The Grande Mosquée de Dinguiraye is one of the most important Islamic sites in West Africa — founded by El Hadj Umar Tall (1797–1864) in the 1840s as the religious base for his Tijaniyya Sufi order and the launching pad for the jihad that built the Toucouleur Empire across the Senegambia and the upper Niger.
The current building is a Sudano-Sahelian mud structure rebuilt several times; the conical roof of straw and the painted wooden door are local. Non-Muslims may approach the building but cannot enter; the holy quarter around it includes Umar Tall's residence and the tomb of his daughter. Annual pilgrimages bring thousands of Tijani followers from across West Africa.