Laura Mirviss's Blog

Materials: acrylic paint and permanent marker on foam board

In this piece, I explore how Islamic identity in Senegal is influenced by the state and other power structures, and how these themes are encapsulated in the short story, The Beggar’s Strike.

The background of the piece depicts Senegal’s flag, which features three vertical stripes of green, yellow, and red with a green star in the middle. Senegal’s flag represents the country’s powerful, yet competing influences of French colonialism, Islam, and pan-African identity.

The flag was designed in 1960, a year after France ceded control of Senegal, and symbolizes the country’s colonial history as well as its newfound independence. First, the flag’s three vertical stripes are a replica of France’s flag, a nod to the country’s French colonial influence. Second, the three stripes of green, yellow, and red are the three colors that represent the pan-African region, a sign of Senegal’s solidarity with neighbors and the continent at large. Third, the five-pointed green star in the center of the flag represents Islam, and the religious tenets on which the new country was founded.[1]

Against this background, I painted the words “Allah” in Arabic and drew star and crescent symbols, seven times each. (The number seven has particular prominence in Islam. It is a holy number symbolizing perfection, unity, the seven days of the week, Mohammad’s seven heavens, the number of words of the shahada, and is incorporated in many other rituals, architectural renderings, etc.) The word “Allah” is painted in the same colors as the background of the flag, and the red, green, and yellow words blend into the background, representing the seamlessness with which Islam has been incorporated into the state and the country’s national identity. Islam is woven into the fabric of the country, just as the words Allah take on the colors of Senegal and blur into the background.  The star and crescent symbol, once the symbol of the Ottoman Empire, became the symbol of Islam in the mid 20^th century. I used this symbol to demonstrate how notions of state and religion are fluid and redistributed, just as Senegal worked to establish its own Islamic identity after its independence from France.

Like my piece, The Beggar’s Strike explores Senegal’s competing power dynamics, including a young and weak government, a colonial legacy, Islam, and local culture and religious traditions like Sufi mysticism. The Beggars’ Strike exposes the tensions and hypocrisies that arise in Senegal, where bureaucrats employ self-serving and selfish government policies in the name of Islam. Yet The Beggar’s Strike is more than a metaphor for government corruption. It exposes the hypocrisy intrinsic to the Marabout system of sacrifice and reward, which promises prosperity or other desired outcomes in exchange for some sort of donation or sacrifice.

Mour Ndiaye, the title character in The Beggar’s Strike, is a hypocrite on many levels: professionally, he receives accolades for work he passes off to his subordinates; he is an absent father and husband who is ungrateful for his family’s loyalty through decades of poverty; and most jarringly, he officially destroys the Marabout-battu alms network, while personally continuing to support it by following the advice of his personal Marabout, Serigne Birama. He has put the competing power structures of government, Islam, and local culture to personal use, and ultimately, he is denied the vice presidency and is admonished for his hypocrisy by his second wife.

The Beggar’s Strike demonstrates that there are hypocrisies inherent in government, Islam, and local religious and cultural practice—none are exempt from condemnation, especially when they are used for personal gain. My piece also shows this tension, and hints at the danger of proclaiming the name of Allah and Islam in the foreground, while really working for oneself and the government in the background.