Medina Baay Research Association

When I went to Senegal this summer, I had just (I thought) finished writing an article on women acting as Islamic leaders in Senegal, based on interviews with a handful of female muqaddams (representatives of the Sufi order). I thought I would seize the opportunity to do a couple final interviews, and I interviewed several daughters of Baay Ñas who act as muqaddams (including Roqiyatu Ñas, pictured right) as well as women who came from non-Taalibe Baay and non-clerical families. I soon realized that the phenomenon was far more widespread than I had imagined.