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THE MURID COMMUNITY AND POLITICS

The last months' political activities have put the Murid community on top of the news, in spite of itself. At a time when all passions seem to have appeased, and reason and work have come back to the forefront, I would like to bring not clarifications which voices with more authority than mine will not fail to make on due time but, my personal contribution, which doesn't commit anybody else but. And I take full responsibility for my words.

Considered a minority by official statistics, the Murid community does play a very important role in the nation which is united and undivided, of which it occupies an entire part.

Confined in rural areas in the beginning, it underwent a terrific development and spread all over the country and even in foreign territories.

The attachment to Islam, the power and the depth of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba's message, the charisma, the willpowerand his successor's spirit of sacrifice, the attachment to the Cheikh's teachings, the entrepreneurship and worship of the disciples are at the origin of this dynamism.

Therefore, Touba has always found itself without asking for it, at the center of political preoccupations and non-political ones (those of nobility, ethics, dignity, balance, control, spirit of sacrifice and a sense of the common good) from different parties that compete for the universal suffrage.

If some of them benefit from the Murid community's eminent member's support, none of them had ever had Touba's unanimous backing. Consequently, some politicians remarks (one of them compared Serigne Saliou Mbacke to Khomeiny and spoke about the "politicization of the Murid community which went from supporter to governant" Ahmed Khalifa Niass of "Le Matin"; Wednesday May 9, 2001) and some commentators trying to make people believe in the politicization of the Murid community is wrongly founded for many reasons:

- Murids (leaders and disciples) as citizens, are militants of different political parties; therefore nobody can consider the whole community's commitment to one party to the detriment of another
- Politics a dividing factor, when Islam recommends us unity. "All believers are brothers" the Quran teaches us. A credible religious islamic community with self-respect cannot risk to engage his people in a partisan fight with no possible unanimous agreement in the end.
- The Murid General Khalife "Serigne Saliou Mbacke's position is clear, unequivocal and constant since he took charge of the community's destiny, more than a decade ago: "Anything that does not concern Islam is not my concern".
- Cheikhoul Khadim, the Prophet's servant (PBUH) never cared about anything else than serving Islam. He has systematically refused all the honors of this worldly life to exclusively focus on the divine adoration. As a true Sufi, he considered this world as temporary and "the future life better and everlasting (the Quran). He never stopped reminding the disciples that: "This world is a foreign territory, our real home is the hereafter" and urging them to act accordingly. He used to say, talking about the Almighty, this earth and the tomb: If you be attached to Allah, He will judge you, if you don't stay attached to Allah, He will still judge you therefore are attached to Him before He judges you". "If you renounce this world, it will abandon you; if you don't renounce it, it will abandon you; therefore, renounce it before it abandons you". "If you forward something in a tomb, you will still end up in one, if you don't forward something in a tomb, you still end up in one so, forward something (good deeds and pious actions) in one before you end up in it".

These teachings tell you how much the Cheikh was indifferent to the world's activities and how focused he was on the reason why we were created: the divine adoration. "I have created men and jinns to only worship me" (The Quran)

From what is said above, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba and his work cannot warrant any political actions, partisan and imperfect by nature. His actions transcend divisions and are in an incomparable dimension. We think that Serigne Touba is a blessing for Senegal and is one of the nation's symbols. These symbols that cement our strong desireto live together. In this regard the values of faith, impartiality, heroism, self-denial, courage, hard work, patriotism, spirit of sacrifice... that he demonstrated at he highest point should be shown as an example to our youth looking for guidance. This shown that Serigne Touba should be for politicians more of a source of inspiration, to call to unity, and example of good governance (with a guide who makes sacrifices night and day for the wellbeing of his community, who spends out his wealth and properties for the city's development) than a fertile ground for votes.

Relationships between politicians and religious leaders should undergo a mutation. The religious leaders should be considered partners for the nation's development based on their mobilization abilities.
The examples of the construction of the Diourbel-Touba rail-road stretch in the early 30's by Cheikh Muhammad Mustapha, first General Khalife of the Murids; the one of Touba Bogo by Cheikh Mouhammad Fadal, second General Khalife of the Murids; of tip with Cheikh Mouhammad Bachir, of Touba Belel with Cheikh Abdoul Ahad Mbacke, third General Khalife of the Murids, and more recently of Khelcom, with the current Khalife Serigne Saliou; these are sustained integrated development successes people should meditate on, unlike the opposite example of the billions of CFA money spent on the Senegal river without any significant result.

In the education field, Cheikh Murtada's work with the Al Azhar institute and the achievements of the "Federation of religious associations of the disciples of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, founded by Serigne Cheikh Mbacke, allow tens of thousands of young senegaleses to fight ignorance, which is a source of obscurantism, and a major cause of underdevelopment.

In healthcare, the late Serigne Moustapha Falilou invested hundreds of millions in the construction of health centers in aid to the populations without any discrimination. It was that altruist man who told me, one afternoon on May 1999, in front of other members of the dahira of Cheikh Moustapha's grandsons "which I pass away, I would like people to say, this is what he bequeathed to the community, and not, this is how much inheritance he left for his children.

The disciples in their own right contribute in a large mesure to the economic development of Senegal. Business entrepreneurs control the commercial sector and are starting to invest in the industrial field. Emigrants have made a name for themselves in a very comparative market of advanced countries, they brilliantly invest in the money transfer sector, and prove their patriotism by sending hard currencies to their homeland, they create jobs with investments made in the country, and are the international prestige of Senegal through their exemplary behavior, the support given to the financially strained family members who stayed back home and numerous projects completed in the holly city of Touba of which one can name the construction of a seven billion franc hospital.

All these development actions among others, accentuate the other component of muridism: work and prove the Prophet's message; work as if you were going to liver forever, and pray as if you were going to die tomorrow.

Our religious leader involvement in the socio-economic development domain can be nothing else but beneficial and salutary for the country if it is exclusively geared toward the nation's best interest.

At a moment of newfound hope when the only topics of conversation are competence, work, and the changing of mentalities, political leaders should rise to the occasion to bring about these necessary changes, in order to enter in full speed the era of progress and development. Our country is most certainly a major democracy and a nation of law, which is the pride of its citizens. But the overwhelming majority of the political leaders who govern the nation seem to be disconnected from their reality. One should never forget the equilibrism, however, multisecular, but so fragile, on which our community stands we are appealing to a deeper sense of responsibility from everyone's concern, so that we can win the ruly fight work undertaking; to achieve our development with dignity, the respect of values and respective differences oh so enriching.

Cheikh Abdoul Ahad Mbacke Gainde Fatma