Succession in Moroccan Sufism

The spiritual succession is often represented as a tree : as it grows from a sapling to fully matured tree, it throws out branches, and these in turn sometimes develop still other, lesser branches. The same hold true for Sufi orders, but as time goes by the main trunk gives rise to branches, likewise named after their founders. The branches of the tree represent the principal lines of succession, and are sometimes to be interpreted historically, sometimes only symbolically. On the root of the tree one can read the name Allah, above it, on the trunk, is the name of the Archangel Gabriel (Jibrail), who, in the Islamic perspective is the divine instrument of revelation, and above this is the name of Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him). At the point the trunk divides into three branches, which bear the names respectively of the first and fourth caliphs Sidna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and Sidna Ali ibn Abi Talib, as well as he Imam of Medina, Imam Malik ibn Anass (d. 179/795), since they were the first three mediators and masters of the Sufi tradition.

These three branches divide into many twigs which bear the names of the earliest Sufis such as Sidi Hassan Basri, Sidna Imam Jaafar Sadiq, and Sidi Sari Saqti . Following these come the names of the names of the greatest spiritual masters of the first Islamic centuries such as Sidi Abul Qacem Junaid (d. 297/882), the greatest teacher of Sufi doctrine, Sidi Abul Hassan an-Nuri (d. 295/880), the man of light, and Sidi Zaynuddin al-Qazwini, the fool in God. All these masters lived in the Islamic East, although Tasawwuf appeared as the inner dimension of Islam, wherever Islam prevailed. From about the fourth/ninth century onwards, the blossoms of mysticism also appeared in the Far West, firstly in Andalusia and immediately thereafter in the Maghreb, where the name Sidi Abu Madyan Ghawt (d. 594/1179) stands at the origin of a whole segment of new twigs and leaves. This name appears at the top of the tree at about the same level as other famous names from which henceforth almost all subsequent spiritual orders springs.  

For it was at that time that there appeared Moulay Abdessalam ben Mashish’s (d. 622/1207) disciple Sidi Abul Hassan Shadhili (d. 656/1241) in Alexandria (his influence was to sweep across the whole Islamic World), and Abu Madyan’s main successors Sidi Abu Mohammed Salih al-Majiri (d. 631/1216) in Asfi (a main port city on the Atlantic) and Sidi Muhyiddin ibn Arabi (d. 636/1221) in Damascus. From this time onwards the Sufi tradition became organised in the form of a spiritual order (tariqa) that took the name of their founders. The institutionalisation of Moroccan Sufism in the context of corporately organised Sufi orders, has been simultaneously characterised, from the seventh/thirteenth to the ninth/fifteenth century, by the golden Marinid renaissance that witnessed the return to Sharifian politics, the Arabisation of religious education, the reinforcement of Maliki jurisprudence, the introduction of Madrasa (e.g. Bou’ananiyya, Sahrij, al-Halfawiyyin, al-Attarin; all in Fez), and the adoption of Mukhtasar pedagogical techniques.  

What can be said about Moroccan Sufi succession is that Moroccan saints very seldom nominated their successors. The successor usually emerged from amongst the surviving disciples because of his spiritual gifts and divine authority. This kind of succession is best illustrated in the case of the Shadhilite Shaykh Sidi Abdellah Ghazwani (d. 935/1520). The Fasite hagiographer Sidi Mohammed al-Mahdi al-Fasi (d. 1109/1694) reports in Mumti'a al-asma’a: 

When Sidi Abdellaziz Tabba'a died in Marrakech in 914/1499, a wrangle occurred between the advanced disciples of the Jazulite Tabba'aiya over who will be Shaykh al-jama'a of the Tariqa. To bolster this dilemma, Sidi Abdelkarim al-Fallah (d. 933/1518) claimed that Shaykh Tabba'a had predicted that Shaykh al-jama'a would come from among the latter's disciples in Marrakech. Believing that this prediction referred to himself, al-Fallah summoned the Shaykhs of the Jazouliya to a meeting at Shaykh Tabba'a's tomb. After dinner, he announced: "You will not leave here until you have told us about yourselves. The Shaykh has sworn that his successor will be one of us and that his secret is among us, yet we will not recognize him. Therefore we will bestow the authority of the Shaykh on the one who attributes most closely resemble those of Shaykh Tabba'a and can prove to be his heir. He should make himself known to us, for the Shaykh has said: 'Neither a secret that that is hidden nor wealth that is divided shall separate the fuqara from one another."

