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Bamba Fépp
Week 8: Mystical Connections and Sufi Arts
Though by no means a part of all Islamic traditions, for many Muslims worldwide Sufism, or more generally mystical elements of faith, are essential to the practice and philosophy of Islam. In a general conception of mysticism, humans are capable of transcending the gap between what is earthly and what is divine, and therefore experience God’s presence. This close relationship to the divine lives “at the heart of the mystical” (Asani, Lecture 3/25).
In many regions of the world, mystical movements have political, economic, and artistic elements that can be just as essential to the lived experience of particular ideologies as are the theological underpinnings. The Mouride Brotherhood, a prominent Islamic sect in Senegal and the Gambia, exemplifies this confluence of politics, art, and religion, and the centrality of its founder, Shaykh Amadou Bamba Mbacké, provides important insights into the role of the Sufi shaykh. Amadou Bamba founded the Mouride Brotherhood in the late 19th century and became an anti-colonial figure; in the 21st century the group is an important political entity in Senegalese politics, with its leaders exhibiting crucial influence. While the group-specific religious practices, including forms of chanting as well as an annual pilgrimage to the city of Touba, where Bamba’s tomb is located, are central to the lives of Mourides, artistic representations of Bamba are also vital in the daily experience of Mouridism.
Although only one known photographic image of Bamba exists, that image has become the center of Mouride art. Bamba’s image is found in homes, workplaces, and buses. The original 1913 photo is reprinted and mounted as a poster, while in other instances versions of that image are painted directly onto walls or vehicles. In other circumstances, works of art incorporate the traditional image of Bamba into new, even surreal, environments.
However Bamba is portrayed, his image is essential to Mouride life. One cobbler in Dakar articulates:
Wherever Mourides are they must put pictures of the Holy Man because the images give them the hope of Paradise. Their hope resides in him… the Holy Man has come to bring us happiness. Therefore everything related to him will help us. (Roberts and Roberts, p. 43)
Indeed in many Sufi sects, shaykhs serve as a guide on the path (tariqah) to spiritual development to understanding the batin, esoteric truths (Asani, Lecture 3/25). For Mourides the image of Amadou Bamba can “possess its own efficacy and is talismanic” (Roberts and Roberts, p. 48). More broadly the artistic connection to Bamba in daily life brings Mourides peace and can help to reorient individuals to deep, fulfilling spiritual truths.
The above drawing (medium: mixed colored pen and pencil shading) is titled Bamba Fépp, meaning “Bamba everywhere,” a Wolof phrase commonly seen written in graffiti in Senegal, signifying Bamba’s metaphysical omnipresence and the pervasiveness of his message in Senegalese hearts and minds. In this drawing Bamba is represented in his traditional pose, an unassuming yet charismatic figure, yet standing at the center of Senegal which is colored by its post-independence flag, referencing Bamba’s anti-colonial legacy. Bamba seems to emerge from the country—his shadow forms the Gambia—which in turn appears to have materialized out of the door of the Touba mosque, recognizing its importance as a national site. In this surreal landscape the blue dome of the mosque is inextricably linked to the globe that appears nearby, gesturing to, again, the universality of Bamba’s message.
The buraq enters the image in the upper right hand corner, connected to Bamba and the Touba mosque by its grayscale shading, and pointing its hoof at Bamba. This relates to the essential Sufi belief in transcendence, that experience of God, like that of the Prophet Muhammad during the mi’raj, is possible for human believers. So in this depiction of Shaykh Amadou Bamba, traditional imagery blends with surrealism and heavy symbolism (through color and composition) to communicate many of the facets of Mouridism.