Yesterday I was fortunate enough to travel with Shaykh Mahy to a conference in a small village in Gambia that borders with Senegal. I had wanted to travel with him in the past but the opportunity never arose and sometimes being the only female wanting to travel its not always appropriate. I was blessed as a dear friend of mine from Paris was visiting Medina with his wife so we all decided to travel together. The majority of the journey was not by road but on bumpy raw earth through fields and past cattle which meant that by the time we got to flat land I felt sea sick! Luckily I had a ginger sweet in my bag to settle my stomach. Its amazing what happens when you enter a country by land, one minute we were in Senegal and in the next moment we were in Gambia and the vibe was totally different. A calmness was present and the landscape was different very green and luscious reminding me of my homeland Jamaica. The village we arrived at was small and traditional and had a real community feel and they live within a compound system. The whole village was awaiting the arrival of Shaykh Mahy. The women were cooking, men were setting up the sound and preparing for the conference, stalls were set up, people gave up their homes for guests, children dressed in their best it really felt like a whole community had pulled together for this festive occasion. After we prayed Jumuah prayers me and the sister I travelled with were given our own space within the compound and they brought us some ridiculously delicious food! It was so good mashaAllah. Later my friend from Paris told me they had brought the Shaykh his food but before he started to eat he asked them where we were and if we had eaten too. MashaAllah I felt so touched to have been remembered, with the influx of people visiting him and preparations for an all night conference and all the phone calls he receives from across the globe just to be remembered in that instant really made me feel special. After lunch I walked around taking pictures of the small village and the people I encountered. People chilling under the mango tree, others drinking tea, the children, the women folk I just really wanted to capture the moment and share it with you guys as well as Shaykh Mahys talks after Wazifa. One of the things I enjoyed was the fact that in Gambia many people speak English, it was the first time since Ive been in Africa that Ive been able to talk children so I had a lovely conversation with the group of young boys I took a photos of. Later in the evening Shaykh Mahy told me this was the village of a dear Gambian shaykh who now lives in London that I know and respect dearly. Shaykh Mahy got one of the men in the village to take me to the house that he was born in to meet his elder brother who was really happy to meet me and even remembered me from a gathering in London where I had read a poem. He invited me in and told me about his life and the fact that he was raised by Shaykh Mahys father Sayyidi Ali Cissé from the age of 8 years old until he got married. He was fully under his care and was educated by him after which he travelled to Libya and Saudi Arabia to continue his studies in Islamic Studies and Arabic. A truly warm and humble man MashaAllah. There is a tradition here to start Mawlids and Conferences at 2am until Fajr, I have to admit I was a lightweight I had a nap and tried to wake up but I was so exhausted by the journey and little sleep the night before that I just couldnt do it. It was one of them ones where youre like Just 10 more minutes then you wake up at Fajr! Of course I wouldnt have understood anything I really just wanted to travel with my Shaykh and It was a wonderful experience to see the work that he does, not just in Medina Baye or when he comes to Europe and the US but also his responsibilities to small remote villages and the impact they have and even the advice he gave which was specific to their needs. Im so grateful Allah opened the door for me to travel and see more of Africa and also the efforts of my Shaykh, they give so much of themselves I pray Allāh continues to raise and increase them in goodness in this life and the next. Ameen Al Hamdullilah
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 18:34:35 +0000
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