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MOSLEM HOLIDAYS
As a predominantly Moslem country, the people of Senegal celebrate the following religious holidays based on the lunar calendar. Observance of these holidays usually involves special prayers and the offering of charity, followed by feasting and sometimes dancing. These are also special occasions for Senegalese to dress up and visit with friends and relatives.TAMKHARIT - This marks the beginning of the new year on the Moslem calendar and falls on the 9th day of the first Moslem month. The celebration starts at sunset when a special meal has been preparedusually couscous with chicken, beef or lamb. At the end of the meal, when only couscous is left, milk is poured over the grains and eaten. A piece of meat saved from Tabaski is also served since it is said to bring good luck. Everyone eats as much as he can and invites less fortunate individuals to share, for no one must go hungry on this night so that a prosperous year may be ensured. After the meal everyone makes a wish while dropping the couscous bowl. A verse from the Koran is recited 1,111 times to ensure forgiveness of one's sins. The young follow a "trick or treat" type tradition, boys dress in girls' garments and vice versa, tour the neighbourhood or village singing and dancing in each house to receive gifts such as millet, rice sugar, and sometimes money. In villages, one day is picked to cook large meals with the bounty and further celebrate.
MAOULOUD (Gamou) - Mohammed's birthday is celebrated on the eleventh day of the third Moslem month. At night, prayer vigils organized by the various Moslem brotherhoods usually continue through the night. The town of Tivaouane hosts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims on this night as the Tidjanes gather for Gamou, the Wolof term for Maouloud.
KORITE - Moslems of Senegal welcome the end of Ramadan with a great celebration. The holiday takes place the morning after the sighting of the new moon. In the morning the father and sons go to the mosque to pray and then have a light meal of "laax" (millet cereal with curdled milk). A large meal is served at midday. In the afternoon people visit with friends and relatives exchanging the greeting "Dewenati" ("May God grant us life for next year".) Women and girls get dressed in their finest and go from door to door in their neighborhoods or villages, frequently asking for money as a gift.
TABASKI - This most important holiday is celebrated in honor of the sacrifice Abraham was willing to make in fulfillment of God's will. Two months and 10 days after Korite marks the time of this feast. Tabaski is a very important holiday in Senegal; the head of the family often saves up for months in order to afford a ram to be sacrificed. After morning prayers at the mosque the head of the family slaughters the ram by slitting its throat and letting the blood drain into a hole in the earth. After he skins it and divides it among neighbours and family he is offered the grilled liver. With the remaining meat the women prepare a big feast. Everyone tries to obtain new clothes for this holiday. Moslems who are able, make their pilgrimage to Mecca at this time to coincide with this feast.
Finally, a Mouride festival, while not a holiday which is celebrated in a family setting as are the above, is so important in Senegal that it must be mentioned: The "Magal" of Touba. This day commemorates the return of the "saint" Amadou Bamba from exile and is marked by a mass assembly of the faithful (approximately one million) at the tomb of Bamba. This is an occasion for the Khalife General (grand marabout who is the present head of the brotherhood) to exhort the faithful, and for the faithful to touch the very ground where Bamba walked. Most of the transport in Senegal is requisitioned for this immense prayer gathering leaving the streets of Dakar virtually deserted. Today, even brotherhood members from Europe and the US come to Touba for the Magal.
From
ACI