Islam in Senegal

Islam is the predominant religion in Senegal. 97 percent of the country's population is estimated to be Muslim. Islam has had a presence in Senegal since the 11th century. Sufi brotherhoods expanded with French colonization, as people turned to religious authority rather than the colonial administration. The main Sufi orders are the Tijaniyyah, the Muridiyyah or Mourides, and to a lesser extent, the pan-Islamic Qadiriyyah and the smaller Layene order. Approximately 1% are Shiites.

For nearly a millennium, there has been a Muslim presence in Senegal. Islam's influence in the area began with the conversion of King of Takrur, War Jabi in 1040, likely as a result of the Trans-Saharan trade between North and West Africa. The King attempted to convert his subjects, who are now referred to as Tukulors or the Toucouleur people, in the first attempt to convert an entire region in this area. Other empires, such as the Jolof empire, were more resistant to Islam in favor of their traditional religion. Even in areas where an Islamic presence was found, many continued traditional animist practices, according to Portuguese accounts.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Islam was used as a structure of power and militarism. In the 17th century, Islam became the religion of the elite and merchant classes. In 1776, the Tukulors overthrew the Denianke Dynasty and constructed a theocratic oligarchy. Influenced by other Islamic movements throughout West Africa, they worked militaristically to convert traditional religious states and establish Muslim theocratic states. This expansion ceased temporarily when the Tukulors failed to convert the traditional states of the Serer, who defeated them and killed their 19th-century leader Maba Diakhou Ba at the Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune in order to preserve their Serer religious faith. One such movement from Western Sudan was the Qadiriyya Sufi brotherhood, who traversed the Senegalese countryside gaining followers. This movement was eclipsed by the Tijaniyyah brotherhood.

During the 18th century, the French began to colonize the nation. Senegalese Muslims took a variety of responses to French colonization. Especially in the countryside, the Senegalese joined Sufi brotherhoods to unite against colonization. The popularity of the Tijaniyyah brotherhood marks this shift; Islam became "a rallying point for African resistance to the French". Omar Saidou Tall first created a Tijani brotherhood in West Africa after he was initiated into the Tijaniyya during his hajj to Mecca. In his attempt to create a Tijani Islamic empire in Senegal, Tall is described as the "most eminent of the Muslim clerical warriors".

The marabouts, leaders and sources of guidance in Sufi brotherhoods, became alternative sources of authority in dissidence from the French. Later, the Mouride brotherhood would serve this same role of resistance for the Senegalese. Many Mourides were former political authorities who lost their positions as the French took over, and were searching for a new source of power. The French felt threatened and targeted the leaders of these movements. The founder of the Mourides, Cheikh Amadou Bamba was arrested twice by the colonial administration. This injustice only furthered his popularity and the Mourides' extreme veneration of their leader. To this day, Cheikh Bamba is honored as an important leader of resistance in Senegal.

Other Muslims chose to cooperate with the French, and even gain positions of power within the French government. Senegal was the only colony in Black Africa in which the French used "assimilationist tactics", allowing elite Senegalese citizenship and political power if they became assimilated into French culture. In the cities, especially the Four Communes the French created, Muslim Sufi marabouts, religious authorities, were involved in Senegalese politics. Some argue that the marabouts collaborated with the French out of best interests for Senegal, because they felt they had no other choice. However, Muslim Reform movements responded angrily to the marabouts' collaboration with French authorities, calling these moves hypocritical. The most common of these Reformists was the Union Culturelle Musulmane, founded by Cheikh Toure in 1953, led by religious scholars, some of whom studied in Cairo universities.

These Reformists were responding to French colonial repression of Islamic culture in Senegal. As Mbacke states, the administration's "ultimate aim was to dominate minds" in order to take over the nation, and they saw Islam as standing in their way. Having enforced a secular state, the French also limited the establishment of Qur'anic schools, created secular rather than Islamic curriculum in public schools, restricted public access books on Islamic topics, limited contacts with Senegal and the Middle East, restricted hajj pilgrimages to Mecca, arrested and killed Muslim scholars.

In Senegal, 95% of Muslims belong to a Sufi brotherhood, more than any Muslim population in the world. The two largest orders are the Tijaniyyah and the Muridiyyah or Mourides, although the pan-Islamic Qadiriyyah and the smaller Layene brotherhood are also represented in parts of the country. In creating a brotherhood, each founder often has the objective of uniting all Muslims. However, in practice, those within a brotherhood often emphasize the superiority of their brotherhood's path over others. Mosques are created by specific brotherhoods, though individuals are free to attend whichever mosque they prefer.