Bani is a small, predominantly Muslim village, famous for its 7 mud mosques. They are distributed along the surrounding hills and the unmistakable minarets, pierced by the numerous sticks, are the only buildings to rise towards the sky for hundreds of kilometres, where the arid and flat Sahel reigns undisturbed. The mosques, decorated in a truly original way with carvings in the mud, are the best example of all Burkina Faso. Starting from the main mosque, called Hands of God, which is located in the center of the village, then continue along the slopes to reach the other six (not all in excellent condition): the mosque of the setting sun, that of the sacrifice, of the good idea, of joy, pleasure and sunrise. The 7 mosques are arranged in a precise order, depicting the position of a man praying with head, hands and feet. They are all similar, especially inside. Sand on the ground, stone supporting columns, vaults along the ceiling. Large spaces for prayer, bare and strictly without iconographic representations, as required by Islam in which it is forbidden to depict God.
The main mosque, the most beautiful one, is made, like the others, of unbaked earth and decorated with geometric embroideries dug out of the mud. From its roof the view is suggestive. Its history is curious and closely linked to the figure of the prophet Mohamed Kafando, who decided to build it after a revelatory dream. It is said that Mohamed Kafando at the age of seven, although he had never read the Koran, began to speak like a prophet and that in 1975 he reached Mecca on foot in just three days. Many are the believers who come to Bani to have the honor of listening to his words.
