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West African Sufism and the matter of Black life
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2023
Abstract
In this article, I consider how migration practices around the Black Atlantic and discourses of repatriation mobilize Black African diasporic Muslim identities in present-day Senegal and in a mosque in South Carolina that is situated on land that was formerly a slave plantation. I use the term ‘reversion’ as a vocabulary of ‘diasporic becoming’ to signal how notions of Islamic piety are coupled with a politics of Black Atlantic Muslimness in the context of a West African Sufi tariqa – or ‘Black Atlantic Sufism’. Moreover, I consider how identity formation and African Muslim ancestry are impacted by discourses of geographic return and repatriation that are linked to spiritual tourism.
Résumé
Dans cet article, l’auteur étudie la manière dont les pratiques de migration autour de l’Atlantique noir et les discours de rapatriement mobilisent les identités musulmanes diasporiques africaines noires dans l’actuel Sénégal et dans une mosquée de Caroline du Sud située sur une ancienne plantation d’esclaves. Il utilise le terme « réversion » comme un vocabulaire de « devenir diasporique » pour indiquer comment les notions de piété islamique sont conjuguées à une politique de musulmanité atlantique noire dans le contexte d’une tariqa soufie ouest-africaine, ou « soufisme atlantique noir ». De plus, l’auteur étudie la manière dont la formation de l’identité et l’ascendance musulmane africaine sont impactées par des discours de retour géographique et de rapatriement qui sont liés au tourisme spirituel.
Resumo
Neste artigo, considero como as práticas migratórias em torno do Atlântico Negro e os discursos de repatriação mobilizam identidades muçulmanas negras africanas diásporas no Senegal actual e numa mesquita na Carolina do Sul (South Carolina) que se situa numa terra que foi anteriormente uma plantação de escravos. Utilizo o termo ‘reversão’ como um vocabulário de ‘tornar-se da diáspora’ para assinalar como noções de piedade islâmica estão associadas a uma política de muçulmanidade negra atlântica no contexto de um sufi tariqa da África Ocidental – ou ‘Sufismo do Atlântico Negro’. Além disso, considero como a formação da identidade e a ascendência muçulmana africana são influenciadas pelos discursos de retorno geográfico e repatriação que estão ligados ao turismo espiritual.
- Type
- Race in Muslim Africa
- Information
- Copyright
- © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute
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