American Murids

Thanks to the kindness, generosity, and encouragement of many people the research leading to the publication of this book was made possible. Many people trusted me with their stories, shared their contacts with me, gave me meals or even hosted me in their homes. Listing the names of these people is my attempt to acknowledge that I could not have succeeded without you. Listing your names is hardly adequate and runs the risk that I will forget someone, and if that is you please forgive me. To Diossy Mbaye, Pape Demba Seck, Adja Fily Fall, and all the members of Ndawi Serigne Touba who adopted me into their dahira. To Abdoulaye Thiam who connected me with the right people at the right time. To Djiby Diagne and Khar who patiently answered my questions and offered me sincere friendship and hospitality. To Oustaz Abdou Samad Mbaye who shared hospitality with me in New York and Senegal. To Pape Sette Drame, Sokhna Diop, and Mamadou Mourtada Ndiaye at the MICA office who received me graciously many times and opened many doors for me. To Imam Khadim Bousso who welcomed me to the Friday prayers and introduced me to leaders. To Shaykh Aly N’Daw and the zawiya in Pout, Senegal, for hosting me. To the kurel xassaid at Daara Ji for welcoming me to rehearsals. To Ken and Pam Brubaker, Karl Landis, Pape Ibrahima Fall, Paul Woods, Serigne Sam Mbaye, Steve Lichty, David Singh, Andres Prins, David and Grace Shenk, Amos Stoltzfus, Marina Behera, Stuart Judge, Chris Clayman, Oulimata Bey, Irene Bornman, Khassim Mbacké and Astou and family, Mamadou Diop, Aysha McCord, Ken and Barb Bronfenbrenner, Jeuf Jeul, Birane Seck and Zenabou, Moustapha Mbacké, the cast of LifeLine, my fellow students at OCMS, to all those who answered my questions and bore my indiscretions, all I can say is “Thank you!”

To my supervisors, Hélène Neveu Kringelbach. thank you for mentoring me and turning me into an Anthropologist! To Cheikh Anta Babou, thanks for keeping me grounded in both the historical and present context.

And, finally to my wife, Carol Shenk Bornman for sticking with me and encouraging me through it all!

Thanks to everyone for helping to make this book possible. I am forever indebted to you all.

Fears of violent jihad and sharia drive American discourse about Islam and immigration. Muslim immigrants are easily associated with violent acts of terror and, for many, considered a threat to be contained, silenced or removed. The possibility that American Muslim immigrant communities might offer a helpful contribution to this discourse is rarely considered. The presence of a pacifist or nonviolent Muslim community with a commitment to winning others over to their understanding of Islam is unknown. This investigation into the practices of the Muridiyya, a Senegalese Sufi Muslim migrant community in New York City, is intimately tied to questions and misconceptions Americans have about Muslims. The Muridiyya is a Sufi order founded by Shaykh Amadu Bamba (d. 1927) who was known as an apostle of nonviolence. His disciples in New York offer the counter-narrative of a nonviolent Muslim community committed to peacemaking.

This book shows how the traditional Muridiyya value of nonviolence impacts the way Murids live and interact with other communities in New York City. It shows the remarkable extent to which Murids live into the traditional spiritual and ethical values of their Sufi order as they interact with those communities. Like any community, they are not perfect, and I also show the imperfections. I use nonviolence as the primary lens through which to look at the founder of the Muridiyya and the origins of the Murid practice of nonviolence and then at the practices of Murids in Harlem, New York. Their founder, Shaykh Amadou Bamba, developed practices of nonviolence as he responded to his context in Senegal. Murids in Harlem continue to refine their practice of nonviolence as they respond to their diaspora context and the growing reality that they are Americans. Their internal discourse and their practices of nonviolence open alternative conversations with the potential to reshape American perceptions of Islam, jihad and Muslim immigrants.

This volume is divided into seven chapters. Chapter One addresses the current understanding of Muslims and Islam in the US, provides an historical background of the Murid community of New York City, my entrance as a researcher into this community as well as the various methodological issues involving this research.