Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi (; in full Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Sanūsī al-Mujāhirī al-Ḥasanī al-Idrīsī) (1787–1859) was an Algerian Muslim theologian and leader who founded the

Senussi The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi ( ar, السنوسية ''as-Sanūssiyya'') are a Muslim political-religious tariqa (Sufi order) and clan in colonial Libya and the Sudan region founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Senussi ( ar, السنوسي ...

mystical order in 1837. His militant mystical movement proved very significant and helped

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

to win its freedom from Italy on 10 February 1947.

Omar Mukhtar Omar al-Mukhṭār Muḥammad bin Farḥāṭ al-Manifī ( ar, عُمَر الْمُخْتَار مُحَمَّد بِن فَرْحَات الْمَنِفِي ; 20 August 1858 – 16 September 1931), called The Lion of the Desert, known among ...

was one of the most significant leaders of the

military campaign launched by Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi. Al-Sanūsī's grandson Idrīs I ruled as king of Libya from 1951 to 1969.

Life

Al-Senussi was born in al-Wasita near

Mostaganem Mostaganem ( ber, Mustɣanem; ar, مستغانم) is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of Ora ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

,Shillington, Kevin (2005) "Libya: Muhammad Al-Sanusi (c.1787–1859) and the Sanusiyya" ''Encyclopedia of African History'' Fitzroy Dearborn, New York
p. 830-831
and was named al-Senussi after a venerated Muslim teacher. He was a Berber of the Algerian Walad Sidi Abdallah tribe who claimed descent from the prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

. The family takes its name from a religious Sheikh named Sanussi who lived in

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the por ...

during the 13th century. Unable to cross Algeria because of the French occupation, the beginning, the centre of Imam Mohammed Ali El Senussi's call was Jebel Akhdar and he built a mosque in Bayda of

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

and named it after himself, then he moved to

Jaghbub Jaghbub ( ar, الجغبوب) is a remote desert village in the Al Jaghbub Oasis in the eastern Libyan Desert. It is actually closer to the Egyptian town of Siwa than to any Libyan town of note. The oasis is located in Butnan District and was th ...

in Cyrenaica from where the mosques spread to the remaining cities of Barqa and Tripoli.The Senussi Family
Retrieved 1 October 2011. He built a great mosque and a university, which was shut down on the orders of

Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

in 1984; at the same time, the graves and remains of the Senussi family were desecrated. After the death of Muhammad as-Sanussi his son

Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi Muhammad Al Mahdi bin Sayyid Muhammad es Senussi ( ar, محمد المهدي بن سيدي محمد السنوسي), also Sayyid Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi Ali al-Sanusi, (1844–1902), was the supreme leader of the Sufi Senussi ...

(1859–1902) became the new leader of the

order, and moved it south from Jaghbub to

Kufra Kufra () is a basinBertarelli (1929), p. 514. and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. At the end of nineteenth century Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in ...

. His grandson through Muhammad became

King Idris Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi ( ar, إدريس, Idrīs; 13 March 1890 – 25 May 1983) was a Libyan political and religious leader who was King of Libya from 24 December 1951 until his overthrow on 1 September 1969. He ruled ov ...

, the only King of Libya.

References

*S. Khuda Bukhsh, ''Studies Indian and Islamic'', Routledge 2001, p. 28

(retrieved 26-09-2011)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad Ibn Ali As-Senussi Senussi dynasty Algerian Sufis 1787 births 1859 deaths People from Mostaganem Province Al-Azhar University alumni Muslims from the Ottoman Empire Founders of Sufi orders 18th-century Arabs 19th-century Arabs

Life

See also

References

Notes