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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Fall of a Wayward Saint |
Author: | Spaulding, Jay L. |
Year: | 1984 |
Periodical: | Northeast African Studies |
Volume: | 5 |
Issue: | 3 |
Pages: | 43-50 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Sudan |
Subjects: | ulema Muslim brotherhoods History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/43660148 |
Abstract: | Among the prominent figures of the Islamic revival of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was Ahmad b. Idris al-Fasi, whose influence upon the course of northeast African history has been noted by a number of scholars. One of the most famous disciples of Ahmad b. Idris was Muhammad 'Uthman al-Mirghani, founder of the Khatmiya brotherhood which won many followers in the Sudan during the nineteenth century. Previous scholars, relying largely upon hagiographical writings, have tended to assume that Ahmad b. Idris 'sent' the Mirghani to the Sudan, or at least 'inspired' him to found a brotherhood. The present study amends this plausible but misleading interpretation. The analysis is based upon a collection of 17 letters preserved in the National Records Office in Khartoum; most were written by Ahmad b. Idris to various disciples in the Sudan (including 8 to Muhammad 'Uthman), while one is a response by the Mirghani to his master. Two of the letters bear fixed dates, and a third may be placed in relationship to one of these on the basis of firm internal evidence. The remainder is introduced in a logical but admittedly less certain chronological sequence. The story told by the letters is sad but rich in human drama. Notes. |