Book Launch:

Cheikh Anta Babou: The Muridiyya on the Move: Islam, Migration and Place Making

(Ohio University Press, Athens, 2021)

With this event held in one of WARC’s conference rooms on Thursday April 29^th, 2021, the Center signals the return of some of its flagship activities in spite of the prevalence of the Covid pandemic (it should be noted that in Senegal, Covid cases are presently and hopefully receding…). To abide by the health measures and precautions advocated by medical officials (social distancing, mask wearing, the use of hand sanitizers), WARC allowed a small number of participants in the room while making virtual arrangements for other participants to view the event on their computers or other electronic equipment.

The book was presented and discussed by the author himself but also by two eminent scholars: Dr Cheikh Guéye, a geographer at Enda-Tiers Monde (a development-oriented international NGO) and Professor Aly Tandian, a sociologist at University Gaston Berger (Saint Louis, Senegal).

The seminal discussions allowed participants to have informative facts and pieces of information on the Murid Brotherhood, Murid migration, the cultural, religious and financial implications of Murid migration as well as the use of foreign space to construct a collective diasporic home space and identity, among several other themes and topics.

The presentations were followed by insightful questions and contributions from attendees in the conference room and virtual participants numbering a total of 46 people.

Pr Cheikh Anta Babou is also the author of the well-researched, analyzed and documented publication titled: Fighting the Greater Jihad: Amadu Bamba and the Founding of the Muridiyya of Senegal, 1853-1913 (Athens, Ohio University Press, 2007).