More than fifty years ago, most African countries attained their independence. That period was filled with celebrations and Africans around the world had big dreams. Senegal was one of those newly independent countries. Looking back, a lot has gone by as Africans struggled during those fifty years to ground their feet on the solid grounds of political reality. Unfortunately, it had not been as rosy as we thought at the time of decolonization. Some African countries went through the agony of military coup detats and the violence and blood-letting that marked this period. Nigeria, 

The Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and many others collapsed at the heel of this political imbroglio and soon became notorious as dens of coup after coup. With the benefit of hindsight, some of the countries instituted the biblical Methuselah as leaders who changed their constitutions so as to hold unto power. They stood up as dictators as in the cases of Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Mobutu Seseseko of Zaire and countless others elsewhere on the African continent. Southern Africans some how learned from the mistakes of West African and other African countries in trying to build a political order in their societies.                              

In a critical assessment of African countries since independence, it is amazing to see the persistence of the colonial grip, not in the individuals who run the system,, but in the approach in which political and cultural imperialism is tele-guided from afar in the hands of the former colonial powers. Senegal during our recent visit brings back these fears and apprehensions. This article is written purposely to tell a story of pride and prejudice in an African country where the people have been clamoring for and struggling to bring about liberation without being trapped and captured by the sirens of Europe and the West. 

My recent trip to Senegal illustrated the collision between yesterday and tomorrow. Yesterday, the country changed from many ethnic kingdoms united under one imperial roof and the African tradition was forced to adjust to the political and cultural commands of France. At the time of decolonization President Leopold Sedar Senghor became the first elected president of Senegal and he ruled for twenty years. He would be followed by Abdou Diouf., who ruled for another twenty years. Today, the sitting President Abdoulaye Wade who defeated the former President at the polls in 2000 now governs the country. Under President Wade’s administration, things are changing in Senegal in all directions which in a way are defining the future for this nation of 7 million people. Among the legacies of the Wade era will be the successes and failures of Senegalese citizens in negotiating between modernity and traditionalism in this part of Africa.                              

Central to this journey, was to understand the influence of Sufism, mystical dimension of Islam, has on Senegalese society. Our interest was basically to understand the interaction between religion and social change. One of the most outstanding spiritual and philosophical articulations in Sufism is the illuminist creed which says that knowledge and awareness can only be attained through purifications of the soul and spiritual exercises. Sufism is a branch of Islam which came to some parts of Africa between four or five centuries ago. It is predominately practiced in Africa, some parts of Europe and North America, Asia and some parts in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Iraq.                           

During our stay, we visited the Al- Huda school, which is run by Saide Sall family and members of a Sufi group. In this school, the children are exposed to two different languages and cultural systems simultaneously. While the French language provides a link to the Western culture, Arabic offers an alternative access to the Arabic-Islamic heritage. What was amazing was the paradoxical situation of the Wolof which is spoken by the majority of the people but played a second fiddle to the imported languages and cultures. This is a classical clear case of cultural dependency, and the persistence of the colonial hangover and the Lilliputians weaknesses of Senegalese political actors to bring to an end this cultural imperialism. It was evident the deliberate efforts of Shaykh Saide Sall and his group to reconcile their religious interest and the challenges of social change. 

 What we witnessed as the institution-building of one religious community within Senegal, tells the contraction and conflict of social change in the country as well as in other African countries.  Although Dakar in all definition represents a modern city with all kinds groups representing the larger society,  just like one would find different social situations in different cities all over the world, but what is different in Dakar is the role of religion and its approach in making sense of changing times in Senegal. 

We encountered two episodes which show how ignorance, poverty and social change affect a deep rooted belief and customs of practicing Islam in Senegal. The first event was the encounter with the talibs or murists who solicit money as a means of livelihood. These are young men between the ages of 20-37, years. Dressed in their masquerades as mendicants begging for alms, these men can be identified with pictures of the Shaykh which they wear as badges. The second encounter was with some children, ages between 6-13 years asking for money to buy Quran, although these children have no means of coping from day to day unless through the goodwill of strangers and have no formal education. Unlike the self-identified children of the Sufi orders, these children betrayed their connections to the Quranic school tradition where poor children live together mostly in an Imam’s household.  Most of these children came from rural areas in Senegal, driven away by poverty and hunger.

They are sent out every day to beg for food. At night when they come back from begging, they would be taught the memorization of the Holy Quran.  This is a routine they follow until they turn fifteen or sixteen, then they will be sent out on their own without any skills to survive on. The only skill they might have gained is only the act of surviving on the streets through begging for alms. Because of the importance attached to the memorization of the Quran, children can forego eating to make sure the have the Holy Book. . No wonder then these underprivileged children instead of asking for money to eat, were more interested in procuring the Quran. I have no problem that children are taught moral and cultural values and the importance of God in their daily lives, however, there must be a balance between reciting the Holy Quran and growing up as matured, responsible and independent minded citizens who can contribute to the development of their society and that of the larger world especially as the world is turning into more and more global village and a digitized society.

 It is the duty of the government to see to it that children are not deprived of a future because of an obsolete religious belief that has no advantage without modern knowledge. It does not make sense any to be loaded with cultural and moral values without material support and means of improving lives in a modern culture, that kind of knowledge is useless.  
The question then becomes how the government of Wade can negotiate a position that can get the children out of this situation without antognizing the religious leaders who in some way benefit from this.  One way to do this is through education and change in attitudes towards charity and sustainability so that the religious dependence as a means of survival can be lessened. And also help and prepare the children to be free from those who control them from religious reliance into self-sufficiency. . 

