SHEIKH EBRAHIM (BAI) NYASS AND THE TARIQHA TIJANIYA
The Almighty Allah is very different from other "gods" in that He wants to be worshipped in many different ways. This is the reason why He sent a hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets and messengers to mankind. Some of these messengers came with books like the Holy Quran, the Gospel of Jesus, son of Mary, the Tora of Moses and the Psalms of David. He could have sent only one messenger who would convey all the messages we need from the Almighty; instead, He divided his religion and its principles among a nation of prophets who succeeded one another until the mission was narrowed down to the seal of all prophets Muhammad (p.b.u.h.).
After Muhammad’s twenty-three year mission when the religion of God was completed, a group of highly enlightened scholars thought of creating certain models of worshipping which they named ‘Tariqha’ (meaning a 'route) or the 'Sufi Order" in order to facilitate the religious obligations among believers. Most notable and active among these scholars were sheikh Ahmadou Al-Tijan Sheriff,
Sheikh Abdu Khadir Al-Jilani, Imam Muhammad Abu Hanif Al-Ghazali and Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba.
These divine scholars invented meaningful routes of reaching the Almighty God through Zikr and Wird (solemn supplications) alongside the five pillars of Islam.
Today, the Tijania and Muridiya faiths are the most salient among the people of West Africa with a major concentration in The Senegambia nation. Sheikh Ahmadou Tijan propounded the former faith and the latter by Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba both of whom were very devoted Muslims.
The Tijania brotherhood attracted a lot of dedicated people from all works of life. In fact, deliberating on this topic would be deficient without mentioning one of the Tariqha's most influential and active missionaries in the persons of Sheikh Ebrahim Abdullah Nyass of Kaolack, Senegal. This venerable scholar was one of the grand-disciples of the founder of the Tijania nation. Bai Nyass as he was affectionately known among his disciples and brethren contributed immensely toward the growth and development of this faith. His strive to teach individuals who God really were an accomplishment of the prophet's Hadith in which God says: "know Me before worshipping Me; for if you know not Me, how could you worship Me?" The Sheikh taught us that an ideal Tariqha does not divide Muslims but rather creates a way of reaching the Almighty via the shortest route. He cited the example of three adventurers who set out for a far land but through different paths. The oldest among them took the shortest and closest path to the land and reached their destination before his friends.
Bai divided his mission into three main objectives: (a) to initiate disciples into the subject of ‘Haqiqha’ (divine knowledge about God and everything in creation); (b) to spread Islam as far and wide as possible and (c) to spread Islamic education and literacy.
I would say that Sheikh Ebrahim's mission was a great success in the sense that he has spread the religion to seventy-five countries out of the 115 countries that existed during his lifetime. He also authored seventy-five Islamic books including his first and most famous book titled "Ruhul Adab" translated as "The disciplined soul" which he wrote at the youthful age of twenty. The Sheikh converted several non-Muslims to Islam and also established numerous Islamic schools across West Africa and beyond.
He was awarded the title 'Sheikh Al-Islam' in Egypt in 1962 by a council of 'Ulamas' (scholars) after the Sheikh led a Friday prayer that was punctuated with an eloquent sermon.
He also became what is known as "Khutbu Zaman" who was the leader of everyone as once predicted by the venerable Sheikh Ahmad al-Tijan. The latter once told his disciples: "a colored man would emerge from below the Sahara desert who would rekindle my "Faydhu" (down-pour of knowledge and worship); his people will one day chase him away from his father's soil but he shall become a 'khutbu' and a source of divine light for all.” In 1933, Bai was sent out of Taiba Nyassen, after he had cried that he knew GOD in His reality.
Sheikh Ibrahim Nyass died in 1975 at St. Thomas Hospital in London, England. He was seventy-five years.
Today, the sheikh has a total of seventy-five million disciples worldwide. He would jokingly say that he was the custodian of the number ‘75’, which has a lot of meaning in divine Islam.
A.B. Gaye.