Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba - Life, Teachings and Poetry (3rd Edition)

The Founding of Touba In 1302 HIJRA, Serigne Touba had a vision of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). The Prophet told him to begin teaching his disciples by spiritual attraction (Himma) and not only by scholarly methods. Serigne Touba called all of his disciples together for a meeting. He told them that those who were only seeking scholarly knowledge could go and seek it elsewhere because it can  be found anywhere. He told them that those who are seeking Allah must stay and follow him. In Islam, the vision of the Prophet is a controversial subject. Some scholars say it is not possible to see the Prophet in a wakeful state. Some scholars say it may be possible for some individuals who have obtained a high spiritual level. Some scholars prefer to remain neutral on the subject  because they have not experienced the vision. In the history of Islam, there have been hundreds of saints and spiritual people who confirm the vision of the Prophet by experience. Some of them saw the Prophet several times in their life. Some of them would see him all of the time throughout their life. Some of them would even see him more than once in the same day. In Sufism, a lot of Cheikhs of tariqats receive their wirds and spiritual teachings from the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Examples of this are Abu Hasan Shadhili, Sidi Ahmad Tidjani, Sidi Ahmed Idriss, Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, Abu-l-Abbas al-Mursi and Abdul Qadir Jilani - May Allah be  pleased with all of them. Jalel Eddine Soyouti wrote a famous book on this subject entitled “Explanation about the possibility of seeing the Angels and the Prophets.” Another person who explained this subject in detail is Yusuf Al-Nabahani (1265-1350 HIJRA / 1855-1930) from Palestine. He was the president of the high court of Beirut. He wrote several books on the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), Awlia and their Karma. One of his books about the vision of the Prophet is entitled, “Saasdat Eddarein: Bliss of this and the next life”. After Serigne Touba’s vision of the Prophet, he started to do a lot of spiritual retreats in the forest. When he would stay in the forest for an extended period of time, his disciples would come to look for him. One time when they went to look for him, they saw a hunter in the forest. They gave the hunter a description of Serigne Touba and asked him if he had seen a man fitting this description. He told them that he had seen a man that fit this description about five miles from where they were. He described the area that he had seen him in. When the disciples arrived there, they found Serigne Touba sitting under a tree by a pond. Serigne Touba told his disciples that this is the place where they should build the mosque. He told them that this land would be a holy city, founded for the worship of Allah and the glorification of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This marked the founding of Touba. At this time, Touba was an uncultivated forest that had never been previously inhabited. In this forest, there were lots of poisonous and dangerous wild animals. Serigne Touba designed the city of Touba according to sacred geometry. The mosque is in the center of the city. The districts expand outward in circles around the mosque. The names of some of the districts are Dar El Salaam (House of Peace), Dar El Quddus (House of the Holy), Dar El Minan (House of the Gifts of Allah) and Dar El Alim Khabir (House of the All-Knowing). When Serigne Touba told the disciples to build the mosque, many other disciples moved there to help develop the area. Serigne Touba started giving his spiritual teachings there and had the disciples begin the agricultural development of the land. He divided disciples into many different groups and gave each group different methods of spiritual realization. He made the head of each group a Cheikh to lead their spiritual development. When the small mosque of Bait El Quddus

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