Editing Marabout (section)

==West Africa==
===Muslim religious teachers===
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van een marabout TMnr 20031376.jpg|thumb|Picture of a marabout in the [[Republic of Upper Volta]] (now [[Burkina Faso]]) {{Circa|1970}}]]

Muslim [[Tariqa|Sufi brotherhoods]] were one of the main organizing forms of [[Islam]] in [[Scramble for Africa|precolonial]] [[West Africa]], and with the spread of [[Sufism]] into the area, the marabout's role combined with local practices throughout [[Senegambia]], the [[Niger River|Niger River Valley]], and the [[Futa Jallon]]. Here, Sufi Muslim believers follow a marabout, elsewhere known as a ''[[Murshid|muršid]]'' ("guide"). The term ''marabout'' was also adopted by [[French colonial empire|French colonial officials]], and applied to most any [[imam]], Muslim teacher, or secular leader who appealed to the Islamic tradition.

Today marabouts can be traveling [[Asceticism#Islam|holy men]] men who survive on [[Zakat|alms]], religious teachers who take in young [[talibes]] at [[Madrasa|Quranic schools]], or distinguished Muslim religious leaders and scholars, both in and out of the Sufi brotherhoods which dominate the Islamic spiritual life in [[Senegambia]].<ref>Lamin O. Sanneh, ''The Crown and the Turban: Muslims and West African''. [[Westview Press]] (1997) {{ISBN|0-8133-3059-9}}</ref>

In the [[Muslim brotherhoods of Senegal]], marabouts are organized in elaborate hierarchies; the highest marabout of the [[Mouride]]s, for example, has been elevated to the status of a "[[caliph]]" or "[[Amir al-Mu'minin|ruler of the faithful]]" (''Amir al-Mu'minin''). Older, [[North Africa]]n-based Sufi brotherhoods such as the [[Tijaniyyah]] and the [[Qadiriyyah]] base their structures on respect for teachers and religious leaders who, south of the Sahara, often are called ''marabouts''. Those who devote themselves to [[Salah|prayer]] or study, either based in communities, religious centers, or wandering in the larger society, are named ''marabouts''. In [[Senegal]] and [[Mali]], these marabouts rely on donations to live. Often there is a traditional bond to support a specific marabout that has accumulated over generations within a family. Marabouts normally dress in traditional West African robes and live a simple, ascetic life.

===Syncretic spiritualists===
The spread in [[sub-Saharan Africa]] of the marabout's role from the 8th through 13th centuries created in some places [[Folk Islam|a mixture of roles with pre-Islamic priests]], local [[Traditional medicine|healers]], and [[Divination|diviners]].<ref name=Rain/> Thus, many fortune tellers and self-styled spiritual guides take the name ''marabout'', something rejected by more [[Islamic orthodoxy|orthodox Muslims]] and Sufi brotherhoods alike.<ref name=Rain/> The recent diaspora of West Africans (to [[Paris]] in particular) has brought this tradition to Europe and North America, where some marabouts advertise their services as fortune tellers. An [[eshu]] of [[Quimbanda]], Marabô, is believed to have carried this esoteric and shamanic role into Brazil. Contemporary marabouts in Senegal advertise on television and have hot lines.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31859284 Contemporary marabouts.]</ref>

*Liliane Kuczynski. Les marabouts africains à Paris. CNRS Editions, Paris (2003) {{ISBN|978-2-271-06087-7}}
* [https://www.megabambou.com/encyclopedie/marabouts.html Magopinaciophilie]: An article discussing Europeans who collect calling card like advertisements by "marabouts".
* [http://lofficiel.ouvaton.org/ L'officiel du Marabout]: Parisian advertisement collection.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080427222347/http://www.marabout.ouvaton.org/dotclear/ Magopinaciophiles]: A collection of French flyers.<ref>
[[Ahmadou Bamba]], Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Mbacké (1853-1927) (Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke in Wolof, Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb Allāh in Arabic, also known as Khadīmu 'l-Rasūl or "The Servant of the messenger" in Arabic, and as Sëriñ Tuubaa or "Cheikh of Tuubaa" in Wolof), was a Muslim Sufi religious leader in Senegal and the founder of the large Mouride Brotherhood (the Muridiyya). See Muslim brotherhoods of Senegal.

Cheikh [[Ahmadou Bamba]] was a mystic and religious leader who produced a prodigious quantity of poems and tracts on meditation, rituals, work, and Qur'anic study. Politically, Ahmadou Bamba led a pacifist struggle against French colonialism while not waging outright war on the French as several prominent Tijaan marabouts had done.</ref>

