With tens of millions of adherents worldwide, the Tijāniyya Sufi order is no doubt a major articulation of global

Islam. It was born in North Africa, but its center of gravity shifted to West Africa in the course of the twentieth

century, and, in the 21 st century, it was carried by the African diaspora to the rest of the World. Very instrumental in

this spread of Tijāniyya is the action of Senegalese leader Ibrahim Niasse and his followers. In 1930, Ibrahim Niasse

claimed to be the bringer of the divine flood of Ahmad al-Tijāni who would lead to the global spread of the

Tijāniyya. His teachings have reached tens of millions of people worldwide.

Tijanis have written considerably about the doctrine of their order in the last two centuries since the creation of the

Tijāniyya, and many biographies of prominent Tijani masters are available in Arabic. Yet, the first monograph

introducing this fascinating Sufi order to a Western audience was published as recent as 1965 (Jamil Abun-Nasr’s

The Tijaniyya: A Sufi Order in the Modern World (London: Oxford University Press, 1965), a work which hardly

told the entire story of the Tijaniyya. It took another thirty years or so for another thorough study of this Sufi order

to appear (David Robinson and Jean-Louis Triaud La Tijaniyya: une confrérie musulmane à la conquête de

l’Afrique, Paris: Karthala, 2000). This was mostly the work of historians and Islamicists, and focusing on the spread

of the Tijaniyya from North Africa to Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Since not only had the Tijāniyya had spread in other continents, but the field of Tijāni studies has grown

exponentially attracting scholars from all social sciences including anthropologists, political scientists, religious

studies specialists, musicologists, philologists and more. Dozens of master and Ph.D. dissertations have been

completed on the Tijāniyya in Western and African universities, and many works of Tijānī scholars in the Arabic

language have been edited and published and/or translated in Western languages.

Furthermore, the Tijāniyya has spread in South Africa, Western Europe, North America and South East Asia where

hundreds of Tijānī zāwiya have been created in recent years. Dozens of master and Ph.D. dissertations have been

completed on the Tijāniyya in Western and African universities, and many works of Tijānī scholars in the Arabic

language have been edited and published and/or translated in Western languages.

Furthermore, the Tijāniyya has spread in South Africa, Western Europe, North America and South East Asia where

hundreds of Tijānī zāwiya have been created in recent years.

Tijānī from West Africa in particular are travelling

constantly between their countries of origin and those far regions to give lectures, initiate disciples and connect with

like-minded Muslims in a global Sufi campaign against opponents. Tijānī shaykhs have also re-appropriated the new

technologies of information and communication to reach to global audiences. Religious celebrations in West Africa

are now attracting significant audience from both within and outside the continent.

The international conference: The Fayda Tijāniyya in the 21s century: A Major Articulation of Global Islam will

address these new developments. Among questions that participants will address the following will be paramount?

What contributions had West African scholars made in the articulation of Tijāni doctrines? How fast is the

Tijāniyya, and especially, the Fayda spreading outside the African continent, and especially Western Europe, North

America and South and South East Asia? What impact had the translation into Western languages of major Tijānī works of West African scholars such as Umar Tāl and Ibrahim Niasse having in the reception of the Tijāniyya in the

World? What are the new pilgrimage routes opened by the African diaspora and connecting their host societies in

the West and pilgrimage centers, especially Tijānī zāwiyas in Africa? What are the new legal forms of Tijāni Sufi

associations?

Panelists in this conference will include scholars from various disciplines in the social sciences working on different

regions of the World. It will also include some Tijani practitioners in the World. This conference will include a

keynote speech, and six panels as well as a concert.

​