Event

This presentation explores the competition waged by religious voices for physical and ideological control of public space. Focusing on the Tijaniyya, the largest Sufi order in Senegal, I show how sacred sound is used to create room for Tijan religious community on secular territory. While highlighting the civic potential of sacred sound, I also analyze recent events in which Tijan voices contesting for public space have become sources of social rupture, political instability, and physical violence.  Repertoires central to this presentation include the Waẓīfa, an intoned prayer prescribed by Sīdī 'Aḥmad al-Tījānī, and Qaṣīda al-Burda, a 13th century Sufi poem composed by Al-Būṣīrī.