Continuity from sheikh ibrahims PART 1: HIS LINEAGE Ibrāhīm Niass (1900-1975)—also written Ibrahima Niasse in French, Ibrayima Ñas in Wolof, Shaykh al-Islām al-Ḥājj Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥājj ʿAbd Allāh at-Tijānī al-Kawlakhī in Arabic— was a major leader of the Tijānī Sufi order of Islam in West Africa. His followers in the Senegambia region affectionately refer to him in Wolof as Baay, or father. He is the founder of the Ibrāhīmiyyah branch of the Tijānī order, whose adherents designate themselves in Arabic as the people of the Faydah Tijāniyyah (Tijānī Flood) or in Wolof as Taalibé Baay (discipes of Baay). Outsiders often refer to his disciples as Ñaseen, which in Wolof means of or pertaining to the Ñas family, although his disciples do not generally use this designation. Born in the village of Tayba Ñaseen (spelled Taïba Niassène in French), between the Senegalese city of Kaolack and the border of Gambia, he was the son of Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas (1840-1922), the main representative of the Tijānī order in the Saalum region at the beginning of the twentieth century. During his youth, he moved with his father to the city of Kaolack, where they established the zāwiya (religious center) of Lewna Ñaseen PART II: HIS EDUCATION Shaykh Ibrahim was educated primarily at the hands of his father, with full access to his father’s extensive library. Shaykh Ibrahim mastered at an early age from his father the full range of Islamic sciences: the Qur’an and its interpretation, the Hadith and their explanation, jurisprudence and Sufism. In reference to his educational background and achievements, Shaykh Ibrahim said, “I learned Qur’an and Hadith first from my shaykh, my father, and he, from his father. I received an ‘ijaza (diploma from the majalis al-’ilm) first from my father in both Qur’an and Hadith, then from Abdur-Rahman b. AL Hajj-1-’Alawi (Mauritania) and another ‘ijaza from Shaykh Ahmad Sukayrij (Morocco) who himself had earned some six hundred ‘ijazas from six hundred dif*ferent shaykhs whose names are mentioned in his book, where he writes, ‘The first one to whom I gave authorization in all these chains of transmission was the Khalifa al-Hajj Ibrahim Niasse.’” Shaykh Ibrahim once said concerning his scholarly credentials: “What I have in the way of ‘ijaza and muqaddam authorizations would indeed fill a book.” As for the content of his teaching, it was nothing more or less than the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad and its revitalization. Throughout his life, the example of the Prophet was his means and end. Shaykh Ibrahim used to say, “If the best of mankind, the Prophet is moving, even I shall follow him step by step; and the day he stops from there I shall never move.” Elsewhere in a poem, Shaykh Ibrahim wrote, “If I am asked, what is your madhhab (school of jurisprudence) and who is your beloved, I can answer that it the Prophet, and none other.” Shaykh Ibrahim was the best example of a Sufi according to the description “The Sufi is the son of his hour (ibn waqtihi).” He will respond to the needs of the time. At every moment he is dealing with the requirements of that moment. The Muslim who is greatest in understanding is he who submits to the rule of his hour. That is, he gives everything the position it requires in action and speech. He is a person moving with time in a circle. He does not attempt to stop time, not to become stagnant in it, nor to regress in it. His effort is aimed at continually moving forward. In the season of Ramadan he reads Qur’an and Hadith and presents their explanations. In the season of Hajj, he expounds the virtues of the Muslim pilgrimage. At the time of Mawlid, he recites the Prophet’s Sira or Biography. All of this behavior characterized the Sufism of Shaykh Ibrahim. It was based on action and practice, traveling all over the Muslim world, giving speeches, writing pamphlets. In every endeavor, his goal was to direct Muslims to the right path (siratul mustaqim). Sickness did not bother him unless it halted his activity in behalf of spreading Islam. Indeed, his tasawwuf was not characterized by heedlessness and neglect (ghafla). It was based on real Islam, mastering the self (nafs) and rulling over it with Qur’an and Sunnah. His Sufism was producing and working in various fields