Serigne Sam Mbaye

Islamologist and scholar of Louga (1922 – 1998)

Family : Place of birth : Louga ; Date of birth : January 1922 ; Mother : Sokhna Fatou Thiam ; Father : Mame Cheikh Mbaye (Ahmadou Sakhir Mbaye)

Education : He learned the Qur’an in Louga with Serigne Mbaye Touré, then studied the religious sciences at the Koki daara under Ahmadou Sakhir Lô: he was the first disciple of Koki to recite the whole Qur’an, in 1942. He continued his studies in Saint-Louis, then in Mauritania; other sources add Algeria and Tunisia, then the University of Dakar, where he obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate in Arabic.

Action : A teacher, he directed the Franco-Arabic school of Dakar and became the first headmaster of the Lycée Malick Sall in Louga; he also taught at the University of Dakar. Sought after by all the religious communities of Senegal, he gave hundreds of lectures and sermons in Senegal and in America, notably on Islam and the contemporary world, the Qur’anic message and Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba. On 30 June 1979 he presented the thought of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba and Mouride Sufism at UNESCO, in Paris. He translated many praise poems into French and published, among others, Massalikal jinaan and Al Jawharu-n-nafis.

Spiritual legacy : He was called back to God on 14 March 1998 and rests in Louga, in the palace mausoleum, beside his brother. His sermons, often in Wolof, remain references of preaching in Senegal; he is known for having promoted unity among the religious families.

Sources

• Wikipédia — Sam Mbaye
• Le Soleil — « Serigne Sam Mbaye (1922-1998) : le prêcheur de la famille de Mame Cheikh Mbaye »
• Leader Sénégalais — « Portrait d’un homme multidimensionnel : l’érudit Serigne Sam Mbaye »

Serigne Sam Mbaye at UNESCO — Mouride Sufism · Founding of the Daara of Koki