Ibra Faal

"Ibra Faal inaugurated a new ethic of behavior between master and disciple in the school of Mbakke Kajoor [Senegal]. This ethic required excessive veneration of the persona of Amadu Bamba. Faal knelt and removed his headwear when talking to [the Sheikh], bowed his head when greeting him, abstained from eating out of the same bowl as Bamba, and refused to allow anybody to lead his sheikh in prayer. He devoted his life at [Bamba's] school to work instead of instruction and worship. He collected firewood and timber for construction during the day and fetched water for Amadu Bamba's wives during the night. He neglected praying and fasting and gradually abandoned these canonical acts of worship. Faal's behavior toward his sheikh was not uncommon among Sufi[s], especially at what Trimingham terms the taifa stage. His demeanor was consistent with that of a mazjub--an ascetic who is so consumed by his love of God that he has lost all sense of reality, blurring the boundaries between the lawful and unlawful and putting spiritual exercises and disciplining the body over formal worship. Majzub behavior was seemingly unknown in Wolof country. Amadu Bamba, who was well versed in Muslim mysticism, was in a position to understand and tolerate his disciple's odd outlook, but this was not true for his entourage. Ibra Faal's attitude shocked the students in the school but impressed Amadu Bamba, who refused to get rid of him despite growing protestations from his followers. Faal's neglect of the fundamental Islamic rituals outraged many who considered him to be a madman. Amadu Bamba's refusal to dismiss his atypical disciple prompted many families of doomi sokhna to withdraw or put pressure on their sons to abandon the school of Mbakke Kajoor." --Cheikh Anta Babou, Fighting the Greater Jihad: Amadu Bamba and the Founding of the Muridiyya of Senegal, 1853-1913, Athens, OH: Ohio University Press (2007), 65.