Non violence of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba
Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba is the founder of the Sufi Path Muridiyya and the spiritual school Khidmatul Khadim, the School of Peace and Service. The thought and action of this eminent Sufi Saint of Senegal are a testimony that the life of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba was and will remain a blessing and a mercy of God to the whole of humanity.
Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba had one ideal: to bring to humanity the essence of the prophetic message and revive it within his context and his era through the establishment of a model society based on peace, where it is possible for every human being to live in peace and harmony with his neighbours and with the Creator of the Universe, irrespective of differences.
The thought and action of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba can be seen to consist of several characteristic stages which represent the pre-requisites for the making of a peacemaker and an agent of service in society.
Choice, Liberty, Love
The Sheikh made the choice of love from a very early age. In fact since his early childhood he renounced affairs of the lowly world and was committed to the quest of divine love. At the death of his father he was offered the post of counsellor to the local magnate but he declined the offer, for he was committed to an ideal of service to the whole of mankind irrespective of differences. To him service to humanity was the best expression of the love of God.
Service to Humanity: the Concept of Khidma
The thought of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba is inspired from the concept of khidma or service to the whole of humanity. Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba offered mankind the possibility of rediscovering and harmonising with his inner self in order to live the dimensions of divine love fully through this prophetic tradition:
Humanity constitutes a unique family which is taken care of by God. He who is most loved by God is the one who makes himself most useful to this family of God.
The approach of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba : the building of an equitable society geared towards peace
In order to actualise his approach of non-violence, Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba strived, against all odds, towards the building of an equitable social model geared towards peace. This model, where the human being is at the very centre, provides the conditions for the development of the human being at all levels so that he can live up to his full potential and fully assume his role of vicegerent of God on earth.
This model is illustrated by the Peace City of Touba, a city recognised as Model Peace City by the United Nations Human Settlement Division in 1996. This social model is one that satisfies the following four essential requirements: clothing, shelter, food, peace.
The realisation of such a model was only possible through the commitment of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba to an ideal of service to humanity, an ideal which he had chosen in total liberty and love and to which he was committed at all times, despite all the adversity and opposition with which he was confronted in his time. The endeavours of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba were always based on Action geared towards peace and service. He was never in Reaction to the conditions that prevailed at that time under colonial rule.
The Law of Transformation: a pre requisite for the making of a global citizen of peace and service
The encounter of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba with the French colonisers illustrates how the perilous conditions to which he was subjected by the colonial authority strengthened him in his ideal and enabled him to embody the highest degrees of patience, endurance, forbearance, love, compassion and absolute trust in God Almighty. Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba never excluded anyone from his action; rather he always composed with everybody, followers and opponents in the realisation of his ideal. Although the colonisers perceived him as a threat, Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba himself had neither enemies nor friends. To him, everyone was instrumental in the realisation of the divine project and hence he believed that difference was a necessity of life.
Today it is this very approach that constitutes the way forward for all those seeking to establish lasting peace and serve humanity. It involves the choice of an ideal in total liberty and love and commitment to this ideal at all times despite all perils and adversity. Indeed this is the approach that eminent peacemakers like Gandhi, M L King (Jr), Mother Theresa, Wangari Mathai have all followed in their ideal of peace at different periods of history and in different contexts.
Khidmatul Khadim, the School of Peace and Service, is committed to promoting this approach in order to establish lasting peace in modern society and promote service to humanity.