The biography of “Maollan Sheikh Alhaji Ibrahim Niyass can be trace to the Sunnah,
(prophet Muhammad’s tradition) Sheikh Ibrahim Abdullahi Niyass was born in
rural Senegal On Thursday 15th RaJab 1320 AH= 1900 m.
After Ashri in Taubat Niyass between the Senegal city of Kaolaq and the
border of Gambia, he was the son of
Alhaji Abdullahi Niyass(1840-1922), the main representative of the Tijja
ni
order in the Saalum region
at the beginning of the twentieth century. During his youth, he moved with his
father to the city of Kaolaq, where they established the religious
center(Zawiya Mosque) After his father's death in Niyass Village, his older
brother, Muhammad Al-Halifa,
became his father's successor know as Halifa, but due to his charisma and
precocious knowledge, Sheikh Ibra
hi
m gained the large number of
disciples and tensions arose between his own disciples and those of his older
brother. In 1929, while all children of Sheikh Abdullahi farming in the family fields of the village. The young Sheikh Ibra
hi
m announced that the Prophet
Muhammad (S.A.W) had revealed to him the secrets of knowledge of God and that
anyone who wished to know God should follow him with truth. In 1930, after the
prayer of Ramadan endimg ΚΏ(Edil-Fitr)a certain fight occured between Sheikh Ibrahim disciples and those of Muhammad Al-Halifa and he immediately knew that he would have to
move with his disciples.
In that day evening, Sheikh Ibrahim set out with a small group of his closest disciples to find a new place to settle
down and the next day they began to established a new Zawiyya in his new
town called (MEDINAT BAYEE), a
village that was later incorporated into the growing city of the City knew as
Kaolaq. During the following years, he divided his time between farming and
teaching in during of rainy season and teaching in Medina Baaye.
During the summer of 1945 he reestablished himself in his father's house in his
natal village of Taubat Niyass, Sheikh Ibrahim rebuilding the village after a
fire destroyed much of it. His
followers numbered in the millions and comprised the largest single Muslim movement
in West Africa (1984). He was also
well-known among the all saints (Ulamahu) Sheikh Ibrahim also maintained
close relations with several prominent leaders in the independence movements. During the 1960, He campaigned
tirelessly for governments to respect the rights of Muslims and the oppressed
world-wide. He spoke out on several international causes, such as Israeli
aggression toward the Palestinians, but he was also interested in interfaith
issues and maintained good relations with Vatican representatives. He also
became involved in social concerns, stressing racial equality and the rights of
women. In that regards, Sheikh Ibrahim Niyass (R.T.A) encouraged women to compete with
men interm of knowledge. Mostly, Islamic one of knowledge.
In 1922, the son of Alhaji Abdullah Muhammad Niyass. Alhaji Abdullahi, Sheikh Ibrahim represented the culmination of a
long line of Islamic scholars in the Senegambia region, and was himself a
well-traveled and consummate Sheikh, Shelkh Ibrahim Niyass attract students from all around the
region as far away as Mauritania. Sheikh Ibrahim was educated primarily from
his father, with full access to his father’s extensive library. Sheikh Ibrahim
mastered at an early age from his father the full range of Islamic sciences:
the Qur’an and its interpretation, the Hadith and their explanation,
jurisprudence and Sufism.
In
reference to his educational background and achievements, Sheikh Ibrahim says,
“I learned Qur’an and Hadith first from my father, and from my father, I
received an Ijaza (diplomatic) first from my father in
both Qur’an and Hadith, then from Abdurrahman and another Ijaza from Sheikh Ahmad Sukayrij (Morocco) who himself had earned some six hundred Ijaza from six hundred different Sheikhs whose names are mentioned in his book” ‘The only one to whom I gave authorization in all these Sheikhs of transmission was
the Maollana Sheikh Alhaji Ibrahim Niyass.’” Sheikh Ibrahim once says, concerning
his scholarly credentials: “What I have in the way of Ijaza and Mukadam authorizations would indeed fill so many books.
Sheik Ibrahim Inyass was blessed by
almighty Allah with many followers since the beginning of his time, as a result of this, Sheikh Ibrahim Niyass (R.T.A) left the Kaolaq to found his own town and his religion Center (Zawiyya) on Monday 16/02/1349AH.
The construction of his
Zawiyya was in a very short term. Five (5) daily prayers are been observed in
that Mosque (Zawiyya) and Wazifa with Thikrullah Day and Night. However, many
Sheiks praise the Zawiyya their poem and the Sheikh himself ask Allah forgiveness
and guidance to any person contribute in conducting the activities of his Zawiyya.
Sheikh
Ibrahim was the best example of a Sufizim. According to the description “The Sufi is the son of his hour (ibn waqtihi).” He will respond to the needs of
the time. At every moment, he is dealing with the requirements of that moment.
The Muslim who is greatest in understanding and who submits to the rule of
his hour. That is, he gives everything the position it requires in action and
speech. He is a person moving with time in a circle. He does not attempt to
stop time, not to become stagnant in it, not to regret in it. His effort is
aimed at continually moving forward. In any Ramadan season, he reads Qur’an
and Hadith and presents their explanations to the follower members. In the season of Hajj, he expounds
the virtues of the Muslims pilgrimage. At the time of Maolud Nabiyi, he recites
the Prophet’s Biography Sira.
All
of these behavior, characterized as the activitis of Zufism. Sheikh Ibrahim was based on
action and practice his goal was to direct Muslims to the right path. Sickness did not bother Sheikh Ibrahim unless it halted his
activity in behalf of spreading Islam. Indeed, his spiritual Jony (Tasawwuf)
was not characterized by heedlessness and neglect. It was based
on real Islam, mastering himself (Nafs) and ruling over it with
Qur’an and Sunnah (Prophet Muhammad
tradition). His Sufism was producing and working in various fields of life.
