Central Senegal

Touba is a town in central Senegal. It is the holy city of Mouridism, where Seex Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke, its founder, is buried. Next to his tomb lies a large mosque, completed in 1963.

Seex Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke (1853-1927) founded Touba under a large tree when, in a moment of transcendence, he experienced a cosmic vision of light. In Arabic, "ţûbâ" means "felicity", "bliss" or "beatitude", and evokes the sweet pleasures of eternal life in the hereafter. In Islamic tradition, Ţūbâ is also the name of the Tree of Paradise. Reliable reports from the Prophet Muhammad describe it as a great tree of astronomical proportions and many excellent attributes. In Sufism, this symbolic tree represents an aspiration for spiritual perfection and closeness to God Most-High.