In this particular case, poverty, the desire to arm oneself with some kind of social knowledge and the determinants of social forces separates the children of Al-Huda School and the experiences of these children on the street. This is a clear demonstration of how the society is trying to model itself with Islamic education in a modern context. But the conflict they face is how they can protect themselves from the cultural domination from foreign culture such as Arabic and French and at the same time be able to integrate methods of empowering and encouraging ensuring equal access to services available in the society including education, social services, and enforced policies that protect children from exploitation and abuse.

This encounter simply exemplifies how poverty when mixed with religion can be deadly. Because of this, these children were driven to the public square with the minimal hope of feeding on the moral economy of the ‘(pious) Senegalese whose tradition of alms-giving has received much coverage in Senegalese literature. But if this narrative is complicated by the differing perspectives about the role and place of the young murid in Senegalese society, then our visit to Goree, which is a small island where culture, religion and economic development converge, gave us another story.                

Malik, a thirty-seven year old Senegalese who self-appointed himself as a guide on our tour of the island of Goree is an embodiment of the strain between traditional beliefs and modernity. Armed with his Sufi philosophy on the one hand and the pressure of modernity on the other, Malik revealed his guiding thought saying that” the only truth is that truth which comes from the illumination of the inner soul” Malik’s thoughts confirms one of the main ideologies of Sufism which says that, “the soul is illuminated by light which diffuses in the heart as a result of spiritual exercise, training the soul and the mortification of the body. 

Tied to this Malikian story from Goree was the episode with the children from Futa Jallon or Futa Toro who demonstrated the power of rural exodus on the one hand and the problems and prospects of modernity in Senegal on the other. The differences between Malik and his camp of two hundred residents of the underground settlements and the children from the city of Dakar and the other children (who shine shoes) on the island of Goree, offer us a glimpse in religion and social change. Whereas the children on the street corners of Dakar bank heavily on the emotional energies of the Senegalese yielding to religious commands on charity and zakat, the shoe-shiners worked on the assumptions of capitalism which rewards labor and the principles of supply and demand. In a palace where tourists rule and charity is uncommon, it is prudential to serve one’s spiritual needs through labor and struggles. 
In my perspective and understanding of modernity and social change in an African society which is deeply affected by religion, I should say that for Malik and his camp, life can only be meaningful if there is a change of attitude, actions, policies and establishments that better echoes the values of inclusion, fairness, diversity and opportunity for all. For Malik, meaning in life becomes the fulfillment of higher spiritual attainment without being concerned about material wealth.

My sister, what the world calls poverty, is not poverty at all, because in Gore Island everyone can fish and hunt for meat. So if I am hungry, I can also go fishing for me and my family. It is not food that the world lacks, but a spiritual hunger “says Malik who never got any form of formal education, but is well versed in Quran, “It is all about the inner illumination of the soul” he added.                              
 Although Dakar city is a hub of modernization and a model for imitation by other Africans, it still has a long way to go as the capital of Senegal’s seven million inhabitants.. As I said earlier, Dakar is one of the most expensive cities on the African continent. I don’t think the cost of living in Dakar is attractive to any tourist who pays a higher price for coffee there than at another place I know.                            
I think the reason why things are expensive there is due to the presence of foreigners, mainly French and Lebanese. Their presence creates jobs and employment opportunities to the locals. On the other hand, this state of affairs is bad because the wealth in Senegal is in the hands of foreigners. Although there are well-do Senegalese in the transportation business, the level and scale of industrial development rests in the hands of foreign entrepreneurs Regardless of this observation, Senegal still presents a challenge to the rest of Africa. This challenge is of two folds. One is the simple fact that there is political stability that deserves commendation and emulation through its inspiration. The other one is that Senegal has been able to demonstrate how politics can affect the way people live in their respective localities. Compared to Nigeria, this sense of security and safety diverge from what I know in Nigeria where the pervasiveness of the military and police may life strikingly different.  

However, these qualities are not necessarily home-grown; rather, they came out of the negotiation between themselves and their foreign investors. Such negotiations have resulted in lower numbers of Senegalese businessmen, a state of affairs that could have changed for the better if the Senegalese government has put in place a better strategy of fostering local business. The central point here is that, although these foreign businesses are booming, (which is good for Senegal), the focal point on how an average Senegal can beat the odds under these circumstances by and becoming part of this business boom.
The realities of the life and times of contemporary Senegalese to me come to mind the challenges of traditionalism and modernity face in Senegal. The impact of the West, particularly France, is evident in the inherited colonial language, culture and the creature comforts of material accouterments that demarcate what is French and what is Senegalese.

The second challenge lies in the negotiations Senegalese are involved in their struggles against poverty, ignorance and low level of technical-scientific capacities. The third set of challenges focuses on Senegalese appropriation of science and technology and in their relations to the rest of Africa and the world. Dakar is certainly a place where Senegalese brainpower and imported foreign know-how co inhabit freely; what is still unresolved is geared toward how poverty, ignorance and disease are going to be handled effectively through a through re-examination of the nation’s history, traditional cultures and self-definition in light of the colonial experiences and the collective narratives that the leaders and the led conjoint in their creative endeavors The last and final set of challenges drawn from this brief journey lies in the religious factor in Senegal. During our encounter with Malik, the self- appointed tour guide in Goree Island, and a struggling student Ahmed helped a great deal in our exploration of Dakar and its environment. Through their singular and collaborative efforts and encouragement we have in a limited way fathomed the depths and explore aspects of what life means to many Senegalese.

In final conclusion, what needs to be done in Senegal is for the government to put in place polices and laws that discourages merchants while at the same time improving in grass root education so as to educate families about the dangers involved in allowing their children fall into the hands of strangers. Because, at the end of the day, it is the family, the nation and the future generations of Senegal that will pay the price..