11. Hamadoun Koufa: Spearhead of radicalism in central Mali
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Modibo Galy Cissé
Abstract
Since the end of the jahilaaku, the Fulani community of central Mali has been engaged in extensive breeding and Quranic education. Notwithstanding the introduction of the Western education model, Islamic education is still the most popular. Thus, from the Fulani hegemony in the 19th century to the present day, collective memory in each generation reveres men who have marked history by their mastery of the Quran and their knowledge of hadiths. Hamadoun Koufa is one such man. Born in the early 1960s in Guimbala, he was a brilliant talibé and appreciated by his masters. A santaarou (advanced student of the Quran and hadiths), he was a poet-singer who animated a company of young girls he held in his thrall and amazed by songs full of love, romance, and flattery. After being forgotten for a decade, he returned under another hat, that of a preacher. With a closely literal interpretation of the Quran, he attacked everyone, from the simple Quranic teachers to the great families of scholars. His commitment to the rejection of the scholar-family code led him to the Dawa Tabligh and then to the Tuareg Iyad Ag Ghali, his trajectory crowned by a stay at Markaz Bamako. Returning to the Delta, he began the Dawa, followed by a cohort of followers of various origins.
Abstract
Since the end of the jahilaaku, the Fulani community of central Mali has been engaged in extensive breeding and Quranic education. Notwithstanding the introduction of the Western education model, Islamic education is still the most popular. Thus, from the Fulani hegemony in the 19th century to the present day, collective memory in each generation reveres men who have marked history by their mastery of the Quran and their knowledge of hadiths. Hamadoun Koufa is one such man. Born in the early 1960s in Guimbala, he was a brilliant talibé and appreciated by his masters. A santaarou (advanced student of the Quran and hadiths), he was a poet-singer who animated a company of young girls he held in his thrall and amazed by songs full of love, romance, and flattery. After being forgotten for a decade, he returned under another hat, that of a preacher. With a closely literal interpretation of the Quran, he attacked everyone, from the simple Quranic teachers to the great families of scholars. His commitment to the rejection of the scholar-family code led him to the Dawa Tabligh and then to the Tuareg Iyad Ag Ghali, his trajectory crowned by a stay at Markaz Bamako. Returning to the Delta, he began the Dawa, followed by a cohort of followers of various origins.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- 1. Introduction: Biographies of radicalization–hidden messages of social change 1
- 2. ‘The heavens have already burned’: Reflections on radicalism 15
- 3. Pathways to home-grown jihadism in the Netherlands: The Hofstadgroup, 2002–2005 25
- 4. How Muhammad al-Wali developed a radical definition of the unbeliever 39
- 5. The jihad of Sheikh Ahmet Ismael Bichara in Kouno: An example of an outbreak of extremism based on religion 51
- 6. Ruben Um Nyobe: Camerounian maquis, radical, and liberator, ca 1948–1958 65
- 7. ‘It’s the way we are moulded’ 85
- 8. Radicalization processes and trajectories in western Chad 103
- 9. Radicalization in northern Nigeria: Stories from Boko Haram 114
- 10. A rebel youth? Social media, charismatic leadership, and ‘radicalized’ youth in the 2015 Biafra protests 134
- 11. Hamadoun Koufa: Spearhead of radicalism in central Mali 152
- 12. Central Mali: Toward a Fulani question? 174
- 13. Central African refugee Mbororo nomads in Cameroon: Cultural hostages? 194
- 14. Islam and radicalization in Senegal: A response in female preaching 216
- 15. Legacies of political resistance in Congo-Brazzaville 230
- 16. ‘Give the Youth a Voice’: A reflection on the Rencontres V4T@Dakar, 15–18 November 2017 244
- List of Authors 256
- List of Abbreviations VII
- Acknowledgements IX
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- 1. Introduction: Biographies of radicalization–hidden messages of social change 1
- 2. ‘The heavens have already burned’: Reflections on radicalism 15
- 3. Pathways to home-grown jihadism in the Netherlands: The Hofstadgroup, 2002–2005 25
- 4. How Muhammad al-Wali developed a radical definition of the unbeliever 39
- 5. The jihad of Sheikh Ahmet Ismael Bichara in Kouno: An example of an outbreak of extremism based on religion 51
- 6. Ruben Um Nyobe: Camerounian maquis, radical, and liberator, ca 1948–1958 65
- 7. ‘It’s the way we are moulded’ 85
- 8. Radicalization processes and trajectories in western Chad 103
- 9. Radicalization in northern Nigeria: Stories from Boko Haram 114
- 10. A rebel youth? Social media, charismatic leadership, and ‘radicalized’ youth in the 2015 Biafra protests 134
- 11. Hamadoun Koufa: Spearhead of radicalism in central Mali 152
- 12. Central Mali: Toward a Fulani question? 174
- 13. Central African refugee Mbororo nomads in Cameroon: Cultural hostages? 194
- 14. Islam and radicalization in Senegal: A response in female preaching 216
- 15. Legacies of political resistance in Congo-Brazzaville 230
- 16. ‘Give the Youth a Voice’: A reflection on the Rencontres V4T@Dakar, 15–18 November 2017 244
- List of Authors 256
- List of Abbreviations VII
- Acknowledgements IX
