The effect of the pilgrimage on the Jihad of Al-Hajj 'Umar Al-Futi 1794-1864

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Book chapter

Title:	The effect of the pilgrimage on the Jihad of Al-Hajj 'Umar Al-Futi 1794-1864
Author:	Jah, Omar
Book title:	The Central Bilad al-Sudan: tradition and adaptation
Year:	1977
Pages:	233-243
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	West Africa Senegal
Subjects:	jihads Islam pilgrimages biographies (form)
About person:	'Umar b. Sa'id al-Futi (ca1794-1864)
Abstract:	Until his pilgrimage to Mecca (1826-1830) and his subsequent appointment as the Khalifah of Khatim al-Awliya, the highest rank in the Tijani hierarchy, al-Hajj 'Umar had never shown any interest in playing any role in his community other than that of an 'alim. However, he was now ordered to return to the Western Sudan in order to reform Western Sudanese society. All these factors in combination transformed al-Hajj 'Umar's early quiet and obscure life into a turbulent, active one, when he launched his jihad in 1852. Al-Hajj 'Umar's jihad movement was revolutionary in the sense that its founder tried to re-establish Shari'ah in a radical way. Al-Hajj called for spiritual self-discipline as the only means for reform and this sufi-oriented methos distinguishes him from other reform leaders in Africa. His method took different forms: intellectual activities including teaching and writing; relentless attempts to establish his authority as the Tijani Khalifah in the Western Sudan, and the propagation of the Tijani's sufi order; and finally, militant campaigns in the form of jihad fi sabil Allah. Notes, sum. in French.