|
Zawāyā
The Zawaya are tribes in the southern Sahara who have traditionally followed a deeply religious way of life. They accepted a subordinate position to the warrior tribes, whether Arab or Berber, who had little interest in spreading Islam. The Zawaya introduced Sufism, Sufi brotherhoods to the black populations south of the Sahara. The ''jihad'' movements of the Fula people in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have their origins with the Zawaya. Today the Zawaya are one of the two noble castes of Mauritania. Background The Zawaya were nomadic tribes from the arid lands to the north and east of the Senegal River in West Africa. Their religious beliefs may possibly be traced back to the eleventh century Almoravid dynasty, Almoravid movement, although their generally more passive attitude is in contrast to that of the militant Almoravids. They gave great importance to teaching the Islamic religious sciences and to reciting the Quran. The Zawaya attempted to avoid conflict w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mukhtar Al-Kunti
Sidi al-Mukhtar ibn Ahmad al-Kunti (1729-1811) was a leading ulama, ʻalim of the Qadiriyya movement in the Sudan (region), Western Sudan who played an important role in promoting the spread of Islam in West Africa in the nineteenth century. Origins Al-Mukhtar ibn Ahmad al-Kunti was born in 1729 in the Erg Oralla region to the north of Mabroûk, Mali. His family belonged to the Zawaya, Zawāyā, a group of tribes that had abandoned violence and self-defense in favor of a peaceful life of religious devotions and herding, paying tribute to the warrior groups to avoid molestation. He was a member of the influential Kunta family, Kunta clerical tribe, originally Arab descendants of Uqba ibn Navi Al Fihri. Many of the Kunta moved east to the region north of Timbuktu and became salt merchants. The Kunta adopted the teachings of Muhammad al-Maghili, a noted cleric around 1500 CE who was said to have introduced the Qadiriyya order of Sufis to the region. Al-Mukhtar's father died ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mauritania
Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, Algeria to Algeria–Mauritania border, the northeast, Mali to Mali–Mauritania border, the east and southeast, and Senegal to Mauritania–Senegal border, the southwest. By land area Mauritania is the 11th-largest country in Africa and 28th-largest in the world; 90% of its territory is in the Sahara. Most of its population of some 4.3 million lives in the temperate south of the country; roughly a third of the population is concentrated in the capital and largest city, Nouakchott, on the Atlantic coast. The country's name derives from Mauretania, the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic. Berbers occupied what is now Mauritania by the beginning of the third centu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timbuktu
Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. Archaeological evidence suggests prehistoric settlements in the region, predating the city's Islamic scholarly and trade prominence in the medieval period. Timbuktu began as a seasonal settlement and became permanent early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, particularly after the visit by Mansa Musa around 1325, Timbuktu flourished, due to its strategic location, from the trade in salt, gold, and ivory. It gradually expanded as an important Islamic city on the Saharan trade route and attracted many scholars and traders before it became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. In the first half of the 15th century, the Tuareg people took control for a short period, until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kunta Family
The Kunta family (the ''Awlad Sidi al-Wafi'') is among the best-known examples of a lineage of Islamic scholarship with widespread influence throughout Mauritania, Senegambia, and other parts of the Western Sudan, and are closely associated with the expansion of Qadiriyya. The Kunta shaykhs and the family or clan they represent, are an outgrowth of the Kounta Bedouin Arab peoples who spread throughout what is today northern Mali (Azawad) and southern Mauritania from the mid-sixteenth to the early eighteenth centuries (CE). Family background The family's history goes back to Sheikh Sidi Ahmed al-Bakka'i ( ; born in the region of the Noun River – d.1504 in Akka) who established a Qadiri ''zawiya'' (Sufi residence) in Walata. In the 16th century the family spread across the Sahara to Timbuktu, Agadez, Bornu, Hausaland, and other places, and in the 18th century large numbers of Kunta moved to the region of the middle Niger where they established the village of Mabruk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tijaniyyah
The Tijjani order () is a Sufi Tariqa, order of Sunni Islam named after Ahmad al-Tijani. It originated in Algeria but now more widespread in Maghreb, West Africa, particularly in Senegal, The Gambia, Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Chad, Ghana, Northern Nigeria, Northern and Southwestern Nigeria and some parts of Sudan. The Tijāniyyah order is also present in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in India. Its adherents are called Tijānī (spelled ''Tijaan'' or ''Tiijaan'' in Wolof language, Wolof, ''Tidiane'' or ''Tidjane'' in French). Tijānīs place great importance on culture and education and emphasize the individual adhesion of the Apprenticeship, disciple (''murid''). To become a member of the order, one must receive the Tijānī ''Dhikr#Sufi view, wird'', or a sequence of holy phrases to be repeated twice daily, from a ''muqaddam'', or representative of the order. History and spread of the order Foundation of the order Ahmad al-Tijani (1737–181 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Médine, Mali
Médine is a village and principal settlement (''chef-lieu'') of the commune of Hawa Dembaya in the Cercle of Kayes in the Kayes Region of south-western Mali.. The village is located 12 km east of Kayes on the left bank of the Sénégal River just downstream of the Félou Falls. The site of the village was historically important as the falls were the furthest point up the Sénégal River from Saint Louis that could be reached by boat. Navigation was only possible after the rainy season when the river was in flood. History Beginning in 1800 Medina became the capital of Dembaya, one of the small kingdoms that had split from Khasso after a civil war. Rising French Power France at this time was struggling to create a West African empire to rival the holdings of its powerful neighbor England. The previous year, the French legislature had voted the first funds for what would become the Dakar-Niger railway line, a key transportation system to link France's colonies. As t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bakel, Senegal
