Aḥmad al-Badawī | |
|---|---|
 Grave of Ahmad al-Badawi inAhmad al-Badawi Mosque,Tanta, Egypt (2025) | |
| Mystic, Jurist | |
| Born | 1200CE (596AH) Fez,Almohad Caliphate (present-dayMorocco) |
| Died | 1276CE (674AH) Tanta,Mamluk Sultanate (present-dayEgypt) |
| Venerated in | In some versions ofSufism |
| Majorshrine | Mosque of Aḥmad al-Badawī,Tanta, Egypt |
| Feast | A few days every October (mawlid) |
Tradition or genre | SufiIslam (Jurisprudence:Maliki)[2][3] |
| Arabic name | |
| Personal (Ism) | Aḥmad |
| Teknonymic (Kunya) | Abū al-Fityān |
| Toponymic (Nisba) | al-Badawī al-Maqdisī al-Qudsī al-Qurashī[4] |
Aḥmad al-Badawī (Egyptian Arabic:أحمد البدوى,Egyptian Arabic pronunciation:[ˈæħmæd elˈbædæwi]), also known asal-Sayyid al-Badawī (السيد البدوى[esˈsæjjed elˈbædæwi]), was a 13th-centuryArab[5]Sufi Muslimmystic who became famous as the founder of theBadawiyyahorder ofSufism. Born inFes,Morocco to aBedouin tribe originally from theSyrian Desert,[5][6] al-Badawi eventually settled for good inTanta,Egypt in 1236, whence he developed a posthumous reputation as "one of the greatest saints in the Arab world".[7][5] As al-Badawi is perhaps "the most popular of Sufi saints in Egypt", his tomb has remained a "major site ofvisitation" for Sufis in the region.[8]
He was born in and brought up inFez.[4] According to several medieval chronicles, al-Badawi hailed from anArab tribe ofSyrian origin.[5] He was referred to as aSharif as he traced his genealogy toAli. His father was called ʿAlī al-Badrī and his mother was a North AfricanBerber called Fatima.[1][4] ASufi Muslim by persuasion, al-Badawi entered theRifaʽi sufi order (founded by the renownedShafi'imystic andjuristAhmad al-Rifaʽi [d. 1182]) in his early life, being initiated into the order at the hands of a particular Iraqiteacher. After a trip toMecca, al-Badawi is said to have travelled toIraq, "where his sainthood believed to have clearly manifested itself" through thekaramat "miracles" he is said to have performed.[5] In Iraq, he visited the tombs ofAdi ibn Musafir andAl-Hallaj.[9]
Eventually al-Badawi went toTanta in theSultanate of Egypt, where he settled for good in 1236.[5] According to the various traditional biographies of the saint's life, al-Badawi gathered fortySufi disciples around him during this period, who are collectively said to have "dwelt on the city's rooftop terraces,"[5] whence his spiritual order were informally named the "roof men" (aṣḥāb el-saṭḥ) in the vernacular.[5] al-Sayyid al-Badawi died in Tanta in 1276, being seventy-six years old.[5]
As with every other major Sufi order, the Badawiyya proposes an unbrokenspiritual chain of transmitted knowledge going back toMuhammad through one ofhis Companions, which in the Badawi's case isAli (d. 661).[10]In this regard,Idries Shah quotes al-Badawi: "Sufi schools are like waves which break upon rocks: [they are] from the same sea, in different forms, for the same purpose."[11][12]
