The Sufi orders* of Senegal have gained a reputation for their high degree of institutionalization and their contribution to the stability of Senegalese electoral democracy. Four orders have dominated religious and social life since the mid-twentieth century: the Qadiriyya, Tijaniyya, Muridiyya, and the Layène. Although statistics on religious affiliation are flawed and difficult to come by, it is widely accepted that the Tijaniyya and Muridiyya have the largest number of followers. The Layène draws its adherents mainly from among the Lebu people of the Dakar region whereas the other three orders have followers throughout the country. The Qadiriyya is the oldest Sufi tradition in Senegal and in West Africa more generally and has been highly influential in Guinea, Mali, Niger, and northern Nigeria. It is numerically less important in Senegal than the Tijaniyya and the Muridiyya but continues to have a strong following in the eastern and southern regions. The spiritual center of the Buh Kunta Qadiriyya is the town of Ndiassane, situated about eighty kilometers northeast of Dakar, just off National Road 2 to Saint-Louis.
The Buh Kunta community is not the only branch of the Qadiriyya order represented in Senegal. Like the Tijaniyya, the Qadiriyya has split into several different branches: followers of Shaykh Sidiyya al-Kabir and his grandson Sidiyya Baba of Mauritania; Saad Buh and his father Muhammad Fadil Mamin, also of Mauritania; and Buh Kunta. Sidiyya al-Kabir (c. 1780-1868) built a following from his base in Boutilimit, southern Mauritania. He had gained his religious credentials by studying with Sidi al-Mukhtar al-Kunti and his son Muhammad
in the Azaouad region north of Timbuktu, and therefore shared a spiritual connection with Buh Kunta. His grandson Sidiyya Baba consolidated his father's network (
see map). Muhammad Fadil Mamin (c. 1795-1869) obtained his education from local scholars in the Hodh region of eastern Mauritania and established his own branch of the Qadiriyya, rivaling Kunta influence in the area. His son Saad Buh (c. 1850-1917) expanded his father's influence by moving west at the age of sixteen and eventually settled in Nimjat, southwestern Mauritania. He became a revered spiritual leader in his own right and developed a wide network of followers that reached south into Senegambia (
see map).
* "Order" is widely used in English, but scholars suggest that the Arabic term
tarikha (pl.
turuq) is better translated as "Path" or "Way." In this essay, we will use "order" for the main denominations (Qadiriyya, Tijaniyya, Muridiyya, Layène) and
tarikha, "Path," or "Way" for its branches, e.g. the Buh Kunta Way