Editing Marabout (section)

===Muslim religious teachers===
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van een marabout TMnr 20031376.jpg|thumb|Picture of a marabout in the [[Republic of Upper Volta]] (now [[Burkina Faso]]) {{Circa|1970}}]]

Muslim [[Tariqa|Sufi brotherhoods]] were one of the main organizing forms of [[Islam]] in [[Scramble for Africa|precolonial]] [[West Africa]], and with the spread of [[Sufism]] into the area, the marabout's role combined with local practices throughout [[Senegambia]], the [[Niger River|Niger River Valley]], and the [[Futa Jallon]]. Here, Sufi Muslim believers follow a marabout, elsewhere known as a ''[[Murshid|muršid]]'' ("guide"). The term ''marabout'' was also adopted by [[French colonial empire|French colonial officials]], and applied to most any [[imam]], Muslim teacher, or secular leader who appealed to the Islamic tradition.

Today marabouts can be traveling [[Asceticism#Islam|holy men]] men who survive on [[Zakat|alms]], religious teachers who take in young [[talibes]] at [[Madrasa|Quranic schools]], or distinguished Muslim religious leaders and scholars, both in and out of the Sufi brotherhoods which dominate the Islamic spiritual life in [[Senegambia]].<ref>Lamin O. Sanneh, ''The Crown and the Turban: Muslims and West African''. [[Westview Press]] (1997) {{ISBN|0-8133-3059-9}}</ref>

In the [[Muslim brotherhoods of Senegal]], marabouts are organized in elaborate hierarchies; the highest marabout of the [[Mouride]]s, for example, has been elevated to the status of a "[[caliph]]" or "[[Amir al-Mu'minin|ruler of the faithful]]" (''Amir al-Mu'minin''). Older, [[North Africa]]n-based Sufi brotherhoods such as the [[Tijaniyyah]] and the [[Qadiriyyah]] base their structures on respect for teachers and religious leaders who, south of the Sahara, often are called ''marabouts''. Those who devote themselves to [[Salah|prayer]] or study, either based in communities, religious centers, or wandering in the larger society, are named ''marabouts''. In [[Senegal]] and [[Mali]], these marabouts rely on donations to live. Often there is a traditional bond to support a specific marabout that has accumulated over generations within a family. Marabouts normally dress in traditional West African robes and live a simple, ascetic life.