Shaykh Sayyid Muhammad b. ‘Ali al-Sanusi the founder of Sanūsiyyah Order incorporated some doctrines of other orders and sufficiently enriched it with his own ideas and experiences. The Order combined what is considered to be the least elements of the earlier Șūfī writings and practices as their rites. Major aim of the Sanūsiyyah was to restore the prIstine beauty of Islam as enshrined in the Glorious Qur’ān and the Prophetic Sunnah.
Therefore, the major rites and rituals of the Sanūsiyyah were the prohibition of music, dancing, singing, tobacco and even coffee. Yet like other Șūfī orders it had certain devotional peculiarities, for instance in dhīkr, they had certain formulae to be repeated in given number for different categories of the ikhwān. It would be interesting to note here that adherents of the order were divided into three categories:
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1) Ahl al-Tabarruk, people seeking spiritual blessings. The group in this category were not formal members of the Sanūsiyyah Order but only attended the zāwiyyah to seek for barakah, spiritual blessing. They were only requested to repeat the given formulae three hundred times.
2) Ahl al-Iradah, people of devotion. These sets of people are formal members of the Sanūsiyyah Order and are expected to repeat the formulae twelve thousand times.
3) Ahl al-Tajrīd, people of abstraction. In this category are people who had moulded their lives according to the divine pleasure and scaled down the height of self-spiritual. They are expected to repeat the formulae twenty four thousand times.
As part of the ritual practices of the Sanūsiyyah they are expected and duty bound to carry out the rigid rules of the Qur’ān in accordance with the most strictly monotheistic principles, whereby worship is to be given to Allah alone and pilgrimages to their tombs are absolutely interdicted.
Members of Sanūsiyyah must abstain from coffee and tobacco, avoid all intercourse with Jews and Christians, and contribute a certain portion of the income to the funds of society. They should give themselves up entirely to the service of the order and devote all their energies to the advancement of Islam, resisting at the same time any concession to western influences.
In conclusion it would be observed that Sayyid Muhammad b. Ali al-Sanusi, the founder of Sanūsiyyah Brotherhood believed that all the Șūfī orders are fundamentally the same but the difference only lies in the approach and outlook. He also admitted that they all lead to the same goal which is spiritual perfection as well as nearness to Almighty Allah.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Expound the doctrines and attitude of Sanūsiyyah to ritual practices. . 4.0 CONCLUSION
The rise of Sanūsiyyah was indeed a reaction to both spiritual disintegration of and the external political threat to the very existence of Islam. The aims and objectives of establishing the Sanūsiyyah Order were three fold, first to work for the restoration of the original purity of Islam and the advancement of Islamic society. Secondly, to bring about the solidarity and unity of the Muslim Ummah and to revive the community of Islam, thirdly to combat the growing encroachments of the European imperialism upon the Muslim land. Consequently, the founder of the Sanūsiyyah Order Sayyid Muhammad b. Ali al-Sanusi who was born in 1202/ 1881 in the village known as al-Wasite near
143 Mustaghamen rose to confront the situation. He used the movement to end Italian imperialism in Libya.
5.0 SUMMARY
In summary, it could be observed that the Grand Sanusi was initiated into about sixty-five șūfī orders which prevailed in the Muslim world of his time. But finally he made making a man a good Muslim rather than a good mystic or ascetic the chief aim of his movement. Therefore, Grand Sanusi did not introduce any essentially original principles, ideas or doctrines. It was only a modern revivalist movement he succeeded in founding.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Trace the origin and development of the Sanūsiyyah Order.
2. Narrate the major doctrines of the Sanūsiyyah and its attitude to ritual practices.
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Sharif, M. M. (1967). A History of Muslim Philosophy. Germany. Vol.
II. Pp. 1457/1482.
As-Sanūsī, Muhammab bn Ali (1388/1968); قئارطلا يف نيعـملا ليبسلسلا نيعبرلأا, Libya.
Sanusi, Ahmad Sharif ةيسونسلا ةقيرطلا ةمدقم :ةيسدقلا راونلأأ ghrib.net//vb/archive index.
Arnold, T.W. (1913). The Spread of Islam among the People of Africa:
Part Two. London: University Press.
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UNIT 2 THE GENESIS, SPREAD, DOCTRINES AND