Mouridism: A Local Re-Invention of the Modern Senegalese Socio-Economic Order

Abstract

These words start the essay, “Jazâ'u sakûr” (The Exile to the Sea), the magnum opus of Serigne Moussa Ka, who can be considered the master of all mouride poets and historians and the pioneer of the commentary of the treatises of Cheikh Amadou Bamba Mbacke (Serigne Touba). Serigne Moussa Ka was Serigne Touba’s disciple. His master named him Cheikh in charge of the exegesis of Mouride Philosophy. For Ka’s ordination, Serigne Touba asked him to translate his philosophy into Wolof and to explain his doctrine to the masses who did not have access to Arabic: “Musa, Leeralal mbir mi talibee yi!” (Mousa, clarify the subject to the Talibees!). Moussa Ka’s essay, “Jazâ'u sakûr'' narrates the exile of Serigne Touba to Gabon and is considered to be the most accurate commentary and explanation of the foundation of Mouridism. Serigne Touba’s exile to Gabon is considered by Mourides, to be a spiritual and physical contest between the colonial Western European organization of society and the Wolof traditional culture.