Al-Shadhili, in full Abu al-Ḥasan ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Shadhili, (b. 1196, Ghumara, near Ceuta, Morocco — d. 1258, Humaithara, Egypt), Sufi Muslim theologian who was the founder of the order of the Shadhiliyah.
Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (full name: Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbar al-Hasani wal-Husayni al-Shadhili) also known as Sheikh al-Shadhili (593–656 AH) (1196–1258 CC) was an influential Moroccan Islamic scholar and Sufi who became the founder of the Shadhili Sufi order.
Al-Shadhili was born near Ceuta in the north of Morocco, in the area that is also known as the Rif region, in 1196. He is said to have been a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and to have gone blind in his youth because of excessive study. A Sharif and a descendant of the Arab Idrisids, he was born to a royal family among the Berber Ghomara tribe. Al-Shadhili began his study of Maliki jurisprudence but wandered far afield in search of knowledge. Immensely learned, even as a young man, he was famous for his ability to engage in legal argumentation with the religious scholars of his day.
In 1218/19 he traveled to Tunisia, where his Sufi teachings of ascetic mysticism aroused the hostility of the traditional orthodox Muslim theologians.
As a young man, Al-Shadhili hesitated between living the life of an ascetic in the wilderness in order to give himself up totally to worship and invocation, and returning to the towns and settlements to be in the company of the scholars and the righteous. He studied in Fes and moved to Alexandria in 1244. In Iraq, he met the Sufi master al-Wasiti, who advised him that he could find his Spiritual Master (Sheikh) in the country Al-Shadhili had travelled from. In other words, Al-Shadili needed to be with Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish, the great Moroccan spiritual master.
It was in a hermitage on top of Jabal al-'Alam, near Tetouan, that al-Shadhili met the sheikh who he was searching for and who was to have the greatest influence on his life. The highly esteemed Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish (d. 625 AH/1228 CC) was known as "the Pole of the West", just as Abd al-Qadir Gilani (d. 561 AH/1166 CC) was called "the Pole of the East". While he was living with Sheikh Ibn Mashish, on the holy mountain, many wonderful signs from Allah came to al-Shadhili, through his holy guide, Sheikh Ibn Mashish. One such sign was that on the night of his arrival on the mountain he was sleeping at the entrance of the cave where his master lived. He dreamt that he was asking the Sheikh to grant him certain wishes, one of them being that Allah would incline the hearts of His creatures in favor towards him. Then he wished to ask his master if it was necessary for him to live in solitude, or in the desert, in order for him to be in the right station (maqaam) to perform his religious tasks, or whether he should return to the towns and inhabited places to seek out the company of scholars and virtuous people. While he was turning these things in his heart he heard the Sheikh praying fervently and calling out:
The next morning, when he greeted his teacher to be, he asked him of his state (kayf al-hal), to which Ibn Mashish responded, "I complain unto God about the coolness of contentment and submission (bard al-rida wa al-taslim) just as you complain unto Him about the heat of self-direction and choice (harr al-tadbir wa al-ikhtiyar)." When he saw the astonishment on his student's face at hearing his words, he added, "Because I fear that the sweetness of such an existence would make me neglectful of my duty towards Allah." Then al-Shadhili said, "This is the Pole of Islam. This is the Sea which overflows." He knew then that his master had taken hold of his whole heart, and he was thereby completely illuminated.
Four fundamental themes ran through Abd as-Salam teaching of to Abu'l Hasan, as perceived from his famous Hizb, called as-Salat al-Mashishiya:
- the Oneness of Existence (wahdat al-wujud) which he said could be realized only through asceticism,
- fear of God and His judgments (khawfu billah),
- the belief that God is everywhere and that it is necessary to see His Face in everything that He has created,
- that only through the drowning in the Ocean of the Unity (awnu fi bahri al-wahadati) can the seeker cast off and leave behind his own existence and attributes to be merged and absorbed into Allah and His Attributes.
Before his departure from Jabal al-Alam, Abd as-Salam foretold his student of his eventual move to Ifriqiya where he would become known by the name of Shadhili and the eminent spiritual station he would eventually inherit from Abd as-Salam himself. Abu'l Hasan relates that in a dream, he saw his master standing near the Divine Throne. When he told him of this dream in the morning, Abd as-Salam replied, "O Ali, it was not me you saw, it was the station you will inherit from me."
The parting words of advice and admonition that Abd as-Salam gave his disciple before he departed for Tunis emphasized the transformation of consciousness to inward and outward God-centeredness, contentment with God in all states, and the inner withdrawal from creation in prosperity and adversity. These seminal teachings of Abd as-Salam would, through al-Shadhili, become the fundamental precepts of the Shadhili Tariqa.
Under the guidance of 'Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish, Al-Shadhili attained enlightenment and proceeded to spread his knowledge across North Africa, especially in Tunisia and Egypt.
Al-Shadhili founded his first zawiya in Tunis in 1227. He died in 1258 in Humaithra, Egypt, while he was on his hajj to Mecca. Humaithara is between Marsa Alam and Aswan in Egypt and al-Shadhili's shrine there is highly venerated.
It was while he was in Egypt that he founded the Shadhiliyah order, which was destined to become one of the most popular of the mystical brotherhoods of the Middle East and North Africa and from which 15 other orders derive their origin.
Although al-Shadhili left no writings, certain sayings and some poetry have been preserved by his disciples.
Shadhiliyah, also spelled Shaziliyah, is a widespread brotherhood of Muslim mystics (Ṣufis), founded on the teachings of Abu al-Hasan ash-Shadhili (d. 1258) in Alexandria. Shadhili teachings stress five points: fear of God, living the sunna (practices) of the Prophet, disdain of mankind, fatalism, and turning to God in times of happiness and distress. The order, which spread throughout North Africa and the Sudan and into Arabia, was created by disciples, as al-Shadhili himself discouraged monasticism and urged his followers to maintain their ordinary lives, a tradition still followed. The order has given rise to an unusually large number of suborders, notably the Jazuliyah and the Darqawa in Morocco and the ʿIsawiyah in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
The Shadhili Tariqa is a Sufi order of Sunni Islam and is followed by millions of people around the world. Many followers (Arabic murids, "seekers") of the Shadhiliya Order are known as Shadhilis, and a single follower is known as Shadhili.
It has historically been of importance and influence in the Maghreb and Egypt with many contributions to Islamic literature. Among the figures most known for their literary and intellectual contributions are Ibn 'Ata Allah, author of the Hikam, and Ahmad Zarruq, author of numerous commentaries and works, and Ahmad ibn Ajiba who also wrote numerous commentaries and works. In poetry expressing love of Muhammad, there have been the notable contributions of Muhammad al-Jazuli, author of the "Dala'il al-Khayrat", and Busiri, author of the famous poem, the "Qasida al-Burda" Many of the head lecturers of al-Azhar University in Cairo have also been followers of this tariqa.
Of the various branches of the Shadhili tariqa are the Fassiyatush, found largely in India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. The Darqawi branch is found mostly in Morocco and the Darqawi Alawiyya (no connection to the Kizilbas, Turkish Alevis, or the Syrian Alawites) which originated in Algeria is now found the world over, particularly in Syria, Jordan, France, and among many English-speaking communities.
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Douglas, Elmer H. (ed.) (1993). Muhammad ibn Abi al-Qasim Al-Sabbagh, The Mystical Teachings of Al-Shadhilī: Including His Life, Prayers, Suny Press.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shadhili
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadhili
https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Shadhili
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shadhiliyah
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