Abd Al-Rahman bin Abdullah al Shashi () (b. 1829 - 1904), popularly known as Sheikh Sufi, was a 19th-century Benadiri people scholar, poet, reformist and astrologist.[Historical dictionary of Somalia by Margaret Castagno pg 141]
Life
Sheikh Sufi was born in
Mogadishu, where he founded the
Qadiriyyah congregation, an
school of thought or
tariqah whose disciples included colleagues of his such as
Uways al-Barawi. He studied
astrology and wrote extensively on the future of Mogadishu and religious sciences, and authored popular books such as
Shadjarat al Yakim ("The Tree of Certitude").
[E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936 By M Th Houtsma, T. W. Arnold, A. J. Wensinck pg 487]
Besides his scholarly career, Sheikh Sufi was known as a great mediator between merchants and shop keepers in the coastal cities. As a reformist, he is credited with having put an end to what he considered to be the urbanites' immoral dancing rituals. In private, he also wrote many poems, which would eventually be taken up by fellow scholars such as Abdallah al-Qutbi in their books.
Pilgrimage to his mausoleum
After his death in 1904, Shaykh Sufi's mausoleum became a site of annual
pilgrimage for the faithful from across
Somalia and
East Africa. A cemetery was eventually constructed around his
mausoleum, where prominent Somali ministers,
entertainers and Presidents would also be buried.
See also
-
Islam in Somalia
-
Abdallah al-Qutbi
