Ahmad al-Alawi (1869 – 14 July 1934), in full Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafā ibn ʿAlīwa, known as al-ʿAlāwī al-Mustaghānimī (), was an Algerian Sufi Sheikh who founded his own Sufi order, called the ''Alawiyya''.

Biography

Sheikh Ahmad al-Alawi was born in

Mostaganem Mostaganem () is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem (province), Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of Oran. It is consi ...

, in 1869. He was educated at home by his father. From the time of his father's death in 1886 until 1894, he worked in Mostaganem. He followed for fifteen years the

Darqawi The Darqawiyya or Darqawi Sufi order is a revivalist branch of the Shadhiliyah brotherhood which originated in Morocco. The Darqawa comprised the followers of Sheikh Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi (1760–1823) of Morocco. The movement, which becam ...

shaykh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

Muhammad al-Buzidi in Mostaganem. After al-Buzidi's death in 1909, Sheikh Al-Alawi returned to Mostaganem after a journey to the east (Istanbul), where he first spread the Darqawiyya, and then (in 1914) established his own order, called the Alawiyya in honor of

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

, the son-in-law of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, who appeared to him in a vision and gave him that name for his new order.

Teachings

Al-Alawi was a Sufi shaykh in the classic Darqawi Shadhili tradition, though his order differed somewhat from the norm in its use of the systematic practice of

khalwa Khalwa () – in Arabic – is to be alone with a thing, with it, or to it. It can also mean: * Khalwa (Sufism), a Sufism concept for solitude * Khalwa (structure), a place of seclusion * Khalwa (school), a Quranic school in Sudan * Khalwa, Madhya P ...

and in laying especial emphasis on the invocation of the Supreme Name

f God F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...

. In addition to being a classic Sufi shaykh, al-Alawi addressed the problems of modern Algerians using modern methods. He wrote poetry and books on established Sufi topics, and founded and directed two weekly newspapers, the short-lived ''Lisan al-Din'' (Language of Faith) in 1912, and the longer-lived ''Al-balagh al-jazairi'' (Algerian Messenger) in 1926. Al-Alawi attempted to reconcile

Islam and modernity Islam and modernity is a topic of discussion in contemporary sociology of religion. The history of Islam chronicles different interpretations and approaches. Modernity is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon rather than a unified and cohe ...

. On the one hand, he criticized

Westernization Westernization (or Westernisation, see spelling differences), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt what is considered to be Western culture, in areas such as industr ...

, both at a symbolic level (by discouraging the adoption of Western costumes that lead to ego attachment) and at a practical level (by attacking the growing consumption of alcohol among Algerian Muslims). On the other hand, he encouraged his followers to send their children to school to learn French, and even favored the translation of the

Koran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

into French and

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

for the sake of making it more accessible, a position that was at that time most controversial. Al-Alawi was critical of both fundamentalist extremism in Islam as well as secularist modernism, typified in Turkey by Kemal Atatürk. For him, the answers to the challenges of modernity were the doctrines and practices of traditional and spiritual Islam and the rites of religion had no other purpose than to cause the "Remembrance of God". Although al-Alawi showed unusual respect for Christians, and was in some ways an early practitioner of

inter-religious dialogue Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the indi ...

, the centerpiece of his message to Christians was that if only they would abandon the doctrines of the

trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

and of

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...

"nothing would then separate us." The great size of his following may be explained by the combination of classic Sufism with engagement in contemporary issues, combined with his charisma, to which many sources, both Algerian and French, speak. Al-Alawi's French physician, Marcel Carret, wrote of his first meeting with Sheikh al-Alawi: "What immediately struck me was his resemblance to the face which is generally used to represent Christ." Lings, ''A Sufi Saint'', p. 14.

The Alawiyya

The Alawiyya spread throughout Algeria, as well as in other parts of the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

, as a result of Sheikh al-Alawi's travels, preaching, and writing and through the activities of his

muqaddam () is an Arabic title, adopted in other Islamic or Islamicate cultures, for various civil or religious officials. As per the Persian records of medieval India, muqaddams, along with khots and chowdhurys, acted as hereditary rural intermediaries ...

s (representatives). By the time of al-Alawi's death in 1934, he had become one of the best-known and most celebrated shaykhs of the century and was visited by many. The Alawiyya was one of the first Sufi orders to establish a presence in Europe, notably among

Algerians in France Algerians in France (French: ''Algériens en France''; Arabic: ''جزائريون في فرنسا'') are people of Algerian descent or nationality living in France. People of Algerian origin account for a large sector of the total population in ...

and

Yemenis Yemenis or Yemenites () are the Citizenship, citizen population of Yemen. Genetic studies Yemen, located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, serves as a crossroads between Africa and Eurasia. The genomes of present-day Yem ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Sheikh al-Alawi himself travelled to France in 1926, and led the first communal prayer to inaugurate the newly-built

Grand Mosque of Paris The Grand Mosque of Paris (, ; ), also known as the Great Mosque of Paris or simply the Paris Mosque, located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, 5th arrondissement of Paris, is one of the largest mosques in France. It comprises prayer rooms, an ...

in the presence of the French president. Sheikh al-Alawi understood French well, though he was reluctant to speak it. The Alawiyya branch also spread as far as

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, Syria, where authorization was given to Muhammad al-Hashimi, who spread the Alawi branch throughout the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

. In 1930, Sheikh Al-Alawi met with Sheikh Sidi Abu Madyan of the

Qadiri The Qadiriyya () or the Qadiri order () is a Sunni Sufi order (''Tariqa'') founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166, also transliterated ''Jilani''), who was a Hanbali scholar from Gilan, Iran. The order, with its many sub-orders, is wides ...

Boutchichi

tariqah A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the r ...

. They currently have the shortest chain back to Sheikh al-Alawi. The current Sheikh of the Boutchichi is

Jamal al-Qadiri al-Boutchichi Jamaal ( ''/'') is an Arabic given name and surname meaning "beauty."Jamaal
at BehindTheName.com It is popular in th ...

. The Alawi-Ahmadi tariqah is one of two prominent Sufi tariqat in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. It is prevalent around Jurah and its surrounding areas, such as the areas of Shabbanah, Dhahir, Malafiyyah, and

Sheikh Zuweid Sheikh Zuweid (also spelled Sheikh Zoweid, Shaykh Zuwayd, or Sheikh Zouède; , , Greek: ''Bitulion'') is a Bedouin town in the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt near the border with the Gaza Strip. It is situated between the cities of Arish ...

Books

* On the Unique Name and on 'The Treasury of Truths' of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn al-Habib, , IB Madinah Press (January 31, 2001) * Knowledge of God, A sufic commentary on the Murshid al-Mu’in of ibn al-‘Ashir , Diwan Press (1981) *Two Who Attained : Twentieth-Century Sufi Saints: Shaykh Ahmad al-'Alawi & Fatima al-Yashrutiyya, Selections translated from Shaykh Ahmad al-'Alawi's The Divine Graces and a Treatise on the Invocation, by Leslie Cadavid (translator) and Seyyed Hossein Nasr (introduction), ed. Fons Vitae (2006) * Lings, Martin
''A Sufi saint of the twentieth century: Shaikh Ahmad al-Alawi, his spiritual heritage and legacy''
includes a short anthology of al-'Alawi's poetry as the final chapter (12). *Munajat of Shaykh Ahmad al-'Alawi: Translated by Abdul-Majid Bhurgri. eBook edition, containing the original Arabic text and the English rendering, can be viewed a

References

External links