Diffusion of taëawwuf among the nomadic tribes of the interior of Ifrīqiya between the 6th / 12th and 9th / 15th centuries and the birth of maraboutic tribes

Abstract

The period between the end of the V/XI century and the beginning of the VI/XII was a milestone in the history of the Maghreb, and particularly in the ‘Ifriqiya’ region. The ‘tagriba hilali’was one of the key causes which triggered the incidents occurred during that period, when a distinction between the inland areas dominated by nomad tribes and the northern regions located on the Mediterranean coast began to take shape. However, the nomad ́s land situated between the High ‘Tell’ and the North on one hand, and the Sahara in the south on the other hand, witnessed an unprecedented cultural activity because of the ‘wala ́i’ Sufism (common sense Sufism). Some ‘A ́rab’ were so deeply impressed by the flame of Sufism that they became themselves preachers of Sufi ideas, once these were adapted to the expectations and needs of the Bedouins. This new phenomenon caused the dawn of new communities that adopted the surname of an ancestor with so- called ‘Shurafa ́’ origins, which would help constitute new ‘zawaya’ and ‘maraboutic’ tribes.