Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAjība al-Ḥasanī (; 1747–1809) was an influential 18th-century
Moroccan scholar and poet in the
Darqawa
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 became ...
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
Islamic lineage.
Biography
He was born of a
sharif
Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, fr ...
family in the
Anjra
Anjra (, Berber: ⴰⵏⵊⵔⴰ) is a town and rural commune in Fahs-Anjra Province of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region of Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb regio ...
tribe that ranges from
Tangiers
Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capit ...
to
Tetuan along the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
coast of Morocco. As a child he developed a love of knowledge, memorizing the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
and studying subjects ranging from Classical
Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar or Arabic language sciences ( ar, النحو العربي ' or ar, عُلُوم اللغَة العَرَبِيَّة ') is the grammar of the Arabic language. Arabic is a Semitic language and its grammar has many similarities with ...
, religious ethics,
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
, Qur'anic recitation and
tafsir
Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...
. When he reached the age of eighteen he left home and undertook the study of exoteric knowledge in
Qasr al-Kabir under the supervision of Sidi Muhammad al-Susi al-Samlali. It was here that he was introduced to studies in the sciences, art, philosophy, law and Qur'anic exegesis in depth. He went to
Fes
Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...
to study with
Mohammed al-Tawudi ibn Suda
Mohammed ibn al-Talib al-Tawudi ibn Suda (; 1700–1795) was one of the most influential scholars of the 18th century in Morocco, both politically and intellectually. He is described by the Egyptian historian, Al-Jabarti, as the "crescent of the ...
,
Bennani, and
El-Warzazi, and joined the new
Darqawiyya
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 became ...
in 1208 AH (1793), of which he was the representative in the northern part of the
Jbala
The Jebala ( ar, جبالة, Jbāla}) or Jebala are a tribal confederation inhabiting an area in north-west Morocco from the town of Ketema to the west. The Jbala region (from Moroccan Arabic ''jbāl'' (pl.) (جبال ‘mountains’) thus occupie ...
region. He spent nearly his entire life in and around Tetuan, and died of the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
in 1224 AH (1809). He is the author of over thirty works, including an autobiography, al-''Fahrasa'', which provides interesting information concerning the intellectual center that Tetuan had become by the beginning of the 19th century.
Works
*
The Immense Ocean: Al-Bahr Al-Madid: A Thirteenth Century Quranic Commentary on the Chapters of the All-Merciful, the Event, and Iron (Fons Vitae, Quranic Commentaries) 2009.
* The Book of Ascension: Looking into the Essential Truths of Sufism (Mi'raj al-tashawwuf ila haqa'iq al-tasawwuf), A Lexicon of Sufic Terminology by Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba, Mohamed Fouad Aresmouk (Translator), Michael Abdurrahman Fitzgerald (Translator). Fons Vitae 2012; .
* Al-ʿumda fī sharḥ al-burda, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām al-ʿImrānī al-Khālidī, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2011.
* Al-durar al-mutanāthira fī tawjīh al-qirāʾāt al-mutawātira, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām al-ʿImrānī al-Khālidī, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2013.
* Īqāẓ al-himam fī sharḥ al-ḥikam, ed. Muḥammad Aḥmad Ḥasab Allāh, Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1983.
* Autobiography: Aḥmad Ibn ʿAjība, Fahrasat al-ʿālim al-rabbānī Sayyidī Aḥmad Ibn Muḥammad Ibn ʿAjība al-Ḥasanī, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām al-ʿImrānī al-Khālidī, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2013.
** ''The Autobiography (Fahrasa) of a Moroccan Soufi: Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba'', translated from the Arabic by
Jean-Louis Michon
Jean-Louis Michon (April 13, 1924- February 22, 2013) was a French traditionalist and translator who specialized in Islamic art and Sufism. He worked extensively with the United Nations to preserve the cultural heritage of Morocco.
Biography
Bo ...
and David Streight, Fons Vitae, Louisville KY USA,1999
** Jean-Louis Michon: Autobiography of a Moroccan Sufi: Ahmad Ibn 'Ajiba
747–1809 2000;
Sources
* Jean-Louis Michon: Le soufi marocain Ah̥mad Ibn 'Ajība (1746–1809) et son "Mi'rāj" (glossaire de la mystique musulmane). Paris : J. Vrin, 1990 (Etudes musulmanes, 14) (Review (1) (2) / Kat.).
* Florian A.G. Lützen: Sufitum und Theologie bei Aḥmad Ibn ʿAǧība – Eine Studie zur Methode des Religionsbegriffs, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
* Ḥasan ʿAzzūzī: Al-Shaykh Aḥmad Ibn ʿAjība wa manhajuhū fī al-tafsīr, 2 vols., Rabat: Maṭbaʿat Faḍāla, 2001.
* Mahmut Ay: Ahmed b. Acîbe ve işârî tefsir açisindan „El-Bahru‘l-Medîd“, PhD, University of Marmara, Istanbul, 2010.
* Nūr al-dīn Nās al-Faqīh: Aḥmad Ibn ʿAjība – Shāʿir al-taṣawwuf al-Maġribī, Beirut: Books-Publisher, 2013.
See also
*
Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili
Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili ( ar, أبو الحسن الشاذلي) (full name: Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Ḥasanī wal-Ḥusaynī al-Shādhilī) also known as Sheikh al-Shadhili (593–656 AH) (1196–1258 AD ...
*
Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi
Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi (; 1760–1823) was a Moroccan Sufi leader of the Shadhili tariqa and the author of letters concerning the dhikr he preached and instructions for daily life. He stressed noninvolvement in worldly affairs ...
*
Ibn 'Ata' Allah al-Sakandari
Tāj al-Dīn Abū'l-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Hussein ibn ʿAṭā Allāh al-Judhami al-Iskandarī al-Shādhilī was an Egyptian Malikite jurist, muhaddith and the th ...
*
Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi
Ibn al‐Bannāʾ al‐Marrākushī ( ar, ابن البناء المراكشي), full name: Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Azdi al-Marrakushi () (29 December 1256 – 31 July 1321), was a Moroccan polymath who was active as a math ...
*
Jean-Louis Michon
Jean-Louis Michon (April 13, 1924- February 22, 2013) was a French traditionalist and translator who specialized in Islamic art and Sufism. He worked extensively with the United Nations to preserve the cultural heritage of Morocco.
Biography
Bo ...
*
List of Sufis
This list article contains names of notable people commonly considered as Sufis or otherwise associated with Sufism.
List of notable Sufis
A
* Abu Baqar Siddique
* Abadir Umar ar-Rida
* Abu Bakr al-Kalabadhi
* Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani
* Al ...
*
List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
The list of Ash'aris and Maturidis includes prominent adherents of the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of thought. The Ash'aris are a doctrinal school of thought named after Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, and the Maturidi school is named for Abu Mansu ...
External links
His page on Goodreads
Asharis
Sunni Muslim scholars
Sunni imams
Sunni Sufis
Darqawi
Shadhili order
Mujaddid
Quranic exegesis scholars
Moroccan Maliki scholars
Moroccan autobiographers
Moroccan Sufi writers
People from Tangier
People from Tétouan
18th-century Moroccan people
19th-century Moroccan people
1747 births
1809 deaths
{{Sufism-stub