Sidi Yusuf ibn 'Ali as-Sanhaji () is a

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

(

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

mystic or saint) who was born in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and died there in 1196 CE. He is considered one of the

Seven Saints of Marrakesh The Seven Saints of Marrakesh or Patron Saints of Marrakesh () are seven historical Muslims, Muslim figures buried in Marrakesh, Morocco. Each of them was a famous qadi, Muslim jurisprudent, scholar or wali (Sufi saint) venerated for their piety o ...

, and one of the

administrative divisions Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of Marrakesh is named after him.

Biography

Yusuf ibn 'Ali was born in Marrakesh to a family of yemeni origin and lived in the city his whole life. He studied under Sheikh Abu 'Usfur. He was afflicted at a young age with

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

, for which he was allegedly banished from his family and from living in the city. He took up residence in a nearby cave or in a hollow that he dug himself, in the lepers' quarter outside the southern city gate of Bab Aghmat. Despite his ill health, he lived longer than anyone expected and many began to believe he possessed powers to resist hunger and disease. Locals came to visit him in his cave seeking guidance, and he came to be known also as ''Mul al-Ghar'' (meaning roughly "Man of the Cave"). He died in 1196 CE and was buried in or near the cave where he lived.

Legacy

Yusuf ibn 'Ali's reputation grew over time and he became one of the most celebrated of the many ''awliya'' ("saints") of his native city. In the 16th century the Saadian

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Moulay Abdallah al-Ghalib built a mausoleum and zawiya over the cave where he was buried. The sultan's reasons for this are unclear but may have been a conciliatory gesture over his displacement of the leprous population from Bab Aghmat to Bab Doukkala. Later on, he was counted among the "Seven Saints" of Marrakesh and his tomb became the first stop in a yearly pilgrimage, or ''

ziyara ''Ziyara(h)'' ( ''ziyārah'', "visit") or ''ziyarat'' (, ''ziyārat'', "pilgrimage"; , "visit") is a form of pilgrimage to sites associated with the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his family members and descendants (including the Shī'ī Imāms), ...

'' (), instituted by the Alaouite sultan Moulay Isma'il in the late 17th and early 18th century. Today, the neighbourhood and suburb around the mausoleum is part of the local prefecture of Sidi Youssef Ben Ali, named after the saint.

References

{{Reflist Moroccan Sufis People from Marrakesh