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Rabat – Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Caliph General of the Tariqa Tijaniyya in Nigeria, noted this week the historic and spiritual connection between Nigeria and Morocco, during a visit to the headquarters of Morocco’s Supreme Council of Ulemas in Rabat.
The Nigerian religious leader made his comments on Monday, March 14, as he toured the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Ulemas in Rabat.
Emir Sanusi indicated that the elders of the Tariqa (spiritual path) Tijaniyya in Nigeria contributed to the dissemination of the values of Sunni Sufism, the teachings of the Maliki school, and Ash’ari belief. These values also characterize much of the religious practices in Morocco.
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Morocco and Nigeria have had spiritual and historical ties for centuries, Emir Sanusi noted, recalling the contribution of Moroccan scholars to the dissemination of Islamic values and virtues in general, and in Nigeria in particular.
Mohammed Yssef, the General Secretariat of Morocco’s Superior Council of Ulemas, welcomed the Emir’s delegation and expressed his satisfaction with the Nigerian spiritual leader’s comments.
Yssef highlighted the major role that Morocco played in sharing Islam and its spiritual, scientific, and civilizational values across the world.
He mentioned the Sufi Elders, emphasizing that the influence of the Tariqa Tijaniya way originated in Morocco, before spreading throughout the rest of the African continent.
As part of his trip to Morocco, Emir Sanusi visited the Mohammed V Mausoleum in Rabat, where he prayed at the graves of the late Kings Mohammed V and Hassan II. He also visited the Mohammed VI Institute for the Formation of Imams.
Emir Sansui Lamido Sansui is the spiritual leader of the Tijaniyya Sufi order in Nigeria. The Tijaniyya is Western Africa’s largest Sufi order with nearly 300 million adherents.
The Nigerian Emir’s religious title is “Khalifa Sanusi II.” He is a prominent traditional and religious figure in West Africa and is former King of the Kano city-state in Northern Nigeria from 2014 until 2020.
The Tariqa Tijaniyya was founded by Ahmad al-Tijani in the 1780s in the Fez medina, the spiritual capital of Morocco.
Sidi Ahmed al-Tijani was born in 1735 in Ain Madi, Algeria. He traveled to the Fez medina in 1757 where he joined three Sufi orders, the Qadiriyya, the Nasiriyya, and the tariqa of Ahmad al-Habib b. Muhammed. Al-Tijani later began a journey to Mecca for Hajj in 1772 as well as to seek a Sufi way of life. He later died in Fez where he was buried in 1815.
The duties of the Tariqa Tijaniyya order include preserving the basic tenets of Islam, honoring and respecting one’s parents, and committing to the Tariqa Tijaniyya as a Sufi order.
Sufism is an important part of Morocco’s soft diplomacy, particularly in Western Africa, where millions of Muslims adhere to the Tijaniyya order. Its followers regard King Mohammed VI as a spiritual leader and hold him in high regard.
