However, the recent trend is for the wife to leave her father's compound sometimes even before marriage. This practice has slightly weakened the extended family as an economic unit. The Malinke have many elaborate ceremonies associated with the different societies and initiation rites of their culture. Both boys and girls are initiated into puberty. Men are initiated and advanced in their hierarchical society, the komo.
Women also have their own secret society.
Ninety percent of the Malinke of Senegal are Muslim . However, their Islamic beliefs have been blended with their traditional beliefs, which involved worshipping the spirits of the land. Healing, magic, and divination are also important aspects of their traditional religion. Educated villagers may conceal their beliefs in magic, yet, most of them still carry amulets. Less than one percent of the Malinke in Senegal are Christians.