Al-Hajj Salim Suwari
Encyclopedia
Sheikh
Al-Hajj Salim Suwari was a late 15th-century West African Soninke karamogo
(Islamic scholar) who focused on the responsibilities of Muslims minorities residing in a non-Muslim society. He formulated an important theological rationale for peaceful coexistence with the non-Muslim ruling classes called the Suwarian tradition, which survives to this day despite the pressures of modernism.
-speaking Muslim traders and craftsmen known as Dyula. Since Muslims in these regions lived in the dar al-harb (land of the unbelievers), they needed legitimization for trading with unbelievers – an activity viewed with disdain by some North African Muslim jurists. Sheikh Al-Hajj Salim Suwari focused on providing a solution to this and other related issues. Hailing from the Sahelian town of Ja
(Dia) in the core Mali
area, Al-Hajj Salim Suwari had performed the pilgrimage (hajj
) to Mecca
several times and devoted his intellectual career to developing an understanding of the faith that would assist Muslim minorities in residing in "pagan" lands (dar al-kufr).
of non-Muslim authorities, as long as they had the necessary protection and conditions to practice the faith in accordance with the sunnah
of the Prophet Muhammed. In this teaching Suwari followed a strong predilection in Islamic political philosophy
for any government, albeit non-Muslim or tyrannical, as opposed to none: (e) The military jihad
was a resort only in self-defense if the faithful were threatened. (f) Suwari discouraged dawah
(proselytizing), instead contending that Allah
would bring non-Muslims to Islam in His own way; it was not a Muslims responsibility to decide when ignorance should give way to belief: (g) Muslims must ensure that, by their commitment to education and learning, they keep their observance of the Law free from error.
, the peculiarities of the situation in which Muslims found themselves in the period following the collapse of imperial Mali
. Described by author Nehemia Levtzion as "accommodationist Islam", it created a praxis to enable Muslims to function within essentially non-Muslim societies, accommodating their interests to those of the wider society while at the same time combating erosion of their distinctive Muslim identity. Since their form of Islam was capable of accommodating traditional cults, the dyula often served as priests, soothsayer
s and counselors at the courts of animist rulers.
The Suwarian tradition was a realistic rationale for Muslims living in the woodland and forest regions of West Africa over the past five or six centuries. It was not without tension that came in part from the missionary dimension of Islam itself; it was challenged by Muslim reformers in recent centuries. Its neat compartments were obscured by occasional intermarriage between merchants and rulers. But the Suwarian tradition was resilient and useful, and it is probably similar to the positions of many African Muslim communities who found themselves in situations of inferior numbers and force, took advantage of their networks for trade, and enjoyed good relations with their "pagan" hosts.
(Western Sudan), but his influence was greatest along the southern fringes of the Manding trade network, and corresponds to the period of the disintegration of the old Malian empire
. From the accounts of Ivor Wilks
and Lamin Sanneh
it is difficult to date the lifespan of Salim Suwari. Wilks dates his life around the late 15th century, while Sanneh thinks he lived two centuries earlier, around the late 13th century. Differences notwithstanding, Wilks intimates that his teachings were nurtured by his followers in Niger
, Senegal
and middle section of the Niger river from where they conveyed the tradition to the Voltaic region in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Wilks describes it as "pacifistic and quietist in content," implying a tolerant and respectful approach to non-Muslims, while in the words of Sanneh, one of the imperatives of the tradition is its "travel or mobility (al-safar) involving the penetration of distant lands for the purposes of religion."
as well as a long history among West African Muslims. Ivor Wilks observes that "almost all of the asanid, scholarly chains owned by Muslim scholars of Ghana
, Côte d'Ivoire
and Burkina Faso
converge on the highly revered figure of Kong Liman Abbas" whose own chain can be traced backwards "in twelve teaching generations to Al-Hajj Salim Suwari." Wilks traces a long chain of scholars and students that passed through the tradition of Suwari, ranging from Saghanugu Liman of Bobo-Dioulasso
(Burkina Faso), Ibrahim bin al-Mustapha of Wa, Ghana
, Al-Amin bin Muhammad al-Abyad Kulibali of Kong, Côte d'Ivoire
to Sa’id bin Abd al-Qadir, of Wa.
It may not be stretching the point to suggest that the same tradition of ulema, especially the Kamaghaté, Wattara of the Soninke Wangara
patronym, were the influential Muslims and traders in Kumasi
in the years before the late 1890s when the Hausa
Muslims migrated in large waves to Kumasi after the collapse of Salaga
. It is probable that the Suwari tradition swept through greater parts of the Ghanaian Muslim communities
– in Wa, Gonja
, Dagbon, and among some of the Kumasi Muslims, excluding the Hausas and other Muslims of Nigerian origin.
The Jakhanke people
also trace their spiritual ancestry to al-Hajj Salim Suwari, and since they believed that the spirits of dead saints kept guard over their followers and interceded for them before Allah, the graves of al-Hajj Salim and other great teachers were centers for pilgrimage.
