Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani al-Khatim
Encyclopedia
Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani known as Al-Khatim was the founder of the Khatmiyya
sufi tariqa that has a following in Egypt
, Sudan
, Eritrea
, Somalia
and Ethiopia
.
He was born into the Mirghani family in Mecca
which was one of the most noble families that have descended from the Islamic prophet Muhammad
. He is the son of Muhammad Abu Bakr who is the son of AbdAllah AlMahjoub who is the son of Ibrahim who is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad
. The lineage of Muhammad Othman AlMirghani was verified by Murtada AlZubeidi and this was further verified by Al-Jabarti in his book Taareekh AlJabarti / AlJabarti's History part two.
Muhammad Othman AlMirghani was born in Altayief and died in Mecca and was buried there in AlMa'alla. He lived a life of devotion to the spread of the Islamic faith in many parts of the world and many people embraced Islam through his teachings and example.
His sons followed in his footsteps after his death, the most famous of whom were Muhammad AlHassan AlMirghani, Gafar Elsadig AlMirghani, Abdullahi Almahjoub AlMirghani, Hashim AlMirghani and Sirr Alkhatim AlMirghani.
AlKhatim's religious journey began in Mecca from whence he travelled to Tarim
in Yemen
and then to Somalia
by sea and to Massawa
on the Red Sea
coast where he travelled inland into the Ethiopia
n hinterland before returning to Mecca. On this trip tens of thousands of people embraced Islam
including entire clans and tribes.
His second trip started from the Egypt
ian countryside south of Cairo and he was accompanied by his teacher Ahmad ibn Idris who parted ways with him in AlZeyniyyah. AlKhatim traversed the Nubia
n lands of the Mahas
and the Sakot and went to Kordofan and reached the lands of the Fur people
and the Borno
tribe. He then travelled to Sennar
on the banks of the Blue Nile
and then to Shendi
via Gezira and via the Butana
to the Taka Mountain region near Kassala
from which he entered into Ethiopia
and visited many regions before returning to Mecca
.
. The customary, long-used methodology for an Islamic sheikh
or Imam
was to remain in his abode and for people to travel from afar to seek his audience. AlKhatim's "movementism" was the exact opposite of the customary methodology that had been prevalently used by Islamic sheikhs and Imams in his time.
"Movementism" was similarly taken up by another of Ahmad ibn Idris's disciples, AlSanoussi, who travelled to the Maghreb. However, AlKhatim travelled to regions and peoples where Islam was unknown and, if there was any knowledge of Islam, it was through the East African Slave Trade
which caused many of these peoples to be hostile toward Islam. Examples of such regions are the Ethiopian Highlands
and Eritrea
and the southern region of the Blue Nile State and the Nuba Mountains
, all of which have difficult terrains and complex tribal systems. AlKhatim, at only 25 years of age, managed to overcome personal physical risk, the harsh geography and the tribal complexities of these lands to call its people to Islam and to set up mosques and Islamic centres of learning which created a link between these lands and the Islamic World. Among his achievements was the establishment of the first teaching centre for the education of women in Sudan. His literary contribution to Islam spanned a wide range of topics from the explanation of the Holy Quran (Taj Altafaseer), through the listing of the Hadith (Fateh Al-Rasool), Fiqh and behaviour (Munjiyat Al-Abeed), Muhammedan Biography (Al-Asrar Al-Rabaniya Fi Mawlid Khair Al-Bareya), Madeeh or description of the Muhammedan traits (Alnour Al-Barraq Fi Madh Al-nabiy Al-Misdaq) to specific writings on many aspects of the Islamic religion. These are estimated to have reached over 112 many of which are yet to be disclosed.
Khatmiyya
The Khatmiyya is a Sufi order or tariqa founded by Sayyid Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani al-Khatim.The Khatmiyya is the largest Sufi order in Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia...
sufi tariqa that has a following in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
.
He was born into the Mirghani family in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
which was one of the most noble families that have descended from the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. He is the son of Muhammad Abu Bakr who is the son of AbdAllah AlMahjoub who is the son of Ibrahim who is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. The lineage of Muhammad Othman AlMirghani was verified by Murtada AlZubeidi and this was further verified by Al-Jabarti in his book Taareekh AlJabarti / AlJabarti's History part two.
Muhammad Othman AlMirghani was born in Altayief and died in Mecca and was buried there in AlMa'alla. He lived a life of devotion to the spread of the Islamic faith in many parts of the world and many people embraced Islam through his teachings and example.
His sons followed in his footsteps after his death, the most famous of whom were Muhammad AlHassan AlMirghani, Gafar Elsadig AlMirghani, Abdullahi Almahjoub AlMirghani, Hashim AlMirghani and Sirr Alkhatim AlMirghani.
