Ahmad al-Tijani

Common card · No. 448049

Al-Kutb Al-Maktum, Sayyidi Abul-Abbas Ahmed Ibn Mohammed Al Tijani Abū al-ʻAbbās Ahmad ibn Muhammad at-Tijāniyy, commonly known as Ahmed Tijani or Aḥmad al-Tījānī (Arabic: أحمد التجاني; 1735 or 1737–1815), was an Algerian Sharif and Sufi teacher who founded the Tijaniyyah tariqa, an African Sufi order. Born in Algeria, al-Tījānī joined several Sufi orders early in life before withdrawing for five years to a remote community. In 1781 he experienced a vision of Muhammad, from whom he believed he received the command to establish his own order. The new movement initially attracted little support, but expanded after al-Tījānī obtained royal patronage in Morocco. After his death in 1815, the Tijaniyyah spread rapidly through North and West Africa. Sections of the order became increasingly militant toward French colonialists and non-Muslims. Its use of jihād, together with a personal cult surrounding al-Tījānī, also caused the order to be viewed with suspicion by other Muslims.

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