Imam Muhammad bin Ali Al-Senussi, his intellectual contributions, and his Senussi call

ч RESEARCH s ARTICLE Imam Muhammad bin Ali Al -Senussi, his intellectual contributions, and his Senussi call. / PhD student Khenata Fatima Mustapha Stambouli Camp University Zohra Algeria Email: Professor Drai Fatima Mustapha Stambouli Camp University Algeria <_ Email: Doi Serial Keywords angles; Imam al-Senussi; Sheikh; manuscript; culture; Trip; The Ottoman era; Algeria.

The book Awakening the Wissans in Acting on the Hadith and the Qur’an is 132 pages long.It was printed in Cairo in the year 1380 AH - corresponding to the year 1960 AD.This book came to respond to the imitators of the imams and call for working on the Hadith and the Qur’an.Sheikh Al-Senussi divided it into an introduction and purpose (three chapters) and a conclusion in which he discussed six issues.They are as follows:

• 1-    About explaining that the meaning of the Qur’an and the Sunnah is the same.

2-On the necessity of referring to the Qur’an and Sunnah and adhering to them.

• 3-    About the necessity of following them and prioritizing them according to the opinion of every diligent person.

• 4-    About his opinion on acting on the hadith and the opinion of jurists, hadith scholars, and fundamentalists on it.

• 5-    About the statement of ijtihad and his response to that claim that ijtihad has ceased by consensus.

• 6-    About imitation and what is stated in it regarding invalidating what is reprehensible from it with evidence and what is stated in the sayings of scholars regarding the confinement of imitation to the four imams (Al-Senussi M., 1960, page 03)

The Book of the Ten Issues, also known as Baghiyat al-Maqasid and Khulasat al-Marasid: It is 190 pages long, and was printed by the Cairo Press in the year 1380 AH - corresponding to the year 1960 AD, where the

Sheikh stated at the beginning of his book the reason for writing the book.

It should be noted that during his stay in Medina, the Sheikh received some questions from the people of Yemen and Morocco, and I would like them to verify the validity of what the objectors say about following the Qur’an and the Sunnah only, and about raising the hands, clenching them, and basmalah, requesting that they be verified and their evidence proven, in order to respond to some of the jurists who insulted the practice of the Sunnah. (Al-Senussi M., Al-Salsabil Al-Mu’in fi Al-Tarifat Al-Arba’in in the margins of the Book of the Ten Issues, 1940, page 05)

The book The Ten Issues begins with an introduction to the majesty of the values of the imams of the predecessors, and those who followed their example and adhered to the Qur’an and Sunnah, and from what he recorded in Al-Maqsad:

In determining the meanings of doctrine, fatwa and judiciary.

That the right moral conduct is that which adheres to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

He speaks again of Ijtihad and the Mujtahids and invalidates the obligation of restricting imitation to the four schools of thought.

He reiterates his opinion in talking about the hadith scholars, fundamentalists, and jurists in working with hadith and their division into sects. He explains how to pray, describes the prayer of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, mentions the pillars of prayer and its branches, then mentions the texts of the imams on the ten issues, which are:

Raising the hands in prayer, holding, seeking refuge, basmalah, to secure, takbeer, greeting, Qunoot, lengthening the prayer, shortening it.

He concludes his book by talking about Sufism, as he did in the conclusion of Awakening, and he talks about the seven souls: the emirate, the blamer, the inspiration, the reassured, the complete, the satisfied, and the satisfied.In his talk about the seven souls, his method is clear according to the approach of the Sufi leaders.He sees the necessity of contemplation and quotes Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali as saying: "Whoever does not have a share of inner knowledge, I fear a bad ending for him" (Al-Senussi M., Al-Salsabil Al-Mu’in fi Al-Taraifat Al-Arba’in on the sidelines of the book The Ten Issues, 1940, page 280).

The book Al-Salsabil Al-Mu’in fi Al-Tariqah Al-Arba’in: It is on the sidelines of the book Al-Mas’a’il Al-Ashra, and Sheikh Al-Senussi spoke in the introduction about the reason for writing the book by saying: And after that, praise be to God, we met with prominent imams and scholars from the people of God, so he rose and reached us from their methods, and they took several and ample licenses, most of which we mentioned in our index.The shining suns and their summary, the clear houses, along with the knowledge that has reached us Our story was correct, then it seemed to me to choose forty of these methods together and single them out with a message clarifying their

Sunni chains of transmission, so that they would be within reach That is why I called it Al-Salsabil Al-Mu’in in the Forty Methods, and I will mention its quality and what is related to it.