The first to speak up was Sidi Said ibn Abdelmoumin al-Hahi (d. 953/1546; founder of 'Hahiya branch of the Jazouliya) who recounted the paranormal states that he shared with Shaykh Tabba'a and the consideration he had been given during Shaykh Tabba'a's lifetime. The second to make a claim was the Malammati Sufi Sidi Rahhal al-Kush (d. after 945/1530, founder of Gnawa music) who announced: "I am the vehicle of bridegrooms (rikab al-'arais). He who has not ridden his bridegroom is not meant to ride. Verily I am the Nurturer (sahib al-ighata) on land and sea!" Then Sidi Ali ibn Ibrahim Bouzidi (d. 956/1549) said: "I am the most worshipful among you; he who desires knowledge of both outward and inward states should come to me, for I have mastered them." Finally al-Fallah spoke, and said, "I am your provision (maidatukum), he who desires nourishment should come to me, for neither the sharecropper nor the common labourer is excluded from my blessing!"

 Throughout all these speeches Sidi Abdellah Ghazwani remained silent. "Each of you has said what he possesses," al-Fallah stated, "but you, Sidi Abdellah, what do you possess and what do you have to say?" Sidi Ghazwani replied, "I am your Sultan and the ruler of your silence; with me alone you are minted. He who stamps his own dirham or dinar will succeed; if not, he will not (wa man la fa la)!" The assembled Shaykhs were stunned by the apparent haughtiness of Sidi Ghazwani's statement. "Why are you silent?" he asked. "Do you dislike my words?" "Yes" they replied. Then Sidi Ghazwani stretched out his hand and said, "God is directing this!" and grasped the empty air. Next he balled his fingers into a fist. "What do you say?" he asked, "and what each of you now possess?" After Sidi Ghazwani's dramatic assertion of divine legitimation, most of those who were present accepted him as the heir to Shaykh Tabba'a. 

Nevertheless there was a fairly widespread phenomenon in Morocco to confer the succession to an outstanding spiritual master on one of his physical descendants (Awlad Sayyid). This was very much in keeping with the fact that most of the founders of orders in Morocco were themselves sharifs (descendents of Prophet Sidna Mohammed -peace and blessing be upon him). This is why it often happened that the family of the founder of an order retained only a formal authority, along with the administration of the sepulchral mosque, while real spiritual masters, who had manifested themselves within the order, took over the spiritual instruction and guidance. As the Sufi orders spread amongst the people—and it sometimes happened that that they penetrated whole tribes—it was in the nature of things that there should develop within them circles that aspired to take a more or less active part in the spiritual life. These circles increase all the more, since membership of an order did not preclude marriage or professional activity. In the immediate presence of the master there were usually a number of disciples (called fuqara or murids) who completely renounced the world, and who found food and shelter in the zawiya; but most members of the order, whether men or women were married. 

Granted, the Shadhiliya Sufi order (named after the qutb of his age, Sidi Abul Hassan Shadhili; d. 656/1241 in Egypt) was by far the driving force of Moroccan Sufism for more than five centuries. In regards to this line of transmission, Abul Hassan’s successor Sidi Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi (d. 686/1271) is reported to have said: "our Way is from Pole to Pole back to the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him)", this Way being known as the Way of Poles (tariqat al-aqtab). At the beginning of the ninth/fifteenth century, the Shadhiliya brotherhood was closely associated with political and intellectual elites of Morocco and beyond. Almost without exception, the Shadhili Sufis who appear in the biographies of the later Marinid period are ulama, courtiers, or sharifs, e.g., Sidi Abdennur Amrani (b. 685/1270), Sidi Ibn Abbad ar-Rundi (d. 792/1377). To become fully integrated into the social life of the region, the Shadhiliya needed a doctrinal orientation that would appeal to people from all levels of society and enable it to transcend its patrician origins. This would be provided by Sidi Mohammed ibn Slimane Jazouli (d. 869/1454 in Ribat Afughal but buried later in Marrakech) and Sidi Ahmed Zarruq al-Fasi (d. 899/1484 in Tripoli, Libya). The ramification of these two shaykhs mushroomed in the major centres and subcentres of Morocco and the Maghreb. 

