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Ahmad Ibn Idris Al-Fasi (1760-1837) was a Neo-Sufi reformer, active in Morocco, North Africa, and Yemen, who bypassed the ulama and tried to bring a more vibrant form of Islam directly to the people.

Ahmad Ibn Idris was the founder of the Idrisi order and travelled extensively in North Africa and the Yemen, instructing the ordinary people in their dialect, and teaching them how to perform such basic as the salat. He came to Cairo in 1799 and, in 1818, went to Mecca for a second time and settled there. He was one of the most eminent teachers in the holy city. Due to opposition from Ulemma he had to flee in 1827 to Zabid.

After Ahmad’s death the Idrisiya split into new lines and his more influential pupils embarked upon independent courses. The most important of these was the influential Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi, founder of the Sufi order of the Sanusiyya.

Ahmad Ibn Idris was born near Fez in Morocco.

[edit] Bibliography

• Thomassen, Einar & Radtke, Bernd, eds, The Letters of Ahmad ibn Idris. London: Christopher Hurst. A collective volume containing the texts and translations of 35 letters to and from Ibn Idris. The contributors are Albrecht Hofheinz, Ali Salih Karrar, R.S. O’Fahey, B. Radtke & Einar Thomassen.