American Murids: A Lived Muslim Practice of Nonviolence (17)

This is an ethnography of the Muridiyya community in Harlem. These representatives of an old West African Muslim Pacifist tradition now live in a pluralistic society. Young Murids, negotiating intergenerational tensions are rewriting what it means to be faithful to their spiritual and ethical tradition and a new American Muridiyya is emerging. American Murids is a major new ethnography of an African Sufi Muslim immigrant community in the United States. It is particularly timely given the current contentious discourse concerning Muslims and immigration. By listening to what Murids say about themselves, author Jonathan Bornman gives us the first ever look at how the spiritual and ethical values of Murids in the diaspora influence the ways they interact with other communities in New York City. No other religious group in West Africa has generated more scholarship than the Muridiyya of Senegal. Much of this literature has focused on history, social and political science, economics, migration, and transnationality. This book offers a fresh look by using the lens of nonviolence, revealing the Murid commitment to shared peace. The discovery of a transnational Murid youth movement in New York City, balancing tradition and new expressions of faith, points towards the emergence of an American Muridiyya.