When arriving in Senegal you are immersed by photographs, stickers and paintings of their spiritual guides, who are called Serignes in Wolof.  As a majority Muslim country, most of its population belong to a Sufi order, one of the most significant being Murridiyyah (Mouride). This photo series takes you on a journey, and follows the research question: What are the current views on the images of the Serignes by the followers of Mouridism in Senegal? There is a belief that imagery is prohibited in Islam because Muslims are often perceived as not having icons, idols or pictures of God or religious heroes. However, there are Muslim communities in the world that embraced imagery such as the one in Senegal. Finally, through these photos you can identify where Mourides place their images, which can be found outside of a house, on accessories and cars. This photo series attempts to tell a story of how these images of the marabouts are used in daily life in Senegal. In addition to that, I would like to give you an insight to how seeing these images almost everywhere in Senegal, even in the places I was staying in, sparked my interest in investigating the reasons behind these images. 

 

Link to photo series here.