The 1st Research Meeting (2024) of “Research on Moderate Islam in the Non-Arab World: From the Cases of Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey (22H00034, JSPS)” (“Moderate Islam”)
Date: May 25th Sunday, 2024, 13:00-17:00
Venue: Lecture Room [AA401], 4th floor, Research Bldg. No. 2, Yoshida Campus, Kyoto University
Report: UCHIYAMA Chie (Sophia University) “Reconstructing the “Islamic Sphere” of Senegal without a Salafi-Sufi Dichotomy: The Case of Islamic Education”
This presentation examines the discourse that there is an ideological influence of Salafi Muslims on moderate Islam in Senegal, which is strongly influenced by Sufi orders, through a case study of Islamic education. The Senegalese government has developed school textbooks to promote a tolerant form of Islam that aligns with the existence of Sufi orders and is acceptable to Muslims with a Salafi orientation, while in a school affiliated with Salafi organizations, where the presenter conducted a survey, some parts of their teachings oppose the African practice of Sufism. However, even in the latter, not a few of the students belong to the order, and the interviews suggest that they coexist without much contradiction. In addition, the narratives of Muslim informants who are identified as either Salafis or Sufis suggest that the division between Muslims who belong to a Sufi order and those who do not is not absolute in practice, and that the distinction is not always considered important. Senegalese Islam has traditionally been dichotomized into a majority and of moderate Sufis and a minority of strict Salafis. However, the notion of a “moderate and tolerant Senegalese Islam” seems to be acceptable to many Muslims, including Salafis. Therefore, it would be useful to reconstruct the image of Islam in Senegal from this perspective.