Who Is the Mahdi?
Historical background of layene community

Al Mahdiyou Seydina Limamou Lahi (PBUH)

Seydina Issa Rohou Lahi (PBUH)
The caliphs of the Mahdi
Genealogy of Seydina Limamou Lahi (PBUH)
The Early disciples of Mahdi
The holy places
Religious practices According the teachings of Seydina Limamou Lahi (PBUH)
The sermons
 
 


YOFF - DIAMALAYE

This photo shows the first building that was raised as mausoleum for Sayidina Limamu Lahi Al Mahdi (P.B.O.H.) Its look changed several times to become progressively a modern building . Most changes have  been made under the supervision of Sayidina Mame Al Hassan Lahi who was a mason by profession.
This holy place contains the greatest  symbols of the Layene community . There is the rest place of the Saint Master (P.B.O.H.) and also the sacred well, which Sayidina Limamu dug a few yards from the seaside and containing fresh  and holy water  . It can be seen on the left of the photo. The place is covered with fine and clean sand. It is used for mass prayers on Korite and Tabaski days and also for great ceremonies gathering the Layene community. This place used to be covered by the sea  and it was won from the water  by the Mahdi  (P.B.O.H.).

                 

 
 

CAMBERENE (KËM-MEDINE)  

Camberene is populated by Layenes at 95% . They represent the biggest Layene community  in Senegal.
It is the second holy place of the Layenes. There is the mausoleum of Sayidina Issa Ruhu Lahi called also Diamalaye. The vast sandy area in front of the mausoleum is used for mass religious gatherings. This photo shows the big mosque of the village on the day of its official opening in 1937 in the presence of French colonial authorities . It was the first mosque that Sayidina Issa built on earth.

The village was first founded by Sayidina Limamu (P.B.O.H.) in another place called Ndingala  on the South-East. It was in 1914 that Sayidina Issa moved it to its present place because of a plague epidemics which made many victims

NDINGALA
(Ancien Camberene)
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It is the place where Sayidina Limamu (P.B.O.H.) settled with his disciples when they left Yoff because of the persecution of his relatives who rejected his prophetic mission.
His disciples came from various places in the country to answer to his call.
He called the place Kam Madina ( like Medine in Arabic). It is also called now Guentaba . This photo shows the famous well containing holy water known to have the power to heal many sicknesses . People come from distant places to fetch it for drinking or a curing bath.
There is also the legendary baobab tree which witnessed many episodes of the Mahdi’s mission.

Ndingala is a sacred place where people come from everywhere in the country to pray and seek God’s favours . It was there, on a small sand hill above the village  that Sayiduna Limamu had a meeting with the community of djinns who had responded to his call, for this call was addressed to men and djinns. He clearly called: “Ya  mahsharal djinni wal insi innii Rasulu lahi ilaykum.

NGUEDIAGA
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It is a small sand hill behind Malika village on which a small bush has grown in the shape of a vault.
 It  is in that vault  that Sayiduna Limamu (P.B.O.H.) found refuge when he was persecuted by the colonial authorities, three years after the proclamation of his mission. He stayed hidden there for three days before he was found out and taken to prison in Goree.
Those who have visited the place know that he could have stayed there a long time without being discovered if he wanted to

 


NGOR

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In this place there is a grotto in the rock on the seaside near the Mamelle light-house  Sayiduna Limamu (P.B.O.H.) said that his spirit had stayed in that grotto for 1000 years  before he began his mission. Every night he travelled  the world round looking for the right place and the right people that he would settle in to deliver his message as Mahdi. This place is curiously called Almadi and some people say that the name was not due to mere chance: it meant that the Mahdi was there . This grotto is visited by thousands of people  every year especially on the first day of the annual celebration of the Adjibo., when the Layene community gather there for prayers and zikr.

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