Serigne Mouhamadou Moustapha Mbacké

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Serigne Mouhamadou Moustapha Mbacké (1888–1945) was a Senegalese religious leader and the first Caliph of the Mouride Brotherhood, a major Sufi order based in Senegal. He was the eldest son of Sheikh Amadou Bamba.

Born in 1888 in Daaru Salaam, his mother was Soxna Aminata Lo, and his Quranic studies were taught by his maternal uncle, Serigne Ndame Abdu Rahman Lo.

He became the Mouride caliph after his father died in 1927. One of his main projects was the Great Mosque of Touba. In 1928 he secured a 400-hectare land lease for the project and began work to connect Touba by rail to support it. Construction of the Diourbel-Touba railway started, facing delays from colonial authorities. The first stone of the Grand Mosque was laid on March 4, 1932. Building continued until 1939, when World War II halted progress; it later resumed under the next caliph.

In 1928 he organized Touba’s first Magal festival, which drew tens of thousands of worshippers. He was known as a conciliator, and in 1938 he helped mediate the Dakar-Niger railway workers’ strike, aiding to end the clashes between workers and authorities.

Serigne Mouhamadou Moustapha Mbacké died on July 13, 1945, in Touba, at about age 57. He left behind children including Cheikh Ahmadou Mbacke Gainde Fatma and Serigne Mbacké Madina. He was succeeded as caliph by Serigne Mouhamadou Fallilou Mbacké.