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
Al-Hajj Salim Suwari was a late 15th-century West African Soninke karamogo
Karamogo
The Karamogo were the scholar class among the peaceful Dyula traders of Western Africa, of which Al-Hajj Salim Suwari was a prominent member. The Karamogo developed theological rationales for living among non-Muslims, arguing that one should nurture one's own faith and let conversion happen in its...
(Islamic scholar) who focused on the responsibilities of Muslims minorities residing in a non-Muslim society. He formulated an important theological rationale for peaceful coexistence with the non-Muslim ruling classes called the Suwarian tradition, which survives to this day despite the pressures of modernism.
Background
The spread of Islam throughout West Africa was a concomitant of long-distance trade by MandeMande languages
The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé people and include Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Bissa, Dioula, Kagoro, Bozo, Mende, Susu, Yacouba, Vai, and Ligbi...
-speaking Muslim traders and craftsmen known as Dyula. Since Muslims in these regions lived in the dar al-harb (land of the unbelievers), they needed legitimization for trading with unbelievers – an activity viewed with disdain by some North African Muslim jurists. Sheikh Al-Hajj Salim Suwari focused on providing a solution to this and other related issues. Hailing from the Sahelian town of Ja
JA
JA, Ja, or ja may refer to:*Ja, grammatical particle meaning "yes" in most Germanic languages *Ja in Polish language means I*JA, a platform of vehicles made by Chrysler*Jamaica...
(Dia) in the core Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
area, Al-Hajj Salim Suwari had performed the pilgrimage (hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
) to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
several times and devoted his intellectual career to developing an understanding of the faith that would assist Muslim minorities in residing in "pagan" lands (dar al-kufr).
Suwarian Tradition
Sheikh Suwari formulated the obligations of Dyula minorities residing across West Africa into something dubbed the Suwarian tradition. It stressed the need for Muslims to coexist peaceably with unbelievers, and so justified a separation of religion and politics. The Suwarian prescription for peaceful coexistence involved seven main precepts: (a) unbelievers are ignorant, not wicked: (b) it is Allah's design that some people remain ignorant longer than others: (c) Muslims must nurture their own learning and piety and thereby furnish good examples to non-Muslims around them, so they will know how to behave when they are converted: (d) they could accept the jurisdictionJurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
of non-Muslim authorities, as long as they had the necessary protection and conditions to practice the faith in accordance with the sunnah
Sunnah
The word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
of the Prophet Muhammed. In this teaching Suwari followed a strong predilection in Islamic political philosophy
Political aspects of Islam
Political aspects of Islam are derived from the Qur'an, the Sunna , Muslim history, and elements of political movements outside Islam....
for any government, albeit non-Muslim or tyrannical, as opposed to none: (e) The military jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
was a resort only in self-defense if the faithful were threatened. (f) Suwari discouraged dawah
Dawah
Da‘wah or Dawah usually denotes the preaching of Islam. Da‘wah literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation", being the active participle of a verb meaning variously "to summon" or "to invite"...
(proselytizing), instead contending that Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
would bring non-Muslims to Islam in His own way; it was not a Muslims responsibility to decide when ignorance should give way to belief: (g) Muslims must ensure that, by their commitment to education and learning, they keep their observance of the Law free from error.
Influence of the Suwarian Tradition
Suwarians articulate an ideological level, without straying from orthodoxyOrthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
, the peculiarities of the situation in which Muslims found themselves in the period following the collapse of imperial Mali
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I...
. Described by author Nehemia Levtzion as "accommodationist Islam", it created a praxis to enable Muslims to function within essentially non-Muslim societies, accommodating their interests to those of the wider society while at the same time combating erosion of their distinctive Muslim identity. Since their form of Islam was capable of accommodating traditional cults, the dyula often served as priests, soothsayer
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
s and counselors at the courts of animist rulers.
The Suwarian tradition was a realistic rationale for Muslims living in the woodland and forest regions of West Africa over the past five or six centuries. It was not without tension that came in part from the missionary dimension of Islam itself; it was challenged by Muslim reformers in recent centuries. Its neat compartments were obscured by occasional intermarriage between merchants and rulers. But the Suwarian tradition was resilient and useful, and it is probably similar to the positions of many African Muslim communities who found themselves in situations of inferior numbers and force, took advantage of their networks for trade, and enjoyed good relations with their "pagan" hosts.
Spread of the Suwarian School
Al-Hajj Salim's scholarly activity was centered on the town of Jagha in the bilâd as-sûdânSudan (region)
The Sudan is the name given to a geographic region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western to Eastern Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilâd as-sûdân or "land of the Blacks"...
(Western Sudan), but his influence was greatest along the southern fringes of the Manding trade network, and corresponds to the period of the disintegration of the old Malian empire
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I...