Bakel is a town and urban commune, with a population of 18,939, located in the eastern part of Senegal, West Africa. The town is located on the left bank of the Sénégal River, from the Malian border and linked by canoe ferry to the village of Gouraye in Mauritania. Bakel is one of the four eponymous departmental capitals in the region of Tambacounda, the other three being Tambacounda, Goudiry and Koumpentoum. Bakel is known for its French fort (Fort Bakel), which René Caillié visited in 1819. It was also the area where the Mauritanian crisis occurred, a dispute over grazing rights that led to a war between Senegal and Mauritania in 1989. As a result of this conflict, many people around the area moved abroad or emigrated to Senegal. People and Culture The majority of the population belong to the Soninke-speaking ethnic group, a dialect of the larger Mande Languages language family. There is also a substantial Pulaar ( Fula) speaking minority as well as a significant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emirate Of Trarza
The Emirate of Trarza (arabic: إمارة ترارزة) was a pre-colonial state in what is today southwest Mauritania. It has survived as a traditional confederation of semi-nomadic people to the present day. Its name is shared with the modern Region of Trarza. The population, a mixture of Berber tribes, had been there for a long time before being conquered in the 11th century by Hassaniya Arabic speakers from the north. Europeans later called these people Moors/''Maures'', and thus have titled this group "the Trarza Moors". Early history Trarza, founded in the midst of the final wars between the local Berber Bedouins and the Arab conquerors of the Maghreb, was organized as a semi-nomadic state led by a Muslim Prince, or Emir. Trarza was one of three powerful emirates that controlled the northwest bank of the Senegal River from the 17th to the 19th centuries CE; the others were the emirates of Brakna, and the Tagant. Society and structure The Arab conquests had result ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zakat
Zakat (or Zakāh زكاة) is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Zakat is the Arabic word for "Giving to Charity" or "Giving to the Needy". Zakat is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is next after prayer (''salat'') in importance. Eight heads of zakat are mentioned in the Quran. As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat is a religious duty for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth to help the needy. It is a mandatory charitable contribution, often considered to be a tax.Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan Ṭūsī (2010), ''Concise Description of Islamic Law and Legal Opinions'', , pp. 131–135. The payment and disputes on zakat have played a major role in the history of Islam, notably during the Ridda wars. Zakat on wealth is based on the value of all of one's possessions. It is customarily 2.5% (or ) of a Muslim's total savings and wealth above a minimum amount known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolof People
The Wolof people () are a Niger-Congo peoples, Niger-Congo ethnic group native to the Senegambia, Senegambia region of West Africa. Senegambia is today split between western Senegal, northwestern the Gambia, Gambia and coastal Mauritania; the Wolof form the largest ethnic group within Senegambia. In Senegal as a whole, the Wolof are the largest ethnic group (~39.7%), while elsewhere they are a minority. They Endonym and exonym, refer to themselves as ''Wolof'' and speak the Wolof language, in the West Atlantic languages, West Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo family of languages; English inherited ''Wolof'' as both the adjectival ethnonym and the name of the language. Their early history is unclear. The earliest documented mention of the Wolof is found in the records of 15th-century, Portuguese-financed Italian traveller Alvise Cadamosto, who mentioned well-established Islamic Wolof chiefs advised by Muslim counselors. The Wolof belonged to the medieval-era Wolof Empire of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Futa Tooro
Futa Toro ( Wolof and , , ; ), often simply the Futa, is a semidesert region around the middle run of the Senegal River. This region, along the border of Senegal and Mauritania, is historically significant as the center of several Fulani states, and a source of jihad armies and migrants to the Fouta Djallon. The word Futa is a general name the Fulbe gave to any area they lived in, while Toro was the actual identity of the region for its inhabitants, likely derived from the ancient kingdom of Takrur. The people of the area mostly speak Pulaar, a dialect of the Fula language that spans West Africa from Senegal to Cameroon. They identified themselves by the language giving rise to the name Haalpulaar'en meaning those who speak Pulaar. The Haalpulaar'en are also known as Toucouleurs (var. ''Tukolor''), a name also derived from of Takrur. Geography The Futa Toro stretches for about 400 kilometers, but only a narrow band of up to 20 kilometers on either side of the Senegal Rive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beni Ḥassān
Beni Ḥassan ( "sons of Ḥassān") is a Bedouin Arab tribe which inhabits Western Sahara, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. It is one of the four sub-tribes of the Banu Maqil who emigrated in the 11th century from South Arabia to the Maghreb with the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym Arab tribes. In the 13th century, they took the Sanhaja territories in the southwest of the Sahara. In Morocco, they first settled, alongside their Maqil relatives, in the area between Tadla and the Moulouya River. The Sous Almohad governor called upon them for help against a rebellion in the Sous, and they resettled in and around that region. They later moved to what is today Mauritania, and from the 16th century onwards, they managed to push back all black peoples southwards to the Senegal Valley river. The Beni Hassan and other warrior Arab tribes dominated the Sanhaja Berber tribes of the area after the Char Bouba war of the 17th century. As a result, Arabs became the dominant ethnic group in West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
