Digitising Pulaar Islamic Texts: Six Archives of the Taal Families in Senegal and Mali - Mountaga Ba

Digitising Pulaar Islamic Texts: Six Archives of the Taal Families in Senegal and Mali - Mountaga Ba

Endangered Archives Programme

Mountaga Ba is the current custodian of the manuscripts recorded in his name and collected from the town of Pate Galo (northern Senegal). Ba’s family holding includes 56 small unbound book manuscripts and paper stacks. The material was mainly authored by the custodian’s father, Muhammad al-Ghāli Ba. During his lifetime, al-Ghāli Ba had occupied important political and religious roles in both Senegal and Mauritania. In Senegal, he was the biographer and an entourage member of the supreme leader (Khalif-General) of the Tāl branch of Tijaniyya and he worked with both Ceerno Saydu Nuru Tāl and Mountaga Tāl. In Mauritania, he was an adviser to Moktar Ould Daddah and worked in the country’s national radio under Daddah's request. The manuscripts document al-Ghāli Ba’s lifework. The files are of varying sizes, ranging from book manuscripts as big as 150 pages to paper stacks as small as 3 pages. The book manuscripts cover Islamic knowledge, Islamic history, Islamic education in Pulaar speaking society, praise poetry, Islamic mysticism, and several biographies of Sufis of the Tijaniyya brotherhood. The paper stacks contain Islamic praise poems, correspondences and, sometimes, a mixture of both. The correspondences were written and/or received during various religious and secular occasions. Majority of the manuscripts were composed by Muhammad al-Ghāli Ba (d.1991) of Pate Galo. Some other paper stacks were authored by Mamadu Lamin Acc, Sall Ahmadu Alhajj, Abubakri Si, Mountaga Ba, and a few unknown scribes. Except a few of correspondences dealing with secular questions, the material is about Islam and Sufism in West Africa. Mountaga Ba est le dépositaire actuel des manuscrits enregistrés à son nom et collectés dans la ville de Pate Galo (nord du Sénégal). Le fonds familial de Ba comprend une collection de 55 petits manuscrits de livres non reliés et des piles de papier. Le matériel a été principalement rédigé par Muhammad al-Ghāli Ba (d.1991). Au cours de sa vie, al-Ghāli Ba avait occupé des rôles politiques et religieux importants aussi bien au Sénégal qu’en Mauritanie. Au Sénégal, al-Ghāli Ba était le biographe et un membre de l'entourage du chef suprême (Khalif-Général) de la branche Tāl de Tijaniyya et il a travaillé à la fois avec Ceerno Saydu Nuru Tāl et Mountaga Tāl. En Mauritanie, il fut conseiller de l’ancien president Moktar Ould Daddah et a travaillé à la radio nationale du pays à la demande de ce dernier. Les manuscrits documentent l'œuvre de toute une vie d'al-Ghāli Ba. Les fichiers sont de différentes tailles, allant de manuscrits de livres jusqu'à 150 pages à des piles de papier aussi petites que 3 pages. Les livres abordent la connaissance islamique, l'histoire islamique, l'éducation islamique dans la société de langue pulaar, la poésie de louange, le mysticisme islamique et plusieurs biographies de soufis de la confrérie Tijaniyya. Les piles de papiers contiennent des poèmes de louanges islamiques, des correspondances et, parfois, un mélange des deux. Les correspondances ont été écrites et/ou reçues lors de diverses occasions religieuses et laïques. Une partie des papiers ont été rédigées par Mamadu...


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Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Arabic

This manuscript contains a study of shar'ia or Islamic law. It was a student notebook used for studying Islamic law. Ce manuscrit contient une étude de la charia ou loi …


Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Arabic

This manuscript is a mixed collection of biographical and mystical notes authored by Muhammad al-Ghāli Bah. The biography details the life of the author's father named Mamadu Al-Amin Bah. Ce …


Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Fulah

This manuscript is composed by Mountaga Muhammad al-Ghālī Bā. It is composed of five qasīda poems. The first poem praises the Prophet Muhammad. The second poem is also composed in …


Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Arabic

This manuscript is a biography of Islamic scholar Ahmadu Ibrahima Dat of the village of Ndioum, Senegal. It is one of a series of biographies that the author has written …


Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Arabic

This manuscript is a biography of Islamic scholarMuhammad Baba of the village of Doumga, in Senegal. It is one of a series of biographies that the author has written about …


Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Arabic

This manuscript is a copy. It is the biography of Morroccan Sufi guide Muhammad al Habib. It also describes the esteem that Senegalese Tijani authorities have for the descent of …


Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Arabic

This manuscript contains several dcuments composed by Muhammad al-Ghāli Ba. Its first portion details the biography of Islamic teacher Muhammad Bokar Kan. The second section is a poem about Alfa …


Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Arabic

This manuscripts is a collection of poems composed by Muhammad al-Ghāli Bah. Some of the poems praise shaykhs, other praise Prophet Muhammad, while others are welcome poems composed for special …


Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Arabic

This manuscript is a heterogenous collection of mystical work and an essay copied from an original. It is incomplete and was composed by Ahmad bun Shaykh Muhammad , Muhammad al-Ghāli …


Endangered Archives Programme · 2021 Arabic

This manuscript is a collection of poetry composed by Muhammad Baba al-Alawi. The present text was commissioned by al-Ghāli Bah and was handcopied from an original by an unknown author. …