Blacks of Tunis in al-Timbuktāwī’s Hatk al-Sitr Modern Intellectual Trends the middle east, africa and asia Editorial Board Elizabeth Kassab Majid Daneshgar Zeynep Direk SherAli Tareen volume 2 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/mit Blacks of Tunis in al-Timbuktāwī’s Hatk al-Sitr A West African Jihadist’s Perspectives on Bori, Religious Deviance, and Race and Enslavement in Ottoman Tunisia With Translation and Critical Edition By Ismael M. Montana leiden | boston Cover illustration: Bash Aga, also known as al-Ḥākim fī al-Qishra al-Sawdāʾ (the Governor over the Black-Skinned). Postcard in possession of the author. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at https://catalog.loc.gov lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023054020 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. issn 2773-1022 isbn 978-90-04-51616-8 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-51617-5 (e-book) doi 10.1163/9789004516175 Copyright 2024 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Brill Wageningen Academic, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau and V&R unipress. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests for re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill nv via brill.com or copyright.com. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. To the memory of my brother, Olu (a.k.a. Haj Omar Sharif ). June 1969–August 17, 2021 ∵ ي ا ٔا ّي ه ا ا ل ع ب ي د ع ل ا م ت ش ر ك و ن ب ا ل ل ّ ه O you slaves, how on earth can you ascribe partners to Allah ∵ Contents Foreword ix Acknowledgements xi List of Maps and Figures xiv Note on Transliteration xv part 1 Introduction and Historical Setting Introduction 3 1 Religious and Intellectual Milieu 28 2 Defining al-Timbuktāwī’s Infidel Blacks of Tunis ( Sūdān Tūnis ) 50 3 Sūdān Tūnis and Their Imprint on Urban Space 80 Epilogue 95 part 2 Hatk al-Sitr : Text and Translation Prologue 105 Introduction 109 1 An Account Establishing the Polytheism ( Shirk ) of the Slaves 111 2 The Names of Some of Their Deities 113 3 Describing Their Worship 129 Conclusion 139 Glossary 151 Bibliography 155 Index 167 Foreword This astonishing document exposes the extremism of political thought in West Africa in the early nineteenth century, when jihād was transforming the polit- ical geography from Senegambia to Lake Chad from 1807–1808. In Hatk al-Sitr ʿammā ʿalayhi sūdān Tūnis min al-kufr (“Piercing the Veil: Being an Account of the Infidel Religion of the Blacks of Tunis”), Aḥmad b. al-Qāḍī b. Yūsuf b. Ibrāhīm al-Fulānī al-Timbuktāwī wrote a treatise for the pasha of Tunis which condemned what he considered to be deviant religious practice among the Black population, most of which was enslaved or had been enslaved and had been brought across the desert. According to al-Timbuktāwī, the idolatrous reli- gious practices had been brought from south of the Sahara, which is a clear reference to bori spirit possession and similar practices found not only in Hausa society but throughout a broad belt across the savannah and sahel where Islam was well established. The condemnation that al-Timbuktāwī heaped upon the practice was consistent with the complaints of those who were promoting jihād in West Africa. Although Hatk al-Sitr has been known to specialists for some time, Pro- fessor Montana provides the first detailed, annotated translation of the text, along with the original Arabic manuscript. It is often thought that sources for African history rely exclusively on European documentation, but al-Timbuktā- wī demonstrates the inaccuracy of a focus solely on European observations. Indeed, the text more accurately represents a great flourishing in Arabic writing in the late eighteenth century and continuing through the nineteenth century, at least in Muslim regions of Africa. Indeed, Timbuktu, where he was from, was a center of Islamic scholarship for centuries. The text demonstrates the extent of literacy among the Muslim elite south of the Sahara. Moreover, he identi- fied as Fulbe, based on the reference in his name to Fulani, which was the term Fulbe were known in the Hausa speaking regions south of the Sahara. He was also the son of an al-Qāḍī, that is, a judge, almost certainly at Timbuktu. It is interesting that al-Timbuktāwī wrote his appeal to the pasha of Tunis on his return from pilgrimage to Mecca. His journey took him back across the Maghreb first to Tunis and then to Morocco, before returning to Timbuktu. His background is unclear other than his genealogical assertions. His time on the hajj brought him into contact with Muslims from various parts of the world. It is clear from his text that unbelief was a preoccupation of those with whom he came in contact. After leaving Tunis, he continued to Morocco, not exactly the shortest distance back to Timbuktu. He remained in Morocco for some time and where he interacted with its religious scholars ( ulamā ) before returning to x foreword his homeland in the western Sūdān. In Morocco, he composed a second treat- ise titled Shikāyat al-Dīn al-Muḥammadī ʾ ilā Riʾayat al-muwakkalīn bihī , which had as its primary concern the same problem that he had perceived in Tunisia, although in Morocco the possession cult was known as gnaoua ( gnawa ). The text of al-Timbuktāwī expressed intolerance to religious innovation ( bidʿa ), a fundamental justification for jihād. