‘TO NEVER SHED BLOOD’: YACOUBA SYLLA, FÉLIX HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY AND ISLAMIC MODERNIZATION IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE

ABSTRACTAfter an ill-fated religious revival, the Sufi teacher Yacouba Sylla and his followers became wealthy and politically influential in post-Second World War Côte d'Ivoire. They argued for an understanding of democratization and development that defined both ideas in terms of their community's own mystical experiences and world-historical significance, rather than in terms of modernity. As a way of making sense of their own past and defending their place in an increasingly tense political environment, these efforts achieved their most explicit articulation in a powerful story about Yacouba Sylla's refusal of a gift from Ivoirian President Félix Houphouët-Boigny.