Wolof people exceeds 6 million in the three countries. The vast majority of Wolof people are Sunni Muslims. However, religious practice often contains local elements. The complicated relationship had led to the emergence of Sufi traditions from a historic and dominant Sunni Islam environment. The pre-Islamic religious traditions of Wolof are unknown, and neither written or oral traditions about their traditional religion are available. The oral traditions of the Wolof have legends that state them to have been adherents of Islam since the founding of their Kingdom of Jolof. However, historical evidence left by Islamic scholars and European travelers suggest that Wolof
Sociology of religion on individual salvation and conscience. Durkheim's definition of religion, from "Elementary Forms", is as follows: "A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them." This is a functional definition of religion, meaning that it explains what religion "does" in social life: essentially, it unites societies. Durkheim defined religion as a clear distinction between the sacred and the profane, in effect this can be paralleled with the