. From the accounts of Ivor Wilks
Ivor Wilks
Ivor G. Wilks is a noted British Africanist and historian, with a specialism in Ghana.Wilks is an authority on the Ashanti Empire in Ghana. He has also written on Chartism in Wales, and the working class movement in the nineteenth century. His work examines the nature of power and leadership, and...
and Lamin Sanneh
Lamin Sanneh
Lamin Sanneh is currently the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity and Professor of History at Yale Divinity School.-Life and work:...
it is difficult to date the lifespan of Salim Suwari. Wilks dates his life around the late 15th century, while Sanneh thinks he lived two centuries earlier, around the late 13th century. Differences notwithstanding, Wilks intimates that his teachings were nurtured by his followers in Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
and middle section of the Niger river from where they conveyed the tradition to the Voltaic region in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Wilks describes it as "pacifistic and quietist in content," implying a tolerant and respectful approach to non-Muslims, while in the words of Sanneh, one of the imperatives of the tradition is its "travel or mobility (al-safar) involving the penetration of distant lands for the purposes of religion."
Scholarly Legacy
The Suwari school of thought was a scholarly discipline that enjoyed a substantial number of ulemaUlema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
as well as a long history among West African Muslims. Ivor Wilks observes that "almost all of the asanid, scholarly chains owned by Muslim scholars of Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
and Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
converge on the highly revered figure of Kong Liman Abbas" whose own chain can be traced backwards "in twelve teaching generations to Al-Hajj Salim Suwari." Wilks traces a long chain of scholars and students that passed through the tradition of Suwari, ranging from Saghanugu Liman of Bobo-Dioulasso
Bobo-Dioulasso
Bobo-Dioulasso is a city with a population of about 435,543 , the second largest city in Burkina Faso, Africa, after Ouagadougou, the nation's capital. The name means literally, "home of the Jula who speak Bobo," and is possibly a creation of the French who misunderstood the identity complexities...
(Burkina Faso), Ibrahim bin al-Mustapha of Wa, Ghana
Wa, Ghana
Wa is the capital of the Upper West Region of Ghana and is the main city of the Wala people. The majority of the inhabitants are Muslim. It is the seat of the Wa-Na, the Paramount Chief of the Wala traditional area. Features of the town include several mosques, the Wa-Na Palace, a museum and a...
, Al-Amin bin Muhammad al-Abyad Kulibali of Kong, Côte d'Ivoire
Kong, Côte d'Ivoire
Kong is a town and commune in the Ferkessédougou Department, in the Savanes Region of northern Côte d'Ivoire. It was the capital of the Kong Empire .-Natural history:...
to Sa’id bin Abd al-Qadir, of Wa.
It may not be stretching the point to suggest that the same tradition of ulema, especially the Kamaghaté, Wattara of the Soninke Wangara
Soninke Wangara
The Wangara were Soninke clans specialized in trade, Islamic scholarship and law . Particularly active in the gold trade, they were a group of Mande traders, loosely associated to the medieval West African Empires of Ghana and Mali.-History:A Malian source, cited in the Tarikh al-Sudan,...
patronym, were the influential Muslims and traders in Kumasi
Kumasi
Kumasi is a city in southern central Ghana's Ashanti region. It is located near Lake Bosomtwe, in the Rain Forest Region about northwest of Accra. Kumasi is approximately north of the Equator and north of the Gulf of Guinea...
in the years before the late 1890s when the Hausa
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
Muslims migrated in large waves to Kumasi after the collapse of Salaga
Salaga
Salaga is a city in Ghana's Northern Region and the capital of its East Gonja District.In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Salaga served as a key market town of the Ashanti kingdom, particularly for the busy regional slave trade and kola trade controlling Salaga gave the Ashanti a monopoly...
. It is probable that the Suwari tradition swept through greater parts of the Ghanaian Muslim communities
Islam in Ghana
The spread of Islam into West Africa, beginning with ancient Ghana in the ninth century, was mainly the result of the commercial activities of North African Muslims. The empires of both Mali and Songhai that followed ancient Ghana in the Western Sudan adopted the religion. Islam made its entry into...
– in Wa, Gonja
Gonja
This page discusses the Ghanaian kingdom of Gonja; for uses for the word Ganja, see Ganja Gonja was a kingdom in northern Ghana; the word can also refer to the people of this kingdom. The Gonja are a Guan people who have been influenced by both Akan people and Mande people. With the fall of the...
, Dagbon, and among some of the Kumasi Muslims, excluding the Hausas and other Muslims of Nigerian origin.
The Jakhanke people
Jakhanke people
The Jakhanke people are a Manding-speaking ethnic group in the Senegambia region, often classified as a subgroup of the larger Soninke. The Jakhanke have historically constituted a specialized caste of professional Muslim clerics and educators...
also trace their spiritual ancestry to al-Hajj Salim Suwari, and since they believed that the spirits of dead saints kept guard over their followers and interceded for them before Allah, the graves of al-Hajj Salim and other great teachers were centers for pilgrimage.