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Title:In the path of Allah: the passion of al-Hajj 'Umar: an essay into the nature of charisma in Islam
Author:Willis, John RalphISNI
Year:1989
Pages:255
Language:English
City of publisher:London
Publisher:Cass
ISBN:071463252X
Geographic terms:West Africa
Mauritania
Mali
Guinea
Subjects:jihads
Tukolor polity
biographies (form)
About person:'Umar b. Sa'id al-Futi (ca1794-1864)ISNI
Abstract:The religious community ('Jama'a') established by the Shaykh al-Hajj 'Umar b. Sa'id al-Futi al-Turi al-Kadiwi in the Western Sudan developed over a remarkably short period (c. 1849-1864) and came to encompass much of what presently constitutes Guinea, Mali and Mauritania. The political and religious direction of the 'Umarian Jama'a was dominated by the Torodbe clerisy, whose acceptance of the Tijaniyya litany bestowed upon it its peculiar character. The persona and charisma of al-Hajj 'Umar, the mystic shaykh, provided the binding element. After discussing the ethnic character and geographical extent of the 'Umarian Jama'a the author focuses not so much on the fortunes of this religious community as on the fervour of its shaykh and his jihad in the path of Allah, set within the wider context of Islamic revivalism. The passion of al-Hajj 'Umar is a dramatic reenactment of circumstances contained in the life of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and from its inception, his jihad seems to have retained the quality of spiritual (as opposed to merely military) struggle.
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