Dioula

The Dioula are a West African people who are most closely associated with Côte d'Ivoire but were also common to Mali, Togo, and other parts of West Africa. The word Dioula, elsewhere Dyula, Djula, and Juula, has several meanings in Mande language and dialects. The most common meaning for the word is “itinerant trader.” At the same time, the term Dioula signifies “Muslim,” and in some cases replaced the word Wangara, which also refers to Mande-speaking Muslims.

The Dioula converted to Islam to strengthen their relationship with Saharan merchants. As early as the 11th century, the Dioula were identified as traders of gold, cloth, and cola nuts in the western Sudan, but their economic enterprises extended to the far reaches of the Muslim world and connected them to the Middle East, Europe, and beyond because their primary customers for gold were Kafir, or those who were not Muslims.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Dioula, however, is their religion. Like many Muslims in West Africa, the Dioula practice Sufi forms of Islam (turuq). The many Sufi orders represent mystical, esoteric versions of Islam that are distinct from Sunni Islam or what some refer to as “orthodox” Islam. Briefly, West African Sufi Islam differs from Sunni Islam in that Sufism is based on a leader/disciple hierarchy. A second feature is the practice of remembrances (dbikr), collective ritual recitation of prayers, which foster group identity. Third, Sufi Islam is distinguished by excessive veneration of walis (awliya), that is, Sufis who are considered to have a special relationship to God. This veneration includes pilgrimages to their burial sites. A fourth feature is the most important in relation to the Dioula. That is to say, West African Sufism is characterized by extreme rivalry between religious groups, and the two dominant Sufi groups are the Qadiriyya and the Tijaniyya. Usually, these groups stand in opposition to one another, and that opposition is sometimes violent.

Among the Dioula, however, this rivalry is absent. To that end, the more conservative Qadiriyya is the oldest group, tracing its origins to Abd-al-Qadir al-Jilani, who lived in Bagdad in the 12th century, although it is most associated in West Africa with Shehu Usuman dan Fodio, the 19th-century founder of the Sokoto Khalifate. In contrast, the Tijaniyya trace their roots to Ahmad al-Tijani, who lived in the Maghreb in the 18th century, although it is also associated with al-Hajj Umar, who succeeded al-Tijani.

The Dioula minimize, even dissipate, the differences between the two historically contentious groups. One Dioula narrative of the founding of the two groups maintains that the Qadiriyya and the Tijaniyya were founded by Ahmad Tijani Qadiri, a name that is a conflation of the respective founders. The story suggests that one of his sons initiated the Qadiriyya, while the other started the Tijaniyya. Nevertheless, this is an intriguing but totally fictitious version of history.

The religion and culture of the Dioula is truly unique even among West African Muslims. Much potential remains to study even its most well-known members, such as al-Hajj Salim Suwari, the scholar who originated the most important pedagogical tradition among the Dioula and Samori Touré, the great jihadist and reformer (mujadid) of the late 19th century who fought French colonists. Notwithstanding, the Dioula are a fascinating people worthy of scholarly inquiry.

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