Sounds of Mouridism : A study on the use of music and sound in the Mouridiyya

Sammanfattning: The use of music in religious traditions is a complicated subject. Some say it doesn’t have any place in religion while others see it as an essential part of their spiritual life. How one defines music, and indeed religion, can differ greatly but both of these have played an enormous role in our world both historically and today. The relationship between these two subjects is the focus of this study. I aim to analyze how music and sound is used within the Mouridiyya, a Sufi order based mainly in Western Africa, as a religious practice and in what way different forms of music is a way for Mourids in Sweden to connect with their native culture and religion in a society that is in many ways very different. The study is based on interviews and field observations and will explore themes like music as transcendence, the contents of the music, attitudes toward “secular” or more popular, contemporary forms of music as well as gender roles and segregation. I have visited one Mourid group in Stockholm and the study will be based entirely on them. To say something more general about Mouridism or Sufism are generalizations I am not prepared to make, but some of the findings do open up for these kinds of discussions and hopefully this will be but one small step into a fairly uncharted academic field of “religious music”.