page_title: Islam in Africa
section_title: Sufism
hierarchical_section_title: Islam in Africa / Sects / Sufism
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Moschee in Touba, Senegal. English: The central Mosque of the Mouride sufi order at Touba, Senegal.
context_page_description: Africa was the first continent into which Islam spread from Southwest Asia, during the early 7th century CE. Almost one-third of the world's Muslim population resides in the continent. Muslims crossed current Djibouti and Somalia to seek refuge in present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia during the Hijrah to the Christian Kingdom of Aksum. Most Muslims in Africa are non-denominational Muslims or Sunni; the complexity of Islam in Africa is revealed in the various schools of thought, traditions, and voices in many African countries. The practice of Islam on the continent is not static and is constantly being reshaped by prevalent social, economic, and political conditions. Generally Islam in Africa often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems forming Africa's own orthodoxies.
  It was estimated in 2002 that Muslims constituted 40% of the population of Africa, a fraction which has slightly decreased in the meantime due to high birth rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. Islam has a large presence in North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Sahel, the Swahili Coast, and much of West Africa, with minority immigrant populations in South Africa.
context_section_description: Sufism, which focuses on the mystical elements of Islam, has many orders as well as followers in West Africa and Sudan, and, like other orders, strives to know God through meditation and emotion. Sufis may be nondenominational Muslim, Sunni or Shi’ite, and their ceremonies may involve chanting, music, dancing, and meditation.
  Many Sufis in Africa are syncretic where they practise Sufism with traditional folklore beliefs. Salafis criticize the folklorists Sufis, who they claim have incorporated "un-Islamic" beliefs into their practices, such as celebrating the several events, visiting the shrines of "Islamic saints", dancing during prayer (the whirling dervishes).
  West Africa and Sudan have various Sufi orders regarded skeptically by the more doctrinally strict branches of Islam in the Middle East. Most orders in West Africa emphasize the role of a spiritual guide, marabout or possessing supernatural power, regarded as an Africanization of Islam. In Senegal and Gambia, Mouridism Sufis claim to have several million adherents and have drawn criticism for their veneration of Mouridism's founder Amadou Bamba. The Tijani is the most popular Sufi order in West Africa, with a large following in Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Gambia.
caption: The Great Mosque of Touba, is one of the largest mosques in Senegal, West Africa
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