Each from his position, the branches of the Jazouliya divided into many twigs: Sidi Abdellaziz Tabba'a (d. 914/1499), Sidi Abdellah Ghazwani (d. 935/1520), Sidi Abdelkarim al-Fallah (d. 933/1518), Sidi Abdellah ibn Hussayn Amghari (d. 977/1562) in Marrakech; Sidi Ahmed ou Mbarak al-Aqqawi (d. 924/1509), Sidi Said al-Hahi (d. 953/1538), Sidi Abu Bakr ibn Mohammed Majjati Dilai (d. 1021/1606), Sidi Mohammed Ibn Abi Bakr Dilai (d. 1046/1631) in the Atlas mountains, Sidi Abdellah Benhassoun (d. 1013/1598) and Sidi Ahmed Hajji Slawi (d. 1121/1706) in Rabat; Sidi Ali Salih Andalusi (d. 903/1488), Sidi Mohammed Misbahi (d. 964/1549), Sidi Radwan Ibn Abdellah Janwi (d. 991/1576), Sidi Bouchta al-Khammar (d. 997/1582), Sidi al-Hassan ibn Aissa Jazouli (d. 992/1577), Sidi Ahmed ibn Abdellah al-Murabbi (d. 1034/1619) in Fez; Sidi Abul Abbas Ahmed Harithi, Sidi Saghir Sahli, Sidi Abdelwarith al-Yaslouti (d. 970/1555), and the “Shaykh al-Kamil,?#157; Sidi al-Hadi Ben Aissa (d. 933/1518; generator of 500 masters himself) in Meknes; Sidi Yusuf ibn al-Hassan Talidi (d. 950/1535), Sidi Abderrahman ben Raysoun (d. 950/1536), Sidi Abdellah Habti (d. 963/1548) and the Qutb, Moulay Abdellah Shrif Wazzani (d. 1089/1674) in Ghumara and Jbala mountains. Moulay Abdellah Sharif’s network of initiation contains the great Fasi names of Sidi Qacem ben Rahmun (d. 1249/1834) and Sidi Mohammed al-Khayyat Ruq’i (d. 1115/1700) as well as his blessed offspring (known as “Dar Dmana;?#157; House of Guarantee); Sidi Mohammed ibn Sidi Abdellah Wazzani (d. 1120/1705), Sidi Tuhami ibn Mohammed Wazzani (d. 1127/1712), Sidi Tayyeb ibn Mohammed Wazzani (d. 1181/1766), and Moulay al-Arbi ibn Ali Wazzani (d. 1266/1851). 

The Shadhilite stem of Sidi Ahmed Zarruq al-Fasi had essentially flourished in Morocco through the students of his Algerian disciple, the venerated Qutb, Sidi Ahmed ibn Yusuf al-Malyani (d. 929/1514); namely, Sidi Mohammed Sahli, Sidi Zubir ibn Lakbir al-Fasi, Sidi Omar Sharif Hussayni al-Fasi, and Sidi Ali ibn Abdellah Filali. The most important branches of the Tariqa are figured in the webs established in (1) Figuig: Sidi Abdellqadir Shaykh Smahi (d. 1025/1610), Sidi Shaykh Bouamama , Sidi Ahmed Ben Shaykh ; (2) Sijilmasa (Errachidia): Sidi Abul Qacem ibn Ahmed Ghazi, Sidi Abul Qacem Sawma’i Zamrani (d. 1013/1598), Sidi Abdellah ibn Hussayn Maslouhi ar-Raqi (d. 977/1562); (3) Dar'a valley: Sidi Ahmed ibn Ali Dar’i, Sidi Abdellah ar-Raqi, Sidi Mhammed Ben Nasir Dar'i (d. 1085/1670), Sidi Yusuf Ben Nasir Dar'i (d. 1187/1772); (4) Fez: Sidi Ahmed ibn Yahya Lamti (d. 985/1570), Sidi Ali ibn Mohammed Susi (d. 1004/1589), Sidi Ahmed Shawi (d. 1o14/1599), the Imam Sidi Mohammed ibn Atiyya (d. 1052/1637), Sidi Mohammed ibn Ali ad-Darik (d. 1059/1644), and Sidi al-Hassan ibn Masoud al-Yusi (d. 1102/1687).

