The Nation Turbaned? The Construction of Nationalist Muslim Identities in Senegal

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Periodical article

Title:	The Nation Turbaned? The Construction of Nationalist Muslim Identities in Senegal
Author:	Van Hoven, Ed
Year:	2000
Periodical:	Journal of Religion in Africa
Volume:	30
Issue:	2
Pages:	225-248
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Senegal
Subjects:	Islam nationalism religious policy Religion and Witchcraft Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Politics and Government politics
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1581802
Abstract:	This paper explores how and the conditions under which the process of formulating a nationalist religious identity has taken place in Senegal. The author suggests that the State has tried to incorporate the model of master/disciple ('shaykh/murid'), a relationship that, as in most Sufi orders, lies at the heart of the institutional organization of the maraboutic orders in Senegal, into new models of State-nationalism. The State-owned cotton company Sodefitex (Société de développement des fibres textiles) is taken as an example to illustrate the specific way in which religious themes, and the work ethic in particular, are promoted by the State. The exhortation to the farmers to work hard echoes the authoritarianism and particular logic of submission characteristic of the master/disciple relationship. However, it is also suggested that new dimensions be added since the proliferation of the State through the vocabulary of Islamic faith is also a response to the new requirements of the transformed economic circumstances. Bibliogr., notes, ref.