Conquerors of the Heart

[From the French language press]:

Le processus d’islamisation a été entamé par les commerçants et les juristes. Mais force est de reconnaître que c’est avec l’Islam confrérique que la religion musulmane a conquis les cœurs des populations de l’Afrique subsaharienne.

Le Soleil, Sénégal - mercredi 18 juillet 2007 - par Babacar Bachir Sane

The process of Islamization was started by the tradesmen and the lawyers. But force is to recognize that it is with the Islam of Brotherhoods that the religion of Islam conquered the hearts of the populations of sub-Saharan Africa.

Introducing “Tijaniya, cement of the co-operation between Senegal and Morocco” (during the "week of Senegal" in Morocco), the Moroccan scholar Jellali el-Adnani, said that the practice of Sufism by the sub-Saharan communities, in particular by the Wolof community of Senegal made it possible to tie very strong relations between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

Many pilgrims in departure or on return from Mecca do visit the tomb of the founder of the tariqa [Tijaniya] in Fez. For Jellali El Adnani, the relations between Sénégal and Morocco should not stop at the stage of Brotherhoods, they should open more, the more so as the number of affiliated in Senegal is the largest in th Islamic world.

[picture from http://www.fao.org/ ]