Editing Marabout (section)

====Pre-French colonization====
Marabouts have been prominent members of [[Wolof people|Wolof]] society since the arrival of Sufi brotherhoods from the Maghreb in the 15th century. Their advanced knowledge of the Quran and esteemed reputation have often allowed them to act as traders, priests, judges, or magicians in conjunction with their roles of community religious leaders.<ref name=Cruise>{{Cite book|last=Cruise O'Brien|first=D.B.|title=The Mourides of Senegal: The Political and Economic Organization of an Islamic Brotherhood|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1971|isbn=0198216629|location=London, U.K.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mouridesofsenega0000crui/page/263 263]|url=https://archive.org/details/mouridesofsenega0000crui/page/263}}</ref> Additionally, because of their ability to read and write, village chiefs would frequently appoint marabouts as secretaries or advisers as a means to communicate with neighboring rulers.<ref name=Cruise/>
[[File:Marabout in Djenné.jpg|thumb|210px|Marabout in [[Djenné]], Mali]]
The marabouts' expanding influence in politics paired with their unique allegiance of the Muslim community eventually posed a real threat to the chiefs who had appointed them. In 1683, rising tensions between chiefs and the Muslim population led to a Muslim revolt in the Wolof kingdom of ''[[Cayor]]'', which concluded with the installation of a marabout as ''[[Damel]]''.<ref name=Cruise/> In the years following the revolt, relations between marabouts and Wolof chiefs remained relatively calm until a period of militant Islam in the Wolof states in the middle of the 19th century. Militant marabouts primarily of [[Toucouleur people|Tukulor]](l origin, called "warrior marabouts," completely rejected the authority of local chiefs and sought to install a theocratic Muslim state. As the authority of chiefs and royal armies were undermined by propaganda and military force used by the warrior marabouts, Muslim resistors turned to local marabouts for guidance and protection from their oppressors. After three decades of war and conflict, the warrior marabouts were gradually ousted from the Wolof states as French colonists began to take a tighter hold on the region. As confidence in the leadership abilities of chiefs and rulers declined as a result of the conflict, marabouts emerged as the most trusted and revered source of leadership in Wolof communities.<ref name=Cruise/>