AlKhatim's religious journey began in Mecca from whence he travelled to Tarim
Tarim
Tarim may refer to:*The Tarim Basin, China**The Tarim Mummies, a series of mummies which have been excavated at Niya, an oasis in the Tarim Basin.*The Tarim River, China*Tarim, Yemen...
in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
and then to Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
by sea and to Massawa
Massawa
Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...
on the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
coast where he travelled inland into the Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n hinterland before returning to Mecca. On this trip tens of thousands of people embraced Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
including entire clans and tribes.
His second trip started from the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian countryside south of Cairo and he was accompanied by his teacher Ahmad ibn Idris who parted ways with him in AlZeyniyyah. AlKhatim traversed the Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
n lands of the Mahas
Mahas
The Mahas are a sub-group of the Nubian people located in Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan along the banks of the Nile. The Mahas have been referred to as Nubians since the creation of Lake Nasser when indigenous people of several different cultures were made to relocate. The Mahas are one of the...
and the Sakot and went to Kordofan and reached the lands of the Fur people
Fur people
The Fur are an ethnic group from western Sudan, principally inhabiting the region of Darfur where they are the largest tribe....
and the Borno
Borno
-Places:Italy* Borno, Lombardy, a comune in the Province of BresciaNigeria* Borno State* Kanem-Bornu Empire Other:Borno may also refer to a commonly used spam on Xbox live deriving from a game of scrabble...
tribe. He then travelled to Sennar
Sennar
Sennar is a town on the Blue Nile in Sudan and capital of the state of Sennar. For several centuries it was the capital of the Funj Kingdom of Sennar. It had an estimated population of 100,000 inhabitants in the early 19th century. The modern town lies 17km SSE of the ruins of the ancient capital...
on the banks of the Blue Nile
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With the White Nile, the river is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile...
and then to Shendi
Shendi
Shendi or Shandi is a town in northern Sudan, situated on the east bank of the Nile 150 km northeast of Khartoum. Shandi is also about 45 km southwest of the ancient city of Meroe. Located in the River Nile wilayah, Shandi is the center of the Ja'aliin tribe and an important historic...
via Gezira and via the Butana
Butana
Butana is a region in Sudan. It is bordered by the Nile from Khartoum to Atbarah, by the Atbarah River from Atbarah to Ethiopia, by the Ethiopian border from the Atbarah River to the Blue Nile, and by the Blue Nile from Ethiopia to Khartoum. It includes most of the state of Al Qadarif plus parts...
to the Taka Mountain region near Kassala
Kassala
Kassala is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030. It is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens. It was formerly a railroad hub, however, as of 2006 there was no operational railway station in Kassala and much of the track...
from which he entered into Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and visited many regions before returning to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
.
Movementism
Muhammad Othman AlMirghani AlKhatim's methodology for calling people to Islam, "movementism," was characterized by travelling and being constantly on the move. This was due to the influence of Ahmad ibn Idris whose teachings and contribution coincided with a general, early Islamic renaissance during the Ottoman CaliphateOttoman Caliphate
The Ottoman Caliphate, under the Ottoman Dynasty of the Ottoman Empire inherited the responsibility of the Caliphate from the Mamluks of Egypt....
. The customary, long-used methodology for an Islamic sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
or Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
was to remain in his abode and for people to travel from afar to seek his audience. AlKhatim's "movementism" was the exact opposite of the customary methodology that had been prevalently used by Islamic sheikhs and Imams in his time.
"Movementism" was similarly taken up by another of Ahmad ibn Idris's disciples, AlSanoussi, who travelled to the Maghreb. However, AlKhatim travelled to regions and peoples where Islam was unknown and, if there was any knowledge of Islam, it was through the East African Slave Trade
African slave trade
Systems of servitude and slavery were common in many parts of Africa, as they were in much of the ancient world. In some African societies, the enslaved people were also indentured servants and fully integrated; in others, they were treated much worse...
which caused many of these peoples to be hostile toward Islam. Examples of such regions are the Ethiopian Highlands
Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands are a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia, Eritrea , and northern Somalia in the Horn of Africa...
and Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
and the southern region of the Blue Nile State and the Nuba Mountains
Nuba Mountains
Nuba Mountains is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the 18th century, Nuba Mountains became home to the kingdom of Taqali that controlled the hills of the mountains until their defeat by...
, all of which have difficult terrains and complex tribal systems. AlKhatim, at only 25 years of age, managed to overcome personal physical risk, the harsh geography and the tribal complexities of these lands to call its people to Islam and to set up mosques and Islamic centres of learning which created a link between these lands and the Islamic World. Among his achievements was the establishment of the first teaching centre for the education of women in Sudan. His literary contribution to Islam spanned a wide range of topics from the explanation of the Holy Quran (Taj Altafaseer), through the listing of the Hadith (Fateh Al-Rasool), Fiqh and behaviour (Munjiyat Al-Abeed), Muhammedan Biography (Al-Asrar Al-Rabaniya Fi Mawlid Khair Al-Bareya), Madeeh or description of the Muhammedan traits (Alnour Al-Barraq Fi Madh Al-nabiy Al-Misdaq) to specific writings on many aspects of the Islamic religion. These are estimated to have reached over 112 many of which are yet to be disclosed.