We are in Medina 3, an old area at the heart of Nouakchott. Here the zaouïa– the religious compound – dates back 40 years. This is a Tijane zaouïa stemming from the famous Sufi Cheikh Brahim Niasse from Senegal. He is coloured, both the imam of the mosque and the Sheikh (spiritual leader in Sufi Islam) of the zaouïa.
Soon after Al-Asr – the afternoon prayer, followers press to exit the mosque and go back to their daily chores. A small group of adepts stays behind to ask for the payers of the Imam. They accompany the Sheikh to his house. A non-descript house is used also as a meeting place for disciples: rich and poor, men and women, Blacks, Moors and Coloured, Mauritanian and Foreigners. Here, all gather in humility and tolerance.
On the question of tolerance, Cheikh Ibrahim Ould Mohamed Haibe seems categorical: « Here everyone can enter: no one is asking for names, origins. As you see, we do not impose anything on anybody! We are all brothers and companions in this spiritual behaviour ».
Living together
According to the sheikh of the tariqa (the way of Sufi Islam), adepts coming from sub-Sahara Africa are more and more numerous. He estimates their numbers in hundreds, or even in thousands of persons. Many are teenagers sent by Senegalese, Malian, Guineans or Nigerians parents so that they learn Koran in Mauritanian villages. « They learn the Koran and theological matters. But they also discover the virtues of the tariqa: tolerance, brotherhood and mutual assistance which together lead to spiritual improvement », still explains Imam Ould Mohamed Haibe.
The fraternities are playing according to Islam theologians, a positive role in strengthening peaceful cohabitation between peoples of various ethnic origins, living in the vast area spanning Sahel and Sahara. According to Cheikh Saad Bouh Kamara, a Mauritanian social scientist, they are strategies which explain this upholding of multi-ethnic coexistence. «This is possible thanks to the education dispensed inside Koranic schools. Furthermore, the brotherhood network enables frequent visits, crossed matrimonial alliances, religious festivals in various countries. One can also listen to peaceful and brotherly speeches and preaches », says the academic (himself a Coloured).
Tijaniyya never stops to conquer new spaces. The adepts of this Nouakchott based zaouïa quote as evidence of this drawing power, the regular visits of their sheikh to Nigeria and South Africa. Similarly, delegations from these countries return the visit and regularly come to Mauritania.
«Before, I was used to carry out evil actions. I converted to Islam in June 2001. This is thanks to my tijane teacher at high school that I could discover this new spiritual way. », explains Mohamed Shehi. This South African aged 32, lives for the last two months in the Medina 3 zaouïa: this is a purely mystical stay where he will learn and follow the rites of his sheikh. He talks to his sheikh solely in English. And so is Ahmed Kamel, a young 16 years old Nigerian who learn the whole Koran off by heart while he does not understand Arabic. However, he recites magnificently the Koran. «After I spent two years in Mauritania, I realised that my vision of the world and of the people has fully changed. Today, I am no more the aggressive thug I was and I now respect fully everyone», admits the young Nigerian Sufi adept.
Sufi Islam held and still holds straight against new forms of fundamental Islam. According to Professor C. S. B. Kamara, some elements do explain well the resistance of brotherhoods against the rise of the extremist groups in Mauritania since the early 1980ies when Wahhabi Islam was rampant following its promotion by institutions subject to Saudi Arabia. « The fraternities are using well tried theories, their brotherly practices, their passion for work by hand, their social communication plans which specifically target women, youth, migrants and seasonal workers », argues professor Kamara.
As they have been excommunicated by some extreme movements, Tijanes are today accused of heresy by the Wahhabi Muslims. Even worse, Tijanes are facing the «invasion» by Salafi activists in their zaouïas. « The fundamentalist militants sometimes come to our mosque and try to sell their mistaken preaches. I forbid them to speak, specifically when they start to brain wash people and to call on youth to join them», explains the Sheikh in a soft tone. Ould Mohamed Haibe admits though, «that he had been compelled to read aloud several hadiths after the prayer to avoid that some fundamentalist preachers highjack the platform of the mosque and to publicise their toxic propaganda ». It is with bitterness that the Sheikh brings this competition to the daylight because Sufis do not like to be under the limelight. «We do not practice propaganda. For us tariqa is above all a personal and individual belief», he concludes.
However, Sufis can, according to academics, rely on their own communication means. « The fraternities organise religious feasts and periodical conferences which attract numerous adepts», says professor Kamara. But elsewhere, many Islam scientists are calling on the reform of Sufi Islam in order to promote « a spiritual rebirth » which in fact would be inspired by universal values. At the very least this would lead to the rise of Enlightened Islam.
