20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

The Sufi rituals and traditions in the work by theSudanese author Ibn Daifallah“The book of ranks of Islamic zealots, saints,scholars and poets in Sudan” (18 th c.)Igor GerasimovSankt Petersburg State University – Sankt PetersburgThe text under discussion, was written at the turn of the 18-19 th cc. andcontains hagiographic descriptions of outstanding persons who devotedtheir lives to Islam during the previous three centuries. Among those peopleare the leaders of the Sufi orders, prophets, poets and scholars. The bookreflects various rituals and traditions, which were formed outside Sudanand in the state of Fongs was founded in Sudan in the beginning of the16 th c. Those rituals became widely spread in Sudan due to the efforts ofspiritual leaders from the other Arab countries.From the biography of Ibrahim al-Bulad ibn Jabir we know that he wasthe first to teach the principles of the Malikit mazhab in Sudan. For thispurpose, he used “Muhtasar” written by Halil ibn Ishak. The special featureof Malikit’s training which differed them from the other religious andjuridical schools was reading Koran seven times for it complete mastering. 1This was a tradition and turned into integral part of ritual, education andupbringing at the same time.One of the vital elements of relations inside the Sufi community waspaying visits to the tutors by the pupils who could have even reached highsocial position. Such “ziyarat” had ritual and political meaning. Interruptionof those relations might create tense among the followers of the commontutor. In the biography of the sheikh Iakub Ibn sheih Ban an-Naka we findthe following information: “When Iakub Ibn sheih Ban an Naka left his1Ibn Daifallah, Muhammad al-Nūr 1974: 46.