• 2-    Sanusi dawah:

• 2    – 1- The proportions of the Senussi call and the organization of its structure:

This call is called the Sanusi al-Idrisiyyah al-Qadiriyya al-Nasiriyah al-Shadhiliyyah, and all of them have a Muhammadan reference and attribute the method to our master Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and no one else to follow the Sunnah in little and much.Because this method is based on acting according to the Qur’an and Sunnah, as he said in this regard, "So know that the path of the people is the followers of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, in the sublime and the despicable...Their deeds are weighed in the balance of the law'.

The organization of the structure of the Sanusi order or the call is represented by the sheikh of the order, who is the leader of the zawiya, assisted in this by the Council of Privileges in managing the affairs of the zawiya, followed by the Brotherhood, whose mission is the call to gain followers. (Balalia, 2006, p.122).

• 2    – 2- Definition of the Senussi call:

It is the summary of ancient and contemporary methods, but it was distinguished by raising the slogan of returning to the work of the predecessors, working according to the Qur’an and Sunnah, and purifying the religion, from the impurities attached to it, such as superstitions and misguided heresies. As long as its owner was one of the scholars of the time, his method used science and education as its means to soften people’s hearts and minds. Reviving work with pure religion and standing in the face of foreign raids on the Islamic world intellectually, militarily and morally. (Saadallah, 1998, pp.256-257).

This call is based on knowledge of the true religion, through methods of preaching, guidance, worship, and dealing in the light of the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah, enjoining good, forbidding evil and heresies, and returning Islam to ease with the freedom to pretend to be ascetic and lethargic, those qualities that were the character of most Sufi orders. (Al-Jilali, 1994, p.268).

It is a sectarian association and a Sufi, political and social method, even if from a political standpoint it does not have rebellious purposes against the state. From this, the historian explained to us that the Senussi movement was not limited to one side or another, and even if it was governed by the circumstances of the era, it arose under the Ottoman Empire, which It was the state of Islam and the Caliphate, and this explains to us what the aforementioned historian said (it has no rebellious purposes against the state Rather, it supports it, unlike what the Wahhabi movement was like, for example. The founding of the Senussi call dates back to the thirteenth century AH and the nineteenth century AD, in Libya. This call was established after its founder felt the weakness of Muslims and their backwardness religiously, politically, and socially. (Al-Jilali, 1994, p.268).

2-3- Objectives of the Sanusi call:

Sanusiism is a Salafist reform movement and a Sunni Sufi order. Its primary goal was to form a righteous Sufi person.In its way, restricted by the Sunnah, it gained many followers and was not rejected by the Wahhabi movement in Hijaz, nor was its corners demolished, nor was it exposed to its principles and goals.

We will discuss the factors that influenced the owner of this movement in the first half of the nineteenth century, which can be summarized as: his feeling of the weakness of Muslims in all fields as a result of deviation from the correct teachings of Islam and sectarian fanaticism (Jassim, 1975, page 14).

His feeling of the weakness of the Caliphate and the dominance of individual rule in the provinces during the Ottoman era.

His feeling of the pressure of the Christian world on the Islamic world, the features of which seemed to loom on the horizon with the occupation of Algeria, so his call was an echo of this influence, and his approach to that was to arbitrate the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, and he based his call on the following principles:

1-Returning to Islam in its original purity.

• 2-    Considering the Qur’an and Sunnah as the sources of Sharia.

• 3-    Opening the door to ijtihad in jurisprudence and considering this door as a reason for prohibiting the methods of Islamic thinking and introducing heresies into it.

4-Purifying the Sanusi order from the misguidance of Sufism.

• 5 - Working to unify the sects and bring the Islamic world together on a true unity, which is what Mr. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani worked for, while spreading Islam in the countries, where it was not spread. The Senussi call, in its first stage of establishment, achieved general goals, including:

Building an Arab Islamic force in the Libyan desert in particular, whose support is based on the Zawiya community in particular and graduating preachers to spread Islam, south of the Sahara, and resist proselytization and Christianization in Central and West Africa.

Confronting and resisting colonialism during the era of Sheikh Al-Senussi’s successors (Balalia, 2006, pp.126127).

• 2    – 4 The intellectual foundations and characteristics followed by the Senussi call.

The first feature that distinguishes the Sanusi call from other orders is that it does not prevent its followers from joining any other order or orders. The follower can remain a Darqoya, Otjania, or Rahmaniya, and yet he can be a Sanusi if he wants, because the founders of the orders in fact go back to one origin in her view, which is Holy Quran.

