Grand Magal of Touba

The Grand Magal of Touba is the largest annual pilgrimage of the Senegalese Mouride Brotherhood or tariqa (Islamic Sufi order), in which millions of Mourides gather in honor of Cheikh Amadou Bamba, the brotherhood's founder. It takes place on the 18th of Safar, the second month of the Islamic calendar, in the holy Mouride city of Touba, Senegal.^[1] It commemorates the 1895 exile of Bamba to Gabon by the French colonial government and dates back to his death in 1927. The next Grand Magal will take place on November 7, 2017.

Etymology and history

"Magal" is a Wolof word derived from the verb "mag," which means "to be important" or "to be old"; the noun form is translated as "celebration" or "anniversary."^[2] Although there are other Mouride magals, the Grand Magal is the most important and widely-attended of them.^[3]

Originally, Cheikh Amadou Bamba requested that his followers celebrate the anniversary of his exile to Gabon.^[1] However, after his death in 1927, Bamba's son and successor Serigne Moustapha Mbacke instituted an annual gathering of the Mourides (estimated at 70,000 at that time^[2]) set for the anniversary of Bamba's death. The first gathering of this kind occurred in 1928. This date remained until 1946, when it was changed to the anniversary of Bamba's exile by Serigne Moustapha Mbacke's successor, Falilou Mbacke. The period of exile in Gabon holds great importance to Mourides: it is seen as a time of persecution and test of Bamba's spiritual strength and resolve^[4] and has parallels with the Prophet Muhammad's exile from Mecca [citation?].

The Grand Magal has grown over the years, from hundreds of thousands of pilgrims attending in the later decades of the twentieth century to nearly 2 million in 2000 and 3 million in 2012.^[1][5]

Dates of the Grand Magal

The date of the Grand Magal is determined by the Islamic calendar (known as Hijri calendar or AH), which is based on the lunar year. Each year, the events of the pilgrimage begin on the 18th of Safar and last for two days. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date for the Grand Magal changes from year to year. Thus, each year in the Gregorian calendar, the pilgrimage starts eleven days (sometimes ten days) earlier than the preceding year. This makes it possible for the pilgrimage season to fall twice in one Gregorian year, and it does so every 33 years, most recently in 2013. The table below shows the Gregorian dates of the Grand Magal of recent years:

Rites and rituals

The Grand Magal is at once a ceremony and a festival, containing both religious rituals and entertainment. The rites of the pilgrimage bear similarities to those of the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. The two central events of the Magal are visits to the Great Mosque of Touba, which involves a partial circumambulation of the mosque,^[1] and to the mausoleum of Cheikh Amadou Bamba, which is believed to be infused with the barakah, or spiritual power, of the Cheikh. Pilgrims may wait for over six hours for a few minutes of prayer at these locations [citation?].

Pilgrims also visit the mausoleums of other important Mouride leaders, many of whose tombs are located near the mosque. Other common sites to visit include the "Well of Mercy," said to have been created by God to flow for Cheikh Amadou Bamba, and the central library of Touba, which contains the many writings of the Cheikh and other influential Mourides. Lastly, pilgrims take the chance to visit their personal spiritual guides, or marabouts, during the Grand Magal; each prominent Mouride marabout has a residence in the city from which he accepts visits. During the night, pilgrims gather to sing sacred hymns and hear the Cheikh's poems recited.

There is also a political dimension to the Grand Magal, in which the most prominent Mouride leaders, including the head of the Brotherhood or Caliph General (currently Serigne Sidy Mokhtar Mbacké^[9]), grant audiences to official government delegations and others of political importance. The tradition has roots in the colonial period, when it was created to diffuse tension and demonstrate mutual recognition between the powerful Mourides and the French colonial government.^[2]

Informally, pilgrims also visit Touba's renowned marketplace, one of the biggest in the country. Due to decreased government presence in Touba, business is conducted with little state regulation or oversight, and a wide range of products can thus be found, with prices lower than anywhere else in Senegal.

Arrangement and facilities

The large number of pilgrims in Touba during the Grand Magal demands an intense degree of organization and logistical management. Workers must act with a high degree of discipline, solidarity, and single-mindedness; the Mouride Baye Fall sect are the principle stewards of the pilgrimage. Additionally, different local associations of Mourides (called da'iras) are responsible for maintaining different pilgrimage sites^[2] and residents of Touba are religiously obligated to welcome and feed the pilgrims.^[1] The Senegalese government also provides some technical support, although this is generally kept to a minimum due to the religious nature of the event and site. In 2014, 1300 policemen and 160 healthcare workers were deployed to Touba, and the army gave out bread rolls and coffee.^[6]

Preparations begin officially on 1 Safar, seventeen days before the pilgrimage begins, and are led by the Committee of Organization of the Grand Magal of Touba.^[10]

References