===Political influence===
====Pre-French colonization====
Marabouts have been prominent members of [[Wolof people|Wolof]] society since the arrival of Sufi brotherhoods from the Maghreb in the 15th century. Their advanced knowledge of the Quran and esteemed reputation have often allowed them to act as traders, priests, judges, or magicians in conjunction with their roles of community religious leaders.<ref name=Cruise>{{Cite book|last=Cruise O'Brien|first=D.B.|title=The Mourides of Senegal: The Political and Economic Organization of an Islamic Brotherhood|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1971|isbn=0198216629|location=London, U.K.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mouridesofsenega0000crui/page/263 263]|url=https://archive.org/details/mouridesofsenega0000crui/page/263}}</ref> Additionally, because of their ability to read and write, village chiefs would frequently appoint marabouts as secretaries or advisers as a means to communicate with neighboring rulers.<ref name=Cruise/>
[[File:Marabout in Djenné.jpg|thumb|210px|Marabout in [[Djenné]], Mali]]
The marabouts' expanding influence in politics paired with their unique allegiance of the Muslim community eventually posed a real threat to the chiefs who had appointed them. In 1683, rising tensions between chiefs and the Muslim population led to a Muslim revolt in the Wolof kingdom of ''[[Cayor]]'', which concluded with the installation of a marabout as ''[[Damel]]''.<ref name=Cruise/> In the years following the revolt, relations between marabouts and Wolof chiefs remained relatively calm until a period of militant Islam in the Wolof states in the middle of the 19th century. Militant marabouts primarily of [[Toucouleur people|Tukulor]](l origin, called "warrior marabouts," completely rejected the authority of local chiefs and sought to install a theocratic Muslim state. As the authority of chiefs and royal armies were undermined by propaganda and military force used by the warrior marabouts, Muslim resistors turned to local marabouts for guidance and protection from their oppressors. After three decades of war and conflict, the warrior marabouts were gradually ousted from the Wolof states as French colonists began to take a tighter hold on the region. As confidence in the leadership abilities of chiefs and rulers declined as a result of the conflict, marabouts emerged as the most trusted and revered source of leadership in Wolof communities.<ref name=Cruise/>

====Post-French colonization====
French colonizers had difficulties adjusting to ruling over Muslim societies. Particularly in West Africa, constructing institutions of colonial rule that did not favor certain constituencies while neglecting others proved to be a tricky task. The French opted for forms of indirect rule through the local aristocracy in an effort to maintain order and keep administrative costs down, but found that many subjects detested these colonial chiefs and rulers and tended to gravitate towards their local marabouts. Marabouts were admired for their transparency and righteousness as they were known to renounce political powers, while ensuring economic, social, and religious stability within their communities.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Muslim Societies in African History|last=Robinson|first=David|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2004|isbn=0521826276|location=Cambridge, U.K.|pages=187}}</ref> Since the judgment of marabouts is so influential, the success or failure of a politician would be almost entirely contingent on the support of more prominent marabouts. Because of this, politicians would try to appease marabouts by agreeing to promote their Sufi brotherhood's best interests in turn for their endorsement, with some politicians believing that winning an election would be impossible without the support of a marabout.<ref name=Cruise/> This political dynamic, based on patronage and exchanges, would lead to a somewhat of an alliance between marabouts and the French colonizers.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Saints and Politicians: Essays in the organisation of a Senegalese peasant society|last=Cruise O'Brien|first=D.B.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1975|isbn=9780521205726|location=Cambridge, U.K.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/saintspolitician0000crui/page/177 177]|url=https://archive.org/details/saintspolitician0000crui/page/177}}</ref> Along with endorsing certain politicians in exchange for favors, French colonial administrators sought out marabouts and heads of Sufi brotherhoods to act as intermediaries between colonial administrators and West African Muslims to ensure appropriate allocation of power and resources to avoid any potential conflict.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Islam and Muslim Politics in Africa|url=https://archive.org/details/islammuslimpolit00soar|url-access=limited|last=Soares|first=Benjamin F.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2007|isbn=9781403979636|location=New York City, U.S.A.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/islammuslimpolit00soar/page/n13 3]}}</ref>

====Post-independence====
[[File:Marabouts citant la fatiah lors d'un baptême au Niger.jpg|thumb|Marabouts reciting [[Al-Fatiha]] during a baptism in [[Niger]]]]
After Senegal gained its [[Senegal#Independence (1960)|independence from France]] in 1960, marabouts and leaders of Sufi Brotherhoods (also marabouts), or the ''Khalife-Général'', have continued to play influential roles in Senegalese politics. Some have questioned the utility of having clientelist relationships between marabouts and government officials in a modern democracy.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Beck|first=Linda J.|date=2001|title=Reining in the Marabouts? Democratization and Local Governance in Senegal|journal=African Affairs|volume=100|issue= 401|pages=602|doi=10.1093/afraf/100.401.601}}</ref> The new "grandson" generation of marabouts has cultivated a more independent and secular political outlook and have proven that they are willing to question the authority of their predecessors. In Senegal's 1988 presidential election, ''Khalife-Général'' Abdou Lahatte Mbakke supported [[Abdou Diouf]] for reelection. Both as public endorsement and as a reward for installing new roads and street lamps in [[Touba]] while in office, the ''Khalife-Général'' declared a ''ndiggël'' (a binding command issued by the ''Khalife-Général'' to all members of the Mouride Brotherhood) that proclaimed that all men must vote for Diouf. Although multiple ''Khalife-Général'' have issued '''ndiggël politique''<nowiki/>' in support of a presidential candidate in previous elections, several marabouts of the "grandson" generation openly rejected the command by voting for the opposition instead.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Islamic Reform in Twentieth Century Africa|last=Loimeier|first=Roman|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2016|isbn=9780748695430|location=Edinburgh, U.K.|pages=96}}</ref> These marabouts believed that the ''ndiggël'' violated their secular political rights, which was a sentiment shared among many other Mourides in Touba.<ref name=":1" />

In 1997, a rural council of Touba Mosquée in Senegal issued a set of new taxes meant to fund an ambitions development project in the holy city. City merchants promptly voiced their displeasure of the new taxes and threatened to kick the rural council, whose members were all appointed by the Mouride ''Khalife-Général,'' out of the city. Although tax revolts are not uncommon elsewhere, this incident was particularly noteworthy as the merchants' blatant refusal exhibited a departure from typical state-society relations in Senegal. Declining economic performance in Senegal may lead to more taxes in the future, which means political actors may have to adjust or fundamentally alter their clientelist relationships with marabouts and ''Khalife-Général''.<ref name=":1" />