Upon arrival to the mosque in Yoff, there was a woman dressed in yellow who was on the outside with praying beads. Over the course of our tour, she migrated towards the inside of the gates in front of the well and sat down with her praying beads. I wonder if this woman comes here a lot ? Does she live in this neighborhood ? Was there something specific going on her life that made her come her ? What about the mosque makes one linger around the grounds.
When we went inside of the mosque that also served as the burial site for Mohammed, the Senegalese-based students and few of the American students began to meditate around the burial grounds. Most of the students saw this to be a moment to pray. Given the significance of the space shared by the Imam, why was it that students who were muslim and non-muslim felt the need to participate in some form of religious performativity ?
Our professor brought us to a site where the traditional African rituals are performed. He shared that when his grandmother was sick she was brought to this exact location for rituals to be performed. Our professor said that at the end of the ritual, his grandmother had been healed. At this site, there had been a Boab tree that had recently been moved. However, this site still holds its significance regardless of the lack of Boab trees. However, as a physical space there is a lot of trash and garbage that is laying around. Why does the community treat their space as such ?Why wasn’t the mosque nearby held in the same condition ? Who is responsible for keeping this particular religious ground clean?
On the way to witness the healing ritual, there was a public square that had murals of all of the Maurid religious leaders and scholars. During the ritual, the woman how was sick had to lay in between two goats (which were about to be sacrificed). They leader of the ritual seemed to be heavily involved in the community, many of which greeted him. During his talk with the students his phone was constantly ringing. During the ritual, there were multiple blankets placed on top of the woman and the two goats. Members of the community began to come. The musicians started to take their place. Men and women began to dance in circles surrounding the blanket. The men and women were separated by gender in the circle. The energy of the music and the energy of the circle was noticeable. Men and women began to pass out to the beat of the drums and their correlational dancing. What is going to happen to the woman after the ritual ? Was her ailment going to be fixed ? What happens if she her sickness does not go away ? This ritual felt more cultural than religious, why ?
Senegalese religiosity has been a very important mediating factor in the way Senegalese people reclaim post-colonial space. Religiosity and spirituality offers a way to navigate post-colonial spaces as subjects. I believe that it is very important to capture the narrative of the Senegalese people who live in what is considered to be one of the most sacred spaces in Senegal: Touba and Yoff. The Mouride constitute one of the most important brotherhoods in Senegal, and the most important Sufi brotherhood in Sub-Saharan Africa. The religious center of Mourides is the city of Touba, which houses one of the largest mosques in Africa. Each year, the Mourides commemorate the exile of Marabout Ahmadou Bamba during Magal, celebrated in the holy city of Touba. Yoff is home to the Layene brotherhood, the third largest of the Muslim brotherhoods of Senegal. Yoff is home to the Grande Mosquée de Yoff, an elaborate mosque, the mausoleum of its founder, and of several of his descendants.
After visiting both of these spaces, I witnessed how much the colonial history is heavily associated with the current beliefs and practices today. The integration of the current belief and practices today seems to aid the people of Senegal in their piety. For instance, possible questions include what are the rules in Yoff and how does it help one occupy the space? How do processes such as initiation allow one to have a direct line of communication with God, and does its spiritual and mystical component aid in one’s existence in a post-colonial space. It is with this information that I would like to study how Senegalese religiosity constitutes itself in the existence of individuals in a post-colonial space.
