Touba (

Hassaniya Arabic Hassaniya Arabic (; also known as , , , , and Maure) is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs, Malian Arabs and the Sahrawis. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes of Yemeni origin who extended their authority o ...

: , '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, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, part of Diourbel Region and

Mbacké Mbacké (Mbàkke in Wolof) is a city and urban commune 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 conurbat ...

district. With a population of 1,120,824 in 2023, it is the second most populated Senegalese city after

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. It is the holy city of

Mouridism The Mouride brotherhood (, ''aṭ-Ṭarīqat al-Murīdiyyah'' or simply , ''al-Murīdiyyah'') is a large ''tariqa'' (Sufi order) most prominent in Senegal and The Gambia with headquarters in the city of Touba, which is a holy city for the order ...

and the burial place of its founder, Shaikh Ahmadou Bàmba Mbàcke. Next to his tomb stands a large

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, 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 a reference work that facilitates the Islamic studies, academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill Publishers, Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, Isl ...

'', '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 and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic tradition, ''

Ṭūbā Ṭūbā () is a tree which grows in Jannah (the Garden of Eden) according to Islam. The term is mentioned in the Quran in surah ar-Ra'd, verse 29: "Those who believed, and work righteousness, Tuba is for them and a beautiful place of (final) retu ...

'', and in

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

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

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

. 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 Baol or Bawol was a kingdom in what is now central Senegal. Founded in the 11th century, it was a vassal of the Jolof Empire before becoming independent in the mid-16th century. The ruler bore the title of Teigne (title), Teigne (or Teeň) and re ...

'. Shaikh 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 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 consisting of 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 ...

'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 ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

, was more than a spiritual master; he had a social mission as well, that of rescuing society from colonial 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, attracts around two million people from all over Senegal and beyond, principally Mourides, from as far away as

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

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 is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

, 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 of Aamadu Bàmba's sons, the

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

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 Sheikh Amadou Bamba (1853–1927), also known to followers as the Servant of Muhammad, the Messenger () and Serigne Touba or "Sheikh of Touba", was a wali, Sufi saint and religious leader in Senegal and the founder of the Mouride Brotherh ...

(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