Muhammad al-Tijani (; born 2 February 1943) is a Tunisian Islamic scholar, academic, and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

. He converted from

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

Twelver Shi'a Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the largest branch of Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as th ...

Personal life

Al-Tijani was born in a Tunisian

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

family of the

Maliki school The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the Maliki s ...

. Previously, his family added “al-Tijani” to their name after adopting the Tijani sufi order of

Ahmad al-Tijani Abū al-ʻAbbās Ahmad ibn Muhammad at-Tijāniyy or Ahmed Tijani (, 1735–1815), was an Algerian people, Algerian Sharif who founded the Tijaniyyah tariqa (Sufi order). Life Tijani was born in 1735 in Aïn Madhi, the son of Muhammad al-Mukhta ...

. He was eighteen years of age when the

Les Scouts Tunisiens Les Scouts Tunisiens (in ; ''The Tunisian Scouts'') is the national Scouting organization of Tunisia. It was founded in 1934, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1957 and is also a full member of the World Assoc ...

agreed to send him as one of six Tunisian representatives to the first conference for Islamic and Arab scouts which took place in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. He used the opportunity to perform the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

. He stayed twenty five days in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, during which he met many prominent Salafi scholars, listened to their lectures and became heavily influenced by the

Salafi movement The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...

. Upon returning to Tunisia, al-Tijani started actively promoting and spreading Salafism during the religious classes and sermons that he gave, including in the

Great Mosque of Kairouan The Great Mosque of Kairouan (), also known as the Mosque of Uqba (), is a mosque situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan, Tunisia and is one of the largest Islamic monuments in North Africa. Established by the Arab general U ...

. He then traveled to Egypt’s

al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

. On the way back to Tunisia, al-Tijani met a Shi'i Iraqi lecturer from the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public university, public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world. History The College of Isl ...

named Mun'im. He came to Cairo to submit his Ph.D. thesis at al-Azhar University and Mun'im invited him to Iraq. Al-Tijani spent several weeks with Mun'im; visited

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

, and met with several leading Twelver Shi'i scholars, including

Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abu al-Qasim Musawi Khoei ( ; (; ; November 19, 1899 – August 8, 1992) was an Iranian Shia marja'. Khoei is considered one of the most influential twelver scholars. After the death of Muhsin al-Hakim in 1970, he became ...

Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (; 1 March 1935 – 9 April 1980), also known as al-Shahid al-Khamis (), was an Iraqi Islamic scholar, philosopher, and the ideological founder of the Islamic Dawa Party. He was the father-in-law to Muqtada al-Sadr, ...

, and

Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i (; 16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his '' Tafsir al-Mizan'', a twenty-seven-vol ...

, who taught him about Shi'a Islam. After long debates with the Shi'i scholars, he became a Shi'a Muslim.Note: Most of this information is from Al-Tijani's own work, available in the English translation of ''Then I Was Guided''. Se
al-Islam.org
/ref>

Works

Al-Tijani's books are banned in some countries, such as

and

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. He has written six books: * ''Then I Was Guided''
here
at al-islam.org) * ''Ask Those Who Know''
here
at al-islam.org) * ''To Be with the Truthful''
here
at al-islam.org) * ''The Shi'ah are the real Ahlul-Sunnah''
here
at al-islam.org), approx. 'The Shi'a are the real followers of the Sunnah' * ''All Solutions Are with the Prophet's Progeny''
here
at al-islam.org) * ''Black Thursday''
here
at al-islam.org)

References

External links

A series of books by Muhammad al-Tijani with English translations

— A speech delivered by Dr. Muhammad al-Tijani al-Samawi {{DEFAULTSORT:Tijani, Muhammad al- 1943 births Living people Tunisian Shia clerics Tunisian Shia Muslims Converts to Shia Islam from Sunni Islam Critics of Sunni Islam Tunisian theologians