Mam Diarra Bousso - the Mourid Mother of Porokhane, Senegal

Abstract

The aim of this article is to spread knowledge about Mam Diarra Bousso, the mother of Shaykh Amadou Bamba, the founder of Mouridism in Senegal. El Mouridiyya is a tariqa (Arabic:"path", Sufi order) growing in size and importance in Senegal and in the Senegalese Diaspora around the world. I will write about the Mam Diarra cult and rituals developing in Porokhane, a Mourid pilgrimage place in Senegal, where the mother of the founder is buried. The purpose is to contribute to an increased gender balance in the literature, which has concentrated largely on the greatest male personality, Shaykh Amadou Bamba, or Serigne Touba as he is called. My objective is to make visible Mam Diarra Bousso, a female religious ideal in contemporary Mouridism. She is gaining in popularity among Mourid believers globally. I am adding citations from some of the legends and songs that are found in the oral tradition about this exemplary mother. Parts of the legend are presented in the very form that they have been told by Mourid women in Touba and Diourbel.