Sidi Abdellah ibn Ibrahim al-Fahham Zerhouni (d. 939/1524), the second most important disciple of Sidi Ahmed Zarruq, is the origin of another important bough mainly present in Fez. Throughout the ramifications of this line, from the first disciples to their assistant down to the board layers of the laymen followers, divine grace spreads by God's permission in the holy city of Fez. Sidi Abul Mahasin Yusuf al-Fasi Fihri (d. 1013/1598), a disciple of the baraka of Meknes, Sidi Abderrahman al-Majdoub (d. 976/1561), stands on top. Al-Fasi’s order attracted the cream of ulama, sharifs, and intellectuals. He was succeeded by his brother, the al-Qarawiyyine legend, Sidi Abderrahman al-Fasi (d. 1027/1612), who headquartered himself in the zawiya of the Laqlaqliyyine in the Racif district. Sidi Abderrahman was succeeded by both his cousin, the Supreme Allama of Africa and Arabia, Sidi Abdellqadir al-Fasi (d. 1091/1676), and the sober mystic Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdellah Ma'in al-Andalusi (d. 1062/1647), whose zawiya creamed the names of Sidi Qasim Khassasi (d. 1083/1668), Sidi Ahmed ibn Abdellah al-Fasi al-Andalusi (d. 1129/1714). Sidi Ahmed ibn Abdellah Ma'in was the Ghawt of His Time and one of the masters of Moulay Abdellaziz ibn Masoud Debbarh (on whom Kitab Al-Ibriz was written; d. 1132/1717). In Addition to Sidi Qacem Khassasi, Sidi Ahmed had Sidi Ahmed ibn Mohammed Qadiri al-Yamani (d. 1113/1689) as a master. This is also liked to Shaykh Debbarh's chain since he took from the great Nigerian Qutb, Sidi Abdellah ibn Abdelkarim al-Barnawi (d. 1129/1714), who came from Barno to Fez to support Moulay Abdellaziz Debbarh after his first fath (opening; dated the 8th of Rajab 1125/1710), as did Sidi Ahmed Yamani who who entered Fez to support  Sidi Ahmed ibn Abdellah after his master's pass in 1083/1668. The latter's chain descends downline to Sidi Ali al-Jamal Amrani (d. 1193/1778) through his son Sidi Abdellah ibn al-Arbi al-Fasi al-Andalusi (d. 1188/1778).

The Zarruqite Fasiya tradition was revived at the end of the eighteenth century by Moulay al-Arbi Darqawi (1239/1823) who took it in the Zawiya of Lablida from his master Sidi Ali Amrani (al-Jamal). Several disciples of Moulay al-Arbi Darqawi were already active as masters in different parts of the Maghreb when he died at 1823: Sidi al-Haj Mohammed al-Khayyat (d. 1241/1826), Sidi Abdelhafidh Debbarh, Sidi Omar ben Souda (d. 1285/1870), Sidi Mohammed Kattani (d. 1289/1874), Sidi Malek Zerhouni, Sidi Ahmed Badawi Zwitan al-Fasi (d. 1275/1860), Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdelhafidh Debbarh (d. 1291/1876), Sidi Abul Qacem al-Wazir (d. 1213/1798), Sidi Mohammed Bouzidi (d. 1229/1814), Sidi Ahmed Ibn Ajiba (d. 1224/1804), Sidi Mohammed Harraq (d. 1261/1846), Sidi Ahmed ibn Abdelmoumin Hassani (d. 1262/1847), Sidi Mohammed ibn Ali Murrakushi, Sidi Ali Darqawi al-Ilighi  (d. 1328/1913). The productivity of these master fed Moroccan spirituality for many generations: Sidi Abdelkabir ibn Mohammed Kattani (d. 1333/1918), Sidi Mohammed al-Arbi Lamdaghri (d. 1309/1894), Sidi Mohammed Rwisi, Sidi Ahmed ibn at-Talib ben Souda al-Muri (d. 1321/1906), Sidi al-Khadir Sejjai, Sidi Mohammed al-Habri (d. 1313/1898), Sidi Omar ibn Tayyeb al-Kattani, Sidi Mohammed ibn Jaafar Kattani (d. 1345/1930), Sidi Mohammed ibn Ahmed Hajjami (d. 1362/1947), Sidi Mohammed ibn al-Habib Filali (d. 1386/1971), Sidi Taya'a ibn al-Mokhtar Manjra Hassani (d. 1371/1952), Sidi Mhammed Lahlou al-Fasi (d. after 1365/1950), Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdelhay Kattani (d. 1382/1962), and Sidi al-Mokhtar Susi (d. 1378/1963).   

