Kaffrine, Feb 6 (APS) – The religious city of Diamal, located three kilometers from Birkilane (Kaffrine region), and visited by an APS team on the sidelines of the eleventh edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (FESNAC ), is presented as a religious center of great reputation which has trained great scholars of Islam, said the head of the village of Diamal, Serigne Ousmane Cissé.
Sitting next to the Caliph General of Diamal in the large family home, Serigne Mouhamadou Lamine Cissé and all the notables of the village, he returned on the history of this Islamic temple which has gave birth to many schools of learning the Koran like the University of Pire.
Less famous than Pire, the religious city of Diamal, founded in 1910 by El Hadji Abdoulaye Cissé Borom Diamal is preparing to celebrate the 27e edition of its annual ziarra scheduled for February 25.
On the road that leads to this village, fields stand on either side of the track, testifying to the place reserved for working the land in this village which, in the distance, offers as its first backdrop the minarets of the great mosque, witnesses of its orientation towards teaching of all subjects of Islamic sciences from ”Fiqh” Islamic law to astronomy through grammar and Arabic literature.
Son of Ousmane and Awa Dramé, El hadj Abdoulaye Cissé, born in 1845 in Wanar (village which shelters megalithic circles classified world heritage of UNESCO), in the commune of Mbabo (department of Birkilane), is a great scholar of Islam who, very early on, memorized the Koran with his father.
This religious center remains a reference in Islamic education in Senegal, according to the chief of the village of Diamal, Serigne Ousmane Cissé, one of the grandsons of Borom Diamal.
“In 1870, the marabout or Borom Diamal left the village on the orders of his uncle El Hadji Malick Dramé, accompanied by four people, to go to Mbacké Kajoor, where he met, Mame Anta Saly Mbacké, father of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, the founder of the Mouride brotherhood, to acquire other knowledge,” he points out.
El Hadji Abdoulaye Cissé stayed four years at the daara of Mame Mor Anta Saly Mbacké to improve his skills further and acquire new knowledge, says Serigne Ousmane Cissé, adding that he then stayed in Saint-Louis with many of his talibés.
”It is there that he will establish relations of fraternal friendship with El Hadji Malick Sy, figure of the Tidjaniya, initiator of the Gamou of Tivaouane, to whom he will entrust all his disciples when he leaves for the Mauritania ”, testifies Serigne Ousmane Cissé who quotes among the talibés of Borom Diamal: Elimane Sakho, the father of El Hadji Ibrahima Sakho, better known under the name of Ibou Sakho, great scholar tidiane, and Tafsir Abdou Cissé, father of the founder of the religious city of Pire, Ahmadou Cissé.
“On his return from Mauritania, the marabout, Khaly Madiakhate Kala entrusted him with the daara of Chérif Lô, in the department of Tivaouane, says the family spokesperson. Then he moved to Ndiary still in the Thiès region, then to Kakoun in Cayor again where several talibés from Saloum came to join him.
According to him, it was in this village, precisely in 1900, that he decided, with a good part of his talibés and at his mother’s request, to return to Saloum, with his famous horse, ”Gagangue”.
He reports that “during this trip, according to the late Abdoul Aziz Sy junior, he had left El Hadji Malick Sy, more than 50 talibés among his disciples”.
“He is a great scholar who respected the rules of Islam. He received twelve supreme authorizations. In Diamal, it was he himself who founded the village, delimited the space of the mosque, the mausoleum, the public square and homes”, explains Serigne Ousmane Cissé.
The teaching of Islam, Borom Diamal’s hobbyhorse
In this religious city where there are more than 40 daaras, spaces are reserved for learning the Koran in the houses where children aged three and over, seated comfortably on mats, the men in front, the women behind, s devote themselves to reading Koranic verses.
Diamal thus maintains its reputation as a religious center with a great reputation thanks to the teaching of Islam, its hobbyhorse. ”Since 1910, education from primary to university level has been provided,” notes Serigne Ousmane Cissé.
According to him, many religious personalities took their first steps in Diamal. The religious guide quotes El Hadj Ibou Sakho from Louga, El hadj Omar Ndao from Darou Salam Nioro, the Makhtar Ouly Touré school in Thioyene in Niombato, the Babacar Koba Ndao school in Pire, the Abdou Kandj school, among others .
“Borom Diamal, who died in 1925 and was buried in the village, trained many generations. He was a great academic, a scholar, a visionary, which is why he encouraged his talibés to learn, to Islamic teaching and to work especially in agriculture”, he reveals.
Diamal pleads for its modernization
The religious city is today preoccupied by the many challenges it must meet to change its face. It asks to benefit from the program of modernization of the religious cities set up by the State of Senegal.
“Everyone knows Diamal and Borom Diamal. We ask for more consideration for Diamal like the other religious centers in Senegal. Programs are announced in the other religious centers, but we never thought of Diamal. We defend the modernization of Diamal”, pleads the spokesman of the caliph.
Major projects were announced by the Caliph General of Diamal, including the enlargement of the great mosque, the public square, the construction of a mausoleum, a modern daara, a guest house and a post of health worthy of the name, which meets the standards, lists the family of El Hadji Abdoulaye Cissé, borom Diamal.
Each year, the religious city organizes a big ziarra to revisit the life, work and teachings of Borom Diamal. This year, the 27th edition will take place on February 25, under the aegis of the Caliph General of the family, Serigne Mouhamadou Lamine Cissé, with the main theme “the role of religious education in the consolidation of security and of the country’s social stability.
To deal with the many abuses noted in our societies, the Caliph General recommends more discipline to youth, respect for religious guides, institutions for the stability of the country.
”Senegal is a land of peace and stability. Everyone must work in this direction,” recommended the marabout.