Kunta family

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The Kunta family is among the best-known examples of a lineage of Islamic scholarship with widespread influence throughout Mauritania, Senegambia, and other parts of the Western Sudan.

[edit] Background

The family's history goes back to Sheikh Sidi Ahmad al-Bakka'i (d.1504) who established a Qadiri zawiya (Sufi residence) in Walata. In the 16th century the family spread across the Sahara to Timbuktu, Agades, Bornu, Hausaland, and other places, and in the 18th century large numbers of Kunta moved to the region of the middle Niger where they established the village of Mabruk. Sidi al-Mukhtar al-Kunti (1728-1811) united the Kunta factions by successful negotiation, and established an extensive confederation. Under his influence the Maliki school of Islamic law was reinvigorated and the Qadiri order spread throughout Mauritania, the middle Niger region, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Futa Toro, and Futa Jallon. Kunta colonies in the Senegambian region became centers of Muslim teaching.^[1]

[edit] See also

• Ahmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti (d.1865)- West African Islamic and political leader and one of the last Kunta sheikhs.

[edit] Notes