Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mystic and ascetic marabout who wrote tracts on meditation”. Today it says “sufi saint and founder of the mouride brotherhood”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Amadou Bamba ( 1850 - 1927 ) ( Ahmed Ben Mohammed Ben Abib Allah , also called Khadimou Rassoul ), muslim religious leader in Senegal , founder of the large Mouride Brotherhood.1See Muslim brotherhoods of Senegal .2He was born in the village of Mbacké in the Kingdom of Baol , the son of a marabout from the Xaadir (Qadriyya) brotherhood (the oldest in Senegal). Amadou Bamba was a mystic and ascetic marabout who wrote tracts on meditation, rituals and Qur'anic study, and made good-luck amulets for his followers. Although he did not support the French conquest, he did not wage outright war on them as several prominent Tijaan marabouts had done. Bamba's followers call him a "renewer" of Islam , citing a passage in the Qur'an that implies that Allah will send renewers every 100 years. Bamba's fame spread through his followers, and people joined him to receive the salvation that he promised. Salvation, he said, comes through submission to the marabout and hard work, a departure from conventional Islamic teaching. The French colonial rulers worried about Bamba's growing power and potential to wage war against them. He had converted various kings and their followers and probably could have raised an army if he had wanted. The French sentenced him to exile in Gabon (1895-1902) and later in Mauritania (1903-1907). However, these exiles fired wild legends about Bamba's miraculous survival of torture, deprivation, and attempted executions, and thousands more flocked to his organization. On the ship to Gabon, forbidden from praying, Bamba supposedly broke his leg-irons, leapt overboard into the ocean and prayed on a prayer rug that appeared on the surface of the water, so devout was he. Or, when the French put him in a furnace, he simply sat down in it and drank tea with Muhammad. In a den of hungry lions, the lions slept beside him, etc. By 1910, the French realized that Bamba was not waging war against them, and was in fact quite cooperative. His doctrine of hard work served French interests. He won the Legion of Honor for help with World War I recruitment. His movement grew, and in 1926 he began work for the great mosque at Touba where he is buried. After his death, he has been succeeded by his descendants as hereditary leaders of the Mouride brotherhood with absolute authority over the followers. Some Mourides venerate Amadou Bamba as being a more important prophet than Muhammad , and numerous songs are sung in his memory. Only one authentic photograph of Bamba is known. He is shown wearing a marabout's headcloth, robes, and a scarf covering much of his face. Versions of this enigmatic picture are displayed all over Senegal and in Mouride religious communities in Paris and New York City .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16803074.
The opening as it stood in 2010 23 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
See Muslim brotherhoods of Senegal . Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba was a mystic and religious leader who produced a prodigious quantity of poems and tracts on meditation, rituals, work, and Qur'anic study.Politically, Ahmadou Bamba led a pacifist struggle against French colonialism while not waging outright war on the French as several prominent Tijaan marabouts had done.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 365686005.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Shaykh Aḥmadu Bàmba Mbàkke Ahmadou Bamba , Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Mbacké (1853–1927) Aamadu Bamba Mbàkke in Wolof , Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb Allāh ( ) also known as Khādimu 'l-Rasūl ( ) or "The Servant of the messenger", and as Sëriñ Tuubaa or "Cheikh of Tuubaa " in Wolof", was a Muslim Sufi religious leader in Senegal and the founder of the large Mouride Brotherhood (the Muridiyya ). Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba was a religious leader who produced a prodigious quantity of poems and tracts on meditation, rituals, work, and Qur'anic study. Politically, Ahmadou Bamba led a pacifist struggle against French colonialism while not waging outright war on the French as several prominent Tijani marabouts had done.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 662848646.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Cheikh Ahmadu Bamba Ahmadou Bamba Mbacke ( , Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb Allāh , 1853–1927) also known to followers as Khādimu 'al-Rasūl ( خادِم الرسول ) or "The Servant of the Messenger " and Serigne Touba or " Sheikh of Tuubaa ", was a Sufi saint ( Wali ) and religious leader in Senegal and the founder of the large Mouride Brotherhood (the Muridiyya ).Mbacke produced poems and tracts on meditation, rituals, work, and Quranic study.He led a pacifist struggle against the French colonial empire while not waging outright war on the French like several prominent Tijani marabouts had done.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962532472.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Senegalese Sufi leader (1853–1927) Ahmadou Bamba Mbacke ( , Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb Allāh , 1853–1927) also known to followers as Khādimu 'al-Rasūl ( خادِم الرسول ) or "The Servant of the Messenger " and Serigne Touba or " Sheikh of Tuubaa ", was a Sufi saint ( Wali ) and religious leader in Senegal and the founder of the large Mouride Brotherhood (the Muridiyya ). Mbacke produced poems and tracts on meditation, rituals, work, and Quranic study. He led a pacifist struggle against the French colonial empire travelling across the Atlantic Ocean while not waging outright war on the French like several prominent Tijani marabouts had done.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1175207199.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Senegalese Sufi leader (1853–1927) Sheikh Amadou Bamba (1853–1927), also known to followers as the Servant of the Messenger ( Arabic : خادِم الرسول , romanized : Khādim al-Rasūl ) and Serigne Touba or " Sheikh of Touba ", was a Sufi saint and religious leader in Senegal and the founder of the Mouride Brotherhood (the Muridiyya ). Sheikh Amadou produced poems and tracts on meditation, rituals, work, and Quranic study. He led a pacifist struggle against the French colonial empire travelling across the Atlantic Ocean while not waging outright war on the French like several prominent Tijani marabouts had done.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1282697529. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “mystic and ascetic marabout who wrote tracts on meditation”. Today it says “sufi saint and founder of the mouride brotherhood”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
mystic and ascetic marabout who wrote tracts on meditation
Now
sufi saint and founder of the mouride brotherhood
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
