• DOI:10.2307/1160980
• Corpus ID: 145284484

The Baye Faal of Senegambia: Muslim Rastas in the promised land?

@article{Savishinsky1994TheBF,
  title={The Baye Faal of Senegambia: Muslim Rastas in the promised land?},
  author={Neil J. Savishinsky},
  journal={Africa},
  year={1994},
  volume={64},
  pages={211 - 219},
  url={https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:145284484}
}

• Neil J. Savishinsky
• Published in Africa 1 April 1994
• Sociology
• Africa

Spurred on in large part by the emergence of Jamaican and Anglo-Jamaican reggae music on to the global pop music scene in the mid-1970s, the Jamaican Rastafarian movement has within the past two decades managed to expand beyond its island home and attract a diverse and multi-ethnic international following. Apart from the various manifestations of ‘orthodox’ Jamaican Rastafarianism found in Africa today, one finds a number of religious and social formations which share similar features with and… 

Spurred on in large part by the emergence of Jamaican and Anglo-Jamaican reggae music on to the global pop music scene in the mid-1970s, the Jamaican Rastafarian movement has within the past two decades managed to expand beyond its island home and attract a diverse and multi-ethnic international following. Apart from the various manifestations of ‘orthodox’ Jamaican Rastafarianism found in Africa today, one finds a number of religious and social formations which share similar features with and have been influenced to some extent by Rastafarian religion, music and culture. This article examines the various links that exist between one such group—the Muslim Baye Faal of Senegambia—and the beliefs and practices of the Jamaican Rastafari. Résumé Encouragé pour la plus grande partie par l'apparition de la musique reggae jamaïcaine et anglo-jamaïcaine sur la scène globale de la musique pop dans la moitié des années 70, le mouvement jamaïcaine rastafarien a réussi pendant les deux dernières decennies à se répandre au delà de son île natale et à attirer des fidéles aux origines ethniques diverses au niveau international. Mis à part les différentes manifestations du mouvement jamaïcain rastafarien “orthodoxe” que I'on trouve en Afrique de nos jours, on trouve aussi un certain nombre de formations religieuses et sociales qui ont en commun des caractéristiques similaires et qui ont été influencees jusqu'à un certain point par la religion, la musique, et la culture rastafarienne. Cet article examine les liens différents qui existent entre l'un de ces groupes—les Musulmans Baye Faal de Senegambie—et les croyances et pratiques des jamaïcains rastafariens.