Singing the Glory of Niasse: The Joyful Music to Mock Salafis in Nigeria
Keywords:
Nigeria, Hausa religious songs, Sufism, Tijaniyya, Ibrāhīm Niasse, SalafismAbstract
This paper provides the translation of a Hausa song in praise of the Senegalese Tijāni leader Shaykh Ibrāhīm Niasse, written by the Nigerian singer, Kabiru Maulana. Locating it in the context of a wave of Sufi songs that were produced in reaction to the spread of Salafism in Nigeria, the paper argues that running parallel to the purpose of praising a Sufi leader lies an intention to mock the Salafis’ rejection of both Sufism and music. In other words, singing the glory of Niasse in public, is in today’s Nigeria also a means of satirizing and protesting the opposition to Sufism as well as marking the Islamic public sphere with a sign of the Sufi presence.
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Published
2023-02-03
How to Cite
Umar, Muhammad Sani. 2020. “Singing the Glory of Niasse: The Joyful Music to Mock Salafis in Nigeria”. Journal for Islamic Studies 38 (2):141-65. https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/JIS/article/view/13042.
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