of life on the farms, and so forth. In a speech in the 1960s, Shaykh Ibrahim addressed a group of Muslim youth and said, “For the youth, I thank you all for your papers. And I am here to tell you to go ahead and be in the vanguard of things. PART III: ENEMITY FROM HOME During his youth, he moved with his father to the city of Kaolack, where they established the zāwiya (religious center) of Lewna Ñaseen. After his fathers death in Lewna Ñaseen, his older brother, Muhammad al-Khalīfa, became his fathers successor or Khalīfa, but due to his charisma and precocious knowledge, Ibrāhīm gained a large number of disciples, and tensions arose between his own disciples and those of his older brother. In 1929, while farming in the family fields of the village of Kóosi Mbittéyeen, young Ibrāhīm announced that the Prophet Muhammad had revealed to him the secrets of knowledge of God, and that anyone who wished to know God should follow him. In 1930, after the prayer of ʿĪd al-Fiṭr (the end of the month of Ramaḍān), a fight broke out between his disciples and those of Muhammad al-Khalīfa, and he immediately knew that he would have to move with his disciples. That evening, he set out with a small group of his closest disciples to find a new place to live, and the next day they began to establish a new zāwiya in Medina Baay, a village that was later incorporated into the growing city of Kaolack. During the following years, he divided his time between farming and teaching in Kóosi Mbittéyeen during the rainy season and teaching in Medina Baay. During the summer of 1945 he reestablished himself in his fathers house in his natal village of Tayba Ñaseen, rebuilding and reorganizing the village after a fire destroyed much of it. His fame quickly spread throughout the countryside and most of his fathers disciples ultimately became his disciples in spite of his junior status in the family. In an unlikely role reversal, several leaders of the Arab Idaw ʿAli tribe in Mauritania—the same tribe that introduced the Tijānī order to West Africa—became his disciples, including Shaykhāni, Muḥammad wuld an-Naḥwi, and Muḥammad al-Mishri. Tareeqa al-Tijaniyya al-Ibrahimiyya, as Shaykhs disciples came to known, flourished and gained large number of followers throughout the 1930s and 1940s across North and West Africa. In the 1937, on meeting with Shaykh Ibrahim during a pilgrimage to Makkah, the Emir of Kano,Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero (Nigeria) made a declaration to follow and became his disciple. That incident made Shaykh Ibrahim to gain the allegiance of many of the prominent Tijānī leaders of Northern Nigeria and lots of those who were non-Tijanis during the time. One of his closest disciples and father of Sayyida Bilkisu( one of the youngest wives of the Sheikh), was a Prince from Okene, the first High Commissioner of Nigeria to the UK, Alhaji Abdulmalik Atta. Shaykh Ibrahim became a renowned Shaykh al-Tareeka (Master of Sufi Order) throughout Hausa areas of West Africa and in fact ended up with far more disciples outside of Senegal than within it. By his death in 1975 in London, Shaykh Ibrahim Ñas had millions of followers throughout West Africa. His branch of the Tijāniyya, Tareeqa al-Tijaniyya al-Ibrahimiyya has become the largest branch in the world. After his death the community was led by his closest disciple, Shaykh Aliyy Cisse and Ñass eldest son, Alhaji Abdulahi Ibrahim Niass. The current Khalīfa in Medina Baye is his eldest surviving son, Sheikh Ahmad Tijani he became the khalifa in 2010 after the death of his brother khalifa Ahmadu Ñas (known as “Daam”) on Tuesday 18 May 2010. Shaykh Ibrahims role as principal Imam of the Medina Baye mosque has been carried out by the Cisse family. While serving as Medina Baays Imam, Shaykh Hassan Cisse (Shaykh Aliyy Cisses son and Shaykh Ibrahims maternal grandson) carried Shaykh Ibrahims teachings to the United States, United Kingdom and many other western countries. Shaykh Hassan Cisse was generally regarded as the Leader of Tareeqa al- Tijaniyya al-Ibrahimiyya worldwide until his sudden death in August, 2008. Since then, Shaykh Hassans younger brother Shaykh Tijānī Cisse has been given the position of Medina Baays Imam.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 21:41:24 +0000
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