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was a period of turmoil and transformation within the Islamic world of the Ottoman Empire, Morocco, and sub-Saharan Africa. The Mediterranean lands of Islam and the Sahara to the south faced mounting pressure from a European world beset with revolu- tion and rapid economic expansion, often referred to as the Age of Revolutions. As is clear from Montana’s analysis of al-Timbuktawi’s Hatk al-Sitr , any analysis of the period that does not take into account the radical jihad movement and the subsequent efforts at reform in the Ottoman Empire and its domains seri- ously underestimates the vibrancy of the Islamic world and the efforts among Muslims, as centered on the pilgrimage, to exchange ideas, promote Islamic ideals, and study. The texts of al-Timbuktāwī, both the one analyzed here by Montana and the related treatise composed in Morocco demonstrate that Muslim scholars were concerned with internal dissension within the Muslim community as reflected in the perceived deviance of bori and similar practices in 1807–1808. Confrontation with non-Muslim Europe was thought to depend upon internal harmony among Muslims and the responsibility of governments to enforce the strictures of Islam. Montana’s rendition of al-Timbuktāwī should be placed in context. The out- pouring of written texts at the time was phenomenal. The documentation is housed in numerous archives, not only the enormous collections in Timbuktu, but also in Sokoto, Morocco, and elsewhere. Undoubtedly, additional texts will come to light in French, Italian, Turkish, and other archives. Increasingly, texts written in Arabic or ajami are being examined critically and will require scru- tiny to flesh out their significance. This volume can serve as a model for the presentation and discussion of such materials. Paul E. Lovejoy Acknowledgements Every scholarly endeavor that culminates in a book accrues debts of gratitude. Such is the case with this book. I want to begin by thanking Abdurraouf Oues- lati, Acquisitions Editor, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, under whose edit- orship this project came to fruition. In the Fall of 2018, when Abdurraouf con- tacted me and asked if I would be interested in contributing an entry on Ahmad b. al-Qādī b. Yusūf al-Timbuktāwī to the Encyclopedia of Islam Three , having written and published widely on al-Timbuktāwī, I immediately welcomed the opportunity. Thereafter, I proposed, and Abdurraouf saw the potential of a first complete English translation and a critical edition of the text of al-Hatk al- Sitr suitable for publication in the Brill series on Modern Intellectual Trends. While that exchange resulted in the publication of this book, my interest in this project goes back to my earlier years in graduate school at York University. I am deeply indebted to Paul Lovejoy and the late John Hunwick for introdu- cing me to Hatk al-Sitr and encouraging me to look beyond al-Timbuktāwī’s approach exemplified in this treatise. Studying this text as an intellectual pur- suit brought nothing but joy and immeasurable fulfillment over the years. It is my hope that this complete English translation of the text will help broaden our understanding of the depth and implications of the displacement of Sūdānic West Africans outside their homelands and hence the birth of their diasporic experiences during the era of the slave trade. Ultimately, the publication of this book would not have been possible without the support of many individuals and institutions who have given their time and support throughout the various stages of this project. I am grateful to the History Department, the College of Arts and Liberal Arts of Science and the United Faculty Alliance (ufa) at Northern Illinois University for the travel grants and financial support for the numerous research trips and conference travels associated with this project. I thank the staff of the Archives du Gov- ernment Tunisienne and Bibliotheque Nationale de Tunisie. Special thanks are due to Rachida Smine, Head of the Manuscripts Department at the Bib- liothéque Nationale de Tunis. I am admirably thankful to Chouki El Hamel for providing me with a copy of the treatise found in the King’s Library in Rabat, Morocco. Alex Khaleeli offered helpful feedback in matters of style and transliteration of Arabic textual studies, and while Aisha Mousa did a fantastic job in reviewing the Arabic Text and polishing my translation, Kate Kingsford provided meticulously copyediting and editorial support. I wish to thank Glen Pawelski for producing some of the maps in this book. I am indebted to the two anonymous readers of the book manuscript for their constructive comments and feedback. xii acknowledgements Portions of this book previously appeared in my previous works. Chapter 2 draws and expands on earlier argument expressed in “Enslavable