Ahmadu Bamba’s Qur’ānic Commentaries: Characteristics and Methodologies

This article examines the Qur’anic exegesis of Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba Mbacke (d. 1927), founder of the Murīdiyya Sufi order, with a focus on his interpretive methodologies and the distinctive features that define his engagement with the Qur’ān. While Bamba is widely recognized for his spiritual authority, moral reformism, and socio-political legacy within colonial Senegal, his intellectual contributions to tafsīr have received comparatively limited scholarly attention. By situating his work within the broader context of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century West African Islamic scholarship, the study explores how Bamba combined exoteric (ẓāhirī) and esoteric (ishārī) approaches to produce a synthesis of juridical precision, linguistic mastery, and mystical insight. Through an analysis of his writings, the article highlights his creative use of inherited exegetical traditions and his emphasis on spiritual transformation as a goal of Qur’ānic understanding. It further examines the continuing influence of his tafsīr on Murīd thought and Senegalese Islam, underscoring Bamba’s enduring contribution to the renewal of Qur’ānic interpretation in the Islamic West.