Millions of Muslims from different parts of the world, most of them members of the Islamic Muride brotherhood on Sunday 23 January converged at Toiba, Senegal to celebrate the 116th edition of the grand Magal.
The Magal is an event designed to praise Allah for giving strength to Cheikh Amadou Bamba” to attend the highest degree of spirituality by surviving seven years of exile, of moral and physical torture by the colonialists despite his prayers on sea.
The celebration was graced with recitation of the Holy Qur’an, praising Allah, and hospitality through giving food to guests through (“ndiguel”) as ordered as by the founder of Mouridism.
More than 350 journalists who were in Touba during the Magal expressed their satisfaction in almost all aspects; ranging from accommodation to other logistics.
Participants praised the Khalifa, Serigne Sidy Mokhtar Mbacké for the exceptional success of the magal.
The mourides praised the strong faith of the Bamba that the white men tried to destroy, isolating him in the locality of Cheyene for five years to discourage him his followers and again in Saraharah in Mauritania where they thought he would feel inferior among the Arabs before Sidy Baba.
Cheikh Bamba left a great legacy which include a library with his writings in which he praised Prophet Muhammad as his role model, thus he earned himself the name Khadim Rasul, (the servant of the prophet) – meaning he was devoted to following the footsteps of Prophet Muhammed.
A Brief History
Cheikh Aamadu Bàmba Mbacké, commonly known as “Cheikh Amadou Bamba” (1853-1927), founded Touba under a large tree when, in a moment of transcendence, he experienced a cosmic vision of light. In Arabic, Touba means “felicity” or “bliss” and evokes the sweet pleasures of eternal life in the hereafter. In Islamic tradition, Touba is also the name of the Tree in Paradise. In Sufism, this symbolic tree represents an aspiration for spiritual perfection and closeness to Allah.
Aamadu Bàmba founded Touba in 1887. The holy site remained a tiny, isolated place in the wilderness until his death and burial at the site of the Great Mosque, 40 years later. The Great Mosque was finally completed in 1963 and since its inauguration the city has grown at a rapid pace: from under 5,000 inhabitants in 1964, the population was officially estimated at 529,000 in 2007. Along with the neighboring town of Mbacké (founded by Aamadu Bàmba’s great-grandfather in 1796), the Mouride conurbation is Senegal’s second largest urban area, after the capital region of Dakar.
After five years in exile the colonialists realized the degree of Sufism of the Mouride leader during his 15 years house arrest and decided to change their strategies. He was later to an urban centre of Diourbel thinking that his followers will be distracted by the modern life style in the city.
Bamba was freed to join his family after the colonialists have everything to shake his faith at the end of his 32 years of exile. To celebrate his departure into exile, Bamba told his followers to set aside the 18 of the second month of the Muslim Calendar Safar by action of grace, recitation of the Holy Qur’an, praising Allah, and hospitality through giving food to guests through (“ndiguel”) an order.
The first Khalifa (leader), Cheikh Mustapha Mbake followed the ndiguel but it was Serign Fallou Mbake who inherited the Khalifa in 1945 by making a clarion on the Muride to come to Touba for the Magal. Serigne Saliou Mbake, the last son of Bamba and now Serigne Sidy Mokhtar Mbacké, a grandchild of Cheikh Amadou Bamba and the current Khalifa at Touba.
Touba is the holy city of Mouridism. Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke, had a social mission as well, that of rescuing society from colonial alienation and returning it to the “Straight Path” of Islam. The city of Touba played a major role in both these endeavors.
Life in Touba is dominated by Muslim practice and Islamic scholarship. A major annual anniversary, called the Grand Magal, attracts between one and two million people from all over Senegal and beyond, from as far away as Europe and America. Other, minor Muslim rituals occur throughout the year.
For Mourides, Touba is a sacred place. Forbidden in the holy city are all illicit and frivolous pursuits, such as the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, the playing of games, music and dancing. The Mouride order maintains absolute control over its “capital” to the exclusion of usual state-run civil and administrative services. The city constitutes an administratively autonomous zone with special legal status within Senegal. Every aspect of its city’s life and growth is managed by the order independently of the state, including education, health, supply of drinking water, public works, administration of markets, land tenure, and real estate development.
At the heart of the Mouride holy city lies its Great Mosque, believed to be one of the largest in Africa. Since its completion in 1963 it has been continuously enlarged and embellished. The mosque has five minarets and three large domes and is the place where Amadou Bamba, founder of the Mouride brotherhood, lies buried. The mosque’s 87-metre (285 ft) high central minaret, called Lamp Fall, is one of Senegal’s most famous monuments. The name Lamp Fall is a reference to Cheikh Ibrahima Fall, commonly known as Ibra Faal, one of Bamba’s most influential (Talubés) student and follower .The mosque is frequently visited by tourists and worshippers alike.
The immediate vicinity of the mosque houses the mausolea of Aamadou Bàmba’s sons, the caliphs of the Mouride order. Other important institutions in the center of the holy city include a library, the Caliph’s official audience hall, a sacred “Well of Mercy”, and a cemetery. Cheikh Sidy Mokhtar Mbacké is the current leader of the Mourides. He is the seventh Caliph of Mouridism and is the second caliph to not be a son of Ahmadou Bamba Mbacké. Like his predecessors, he resides in a large compound on the main square facing the Mosque.