Vocabulary

Economy: the system of how money is made and used in a group or nation

Observation: something seen or noticed

Piety: intentional devotion to Allah (God)

Pilgrimage: a trip taken for religious reasons

Sufi: a group of Muslims who seek a spiritual oneness with Allah. Their outer practice may differ from standard rituals. They focus on the inner expression of Islam.

Map of the Republic of Senegal. Touba is found in the upper left.

Touba is  one of the largest cities in the Republic of Senegal.  The Great Mosque of Touba is one of the largest, most beautiful mosques in West Africa. The largest city, and capital of Senegal, is Dakar.

Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba was a beloved religious leader in Touba, Senegal. He lived between 1853-1927. Brother Ahmadou founded the Mouride Brotherhood (a group of Sufi Muslims). During his lifetime, the French government oppressed the people of Senegal. Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba did not fight the French with weapons. Instead, he urged his followers to fight oppression by increasing their knowledge and piety. He taught that hard work  is one of the best ways to worship Allah (God).

Up to three million (3,000,000) Muslims make a pilgrimage to Touba each year. The pilgrimage is called the Grand Magal.

"Worship your Lord as if you will die tomorrow, work hard as if you will never die."
- Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba

Our Messenger teaches:

"For more than 40 long years, I have been calling on you to accept Heaven at once. You are rejecting it. You want it from the white man. I say, my friends, that today you have to do something for yourself. I say the white man has done a great thing for you to give you education how to go for yourself. I again give the white man credit for even trying to feed you when you are hungry. You are begging him and won’t work for Self! This is right. I say he is very nice to you because if I had a whole Nation of people into the millions and they would not go out and do something for themselves, I would sit down on them. I would.

But he nurses you like the slave or like his fathers did when you were under them in servitude slavery. He still nurses you - gives you bread and water, clothes, shelter, money, jobs, just to keep you with him."

Our Saviour Has Arrived - The Knowledge of God Himself (Saviour’s Day, February 26, 1969) pg. 37

"I say, Brothers, the time is here, that you should think for Self. You should build up an economy for Yourself. You say, "Why should I go out there and work and grow a crop when you are prophesying Judgement?" I say, "Brother, if Judgement comes tomorrow, you’ve go to eat today!" 

Our Saviour Has Arrived - The Knowledge of God Himself (Saviour’s Day, February 26, 1969) pg. 39

Left: A crowded van in Touba
Middle: Muslims on a pilgrimage in Touba
Right: Great Mosque of Touba

Brother Ahmadou Bamba

Think!

What are your observations about the city of Touba and the Great Mosque?

What are your observations about Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba and the pilgrimage?

What are your observations about our teachings about work?  Are they  different from Cheikh Ahmadu Bamba's beliefs about work?

Do you have any other observations?

Photo Credits: John Crane, Kateryna Serdiuk, Malickdieye38