Cherished Memories of Africa — Page 31
23 AHMADIYYAT IN SENEGAL First Bai’at in Senegal There was an old register with record of early bai’aits in the Gambia mission. According to that Mr Abdullah Gauye was the first to perform bai’at in Senegal, round about 1965. However, when in Senegal, I tried a lot to find him but failed. Later I learned from some sources that he was not in Senegal any more. Mr Hamad Bah is the one whom we can call the earliest Ahmadi convert in Senegal. He is from Kampamant village in Late Mengui area of Kaolack region. He performed the bai’at in the presence of Choudhry Muhammad Sharif Sahib, the then Amir of the Gambia Jama’at. He belongs to the Fulani tribe (they herd cattle and keep moving around to various pasturelands throughout the year). He belonged to Qadariya sect. He spent some time with spiritual guides ( pirs ) of this sect to gain knowledge. However, because of the character and deeds of these so-called scholars, rather than getting closer to them, he distanced himself from them. At last, he left them to search for some other source of truth. One day he went to Salekini - a village in the Gambia, where we have a very sincere and devout jama’at by the Grace of Allah. There he met an Ahmadi – Nuha Toure. Mr Nuha introduced him to the jama’at. He saw glimmer of truth in Nuha’s talk. That gradually brought him closer to the jama’at. He wanted to go to the centre of the Ahmadiyya jama’at and find out more to satisfy himself, thus making it easier for him to decide.