Ahmad al-Alawi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-Alawi (1869–14 July 1934), (Arabic: أحمد بن مصطفى العلاوي), was the founder of one of the most important modern Sufi Muslim orders, the Darqawiyya Alawiyya, a branch of the Shadhiliyya.

1 Biography
2 Spread of the Alawiyya
3 Teachings of al-Alawi
4 Further reading
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Ahmad al-Alawi was born in Mostaganem, Algeria, in 1869. He was first educated at home by his father. From the time of his father's death in 1886 until 1894, he worked in Mostaganem and followed the Aissawiyya order

In 1894, he traveled to Morocco, and followed for fifteen years the Darqawi shaykh Muhammad al-Buzidi. After al-Buzidi's death in 1909, Al-Alawi returned to Mostaganem, where he first spread the Darqawiyya, and then (in 1914) established his own order, called the Alawiyya in honor of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet, who appeared to him in a vision and gave him that name for his new order.

[edit] Spread of the Alawiyya

The Alawiyya spread throughout Algeria, as well as in other parts of North Africa, as a result of al-Alawi's travels, preaching and writing, and through the activities of his muqaddams (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.

The Alawiyya was one of the first Sufi orders to establish a presence in Europe, notably among Algerians in France and Yemenis in Wales. Al-Alawi himself traveled to France in 1926, and led the first communal prayer to inaugurate the newly built Paris Mosque in the presence of the French president. Al-Alawi understood French well, though he was reluctant to speak it, and had a small number of European followers, including the French anarchist painter Gustave-Henri Jossot and the Swiss Traditionalist Frithjof Schuon.

[edit] Teachings of al-Alawi

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 systmatic practice of khalwa and in laying especial emphasis on the invocation of the Supreme Name [of God].

In addition to being a classic Sufi shaykh, al-Alawi addressed the problems of modern Algerians using modern methods. As well as writing poetry and books on established Sufi topics, he 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.

In his preaching and his writings, al-Alawi attempted to reconcile Islam and modernity. On the one hand, he criticized Westernization, both at a symbolic level (by discouraging the adoption of Western dress) 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 into French and Berber for the sake of making it more accessible, a position that was at that time most controversial.

Although al-Alawi showed unusual respect for Christians, and was in some ways an early practitioner of inter-religious dialogue, the centerpiece of his message to Christians was that if only they would abandon the doctrines of the trinity and of incarnation "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 own personal charisma, to which many sources, both Algerian and French, speak. Al-Alawi's non-Muslim French physician, Marcel Carret, wrote of his first meeting with al-Alawi "What immediately struck me was his resemblance to the face which is generally used to represent Christ."

[edit] Further reading

Cartigny, Johan (1984). Le Cheikh al-Alawi: témoignages et documents (in French). Drancy, France: Editions Les Amis de l'Islam. OCLC 22709995.
Jossot, Abdul'karim , Les sentiers d'Allah
Khelifa, Salah, "Alawisme et Madanisme, des origines immédiates aux années 50." Doctoral thesis, Université Jean Moulin Lyon III.
Lings, Martin, A Sufi saint of the twentieth century: Shaikh Ahmad al-Alawi, his spiritual heritage and legacy ISBN 0-946621-50-0