This chapter explores the emergence of new the claims of authority on which Aḥmad Lobbo rested his role as a spiritual leader charged with the political power – a domain that had traditionally been a prerogative of the region’s warrior elites of Fulani, Bambara, and Arma origins. It first analyzes the writings of Aḥmad Lobbo to understand his project of religious reform. It then follows the unfolding of the events that translated the conflict between Aḥmad Lobbo and the religious establishment of the city of Djenné into an open war between his entourage and the old Fulani warrior elite in charge of political power in 1818. It concludes by showing that Aḥmad Lobbo’s authority was not only expressed through his demonstrable mastery of Islamic jurisprudence. He was also perceived as a Friend of God known for his access to Divine Blessing, or baraka.