Mame Cheikh Ibrahima Fall: “Lamp Fall,” the Light of the Mouride Path (c. 1855–1930)
A prince of Cayor
Mame Cheikh Ibrahima Fall was born around 1855 in Ndiaby Fall, a village near Kébémer, in the Cayor region of Senegal. His father, Amadou Rokhaya Fall, was a respected Islamic scholar, and his mother was Sokhna Seynabou Ndiaye.
Through his father, he belonged to the princely aristocracy of Cayor, a lineage that destined him for power and honor. Yet from his youth, his heart was turned elsewhere.
A seeker of the true master
He studied the Holy Quran and the Islamic sciences in his father’s school. But knowledge alone did not satisfy him: he was searching for a spiritual guide who could lead him to God. Tradition tells that a dream revealed to him that this master was alive on earth. His search led him through Taïba Ndakhar and finally to Mbacké Cayor.
The meeting with Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba (1884)
On the 20th day of Ramadan 1301 AH (1884), at Mbacké Cayor, Ibrahima Fall met Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba and gave him his total allegiance:
“I have left everything behind for a Master who can lead me close to God.”
From that day on, the young prince gave up his rank, his ambitions and his own will. Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba soon placed him among the leaders of his first disciples.
A faith stronger than need
In his first years of spiritual training beside Serigne Touba, he owned almost nothing. One day, wanting to replace the rags he wore, he set out to find new clothes. On the way, he saw a baobab stripped of all its leaves and stopped:
“This baobab will not have more faith than I do. It stays here because it knows God will cover it with new leaves.”
He gave up his search and went back to his service. He kept this detachment all his life. Lying on a simple mattress on the floor in his house in Thiès, in a dark room where there was nothing left, he told his disciple Cheikh Tall Galo:
“Talla, the life of this world is only an illusion.”
The way of service: the Baye Fall
Ibrahima Fall showed a new way of following a spiritual guide: through total devotion and hard work. He farmed vast fields, organized the disciples, and gathered resources for the Mouride community. He is often called the “minister of finance” of the Mouride path, and those who followed his example became known as the Baye Fall.
His generosity toward his master had no limit. One year, he had ten granaries of millet prepared for Serigne Touba. Another time, a disciple brought him twelve sheep as a gift, and he found a letter from Serigne Touba waiting for him, asking for sheep. He smiled and said:
“It is as if the true owner knew his goods were arriving.”
He insisted that the work be done for God alone, without laziness. One Mawlid night, finding disciples asleep, he woke them with his foot:
“Get up and work for Serigne Bamba! You will sleep as much as you like when you are in your graves.”
A love without limits for Serigne Touba
His respect for Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba was boundless:
- Ablutions before every visit: whenever Serigne Touba called him, he made his ablutions on the way.
- Washing his master’s clothes: when Serigne Touba sent him his clothes to wash, he drank some of the water and kept part of it in bottles as a blessed remedy.
- Asking for remedies: when he asked Serigne Touba for a healing potion (saafara), he sent a teapot and 500 francs with the request, a large sum at the time.
- Asking forgiveness: once, sitting beside Serigne Touba, he said “La ilaha illallah” aloud three times. He immediately sent for all the wealth in his house, laid it before his master and apologized:
“I beg your forgiveness. I was not glorifying God in front of you; I was only breathing with these words.”
He saw his master as beyond comparison:
“Of all God’s creatures, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba is the most courageous.”
“If anyone dares to compare someone to Serigne Touba, it means the day of crossing the Bridge is still far away.”
Speaking to Massamba Ndiaye Waqqi, he explained it with an image:
“While a child is in its mother’s womb, isn’t that its whole world? And once it is born, isn’t its world infinitely larger? Whoever compares his own guide to Serigne Touba and to me should know that his guide is to us what the mother’s womb is to life on earth.”
He also said:
“Serigne Bamba gave me gifts that I saw with my own eyes. Then I went to him, and he opened my eyes so fully that I now see only him.”
Teaching the disciples
Mame Cheikh Ibrahima Fall educated his disciples with patience, wisdom and firmness.
On respect. One day, his disciple Salih Gningue spat on the ground while preparing meat. Mame Cheikh said nothing. The next day he called him: “Salih, sit like a disciple.” Salih knelt. “Now sit like a king.” Salih crossed his legs comfortably. Then Mame Cheikh taught him:
“My son, when you behave badly toward God, He moves away from you. When you honor Him, He stays close to you.”
On cleanliness. When a disciple refused to pass him a bowl because it was dirty, he answered:
“You said it yourself. Take care to wash, for God does not place His light in an unclean body.”
On humility. He once sent two of his wives, one a princess and one the daughter of a religious guide, to walk to Serigne Touba’s house eating a piece of bread on the way, to free them from pride. When the disciple told Serigne Touba that Mame Cheikh wanted them protected from the fire, Serigne Touba replied: “Does Cheikh Ibra Fall doubt my word? I told him that all his disciples are protected from hell.”
