CONTESTING SPACE, SHAPING PLACES: MAKING ROOM FOR THE MURIDIYYA IN COLONIAL SENEGAL, 1912–45

Abstract

This article offers a cultural approach to Murid migration to eastern Bawol. It argues that Murid settlement of eastern Bawol was part of an effort to transform the land then under French colonial domination into daar al Islam (house of Islam) or daara al Murid (house of the Murids). This endeavor to create Murid sacred space in Bawol was a conscious effort undertaken by sheikhs and disciples under the leadership of Amadu Bamba. The process of building daar al Murid unfolded in three empirically overlapping but analytically distinguishable steps: first, physical occupation of the space; second, its investment with religious meanings; and third, the containment of French cultural influences.