They are apparently distinguished by placing their hands on their chests when praying, by placing the left hand on the right, in contrast to the saddle according to the Malikis.

As a Sufi order, the Sanusis adopted patterns of rituals practiced by its followers in order to enter into its call and become its supporters, including mentioning "There is no god but God" a hundred times after the beads of the rosary and another hundred, for the phrase "seeking forgiveness" and another hundred for the phrase "O God, bless our master Muhammad, the illiterate Prophet, and his family and companions, and peace be upon him." If There is no stranger to the method, the follower may also say there is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God These supplications are close to the supplications of other orders, such as Al-Shadhiliyyah.

The Sanusi method is neither a renewed method nor an interest, because what you are calling for is Salafism and a return to the Qur’an and Sunnah, devoid of all heresies that have arisen over the years, whether by the sheikhs of the orders, who departed from the teachings of the Qur’an. One of the foundations of the teachings of the Senussi call is not to hang the rosary around the neck, as the Darqawis do, but rather to carry it in their hands.Not to use drums and musical instruments in meetings.A Muslim says after the dawn prayer, "O Lord, forgive me at the hour of death and after death forty times.". (Saadallah, 1998, pp.257-258).

One of the foundations and characteristics of the Sanusi call is that it called for jihad against colonialism, resistance to corruption, and the necessity of studying the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sunnah.

Another of the foundations and characteristics that distinguishes the call from other calls in that era is its correct vision of the political situation, and therefore we do not see it facing the Ottoman Caliphate.Rather, the call declared its loyalty to the Ottoman state, and the Ottomans did not show any fear of the Senussi call movement, considering that it was bringing together Muslims under the banner of Islam and calling for stability, so the Ottoman Empire encouraged the Se-nussi call To continue on its path, it recognized the Senussi emirate for the Senussi leader and made it hereditary for his future successors.It also exempted the properties of the corners from taxes. (El-Sayed, 2006, pp.62-63).

• 3    - The Travels of Imam Al-Senussi:3-1-Imam Al-Senussi’s trip to Al-Aqsa Morocco (Fez):

Al-Senussi spent his life on the wing of travel. He moved on his travels to the Arab countries, during which he was able to learn about the general conditions of the Islamic peoples. His travels were a study of the mentalities of their people and familiarity with the forces affecting them. (Nuwayhid, 1973, p.179).

Al-Senussi acquired a great deal of knowledge in his region, and perhaps he would have remained there had it not been for a simple accident that changed the course of his life. Some authors mention the accident as a family matter that led to Al-Senussi leaving Algeria for Fez, and some mention the story in detail that one of his cousins named Muhammad Al-Atrash Al-Senussi slapped him in front of A jurisprudential council (Saadallah, 1998, page 247)

He left for Fez in 1237 AH/1821 AD, where he remained for 7 years and was 30 years old when he trav-eled.However, Al-Senussi refused to study in Fez at the hands of the sheikhs of Al-Qarawiyyin.It seems that Imam Muhammad Al-Senussi, who had reached maturity (37 years), and most of his writings make His departure from Al-Aqsa Morocco was a coincidence or an act of God.Sultan Suleiman wanted to test him, so he gave him a manuscript and asked him to comment on it But the sheikh apologized for that, and feared punishment, so he left Fez declaring his intention to perform Hajj in 1829 AD (Saadallah, 1998, page 187).

3-2 - Imam Al-Senussi’s journey to Hijaz (Mecca):

After leaving Fez announcing the Hajj, he took the ancient Moroccan Hajj route, the desert route, as did Al-Ayashi and Al-Dari.He did not ride the sea or go through the coastal cities, but traveled through the hills and inland cities, crossing distances slowly.He did not stop at the sheikhs of the routes, as he did.With Sheikh Al-Faqandasa (Al-Zayaniyah) and Sheikh Al-Karzaz (Al-Karzaziyah) (Fahmy, 2008, page 133).

We do not know whether the naval blockade that the French imposed on Algeria in 1827 AD included Al-Senussi taking the land route.It was said that he passed through the south in the year 1829 AD and studied jurisprudence and grammar in some of the countries of Laghouat.He also stayed in Ain Madi and Jebel Amour and took the Tijaniyaorder.He went with an assistant and married a woman in it.Her name is Amna bint Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman, then he entered Djel-fa and Jabal al-Sahari, and stayed for several months between Bou Saada, where he divorced his wife, and Jabal al-Bukhari. (Saadallah, The National Movement from 1830-1900, 2005, page 174)

This was in the summer, when the French campaign was against Algeria, and he learned about it while he was in the desert, so he continued on his way and passed through Tamasin, where the Tijaniya Zawiya is, and he also passed through Wadi Souf and from there to Al-Jarid in Tunisia, then Tripoli, then Cyrenaica, then he landed in Egypt and resided there for a period, studied at Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, and took scientific summaries and remembrances.Sufi orders in that era.

