This chapter introduces Ibrahim Niasse on the basis of hagiographical sources, offering insights into both scholarly and popular representations of Niasse's career. It focuses on the first three decades of his life, using accounts of his childhood and training to highlight the milieu in which he grew up. It then discusses the “emergence of the flood (fayda),” the pivotal moment that triggered...
This chapter offers a micro-history of the early community in Senegal, drawing on letters by Ibrahim Niasse that give unique insights into the movement's formative years. The sources show how Niasse was forced to reign in the excesses of a few overzealous followers, whose flouting of the rules of the Sufi path invited much criticism from outsiders. The mounting tensions lead to the next...