Unforgettable Hospitality In Kaolack, Senegal 

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By;  MOHAMMED ABDULLAHI

To many Nigerian Muslim faithful,  Kaolack, a region about 230 kilometers outside Dakar, capital of Senegal, is a place of pilgrimage for learning, understanding and associating with the Tijaniyya sect of Islam popularised by Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse. Sheikh Niasse fondly called Sheikh al-Islam is a man of many firsts, including being the first West African, black man to lead prayers in the revered Al-Azhar Mosque in Egypt as well as serving as the first Vice President of the Muslim World League, an international Islamic NGO based and founded in Makkah, Saudi Arabia in 1962 by King Faisal Abdulaziz ibn Al Saud.

R-L : Writer with Sheikh Mouhamadou Mahy Cisse

I was visiting Dakar for the first time to experience and report the third edition of the Sahara Conference of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The BAL in its third year is an initiative of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Africa to promote basketball talent across the continent. Kwara Falcons, champions of the premier basketball league in Nigeria is one of the six teams battling in Dakar to clinch four slots for the BAL playoff finals scheduled for Kigali, Rwanda between 21 and 27 May, later this year. 

It is Friday and I craved to say my Jumuat prayers at the Sheikh Niasse mosque in Kaolack. Earlier on Thursday, I did book transportation online Senegal Dem Dikk, public transportation from Dakar to all other major regions of the country. 7am on Friday, seated in an air-conditioned coach, we set out for Kaolack driving through other major cities including, Fatick and Gandiaye. Less than 30 minutes to arriving Kaolack, I was struggling with the language barrier while asking fellow passengers where would be my best stop in order to easily access the Sheikh Niasse mosque popularly called the Medina Baye Niasse. An elderly man in his mid-sixties spoke to me in English relieving my anxiety.  Abdoulaye Mohamed who apparently has visited many parts of Nigeria asked me, “where are you from my friend? When I replied Nigeria, he simply mentioned he has visited many Nigerian states including Lagos, Abuja, Sokoto, Kano and Kaduna for religious activities. “Are you going to Baye Niasse?” he asked. I told him, I am visiting for the first time to experience Kaolack, Pa Abdoulaye offered to be my host for the entirety of my stay in Kaolack.

We arrived Kaolack, hot and sandy city at about 10:30am after over three hours smooth drive from Dakar and headed straight to the family home of Sheikh Mahmun Niasse, one of the children of Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse, where I was given free, decent accommodation and food. Sheikh Tijjani Niasse, paternal grandson of Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse became my guide showing me around the Baye Niasse mosque and Kaolack city which bares striking resemblance to northern Nigeria in terms of building and street structures. After the Jumuat prayers, we were guests of Sheikh Mouhamadou Mahy Cisse at his residence. Sheikh Mahy, maternal grandson of Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse is a globally revered scholar currently serving as the official spokesperson of Tijaniyyah and the Director of Studies at the African American Islamic Institute.

“The world needs peace and love which is the legacy of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) whom Allah has sent to all mankind to take people from darkness to light. The more we spread peace and love, the more we uphold the legacy of the Prophet (peace be upon him),” Sheikh Mahy admonished. 

After Sheikh Mahy’s admonition, it was time for lunch. Sheikh Mahy led more than forty persons gathered in his modestly furnished living room in eating from same bowls with bare hands showing love in practicality, irrespective of cadre and nationality.

I wondered about this profound hospitality accorded me and the simplicity of the Niasse family. A Nigerian student, Misbahudeen who has been living in the city for the past five years and speaks Wollof, the local Senegalese language fluently, confirmed that overwhelming hospitality towards strangers is not just associated with the Niasse family, but rather a prominent culture of Kaolack, expressed by both rich and the poor.

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