This is a collection of information regarding Saabunaax Ñas and the larger family, the Mbunaaxeen or Waa Njëri, of whom he is considered the founding member. His official name is Sàmba Bunaax Ñas, but he is more commonly called Maam Sàmba or Saabunaax. He was a contemporary of Muḥammad Ñas, the father of Maam Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas and came to Saalum from Jolof at the same time. His descendants are therefore part of the Njolofeen socio-cultural group. Most accounts say he founded Tayba Ñaseen, although Maam Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas soon became the village’s leader, and some accounts do not mention him and start instead with Maam Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas. His descendants today live primarily in Tayba Ñaseen and in nearby Kër Habiib. His role in founding Tayba Ñaseen is discussed in the profile on Tayba.

Who was Saabunaax?

Considering the relative historical importance accorded him by most accounts, there is a surprising amount of disagreement concerning who Saabunaax was and whether he even existed or was a human. One of the original founders of Medina Baay, Allaaji Bittéy, tells us he was not a person but the leader of the jinnes that Maam Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas found when he founded Tayba Ñaseen. He says the land where Tayba is today was itself called Saabunaax after the jinne leader. Sëriñ Maahi Ñas tells me the stories I mentioned about Saabunaax are not true and the Maam Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas did not find anyone when he founded Tayba Ñaseen. Mustafaa Gëy (who bases his information mainly on Baay Ñas’s poetry) tells me he is not aware that anyone was in Tayba before Allaaji Abdulaay, although he does not explicitly deny alternative accounts.

But all the accounts I collected from Tayba Ñaseen and neighboring villages say that Saabunaax Ñas came to present-day Tayba before Maam Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas, although they disagree on whether he can truly be called Tayba’s founder or not.

Saabunaax’s descendants

Tayba Ñaseen is divided into two neighborhoods: one inhabited by the families descended from Bàkkari Ñas (the father of Muḥammad Ñas, who was the father of Maam Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas), sometimes called “Ñaseen Suuf” (Ñas of the land), and one inhabited by the “Ñaseen Njëri” (Ñas of the Njëri stream) or the relatives of Saabunaax Ñas.

One of the prominent members of the Njëri family today is Baabakar Sadiiq Ñas, a Qurᵓān and Arabic teacher in Tayba Ñaseen. He is the son of Omar Afsatu Ñas, son of Mañas Mareem, son of Omar Njëri. “Njëri” was the name of a stream in their village in Jolof that Omar lived next to. The word comes from the Pulaar word jar, which means “to drink,” because it was a watering place for animals (likely animals belonging to Pulaar-speaking Fulbe).¹

Notes

1. This word is apparently related to the Wolof word njar, which refers to sweet, cold drinks made from fruit juices or milk and water.