Moroccan Kingdom: Hub of Sufism Par Excellence

Al-Maghreb al-Aqsa (present-day Morocco) has long been one of the most important crucibles of Islamic mysticism. Moroccan religious and intellectual movements often created ebb tides of intellectual and cultural influence that flowed toward the Muslim East. The wide geographical extent of the Tijaniya, the Shadhiliya Sufi orders underscores the importance of this lacuna. Instead of been merely imitative, many of the doctrines and institutions that were created such as the al-Qarawiyyine of Fez had profound effect on the Maghrib and the rest of the Islamic world. The foundation of Sufism in Morocco came, of course, from the East, as did Islam. Yet the unusual type of Islam in Morocco, its life-style, its calligraphic art, its mosque architecture... Continue reading

Sufism: an Introduction

The Concealed Pole, Sidna Shaykh Abil Abbas Ahmed Tijani (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) said, “Oh Seeker on the Path to Allah, Oh the One who yearns for Divine Love and Divine Presence, know that this Path has three stations...[More]

Sufism & Mohammedian Reality

The Bezels of Wisdom (Fusus al-Hikam), the work that is perhaps the most influential masterpiece of the venerated Qutb, Sidi Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi al-‘Hatimi, known throughout the Islamic world simply as the "Greatest Master" (al-Shaykh al-Akbar), which he states was received from the blessed hand of the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) in a dream in 1229. The Fusus contains twenty-seven chapters, each related to a particular wisdom as exemplified by one of the prophets whose stories are told in the Glorious Quran. The following is an exclusive selection from the book embedded with a commentary of Shaykh al-Qaysari. 

Ch.1 Being and That is the Real Know, that Being qua Being is neither external existence nor mental, since each one is a type of existence. Being itself is not subject to condition nor is it restricted by either...[More]

Ch.2 The Divine Names Know that the Real, the Glorified and the Exalted, in accordance with the verse, "Every day He performs a task," (al-Rahman: 29) possesses manifestations and epiphanies at the degrees of...[More]

Ch. 3 The Immutable Archetypes Know that the divine names possess noetic forms (suwar mdqula) in the divine knowledge, since He knows by His Essence for His Essence, and His names and attributes and those noetic...[More]

Ch. 4 Substance and Accident According to the People of Allah If you deepen your gaze at the realities of things you will find that some are antecedent, surrounded by accidents, and some are subsequent and attached. The antecedents are...[More]

Ch. 5 Exposition of the Universal Worlds and the Five Divine Planes The word 'alam (world) being derived from the word 'alama, lexically signifies "that through which something is known," and technically signifies, "everything other than Allah."...[More]

Schools of Sufism 

The Ahmediya Tijaniya Path

In the history of Islam, there are numerous Sufi types. The universality of Sufi tradition balks at any attempt to reduce it to a signal, controllable pattern. Over the last centuries of the time, however, there has emerged a unique type of Sufi Shaykh who embodies in his...[More]

The Khalwatiya Path 

One of the most widespread and ramified orders of Sufism is that of the Khalwatiya, which remained for generations one of Islam’s most important orthodox paths along with the Shadhiliya, the Qadiriya, and the Naqshbandiya. The very foundation of Sufism originated, of course...[More]

The Shadhiliya Path 

An important step in establishing the Shadhiliya in the Maghreb was taken when Abul Hassan inherited the title of Axis of the Age (Qutb az-zaman) from the Moroccan Sufi Sidi Abul Hajjaj al-Uqsuri ("Sabti al-'Hussayni"; d. 642/1244)...[More]

Pan Ties of Qadiri-Shadhili Branches 

The Qadiriya Sufi Order, so named after Shaykh Moulay Abdellqadir Jilani (d. 561/1166), occupies a pre-eminent place in Moroccan Sufism. Although its organizational..[More]

moroccan history & culture