In Search of Baraka

1999 Vol. 5: Sept/Oct

I was about twelve years old when I first saw the saint whom the Murids of Senegal call master, savior, and even god. I was just a city block away from our house, on my way to school, when out of nowhere a crowd of Muslims rushed toward the Murid mosque near by. I learned later that word had gotten out that the spiritual leader of the Murid Muslims had unexpectedly come there for prayer.

Within minutes, I witnessed a scene that is nearly as vivid in my mind today as it was then. Amidst shouting and shoving, people pushed past me; some even leaped over me in their attempt to get closer to an old man being hurriedly escorted to a waiting car.