Darqawiya's radiance was not held back by the boundaries of Morocco. During the same period, the Darqawa burgeoned in Algeria (Zawiya of Sidi Ahmed al-Alawi in Mostaghanam and Sidi Mohammed Belqayad in Oran), Sri Lanca, Egypt, Tripolitania, (Zawiya of Sidi Mohammed Dhafir Madani), Palestine Syria, Lebanon (Zawiya of al-Yashturi), and Jordan (Zawiya of Sidi Mustapha Filali). The Alawiya, born in Algeria just before the First World War, has known such expansion that at the same time of Shaykh Sidi Ahmed Alawi's death, in 1349/1934, the number of disciples in Algeria (including the Maghribis living in Paris and Marseille, Tunisia, Yemen, Abyssinia, Syria, in Palestine and elsewhere greatly exceeded 200,000. Nor did this expansion stop with the Shaykh's death since, most notably in Syria, the Alawiya have enjoyed a remarkable popularity under the direction of one of his representatives, Sidi Hachimi Tilimsani (d. 1381/1966) and his student Sidi Abdellqadir Aissa (d. 1412/1997). Sidi Hachimi founded Darqawi zawiyas in Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Latakia, and Amman. 

Despite constant interactions with other Sufi schools during pilgrimage and scientific journeys, Moroccans found greater spiritual comfort in Shadhili doctrine which was compatible to the Maliki dogma of jurisprudence. In the middle of twelfth/eighteenth century, however, the Khalwatiya order started to appeal to many Fasi scholars and intellectuals thanks to the fame of Shaykh al-Azhar and Sufi thinker, Sidi Mohammed ibn Salim al-Hifni or “al-Hafnawi?#157; (d. 1174/1759). It was in a situation like this that the Khalwatiya entered Fez, for the first time, by al-Hafnawi’s disciple, the grand Qutb of Fez, the Hussaynid sharif, Moulay Ahmed Sqalli al-Fasi (d. 1177/1762). The Sqalliya has been largely an urban order represented by noted theologians, namely the Allama Sidi Mohammed at-Tawdi ibn Suda (d. 1209/1794), Sidi Ahmed at-Tawdi ibn Souda (d. 1253/1820), and Sidi Tayea ibn Hicham Kattani (“Hamamat al-Masjid;?#157; d. 1264/1849). 

Another Fasi student of Sidi Mohammed al-Hafnawi is the grand scholar and saint, Sidi Abul Mawahib Abdelwahhab Tazi (d. 1198/1783; buried in the Tal’a district of Fez), who was acquainted as well to his successor, the famous Qutb, Sidi Mahmoud al-Kurdi (d. 1186/1771). However, Sidi Abdelwahhab Tazi’s most influential Sufi master was the wonder of his age, the Ghawt Zaman, the Idrissid sharif, founder of Khadiriya tradition, Moulay Abdellaziz ibn Masoud Debbarh ("Shaykh Abd al-Aziz Dabbagh," d. 1132/1717), whose spiritual experiences are described in Kitab Al-Ibriz. Moulay Abdellaziz' Khadirian Sufi order is the Maghribi equivalent of the "Uwaysi" in the Mashriq. Being "Khadiri" means that one chains of doctrinal transmission (silsila) went directly to the originator of one's spiritual method to Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him) through Sidna al-Khadir, bypassing the early Sufi masters. Sidi Abdelwahhab Tazi’s fidelity to the doctrine of Moulay Abdellaziz was unquestionable. Essential to this doctrine is the notion of the “daylight vision?#157; of the Mohammedian Essence (ad-Dat al-Mohammediya). This was also of great importance to Sidi Abdelwahhab Tazi’s successor, Sidi Ahmed ibn Idriss al-Fasi (d. 1252/1837), whose favourite student Sidi Mohammed ibn Ali Sanusi (d. 1274/1859) notes,

All three teachers (Debbarh, Tazi, ibn Idriss) in this silsila took from and met the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him), awake (yaqadatan) and asleep (nanaman) and after their death, and in the last instance none of them had any other support in any thing save the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him), and no other point of return. This is one of the characteristics of the people of Tariqa Mohammediya and a reason for it being so called, even though all [other] tariqas [also] return to the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him).