Infidels: Sudan-Tunis as a classificatory categorization for a new wave of Enslaved Afric- ans in the Regency of Tunis,” in The Maghreb Review , 29, no. 1–4 (2004), while some of the ideas in chapter 4 can be found in “The Developments of Bori Diyar (Compounds) in the City of Tunis, 1738–1880s” in Saharan Crossroads: Explor- ing Historical, Cultural, and Artistic Linkages between North and West Africa , edited by Tara F. Deubel et al., (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014). I am grateful to the publishers for the permission to reproduce some of this material here. I have benefitted from several opportunities to present portions of this book in numerous conferences and colloquia. I am very grateful to the Cen- ter for Maghrib Studies (University of Arizona), Centre d’Etudes Maghrébines à Tunis (cemat), The Ifriqiyya Colloquium (Columbia University), The Har- riet Tubman Institute (York University), the Trans-African Slaveries Network (Columbia University), African Abolitionism: The Rise and Transformations of Anti-Slavery in Africa ( afrab ), erc Advanced Grant, Horizon 2020, (University College London) and Trajectories of Slavery in Islamicate Societies, (TrasSIS), University of Bern. The feedback I received at these venues has shaped and continued to inform the ideas articulated in this project. Over the years, conversations with colleagues, friends, graduate students, and the descendants of Sūdān Tūnis have also deepened my interest in this project. To this end, I wish to thank the following individuals: Paul Love- joy, the late Sydney Kanya-Forstner, Martin Klein, Mohammed Bashir Salau, Ehud Toledano, Ghislaine Lydon, Bruce Hall, Manuel Barcia, Damian Pargas, Mohamed Diaketé, Paul Naylor, Sahbi Kaddachi, Houda Mzioudet, Yacine Daddi-Addoun, Mariana Candido, Ibrahim Hamza, Sophie Ferchiou, Richard Jankowsky, Kalifa Chater, Chouki El Hamel, Nora Lafi, Marta Scaglioni, Abdelh- amid Larguèche, Murray Last, Abdeljelil Temimi, Sean Farrell, Aaron Fogleman, Brian Sandberg, Valerie Garver, Beatrix Hoffman, Henry Lovejoy, Boubacar Mahamane, Ali Diaketé, Mamadou Diallo, M’hamed Oualdi, Chouki El Hamel, Catey Boyles, Vaffi F. Sharif, Mauro Nobili, Wendy Wilson Fall, Abu Bah, Bene- detta Rossi, Bruno Veras, Abiodun Ademidun Ademiluwa, Justin Riner, Anna Henderson, Justin Iverson, Sheila Bombaare, Adiza Mohammed, Matilda Ansah, El-Cheikh Hammadi el-Bidalī, Abdelmejid Bournaouis, and Zohra Tra- belsī. My deepest and greatest debt are, of course, personal and are reserved for my loving and beautiful family. First and foremost, I am eternally grateful to Dzifa A. Hosi-Montana, my wife and partner, for much more than I could ever express in writing. Jilma (my daughter) and Bilsi (my son) have endured my fre- acknowledgements xiii quent research and conference travels yet always comfort me with the warmest giggles and hugs when I need them the most. Dzifa, Jilma, and Bilsi, I am forever grateful for your unwavering support and unconditional love. You are my source of inspiration. Finally, my brother, Olu, to whom this book is dedicated, did not live to see it come to fruition. Olu, I will forever remember you as the kindest, loving, creative, and the most supportive brother I could have ever wished for. I.M. Montana Cortland, Illinois October, 2023 Maps and Figures Maps 1 Jihad and Muslim States in the early nineteenth-century Bilād al-Sūdān xvi 2 The Caravan Slave Trade across Tunisia and the Western and Central Sūdān xvii 3 Al-Timbuktāwī’s Itinerary to Hajj, 1808–1809 18 4 Distribution of Bori Religious and Communal Diyar (Households) in Tunis 84 Figures 1 Ratio of the Bori households to gender and the volume of the slave trade 91 Note on Transliteration Transliteration of Arabic when dealing with a broad and expansive geograph- ical scope encompassing Ottoman North Africa and the bilād al-sūdān (Land of the Blacks), the latter with its own ajami variation of Arabic, if not stand- ardized, can posed a challenge. In Tunisia as in other parts of North Africa, this problem is exacerbated by the adoption of French transliterations, which often reflect the local colloquial parlance. Hence, terms and names such as Stem- bālī and el-Ḥachāʾichī reflect the colloquial transliterations in French than the standardized Arabic form of transliteration. To achieve a consistency, throughout the study, I have used the simplified system for translating Arabic words followed by the International Journal of Middle East Studies ( ijmes ). This informed choice also allows me to avoid unnecessary use of diacritics in Arabic terms or names, words such as jihad, Ramadan and other words that are commonly employed in English dictionar- ies without transliteration and are used in this study as such. Similarly, Arabic words that have been localized in the context of the bilād al-sūdān such as emir has also been used without transliteration. map 1 Jihad and Muslim States in the early nineteenth-century Bilād al-Sūdān adapted from henry b. lovejoy, african diaspora maps ltd map 2 The Caravan Slave Trade across Tunisia and the Western and Central Sūdān part 1 Introduction and Historical Setting ∵