From Messianic Shiism to a World Religion (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1987).
Bahrain See gulf states.
Bamba, Ahmadu (Ahmad Bamba) (1850–
1927) Senegalese mystic and founder of the
Muridiyya Sufi order
Ahmadu Bamba (also known as Ahmad Bamba)
was born to a family of scholars in Kayor, Sen-
egal, in West aFrica. He became a devotee of
the qadiri sUFi order, which he taught among
his native Wolof people. French colonial officials
grew alarmed over increasing support for Bamba’s
teaching and sent him into exile in Gabon in 1895.
Although they allowed him to return to Senegal in
1902, Bamba was exiled again later that year, this
time to Mauritania. French authorities hoped that
removing Bamba would limit his popularity, which
they perceived as a threat to their colonial interests
despite the nonpolitical nature of his teaching.
Instead, Bamba’s support only continued to grow,
and he was able to establish his own distinctive
prayer ritual (wird) and Sufi order while in Mauri-
tania. Upon returning to Senegal in 1912, Bamba
made his home in Diourbel. During World War I,
he reluctantly supported the French with troops
and money. However, after his death in 1927, his
tomb was moved to Touba, a city he founded in
1887 and that remains the main pilgrimage site
and hub of the Muridiyya Sufi Order.
Bamba established the Muridiyya as an eco-
nomic and religious community during the 1880s,
developed a new Islamic pedagogy that empha-
sized action, work, and loyalty, and attracted
followers from many different backgrounds. The
Muridiyya work ethic has made the order an
important contributor to the Senegalese economy
during the past century.
See also colonialism.
Stephen Cory
Further reading: Lucy C. Creevey, “Ahmad Bamba
1850–1927.” In Studies in West African Islamic History.
Vol. 1, The Cultivators of Islam, edited by John Ralph
Willis (London: Frank Cass, 1979); Donald B. Cruise
O’Brien, The Mourides of Senegal: The Political and Eco-
nomic Organization of an Islamic Brotherhood (Oxford,
U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1971).Bangladesh (Official name: People’s
Republic of Bangladesh)
Bangladesh (Hindi: land of the Bengalis) is a
country in South Asia bordered by india on all
sides but the extreme southeast, where it shares
a border with Myanmar (Burma). Situated at the
northern end of the Bay of Bengal, it straddles the
delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna
Rivers, which leaves much of the country subject
to destructive annual floods. The population is
estimated to be 154 million, of whom about 83
percent are Muslim and 16 percent are Hindu.
This makes it the fourth largest Muslim country
in the world, after Indonesia, pakistan, and India.
Even though Bangladesh’s official state religion is
Islam, it is also the Muslim country with the largest
Hindu minority population. Most of the Muslims
are Sunnis who follow the hanaFi legal school.
Two major Muslim social classes can be differ-
entiated: the nobles (ashraf) who migrated from
northern India (especially from nearby Bihar) and
use the Urdu language to set themselves apart,
and the commoners (ajlaf) who belong to the
indigenous Bengali population. Most of the Hin-
dus are affiliated with the Scheduled Castes, for-
merly called Untouchables or Harijans (children
of God). Many Bengali Hindus, especially those
belonging to the upper castes, migrated to India
after the 1947 partition, and they now reside in
the Indian state of West Bengal.
Bangladesh is part of what had formerly been
the northeast Indian province of Bengal. For
much of its history, this had been a densely for-
ested frontier region that fell beyond the reach
of direct Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim rule. InK 86 Bahrain