Malick Sy

Mural on a wall in Dakar, Senegal, showing Senegalese sufi leaders, including Amadou Bamba (right, in white) and Ibrahima Fall (right, blue), and El Hadj Malick Sy (left).

El-Hadji Malick Sy (Wolof: Allaaji Maalig Si, 1855-1922) was a Senegalese religious leader and teacher in the Tijaniyya Sufi brotherhood.

Life

Born in Gaya (in northern Senegal) to a Fulani family, El-Hadji Malick Sy traveled to Mauritania, then to Saint-Louis, Senegal in 1884 as a religious student. He traveled to Mecca, then returned to teach at Louga and Pire before etablishing a zāwiya (religious center) at Tivaouane in 1902 at the invitation of local leader Djibril Guèye, which became a center for Islamic education and culture under his leadership. In Senegal's Wolof country, especially the northern regions of Kajoor and Jolof, the Tijānī Order was spread primarily by El-Hajj Malick Sy.

Legacy

After his death on 27 June 1922, Malick Sy was succeeded by his son Seydi Ababacar Sy as the khalife général des Tidjanes from 1922 to 1957. The family line has continued to hold the title, with El-Hadji Abdou Aziz Sy from 1957 - 1997, to the current khalife, Serigne Mansour Sy "Borom daaraji". The Gàmmu (Mawlid in Arabic, the celebration of the birth of Muḥammad) of Tivaouane gathers many followers each year.

There is an Avenue Malik Sy in Dakar.

Bibliography

• From Tijaniyya, and translation from Malick Sy French Wikipedia.
• (fr) Cheikh Tidiane Fall, El Hadji Malick Sy à Tivaouane de 1902 à 1922, Dakar, Université de Dakar, 1986, 92 p. (Mémoire de Maîtrise)
• Short Biography
• the Mame Mawdo Malick Sy Foundation
• El Hadj Malick Sy : Soufi et Grand accoucheur du «musulman de midi» in le quotidien, 10 April 2006.

Persondata
Name	Sy, El-Hadji Malick
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1855
Place of birth
Date of death	1922
Place of death