Some of Al-Azhar’s scholars were serving those in power, by approaching them with Zulfi.These scholars described him as a puritan and considered him a reformer at the same time.Al-Senussi left Egypt not because he hated the Egyptians, but one of Egypt’s leaders urged him to go to Mecca, where he stayed for eight years. However, it happened to him just as it happened in Fez.

3-3- Imam Al-Senussi’s trip to Libya:

Al-Senussi took advantage of the Libyan pilgrims’ delegation surrounding him and inviting him to stay with them.According to accounts, he left Mecca for Cyrena-ica, at the end of the month of Dhul-Hijjah 1255 AH/February 29, 1840 AD.On his way there, he landed in Gabès, after he had run out of weapons, which were with him and some of his disguised followers, and he stayed there for a short period. When the French learned of his landing, they began to plan plans for him to arrest him because he was Algerian. (Saadallah, The National Movement from 1830-1900, 2005, page 252). He left for Tripoli and arrived there in Ramadan 1257 AH/September 1841 AD.There he founded the Zawi-ya al-Bayda in Jabal al-Akhdar near the shrine of Sidi Rafi’ al-Ansari in 1843 AD.It is one of his most famous zawiyas ever, and it was the first cradle of the Senussi movement in Libya. (Al-Jilali, 1994, p.270).

At the beginning of Muharram in the year 1259 AH/February 1843 AD, he married the daughter of Sayyid Ahmad Faraj Allah al-Qaytouri and built with her in a place called Dunqara.She gave birth to his two sons, Muhammad al-Mahdi and Muhammad al-Sharif.Because of the frequent movement of al-Senussi to his corners, the men of the Ottoman government became suspicious of his movement, and they saw him as competing with the Turkish authority, so the relationship worsened.Between them, he left, penetrating south to the Jaghbub Oasis on the Egyptian-Barqawi border, and there he established another center of his own in (1273 AH/1856 AD) He established a religious school or a large corner in it, consisting of a library full of various books and manuscripts, about eight hundred thousand volumes, and it had three hundred students (Al-Jilali, 1994, page 272).

He chose Jaghbub, which he chose as the headquarters of the Senussi, because it was a passage for trade routes and pilgrim caravans, as well as its location that enabled communication with the rest of its other corners, and to resist the Italian advance in that region. (Sharshar, 2007, page 171) He soon obtained from Sultan Abdul Majeed, in the year 1272 AH/1855 AD, a decree that made him the completely independent prince of his emirate, in recognition of the Imam’s merit and his great advantages over the nation of   Is- lam.SheikhZawiyat al-Jaghbub continued working on his drawn-up plan until he passed away.His death, and his master called him, and he answered the call on the morning of Wednesday, the ninth month of Safar, in the year 7127 AH/1859 AD He was buried on Friday afternoon in his shrine, known to this day as Al-Jaghbub, in the Siwa Desert on the Tripoli-Egyptian border, leaving behind an ancient religious and cultural legacy for his children and grandchildren to carry the torch. (Saadallah, Research in the History of Algeria, 2003, pp.216-217.).

• 4 - Zawiyat of Imam Al-Senussi:-1-senussi corners:

The Sanusi zawiyas are considered the basic pillar of the Sanusi movement.For this purpose, Sheikh Al-Senussi founded about twenty-two zawiyas, including eighteen in Cyrenaica, which are now approximately three hundred zawiyas spread throughout the Arab world.The first zawiya he founded for his method was on Mount Abu Qais in Mecca in the year 1837 AD It was the beginning of his efforts in Mecca during his stay in Hijaz, and when he emerged as a thinker and innovator in Cyrenaica in the year 1844 AD, he founded the Zawiya al-Bayda in Cyrenaica and called it Umm al-Zawiya.To escape Turkish pressure on Imam al-Senussi, he fled to the Jaghbub Oasis on the Egyptian Barqawi border in the year 1855 AD, and stayed there.Until he passed away in 1859 AD.

