Ahmadu Bamba and Decolonization: The Power of Faith and Self-Reliance

Like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela, Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba MBacké was a leader of his time, championing non-violence and pioneering decolonization through the Murid project, which was a Sufi religious dimension and a deconstruction of colonial and local (psychic) alienation. Cheikh M. Ndiaye’s, Ahmadu Bamba and Decolonization: The Power of Faith and Self-Reliance, examines Bamba’s legacy as a man of unshakable faith, a humanist, a socio-cultural reformer, and a key agent in the decolonization of minds and spaces. Ndiaye shows how Bamba distinguished himself from the violence around him by choosing nonviolent forms of resistance, such as, founding and marking new villages with original signs, revaluing the local Wolof language, inspiring self-reliance and preaching about khidma (service). Providing historical background on Senegambia and the history of Islam in the area, this book examines Bamba’s actions and legacy through an interdisciplinary lens to show how the Sufi leader challenged established power structures, including local African aristocratic states, Islamist jihadism, and French colonialism.

Cheikh M. Ndiaye is professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Union College.