Making and Remaking Mosques in Senegal

Cleo Cantone, PhD in Art and Archaeology at London University (2006), is a freelance translator and researcher specialising in the architecture and sociology of mosques as well as the issues of gender and space in Islam. Her current research interests include sustainable architecture and Islamic influences on Siculo-Norman architecture.

• CONTENTSList of Illustrations ............................................................................ xiPreface ................................................................................................. xxiAcknowledgements ............................................................................ xxvList of Abbreviations ......................................................................... xxixA Note on Orthography and Translation ..................................... xxxiMaps and Figures .............................................................................. xxxiiiIntroduction Making and re-Making Mosques in Senegal ..... 1On the Centrality of the Mosque ............................................... 5On the Diversity of Styles ............................................................ 12PART ONEFROM CONVERSION TO CONSTRUCTIONChapter One Sudanese Style Mosques and their Little Known Relatives in Futa Toro (15th–mid 19th century) ....21Baraka and Building Traditions: From the Eyes of Arab Geographers ............................................... 23Encroaching Eurocentrism: Early European Explorers ........ 26Mosques in the Sudan and ‘Sudanese Style’ Mosques .......... 36Some Reflections on Linguistic Kinship .................................. 50Defensive Tatas and Protective Palisades ................................ 54Fulbe Jihad and Mosques ........................................................... 70Architecture of the ‘Umarian’ Mosques of Futa Toro .......... 75Conclusion .................................................................................... 87PART TWOTHE QUEST FOR AN APPROPRIATE AESTHETICChapter Two The Birth of the ‘Colonial Mosque’: Hybridity, French Policy and Muslim Identity (ca. 1820–1920) . 93Marabouts, Mosques and the Policy of Assimilation ........... 93Trade, Territory and the Mission Civilisatrice ....................... 95The Churches of Gorée and Saint-Louis: Slaves, Missionaries and Métisses ..................................... 98Consolidating Colonialism through the Creation of Colonial Cities ......................................................................... 106France’s Ambivalent Attitudes towards Mosques: To Fund or Not To Fund Them? .............................................. 114Three Colonial Mosques: Gorée, Saint-Louis Nord and rue Blanchot .............................................................. 122Veranda-style Mosques .............................................................. 147Concluding Remarks .................................................................. 156Chapter Three Regionalism, Revivals and Repercussions on Senegalese Mosques (ca. 1920–1950s) ............. 159Framing Attitudes towards Islam: The Policy of Association ............................................................................... 159Regionalism, Revivals and Colonial Expositions ................... 166Financing of Mosques, 1930–1940s ......................................... 180Jenne, neo-Sudanese Style and the Quest for an Appropriate Aesthetic .................................................. 184Genesis of the Murid Style ........................................................ 187The Great Mosque of Dakar and the Politics of Construction ............................................................................ 192Smaller Mosques in Dakar ......................................................... 198Afro-Brazilian Synthesis and its Appearance in Senegal ...... 209Shaping Muslim Identity ........................................................... 222PART THREEDISCOURSE, GENDER AND IDENTITYChapter Four The Contemporary Urban Mosque Phenomenon: Ibadou and Tariqa Identities (1960s–present). 229Urbanization and the Construction Boom ............................. 229The Rise of Religiosity: To each man his own mosque ........ 232Multiplication of Mosques as Material Manifestation of Spiritual Clout ................................................................ 234Stylistic Appropriation of Tariqa Mosques ............................ 240Intimating Independence: The Great Mosque of Dakar ...... 243The Great Mosque of Touba: Monumental Murid Eclecticism ................................................................................ 248The Revival of Islamic Identity ................................................. 254Ibadou mosques ........................................................................... 258The Contentious Issue of Funding Mosques .......................... 288The Mosque as Locus for Inclusiveness, Access and Community .............................................................................. 292Chapter Five Women, Space and West African Mosques ...... 297Women, Islam and the West African Context ...................... 297“These Mutes of Islam”: Colonial and Scholarly Views ....... 302Women, Education and Role Models ...................................... 308Spatial Segregation ...................................................................... 318Jakka Jigeen: A Women’s Mosque or a Mosque for Women? .................................................................................... 324The Place of Women in West African Mosques: Doctrinal Debates ....................................................................... 332Architecture, Space and the Regional Variety of Women’s Mosques .................................................................. 335A Question of Visibility: les filles voilées and ‘les Salaf ’ ....... 342Female Architects and the Appropriation of (Male) Sacred Space .................................................................... 354Concluding Remarks .................................................................. 357Epilogue: Is There Room for Sustainable Architecture? ............. 363Glossary ............................................................................................... 371Bibliography ........................................................................................ 375Index .................................................................................................... 391Colour Plates ...................................................................................... 408