Touba is the second largest city in Senegal and is administered by the order rather than by the ordinary municipal system. Land is held under the caliphate, the general caliph of the Mourides exercises authority over its affairs, and the state's usual presence is limited by an arrangement dating from the colonial period and renewed since independence. Alcohol, tobacco, gambling, football and popular music are prohibited within the city limits, and the rules are enforced by the order's own supervisors.
At its centre stands the great mosque, begun in the 1930s and completed in 1963, with a minaret named for Bamba's son that dominates the plain for miles. Bamba's tomb is inside it, and the library beside it holds his manuscripts.
The Grand Magal, held on the anniversary in the Islamic calendar of Bamba's departure into exile, brings several million people to the city over a few days, with households along the route feeding travellers and the order distributing meals at scale. It is one of the largest annual religious gatherings in Africa.
Within the order the Baye Fall, followers of Bamba's disciple Ibra Fall, are a recognised and distinctive group: they emphasise labour and service to the shaykh over the ordinary requirements of fasting and prayer, wear patchwork clothing and long hair, and are regarded by some other Muslims as having departed from obligation, which the order itself has repeatedly had to address.