Africanist and francophone scholars have long known that Bâ’s famous transcription of the Fulbe tale of initiation, Kaïdara, makes some references to Islamic mystical teachings. However, a properly detailed study of these references has not been done. A close examination, however, reveals just how central the Islamic mystical tradition is to the tale. This article examines Kaïdara in the context of the mystical literary form of the Ishraqi school, the risala, whose early composers, Ibn Sina and Ibn Tufayl and Suhrawardi would have been known for several centuries in Senegal through trade routes and ajj journeys.

The article compares Kaïdara with specific aspects of the risala: its structure and language, the journey to the alam al-mithal, the concept of esoteric realities being revealed in successive stages and, finally, the incorporation of Quranic imagery and values.

Like the risalah, Kaïdara teaches its aspirants that the greatest treasure in this existence is knowledge of divine sacred laws. This knowledge is acquired through self-perfection, which leads to the awakening of a mode of perception that is able to apprehend the hidden meaning of appearances, the wisdom lying beyond visible phenomena.

The discussion is in two parts: a perusal of original traditions in manuscripts going back to the periods in question, for the purpose of determining the identity of the holy sites, the legends which grew up around them, their miracle-working capacity in the popular mind, ceremonies associated with them, etc.; a comparison of the manuscript material in question with available historical, historiographical, geographical and other sources to determine whether the traditions do indeed reflect the period in which they were collected and, in particular, whether specific local conditions and interests also played a part.

In addition to literary and folkloristic aspects of traditions concerning holy places, the paper also looks at the official attitude of Islam towards expressions of saint worship as reflected in the traditions in question. In particular we discuss the opposition to saint worship by the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence. Because it was in the Mamluk period that the religious dispute among jurists concerning the status of saint worship was at its peak, it is no wonder that traditions on this matter are abundant for this period.

We conclude that traditions concerning pilgrimage and saint worship in the Mamluk and Ottoman periods reflect a popular need, sometimes with local overtones, which found an outlet in pilgrimage to holy sites and in saint worship, despite the opposition of certain Islamic jurists to this practice.

This article shows that the most powerful rulers of the pre-Mongol period in the Muslim east, namely the Khwarazmshahs, the Ghurids, and the Ayyubids actively supported the spread of Fakhr al-Din’s rationalist theology in their domains. While at war with one another, the Khwarazmshahs and the Ghurids competed to be patrons of Fakhr al-Din, built schools for him, and courted him and his teachings. His books were well known in Syria and Egypt, where the Ayyubids commissioned his work. Supporting Fakhr al-Din and his teachings was part of a religious policy that aimed at spreading his kind of rationalist Asharism at the expense of its rivals. In Iran, Transoxania, and Afghanistan, where Fakhr al-Din was active, these were mostly the Karramis but also Maturidi Hanafis.

This paper examines the move from hubb and mahabba to `ishq by contrasting the understanding of love in the early and middle periods. It then examines the myriad understandings of love in the early period and the underlying controversy regarding the use of the word `ishq to identify precedents for the teachings on `ishq that arose in the early sixth century. Though important treatises on hubb, mahabba and `ishq were penned by philosophers, theologians, poets and literary critics, these are beyond the scope of this study.

The extant Sufi treatises from the early period suggest that there was extensive debate regarding the attribution of `ishq to God and the use of the term to define the relationship between God and human beings. While some teachings attributed to al-<sup>TM</sup>all~j (d. 309/922) appear to foreshadow the later Persian tradition and there are allusions to it in several early texts, there are no extant treatises that give to `ishq the centrality it finds in the Saw~nih and the later Sufi tradition. This transition towards a full metaphysics of love thus marks a watershed event in the development of Sufi literature.