On fear and faith.
“Whoever is afraid of a threat has no faith in God, and neither does the one who makes threats.”
On true blessing.
“The approval of a ruler and the approval of a Mouride guide look alike, but their benefits differ. Whoever has the approval of a Cheikh whom God has approved will obtain all he desires. The approval or curse of a Cheikh whom God has not approved has no value. Whoever cannot bring you a blessing cannot curse you.”
Honoring the family of Serigne Touba
He taught his disciples to respect the children of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba above all:
“A son of Serigne Bamba can send anyone on a mission, but no one can send him on one. Whoever brings water to a son of Serigne Bamba for his ablutions will be blessed forever if, after his prayer, he turns toward him.”
When Serigne Bassirou Mbacké visited him at Ndiarème during Ramadan, Mame Cheikh brought him water to wash his hands and served him a meal with his own hands.
After the passing of Serigne Touba, the first Khalife, Serigne Mouhamadou Moustapha Mbacké, came to visit him while he was ill. Without thinking, Mame Cheikh said “La ilaha illallah” three times in front of him. Afterward, he sent him all the wealth he had, with this message:
“Tell him I was not glorifying God in front of him, only breathing. Tell him I ask his forgiveness.”
He also left this advice for the future:
“A world without Serigne Bamba and without me will be a dark world. At that time, I advise you to follow the sons of Serigne Bamba, for they hold the knowledge to guide all humanity.”
Building Touba
When the colonial authorities required a railway before the Great Mosque of Touba could be built, Mame Cheikh Ibrahima Fall sent 600 of his disciples to the work, coordinated by Serigne Abdoullahi Fall Ndar. He told them:
“You who answered my call for the work of the mosque of Touba, remember the words of Serigne Touba: ‘Whoever sends his disciple there, on his return the disciple becomes his master.’ This railway is essential to complete the mosque. That is why I entrust it to you.”
His homes and his people
Mame Cheikh Ibrahima Fall lived in several places, including Saint-Louis, Thiès, Guémb Fall and Ndiarème Keur Cheikh (in Diourbel). Wherever he lived, he welcomed and served the people of God. In 1907, on his return from Mauritania, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba stayed in his house in Saint-Louis.
His promise to his master was eternal:
“Until the end of time, wherever Serigne Touba has a house, I will have one beside it.”
Marvels reported by his companions
His companions witnessed many extraordinary events, which they recounted with conviction:
- The rain held back: as the millet for Serigne Touba was being threshed, dark clouds covered the sky. Mame Cheikh went inside for a moment and came back; the clouds had disappeared. He explained: “I spoke to Mikā’il, the angel of rain. He told me he had received an order, so I went to see the One who gives the order.”
- The lamp: when he said a lamp was broken, the disciple checked and found it intact. Minutes later, it shattered. Mame Cheikh said: “God broke the lamp because I said it was broken. He wanted to honor my word.”
- Healed by a look: when he was ill with a lung disease, Serigne Touba sent a messenger to visit him instead of writing a remedy. As soon as the messenger entered, Mame Cheikh said: “He is right! He put the remedy in his eyes,” and the illness left him.
- The ship at war: disciples who went to war under Serigne Touba’s instruction told him that a German submarine had pierced their ship, yet it did not sink. He told them that Serigne Touba stood at the front of the ship and he at the back, watching over them.
Return to God
Mame Cheikh Ibrahima Fall returned to God on June 30, 1930, about three years after his master, in the Diourbel region. He was buried in Touba. He had asked:
“When I pass away, let my grave be deeper than that of Serigne Bamba.”
In his honor, the tallest minaret of the Great Mosque of Touba bears his name: Lamp Fall, “the light of Fall.” Like a lamp, he lit the way to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba for countless people.
Sayings of Mame Cheikh Ibrahima Fall
On the path
“I am the reference and the boundary of the path of Serigne Bamba. Whoever stops before reaching me has failed; whoever goes beyond me is lost.”
“Whoever wants the blessing of Serigne Touba must do as I do.”
“Until we leave this world, Serigne Bamba and I will be the only references of the Truth.”
On the disciples
“Give thanks to God. Last night I went to work near the Lord, and you were behind me. It is thanks to your errands and your remembrance of God between my house and that of Serigne Bamba that you reached this level.”
“Whoever succeeds me inherits everything from me. If he is ignorant, I will give him knowledge; if he is poor, I will give him wealth.”
On the hereafter
“In the hardest moments, on the Day of Judgment, whoever calls me, I will answer.”
“Know that on the Day of Resurrection I will keep the appearance you know me by. The earth will not consume my body.”
“Whoever holds back from speaking ill of others, whoever is a friend of God, and whoever knows the Quran: the earth will not consume their bodies.”
On recording his words
“If you had good sense, you would write down all my words. They would have become a priceless treasure.”