength of Christianity is stricken. Without Jesus being the son of God, he is demoted to a prophet. A monophysite Christian could accept this condition, but once the crucifixion is taken away, Christianity is gone. The idea of all sins being answered at the cross is the binding belief of the Christian faith. However, after setting out the major difference between the two religions, Islamic doctrine accords Jesus respect as a prophet even giving him a place in the eschatology developed after the death of Muhammad.

The Qur’an does not offer a comprehensive eschatological narrative. There are descriptions of paradise complete with celestial virgins that “neither man nor jinn have touched.” There is also mentioning of the horrors of hell.¹⁰ However, a comprehensive description of the end of times is not in the Qur’an. Islam’s view of the end of times is not as neatly and cogently described as what we find in the book of Revelations. The compilation of Hadith and other extra-Qur’anic literature attempt to fill the void. Yet, the story of the end times is scattered throughout the Qur’an, collections of Hadith, and other scholarly writings. Some scholars have scanned the sources and pieced together eschatological narratives. The end result is that most Muslims have a general idea of what will happen at the end of the world, but the details of the story vary depending on who is relating the narrative.

Islam needed an eschatological account because as the major competitor in the religious sphere, Christianity had one already articulated in their canonical scripture. The evolution of the eschatology was also necessary to bring closure to the Islamic spiritual journey. It had to be created because as Islam spread, it reached people all over the world who needed to make sense of the world as a whole. Just as the character of Muhammad had to change from one of an Arab prophet to his people, so did the message require additions to make sense to those who understood Christianity and saw themselves as citizens of a world beyond their immediate geography.

The oral tradition developed an eschatology that involves Jesus, Dajjal (the deceiver or anti-Christ), and the Mahdi in addition to Muhammad. In one version, the Mahdi returns to earth to reinstitute the golden age of Islam. Dajjal will begin his onslaught against the believers. Just as they prepare for war, Jesus will descend and be led in prayer by the Mahdi. Then Jesus will successfully defeat Dajjal in a war that occurs in Damascus. From that time on, Jesus will be king for 40 years during which Gog and Magog will invade the area only to meet defeat at the hand of Jesus with the help of Allah. At the end of his reign, Jesus will marry and have children and will be settled into domestic life for 19 years before dying and being buried next to Muhammad. Thus, the opposing characters in the religious/ideological wars will be joined in death.

It is clear that the writers of the story borrowed from Christian sources when relating the details of the end times. This is not to say that these scholars went out of their way to find Christian sources. The reality is that there were many Christian and Jewish ideas that had been traveling around the Middle East for centuries and had thereby entered the realm of commonly held belief. Islamic scholars most likely grew up hearing the details of the Christian eschatology narrative being told in various editions on any given occasion. The manner in which such eschatological material is presented in various collections of Hadith suggests that they have not come from a serious study of any particular writing. They are more or less alluded to as if the audience is expected to have a familiarity with them.

For example, in Sahih Bukari, Gog and Magog are presented in one saying attributed to Muhammad. “The Prophet said ‘The people will continue performing the Hajj and ‘Umra to the Ka’ba even after the appearance of Gog and Magog.’”¹¹ Gog and Magog are mentioned in the Bible. In Genesis, Gog and Magog appear on a list of nations descended from Noah’s son Japheth after the flood. In Ezekiel and Revelations, they are mentioned as a huge armed force, multinational in Ezekiel, deceived by Satan in Revelations, which will come and battle God’s people. Stories of this battle were probably discussed throughout the world with embellishments and extemporaneously added details. As part of the body of known things, the battle is referred to without explanation. The neat split between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism that we have concocted today was not the reality of an ancient world where ideas were in constant motion often traveling faster than the caravans that carried them. The speed of ideas is a major factor in what shaped Islamic eschatology and carried it into the farthest west corner of Africa.

Mahdism

Islamic eschatology is accompanied by signs. Scholars have identified minor signs and major signs. The eschatological narrative’s details are so easily edited and left open to interpretation, the signs can be taken from any given situation in any given time. An ambitious leader could easily manipulate the fear of people, proclaim himself Mahdi, and carve out a position of power and wreak havoc in any land. This is what ...

Table of contents

• Cover-Page
• Half-Title
• Continuum Studies
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Islam, Muhammad, Jesus and the World
• Chapter 2: Islam in Senegal
• Chapter 3: The Lebu
• Chapter 4: The Early Life of Libasse Chaw (Thiaw)
• Chapter 5: Limamou Laye and His Mission
• Chapter 6: Passing the Torch: Limamou Laye and Seydina Issa Rohou Laye
• Chapter 7: The Legacy
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index