Religion, social capital and development in the Sahel: the Niass Tijaniyya in Niger.

• Author: Barnes, Shailly
• Position: ANDREW WELLINGTON CORDIER ESSAY - Organization overview

Religion is not often pursued as a source of engagement in the international discourse on development. While faith-based organizations have received a greater audience and exerted greater influence in the past few years under the Bush administration, it is still uncommon for international development agencies to incorporate religious loyalties, insights and communities into their regional or national agendas. This pattern of development practice grew, perhaps, from an attempt to pursue a secular agenda that offended none and therefore was acceptable to all. However, in neglecting the religiosity of the poorest of the poor, the development agenda fails to acknowledge and learn from some of the most innovative, influential and sustainable development actors: the religious leadership of the world's poor.

In the Islamic countries of sub-Saharan Africa, certain religious leaders are making great strides in advancing an ambitious development agenda among their constituent population of believers, who are among the poorest of the poor. In Niger, a country that consistently ranks at the very bottom of many development indicators, the religious leadership of the Niass Tiianiyya, one of the predominant Sufi brotherhoods in Niger, is engaged in a variety of anti-poverty, empowerment and literacy programs that touch the lives of the poorest Nigeriens. Its progress in women's human, economic and reproductive rights is especially remarkable considering the education and poverty levels of the adult population in Niger.

The efforts and progress of these actors are of great value to international development agencies and actors as we pass the midway mark to accomplishing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Regional divergence is increasing, with sub-Saharan Africa falling considerably behind despite the continuing efforts and financial resources funneled into the region. The Niass Tiianiyya may not only provide some guidance in tackling the persistent problems of extreme poverty, high infant mortality, hunger, illiteracy, inequality and disease in Niger, but its leaders may also prove to be compelling and effective partners in the fight to achieve the MDGs in the 21st century. While these leaders do have access to considerable personal wealth, it is their extraordinary spiritual capital that has enabled them to address these issues with such success in Niger.

AN AFTERNOON IN KIOTA

The afternoon al-asar prayer was called just as we entered the small town of Kiota. (1) I adjusted my head covering and breathed in the dusty air of western Niger. As the prayer ended, Sheikh Moussa Aboubacar also known as Sheikh Moussa, the spiritual leader of the Niass Tijaniyya, walked up to his vast concession, a concrete monolith in Kiota. He was accompanied by two military guards, his assistants, an entourage of disciples from Niger and elsewhere in West Africa, and other men and women who pay tribute to Sheikh Moussa's "spiritual power"--or baraka--and seek his spiritual guidance and support. (2) We followed the group of believers up two flights of stairs and into a sparsely decorated room where, one by one, Sheikh Moussa listened to their requests, while receiving small gifts of tribute. Some asked for material assistance, others for spiritual support. Most disciples knelt at Sheikh Moussa's feet while making their requests in hushed, deferential tones and few looked at him directly. After each disciple whispered his entreaty, Sheikh Moussa offered a prayer that their hopes be realized. They sat with their hands raised, palms facing inward to partake in the prayer he offered to God, which touched by his blessing had a greater chance of being granted than their own.

Sheikh Moussa performs this ritual of tribute and blessing daily for thousands of Niass Tijaniyya Muslims from Niger, Senegal, Nigeria and other West African countries. The Tijaniyya is one of several Sufi brotherhoods found in West Africa associated with the "non-sectarian Muslim tradition" of Sufism that emphasizes a more mystical religious practice, expressed mainly through the veneration of saints. (3) Sufism is not well known in the West, although nearly one-third of the Islamic world practices this form of Islam. While more orthodox and legalistic sects of Islam discount Sufism as heretical in its veneration of saints, meditation and chanting, Sufis contend that they alone are able to interpret the esoteric doctrine of the Quran, enabling them to connect to the "inner reality of God" through learning, servitude and prayer, and with the guidance of spiritual leaders such as Sheikh Moussa. (4)

The dynamic between Sheikh Moussa's family and the Niass Tijaniyya may be better understood functionally as a type of social capital, which enables the creation and sustainability of the Sufi brotherhood. (5) This interpretation extends beyond an economic understanding of social capital and touches upon what is produced when hierarchical sources of authority determine social norms that are accepted with little resistance. (6) During the ritual of tribute and blessing, disciples elevate Sheikh Moussa's social capital into a form of spiritual capital by recognizing the legitimate authority of Sheikh Moussa's extraordinary baraka.

This understanding of social capital as spiritual capital reveals a possible point of engagement for regional efforts to alleviate poverty and otherwise develop relationships with the most impoverished throughout Niger and West Africa. Indeed, Sheikh Moussa and others in his family continue to use their spiritual capital to promote initiatives that impact the health, education and food security of thousands of Nigeriens. Their willingness and ability to effect significant change among their discipleship may present an opportunity for outsiders to better understand, and therefore meet, the needs of those within the community who continue to live in persistent states of poverty.

THE TIJANIYYA BROTHERHOOD

Among the numerous Sufi brotherhoods, the Muridiyya, which follows the teachings of Amadou Bamba, is among the most notable and well-known from West Africa. Less well known is the Tijaniyya, which originated in Morocco during the late 18th century. (7) Sheikh Ahmad al-Tijani was born in 1737 in an oasis town in southwest Algeria. (8) As a child, the young Sheikh Tijani is said to have memorized the Quran by the age of seven, before mastering Islamic jurisprudence, prophetic tradition and other branches of the traditional Islamic sciences. (9) Through his continued studies, pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) and association with venerated scholars, he became affiliated with various religious orders, whose emphasis on an "elite 'orthodox' Sufism, firmly rooted within the bounds of the Quran and Sunna" were instrumental in the development of the Tijaniyya order, which, by the end of his life in 1815, had attracted thousands of followers. (10) The Tijaniyya tariqa is based on three fundamental principles: asking Allah for forgiveness; affirming the oneness of God by reciting, "la ilaha illallah," or "there is no God but Allah;" and offering prayers upon the Prophet Muhammad. (11)

In West Africa, there are two major branches of the Tijaniyya brotherhood. One is associated with al-Hajj Malik Sy and the other with al-Hajj Abdoulaye Niass. Both Malik Sy and Abdoulaye Niass were born into Senegalese Wolof families that shared long traditions of Islamic scholarship. (12) As the traditional Wolof aristocracy crumbled under French colonization, these leaders emerged, stressing their commitment to promoting Islam to a population of Muslim peasants who yearned for a grounded leadership to replace what they had lost. (13) Whereas the Muridiyya stressed a commitment to work and prayer through work, the Tijaniyya branches stressed the education of men and women alike.

The Niass order is particularly well known for its emphasis on scholarship and is...