Touba

About Touba

Ṭouba is a city in central Senegal, part of Diourbel Region and Mbacké district. With a population of 1,120,824 in 2023, it is the second most populated Senegalese city after Dakar. It is the holy city of Mouridism and the burial place of its founder, Shaikh Ahmadou Bàmba Mbàcke. Next to his tomb stands a large mosque, completed in 1963.

The origin of the name is not certain and according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 'various etymologies have been current for the name', including Arabic tawba ('repentance'). The name is also superficially identical to the name of a tree in Paradise in Islamic tradition, Ṭūbā, and in Sufism, this symbolic tree represents an aspiration for spiritual perfection and closeness to God. But the Encyclopaedia concludes that the name of the place 'most likely stems from a reference to ṭūbā “blessing”'.

The city began life as a simple hamlet of the 'Baol'. 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...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.