Sidi Ahmed ibn Idriss has also contacted the Khalwati Shaykh Sidi Hassan ibn Hassan Bey al-Qina'i, a pupil of Sidi Mahmoud al-Kurdi (d. 1186/1771). His line of the Khadiriya order, which later became labelled with the “Idrissiya?#157; or the “Ahmediya?#157;, proved far more successful in Libya, the Sudan, Egypt, the Hijaz, Somalia, Yemen, and West Java than in Morocco. Sidi Ibn Idriss' disciples fall into three categories; those who established major brotherhoods; those who propagated his teachings but whose endeavours were only consolidated into orders by the generation that followed them; and those who established local schools and or circles teaching Idrissiya doctrines. The first group includes Sidi Mohammed Sanusi, Sidi Uthman Mirghani (d. 1267/1852), Sidi Ibrahim al-Rashid Hassani (d. 1289/1874), and his own family, the Adarisa. Among those orders that ramified directly or indirectly from the generation following the latter names are the Ismailiya, the Majdhubiya, the Mukhtariya (after the champion of Islam Sidi Omar al-Mokhtar), and the Rashidiya; from the latter came the Salihiya and Dandarawiya.  

A final category of Shaykh ibn Idriss’ students are those who founded not orders, but local schools propagating his teachings. There are several examples; one from Egypt is Sidi Ali Abdelhaqq al-Qusi (d. 1292/1877), who studied with Ibn Idriss and then spent five years with Sidi Mohammed Sanusi in Cyrenaica before to return and settle and Asyut, Egypt. Our first Sudanese example is Sidi al-Haj Mohammed Ballol al-Sunni, a Bidayri from Kurti in the northern Sudan, who stayed with Ibn Idriss for seven years. It was his master who bestowed upon him the laqab, al-Sunni. On his return to the Sudan, he undertook a series of propagation journeys before settling at Qarri, just north of Khartoum. His school still flourishes under his grandson, Sidi al-Sadiq al-Sunni, and still teaches the doctrines of Ibn Idriss. Another Sudanese example was also a Bidayri, but a student of al-Rashid; Sidi Abdullahi ad-Dufari studied with al-Rashid in the Hijaz before returning to the Sudan. After a period of travelling, he finally settled at al-Kawa on the White Nile. It was al-Dufari who provided a link between Ibn Idriss and the Sudanese Mahdiya, since once of those he taught the awrad and ahzab of Ibn Idriss was Sidi Mohammed Ahmed, the future Mahdi of Sudan.  

The growth Tariqa Mohammediya concept flourished in high scale and scope in the thirteenth/nineteenth century Morocco at the hand of the Concealed Magnate (al-Qutb al-Maktum) and the Known Mohammedian Seal, Sidna Shaykh, Mawlana Ahmed ibn Mohammed Tijani (d. 1230/1815), founder of the Ahmediya-Mohammediya-Ibrahimiya-Hanifiya-Tijaniya order, whose career marked the peak of Tariqa Mohammediya’s canon and literature. The Shaykh travelled in 1171/1756 to Fez and met with its famed Shadhili figures. Later he affiliated to the Khalwatiya. His masters included the most noted disciples of Shaykh al-Hafnawi: Sidi Mohammed ibn Abderrahman Azhari Hassani Idrissi (d. 1208/1793 in Algeria), Sidi Mahmoud al-Kurdi (d. 1186/1771), and Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdelkarim Samman (d. 1189/1774 in Medina). He has also sat in the circle of Moulay Ahmed Sqalli in Fez but had not talk to him. Sidna Shaykh Tijani relied in his beginnings on the Khalwati and Shadhili Sufism before he met in daylight (yaqadatan) with the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) in 1197/1782, who ordered him establish his own order, the Ahmediya-Mohammediya-Ibrahimiya-Hanifiya-Tijaniya Sufi order.

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Tijani Chains and Ramifications

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