Shaykh Ahmadou Bamba and the West African Educational System: St. Louis Episodes and Qasaids by Shaykh Ahmadou Bamba

Each of the stages of this educational system requires a specific skill set and level of competence from the instructor or educator in charge. There are different types of teachers, each corresponding to a particular stage in the educational system; the shaykh of classical instruction teaches tawhid based on six articles of faith (Iman), the shaykh of educating the soul teaches the science of ethics and morality for the attainment of virtues, acts of worship based on haqiqah (divine reality) and fiqh (islamic law) and the shaykh of apprenticeship guides the disciple based on ma’rifah (gnosis) to ALLAH through their spiritual perfection (Ihsan).