Tierno Bokar

Tierno Bokar (Fula: Cerno Bokar), full name Tierno Bokar Saalif Tall (1875–1939), was a Malian mystic, Sufi sage, and a Muslim spiritual teacher of the early twentieth century famous for his message of religious tolerance and universal love.

Life

Tierno[note 1] Bokar was born in Segou, Mali, in 1875 and moved to the village of Bandiagara in 1893. There he opened a zaouia and became a follower of Cherif Hammallah in Nioro du Sahel.

A disagreement over the proper number of repetitions for a Sufi prayer (Hamallayya prescribed 11 times as opposed to 12) rose dramatically in scale. Intense infighting among rival clans and religious factions in French Sudan, as well as involvement of the French colonial authority eventually led to massacres and the exile of Hamallah. In Bandiagara, Bokar was ostracized by his clan and family and forbidden to teach or pray publicly. Tierno Bokar’s school was destroyed and he and his two wives and children were placed under house arrest.

Religious tolerance

Throughout the increasingly violent fighting, Bokar preached a message of religious tolerance and universal love.

Fame

  • A book written by a pupil of his, Amadou Hampâté Bâ, entitled Vie et enseignement de Tierno Bokar: Le sage de Bandiagara (translated into English as A Spirit of Tolerance: The Inspiring Life of Tierno Bokar) introduced him to the non-African world. The book was originally published in 1957, under the title Tierno Bokar: Le Sage de Bandiagara, with co-author Marcel Cardaire.
  • Bokar's life story was later made into a play directed by Peter Brook entitled Tierno Bokar.
  • Brook made the story of prayer repetitions into another play, entitled 11 & 12, which ran at the Barbican Centre (London) in early 2010.
  • The poet Maabal described Bokar with the following poem:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ An honorific title meaning "master" (Fula: cerno).

References

  1. 1 2 Peter Brook, "About Tierno Bokar"
  2. ↑ Marie-Hélène Estienne, “About Tierno Bokar”
  • Brenner, Louis (1984). West African Sufi: The Religious Heritage and Spiritual Search of Cerno Bokar Saalif Taal. Berkeley: University of California press. ISBN 978-0-520-05008-2.
  • "Tierno Bokar". Columbia University Arts Initiative. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  • "Cerno Bokar Salif Taal: Sûfi Tijaniyya, Muqaddam, Walî, Théologien, Philosophe, Educateur". webPulaaku. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  • "Amadou Hampâté Bâ: 1901–1991". webPulaaku. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
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