What is noticeable in what was done is that the sheikh seeks to train his suppliers in a life of productive work, just as he trains them in the Sufi life.In these corners, the followers were trained in military operations, such as archery, jostling, gladiating, and the use of weap-ons.They were also trained to revive the dead land through agriculture and cultivation.And learn some crafts and industries. Imam Al-Senussi also contributed to copying rare books by hand and distributing them free of charge to the needy (Al-Senussi M., Al-Senussi Al-Kubra, 1982, page 20).

• 4-2 - Tokiya angle:

The corner of Takouk in the vicinity of Mostaganem is considered the only main corner of the Senussi in Algeria.It was founded in 1859 AD by Sheikh Takouk Al-Sharif Ould Al-Jilali Abdullah bin Takouk, born around the year 1794 AD, in microscopes near Mosta-ganem, where he studied under several sheikhs in the district, including the sheikhs of Muhammad bin Ali Al-Senussi himself.Like Sheikh Muhammad Bel-kandouz.

Then Sheikh Takouk was arrested in Mostaganem during the Ibn Azraq Revolution and the Oulad Sidi

Sheikh Revolution in 1864 AD.In 1877 AD, the French accused Sheikh Takouk of hiding weapons, so they confiscated what was in his corner and took him to Mostaganemprison.They also arrested him again in 1879 AD, in the same prison as well.Others calculated that the sheikh could have revolted with twenty thousand people, but he nevertheless called on them to calm down (Fahmy, 2008, page 159).

In the year 1890 AD, Sheikh Takouk died at the age of 96.He was buried in his zawiya and left his spiritual succession to his brother Ahmed Takouk.The zawiya was not spared from closure again and its new sheikh was thrown into prison. France also imprisoned Ahmed bin Sheikh Takouk, the founder of the zawiya, after his return to Algeria in 1893 AD.

This happened after a five-year exile in Zawiyat al-Jaghbub in Libya, during which he married into the family of Sheikh al-Mahdi al-Senussi.AhmedJr. replaced his uncle at the head of the zawiya when and during his arrest. French writers were warning of the danger of al-Senussi, the preacher of the Islamic League, and this sheikh remained in exile for several months. And imprisonment in Corsica before 1900 AD.

The reign of Ahmed bin Takouk was long, like his father, and he died at the age of 80. During his time, the Takouk corner was famous for its knowledge, memorization of the Qur’an, and dissemination of Maliki jurisprudence. (Al-Salabi, 2013, page 67)

• 4 – 3 Jaghbub corner:

After he founded Zawiyat al-Jaghbub in the year 1855 AD, it was named after the oasis in which it is located, which is the JaghbubOasis.It was described as truly an emerging state, as it had between six and seven thousand dwellings and was fortified. It had four gates and was considered a stop for caravans. It was a religious complex. Politically, the Brotherhood has discipline with its branches, a special police, vast agricultural lands, and an educational system. And the Ottoman government in Tripoli. It should be noted that Sheikh Al-Senussi had a good relationship with the Ottoman authority, as he was wise in his dealings with the authority and did not show any opposition to their regime (Al-Idrisi, 1928, page 276). It exempted the zawiya and its branches from taxes and established diplomatic relations and decrees with it, as the zawiya contained: First: The mosque and school to learn the Qur’an.

Second: A religious institute to teach Sharia law to those who have memorized the Qur’an and then prepare students to join Al-Azhar.

Third: Zawiyat Al-Jaghbub Library, which contained eight thousand volumes on jurisprudence, interpretation, history, literature, and astronomy. It was lost after the Italian occupation of Al-Jaghbub Oasis in 1925 AD. Fourth: Residences for the sheikh, aides, and brothers. Fifth: Council of guests and expatriates.

Sixth: The rooms that predominate among those arriving at the corner are called retreats.

Other buildings designated for craft activity were at- tached to the corner, in order to meet the needs of the residents of the corner. Sheikh Al-Senussi chose good locations for his corners, and about this Arslan says: "Most of these corners are chosen for the most beautiful spots and the most fertile lands, and they contain wells that do not ooze due to their abundance of water, and in the Green Mountain they are next to running springs and clear rivers, and it is rare that you pass by a corner that does not have an orchard or Orchards contain all kinds of fruits.

The zawiya has resources that it obtains from cultivating endowment lands donated by the tribes residing near the zawiya, in addition to raising livestock and collecting zakat after the Ottoman Empire exempted it from paying taxes in 1865 AD, and each zawiya contributed a share of its resources to finance the zawiya (Fahmy, 2008, page 125).

203 – , | Issue 7, Vol. 8, 2025

Imam Muhammad bin Ali Al -Senussi, his intellectual contributions, and his Senussi call.

Khenata Fatima Zohra, Drai Fatima