Touba (

Hassaniya Arabic Hassānīya ( ar, حسانية '; also known as , , , , and ''Maure'') is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs and the Sahrawi. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of M ...

: , 'Felicity';

Wolof Wolof or Wollof may refer to: * Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...

: Tuubaa) is a city in central

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

, part of

Diourbel Region The Diourbel Region ( Serer and Cangin: ''Jurbel'') is a region of Senegal. The regional capital is the city of Diourbel. The region corresponds roughly to the precolonial Kingdom of Bawol and is still called by that name. Bawol (or ''Baol'' ...

and

Mbacké Mbacké (Mbàkke in Wolof) is a city in central Senegal, located east of Dakar. It is the capital of an administrative department in the Diourbel region. Along with the nearby city of Touba, Mbacké forms an urban conurbation whose population c ...

district. With a population of 529,176 in 2010, it is the second most populated Senegalese city after

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

. It is the holy city of

Mouridism The Mouride brotherhood ( wo, yoonu murit, ar, الطريقة المريدية ''aṭ-Ṭarīqat al-Murīdiyyah'' or simply , ''al-Murīdiyyah'') is a large ''tariqa'' ( Sufi order) most prominent in Senegal and The Gambia with headquarters in ...

and the burial place of its founder,

Shaikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

Ahmadou Bàmba Mbàcke. Next to his tomb stands a large

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

, completed in 1963.

Etymology

The origin of the name is not certain and according to the ''

Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published in ...

'', 'various etymologies have been current for the name', including Arabic ''tawba'' ('repentance').J. L. Triaud, 'Ṭūbā', in ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', ed. by P. Bearman and others, 2nd edn (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2005), ; . The name is also superficially identical to the name of a tree in

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic tradition, '' Ṭūbā'', and in

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

, this symbolic tree represents an aspiration for spiritual perfection and closeness to

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

. But the ''Encyclopaedia'' concludes that the name of the place 'most likely stems from a reference to ''ṭūbā'' “blessing”'.

History

The city began life as a simple hamlet of the '

Baol The Kingdom of Baol or Bawol in central Senegal was one of the kingdoms that arose from the split-up of the Empire of Jolof (Diolof) in 1555. The ruler ( Teigne or Teen) reigned from a capital in Diourbel. The Kingdom encompassed a strip of l ...

Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke, commonly known as "Cheikh Amadou Bamba" (1853-1927), is said to have led to the ascendance of the settlement to prominence when, in a moment of transcendence under a large tree there, he experienced a cosmic vision of light. In Arabic, ''ṭūbā'' means "felicity" or "bliss" and evokes the sweet pleasures of eternal life in the hereafter. Aamadu Bàmba founded Touba in 1887. The

holy site Sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, or holy place refers to a location which is deemed to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a Sacred natural site, natural feature may accrue through tradition or be gra ...

remained a tiny isolated place in the wilderness until his death and burial at the site of the Great Mosque, 40 years later. Along with the neighboring town of

(founded by Aamadu Bàmba's great-grandfather in 1796), the Mouride

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

's second largest urban area, after the capital region of

Legal status

''Ṭūbā'' is a sacred area, and enjoys a quasi-extraterritoriality within the Republic of Senegal. It is under the sole control of a ''khalīfa''-general, his helpers, and ''Bāy Fall'' (a militia of the Mouride order), rather than agents of the Senegalese state. As well as having religious consequences, this has made Touba a free-trade zone; in particular, imports from neighbouring Gambia are exempt there from state taxes. In the assessment of the ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'',

under a very modern apparent exterior, one thus finds an ancient form of Senegalese, indeed, West African, Islamic life: the constituting of “maraboutic villages”, enclaves which bring together the most keen devotees and which, through the force of the charisma of their directors, are able to escape from the exactions, pressures and constraints of the warrior and temporal authorities.

During the Great Magal pilgrimage, official representatives of the Senegalese state make official delegations, recognising the distinctive status of Touba and the Mourides within Senegal.

Geography

Overview

Located in central Senegal, Touba forms an urban agglomeration with the contiguous city of

Climate

Depending on the location of the weather station in Touba, the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies the city's climate either as tropical wet and dry (Aw) or hot semi-arid (BSh).

Mouridism

Touba is the

holy city A holy city is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex (often containing a religious edifice, seminary, shrine, residence of the leading cleric of the religi ...

. Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke, Senegal's most famous

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

, was more than a spiritual master; he had a social mission as well, that of rescuing society from

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

alienation and returning it to the "Straight Path" of

. 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 pilgrimage, called the

Grand Magal of Touba The Grand Magal of Touba is the annual religious pilgrimage of the Senegalese Mouride Brotherhood, one of the four Islamic Sufi orders of Senegal. On the 18th of Safar, the second month of the Islamic calendar, pilgrims gather in the holy Mouride ...

, attracts around two million people from all over Senegal and beyond, principally Mourides, from as far away as

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Other, minor pilgrimages 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 Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. The Mouride order controls 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

. 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.

Great Mosque

At the heart of the Mouride holy city lies its Great Mosque, purported to be one of the largest in Africa. Since its completion in 1963 it has been continuously enlarged and embellished. The

has five minarets and three large domes and is the place where Amadou Bamba, founder of the Mouride brotherhood, lies buried. The mosque's high central

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

, called ''Lamp Fall'', is one of Senegal's most famous monuments. The name ''Lamp Fall'' is a reference to Sheikh Ibrahima Fall, one of Bamba's most influential disciples. The mosque is frequently visited by tourists and worshippers alike. The immediate vicinity of the mosque houses the

mausolea A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or Chamber tomb, burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum ...

of Aamadu Bàmba's sons, the

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

s 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. Serigne Mountakha Mbacké is the current leader of the Mourides. He is the eighth Caliph of Mouridism and is the third caliph to not be a son of Ahmadu Bamba Mbacké. Like his predecessors, he resides in a large compound on the main square facing the Mosque.

Notable people

Amadou Bamba Ahmadou Bamba Mbacke ( wo, Ahmadu Bamba Mbacke, ar, أحمد بن محمد بن حبيب الله ''Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb Allāh'', 1853–1927) also known to followers as Khādimu 'al-Rasūl () or "The Servant of the Messenger" a ...

(1853-1927), Muslim Sufi religious leader

References

*Guèye, Cheikh. 2002. ''Touba: La capitale des Mourides''. Paris: Karthala. *Ross, Eric S. 1995. "Touba: a spiritual metropolis in the modern world," ''Canadian Journal of African Studies'' 29.2. *Ross, Eric S. 2006. ''Sufi City: Urban Design and Archetypes in Touba''. Rochester: University of Rochester Press.

External links

pictures of Toubawikimouridia.org
{{Coord, 14, 52, N, 15, 53, W, type:city, display=title Populated places in Diourbel Region Holy cities Diourbel Region Populated places established in 1887 Theocracies