The Hajj as a Colonial and Post-Colonial Experience in the Gambia: 1945-1970

Abstract

The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca or Hajj, is a journey of fulfilment for all Muslims. Indeed, Susan O’Brien, who was writing about the Hausa Bori in Nigeria, calls it ‘such a marker of prestige throughout the Muslim World’. The journey to the Holy sites of Islam in Makkah and Madina is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. This is why the study of Islam in The Gambia will not be attained without a mention of the nature and motive of Hajj. This article seeks to centre the hajj as a key indication of the pattern of collaboration and accommodation between the Gambian state and its predominantly large Muslim population. It is argued that the failure of the colonial government to prioritise the Hajj made Gambian Muslims quite disappointed, and they saw the introduction of Cadi courts in 1905, or the setting aside of Muslim Eids as public holidays, as not quite sufficient. On the contrary, the strong action of the ruling Peoples’ Progressive Party (PPP) soon after independence in 1965 to modernise hajj operations by introducing air transportation for intending pilgrims, adequate forex allocations and simpler inoculation regimes, made Gambian Muslims notice a safer and hassle-free hajj. Indeed, it is argued that the ease of doing the hajj due to strong state support was one of the first dividends of independence for Gambian Muslims. Using recently released files at The Gambia National Archives in Banjul and digesting the available secondary literature, this study shows how decolonization positively impacted on Gambian Muslims.