The Tijaniyya Sufi Brotherhood Amongst the Idaw ‘Ali of the Western Sahara

Abstract

ORIGINS OF THE IDAW ALI The Idaw ‘Ali are one of the two most prominent and influential zuwaya groups in Mauritania, the other being the Kunta, disseminators of the Qadiriyya tariqa in West Africa who claim to be descendants of the great Arab hero and conqueror of North Africa, Uqba b. Nafi. The basis of the prestige of the Idaw ‘Ali rested in part on their widely recognized sharifian origin. Another basis of their prestige was their introduction of the Tijaniyya tariqa in Mauritania As descendants of Prophet Muhammed, the Idaw ‘Ali occupied a noble and privileged position in the society that placed them above the other zawaya and lay groups in Mauritania. The Idaw ‘Ali traditions, as reported by Sidi Abd-allah b. al-Hajj Ibrahim al-‘Alawi (d. 1818) in his treatise, “Sahihat al-Naql fi Alawiyat Idaw ‘Ali wa Bakriyat Muhammed Ghull” (The Authenticity of the Descee Idaw ‘Ali from Caliph ‘Ali and that of Muhammed Ghull from Caliph ‘Abu Bakr al-Siddiq), state unequivocally that the Idaw ‘Ali descended from ‘Ali b. ‘Abu Talib (d. 661), son-in-law of the Prophet and fourth Caliph, through an eponymous ancestor ‘Ali b. Yahya. Sidi Abdallah maintains that: . . .the Idawa ‘Ali are the descendants of ‘Ali b. Yahya and to be reckoned the progeny of ‘Ali b. ‘Abu Talib (May God be pleased with him). We know of no disagreement between those who are learned in that which has been handed down, both written and spoken, and those who have been favored with spiritual illumination regarding it. This genealogy is said to have been examined and declared sound by Sidi Mukhtar al-Kunti, the founding father of the Qadiriyya-Mukhtariyya brotherhood in West Africa. Furthermore, the author of “Sahihat al- Naql” adduced numerous quotations which he related to genealogists and scholars of Mauritania and the Orient to prove the validity of the Idaw ‘Ali’s claim to shar(fian ancestry. Sidi Abdallah relates in “Sahihat al-Naql” that he was informed by Sidi Ahmed al-Daymani, the famed scholar of the Awlad Dayman zawaya group, that the Idaw ‘Ali descended from the house of the Prophet. According to al-Daymani, the Idaw ‘Ali . . .are the progeny of ‘Ali and.. . both their young and their old continue to trace their lineage to him in spite of the paucity of that which God has allotted to them in support of their claim. Sidi Abdallah also relates that a member of the Idaw ‘Ali made the pilgrimage to Mecca where he met Sidi Ahmed al-Habib of the Idaw ‘Ali. Sidi Ahmed is said to have told the pilgrim: If you are in straightened circumstances, then say-oh forefather, oh Messenger of God-for in truth you are his descendant. The pilgrim asked Sidi Ahmed how he acquired this information concerning the lineage of the Idaw ‘Ali, and Sidi Ahmed replied: I saw that in a book in Cairo, but if you return there, ask Sheikh al-Murtada about the lineage of the people of Shinqit. Sheikh al-Murtada is the saint of Egypt and its sun . . . On the pilgrim’s return journey he passed through Cairo and asked ...