Maulana Sheikh Ahmad Ali Abulfathi Yerwa
Nigeria
IN THE VALE OF MAULANA SHEIKH SHARIFF AHMAD ALI ABULFATHI ALYERWAWI, ATTIJJANI, ALHASSANI (R.T.A) BY AHMAD ABUBAKAR ALIYU.
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Maulana Sheikh Ahmad Ali Abulfathi Yerwa
(At a Glance)
Place of Origin: Nigeria
IN THE VALE OF MAULANA SHEIKH SHARIFF AHMAD ALI ABULFATHI ALYERWAWI, ATTIJJANI, ALHASSANI (R.T.A) BY AHMAD ABUBAKAR ALIYU.
Allah says:”Lo! Verily the friends of Allah are (those) on whom fear (cometh) not, nor do they grieve” Qur’an 10:16
Sheikh Ahmad Ali Abulfathi (R.T.A) is deemed one of the supreme and most prominent Scholars of the 20th/21th century in the antiquity of Sufism and Islam. Sheikh Ahmad Abulfathi (R.T.A), born in Tsando village in Borno state of Nigeria in 1920 is believed to be one of the descendants of Sayyadi Hassan, the first son of Sayyadi Ali (Prophet’s cousin) and Sayyada Fatima( the daughter of the prophet). His father Malam Ali, who was a farmer in Yerwa died when the Sheikh was at juvenile age. The Sheikh later on travelled to miscellaneous places in northern Nigeria seeking for knowledge where he based in Zaria with Malam Na Iya for a long time, and later on went to Senegal to the well known scholar, Sheikh Ibrahim Inyas (known as Sahibul Faidhati (R.T.A)) to further his spiritual attentiveness and awareness. Sheikh Ahmad Abulfathi (R.T.A) became the successor of Sheikh Ibrahim Inyas (R.T.A) after his demise, as said by the Sheikh Ibrahim:”I inherently impart to him (Sheikh Abulfathi (R.T.A)) the secrecy of the sight in the order of Khatmul Awliya(Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani” )see the book Alusheir (Arabic text) by Sheikh Salisu Baffah.
Sheikh Ahmad Abulfathi is considered one of the few people that served as a guardian to people of his time, teacher and propagator who wrote a lot of books and poetries. Here are some of his books:
1. Tuhfat Atfal fi Nahwu (grammer)
2. Ilmul Hadith fi mustalahal hadith
3. Kitab fi Ilmul balaga wal badi’u wannahawu wal bayan
4. Kitab fil masa’il fiqhiya
5. Tiryaq Alanfus fi amdah khairil anam
6. Bugyat wusul biziyarat hadrat rasul
7. Kitab fi tafsir baad suwar Alqur’an
8. Nataij alasfar fi salat ala Muhammad Nabiyyil Muktar
9. Kitab Jawahir Rasail
He initiated his Zawiyya in 1949 in Maiduguri aimed at teaching and guiding people from all over Africa. He later on built his famous Madinatu Maiduguri in 1990. One of the Achievements of the Sheikh (R.T.A) was building one of the oldest primary School in Maiduguri after the Tahfiz Al-Quran School, and later on built Thanawiyyatu Sheikh Ahmad Abulfathi Secondary School. All those schools are under the Sheikh Ahmad Abulfathi Foundation which is a nongovernmental organization. Other departments of the foundation include the Abulfathi Bookshop and the printing press.
Sheikh Ahmad Abulfathi demised in 2003 and left behind many children and grandchildren. His first son Sheikh Aliyu Abulfathi became his Khalifa (successor and one of the Imams of Madinatu Mosque). His other sons include, Sheikh Arabi Abulfathi, one the Imams of Madinatu mosque and the executive chairman of Abulfathi foundation as well as the national president Fityanul Islam of Nigeria. Also Sheikh Murtala Ahmad Abulfathi one of the directors of the foundation and Alhaj Sukairij Ahmad Abulfathi. He has tens of thousands of followers all over Africa with larger number of students in Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, and Nigeria. Some of his notable companions and students are Sheikh Abubakar Almiskin, Sheikh Shariff Tijjani Alhasani, Sheikh shariff Ibrahim Saleh, and Sheik Salisu Baffah (his writer), just to mention a few.
More detailed history of Sheikh Ahmad Abulfathi (R.T.A) will be available soon on myAfrica.com and facebook. Please email me at ajidadi2@yahoo.com for suggestions or comments about the miraculous life of this legendary scholar.
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