Mar 7/05
Touba trip
On Saturday I took a daytrip to the epicenter of Mouride Islam: Touba, Senegal. The trip proved to be a bit of a lengthy adventure (like nearly all roadtrips in West Africa) but I’m glad I went.
Mouridism is a spiritually and culturally-infused West-African brand of Islam, reviled by Middle Eastern Islamic purists and loved by the Senegalese and Gambian masses. Some of the marabouts (religious “guides”) have huge sway over national politics here. The founder of Mouridism, Cheikh Amadou Bamba, is burried in the massive mosque found in the city of Touba, as are all of the deceased Mouride leaders to date. Touba is also home to Senegal’s largest and strangest market – rumour has it you can buy AK-47s here cheap, and I can confirm that the street traders give a good deal on Japanese Yen.
The incredibly large mosque in Touba is clad in gaudy, imported pink marble and brightly coloured ceramics. Each Friday ten to twenty thousand people come here to pray. Once a year, during the annual pilgrimage called the Magal, around two million people from all over the world descend on Touba to pay hommage to Cheikh Amadou Bamba and his disciples.
Touba the city, both mosque and market, is the best example of Senegalese culture I’ve seen to date. Money and mosques, beggars and BMWs; Senegalese Islam and the marabouts that control it are all about getting to heaven quickly, but with as much bling-bling as possible.
No matter what you think about Bamba and Mouridism you can’t ignore its importance to Senegalese culture and how impressive its mosques, traditional costumes and monuments are.
In honour of the trip I’m going to post some Gambian dancehall/rnb devoted to Serigne Touba (Serigne loosely means “father” or “Big Man”) and the movement he started. Yes, the songs are a bit cheesy in that Gambian pop music way, but they make a perfect companion to a Touba trip for reasons you’ll have to experience to believe.
The pictures in this post are (top to bottom): the main mosque at Touba, detail of the moulded ceiling in the Touba mosque, and the beautiful main mosque in Diourbel, a small city 200km East of Dakar..
The Dancehall Masters – Serigne Touba
The Dancehall Masters – Self-titled
I love Serigne Touba. It is kinda cheesy, but in a catchy nice sorta way. and those pictures are beautiful.
Na nga def ???
Thanx for posting this nice pics , as a mourid I really miss this place.
You are also doing an Gorgeous job by posting African music and Senegalese Hip hop .
Big up !
PS: That will be great if you can put some Fela Kutti songs , I dont know if you know this nigerian Afro beat singer .
Dieuredieuf!!!!!!!
wow matt, you know i wish i could see the holy city of touba & i’ll witness magal one day in sha allah
hope you brought us back some baye fall baraka!
Triple fucking whammy
Destiny? I’m not sure.
[...] armed gendarmes to protect the hospital from Lô’s grieving fans. Lô was buried in Touba following a big ceremony attended by many prominent Senegalese, including lutteur exceptio [...]
wsd
serigne touba amoul morom kouci baga wakh dagay wakh basonou wayé mouno wakh léppou ndakh liy dof ci nakwi khadioul ci thynli serigne touba dal khéweul la go khamni sounou borom monouko indil guir beugeu niou dioub kon liniouko wara santé moy niou topou ci lim wakh ci ay ndigal té bayyi téréyi souko déféé noumana fay peul bi noumtoudati wayé wakh rekj douko fath ténou bayyi dofdoflougui lolou amoul solo dieureu gu♪0n dieuf
i just want to congratulate u on the nice thing u’ve done but to congratulate more mr abo mbacke cause that he’s said very nice and interessant things
i need all time information about touba.
dieuredieuf..
Ziar everybody
I just want to bring to your attention that Touba is a Holly City please do not mix it up with anything else but religion. If you love Serigne Touba that much then you should know that he is all about Islam and not music or other things. Decide whether you wanna talk about music or Islam.
I just want to bring to your attention that Touba is a Holly City please do not mix it up with anything else but religion. If you love Serigne Touba that much then you should know that he is all about Islam and not music or other things. Decide whether you wanna talk about music or Islam.
also serigne touba never intrested with anything without ISLAM thank you
hi, my question is not about your touba trip, but more on a specific Islamic event. I just want to know if the celebration of Mohammad’s Baptism is only followed by the Mouride Sect of Islam. Thanks a lot and regards.
Touba is a great place to visit
Salaam,
i congratulate you for your interest in the muridism. But, i think this article is a little biased and the information you provided are not true. Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba ( Serigne Touba) is not about this mondain world. Anyone who knows him and his teachings are all about worship Allah, love of the Prophet Muhamed ( PBUH), hard work, and help to the community ( the needed). You have mentionned that the muridism is all about :”getting to heaven quick while wearin bling bling.. “… That is not true. May be you are just showing what matters to you most, but Serigne Touba has clearly said in one his most famous speeches that whoever thinks can enter to Djanna while he had an eased life in this world.. is a foolish. If that could be true, Muhammad (PBUH) the most beloved by Allah ( our Lord) would have that kind of privilege and he did not. So, PLEASE !!!!!
And, music is forbidden by Islam and also within the muridism.
My Wolof is not too sharp so i’ll say this in English.
Serigne Touba had no interest in money or “Bling” while he was staying in a house in Senegal there were so many people who wished to speak with him that most didn’t even get to see him, so they gave their hadiya (donations) by throwing their money over the fence in the backyard. When The Cheikh saw it he asked some of his followers to do something with it, and when asked what he wanted to do with the money he did not get involved, rather he told them that he loved his followers too much to love their money more than them.
May Allah be pleased with Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, Salam.
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hola soy mourid fisi espagne