The Divine Flood Ibrahim Niasse and the Roots of a Twentieth-Century Sufi Revival

by Seesemann, Rudiger

• ISBN13: 9780195384321
• ISBN10: 0195384326
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-08-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Until recently, academic studies of Sufism have largely ignored the multiple ways in which Islamic mystical ideas and practices have developed in the modern period. For many specialists, Sufism was "on the way out" and not compatible with modernity. The present study of a twentieth-century Sufi revival in West Africa offers overdue corrections of this misconception. Seesemann's work evolves around the emergence and spread of the "Community of the Divine Flood," established in 1929 by Ibrahim Niasse, a leader of the Tijaniyya Sufi order from Senegal. Based on a wide variety of written sources and encounters with leaders and ordinary members of the movement, the book analyzes the teachings and practices of this community, most notably those concerned with mystical knowledge of God. It presents a vivid and intimate portrait of the community's formation in Senegal and its subsequent transformation into a flourishing transnational movement in West Africa and beyond. Drawing on letters, poetry, hagiography, and testimonies of opponents of the movement, the book traces Niasse's spectacular ascension as the widely acclaimed "Supreme Saint of His Era" and shows how the various stages of his career intersect with the development of his mystical teachings. Seesemann makes a compelling case for studying Sufis and their literary production in their social and historical contexts, throwing light on a little-known chapter of the intellectual and social history of Islam.

Author Biography

Rüdiger Seesemann teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at Northwestern University and specializes in the study of Islam in Africa. He has done fieldwork in various West and East African countries and has published extensively on Sufism, Islam and politics, Islamism, Islamic education, as well as theories and practices of Islamic knowledge.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. xiii
Note on Transliteration	p. xv
Prologue: "A Flood Shall Come Upon My Companions"	p. 3
Introduction: Studying Sufism in Context	p. 6
Perceptions and Interpreters of Sufism	p. 8
Islam and Africa	p. 11
Sufism in Context	p. 15
The Setting	p. 12
Scope and Structure of the Book	p. 24
Beginnings: Ibrahim Niasse and the Advent of the Flood	p. 29
Birth, Childhood, and Adolescence	p. 31
Early Career	p. 37
Fayda: A Short History of the Terminology	p. 42
Niasse as Bringer of the Flood	p. 47
Reception and Resonance	p. 58
Spiritual Training: The Way to Mystical Knowledge	p. 67
Tarbiya: An Overview	p. 71
Spiritual Energy and the Mystical State	p. 79
Justifying Tarbiya	p. 82
The Three Stations of Religion	p. 87
Annihilation	p. 94
The Special Litanies	p. 99
"The Cup Makes Its Round"	p. 104
Seeing God: The Nascent-Community	p. 110
Internal Tensions	p. 112
Discord in L?ona	p. 120
Hijra to Medina	p. 124
New Attacks	p. 128
The Rejoinders	p. 134
Visions and Ecstatic Utterances	p. 139
Crossing Borders: Expansion in Senegal and Beyond	p. 144
Consolidation in Senegal	p. 146
The Supreme Saint	p. 149
Spiritual Authority and Social Inequalities	p. 153
Passage to Mauritania	p. 159
Redrawing Gender Boundaries	p. 164
"The Supreme Saint of His Time": A Prophecy Fulfilled	p. 171
Consequential Encounters	p. 173
First Visit to Kano	p. 188
The Conakry Trip	p. 191
The Reception of "The Conakry Trip"	p. 202
Returning to Kano and the Hijaz	p. 207
Epilogue: After the Flood	p. 217
Niasse's Legacy	p. 219
Patterns of Expansion and Conflict	p. 225
Glossary	p. 231
Sources and Bibliography	p. 233
Archival Sources	p. 233
Interviews Cited	p. 234
Writings	p. 234
Primary Sources in Arabic and African Languages	p. 236
Secondary Literature	p. 239
Notes	p. 257
Index	p. 303
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