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SENUSSI [SANUSI]

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 651 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SENUSSI [SANUSI] and SENUSSITES, the names respectively of a Moslem See also:family (and especially its See also:chief member) and of the fraternity or See also:sect recognizing the authority of the Senussi. Considerable diversity of See also:opinion has prevailed among writers and travellers claiming knowledge of the Senussia; it is possible, however, to distinguish the See also:main facts in the lives of the Senussi sheiks and to indicate the range of their See also:direct See also:political See also:influence. The extent of their spiritual influence, the ramifications of the fraternity and the 'aims of its chiefs cannot be gauged so accurately. Seyyid or Sidi (i.e. See also:Lord) Mahommed See also:ben See also:Ali ben Es Senussi el Khettabi el Hassani el Idrissi el Mehajiri, the founder of the See also:order, commonly called the Sheik es Senussi, was See also:born near See also:Mostaganem, See also:Algeria, and was called es Senussi after a much venerated See also:saint whose See also:tomb is near See also:Tlemcen. The date of his See also:birth is given variously as 1791, 1792, 1796 and 1803. He was a member of the Walad Sidi Abdalla tribe of See also:Arabs and his descent is traced from Fatima, the daughter of See also:Mahomet. As a See also:young See also:man he spent several years at See also:Fez, where he studied See also:theology. When about See also:thirty years old he See also:left See also:Morocco and travelled in the Saharan regions of Algeria See also:preaching a reform of the faith. From Algeria he went to See also:Tunisia and See also:Tripoli, gainingmany adherents, and thence to See also:Cairo, where he was opposed by the See also:Ulema of El Azhar, who considered him unorthodox. Leaving See also:Egypt Senussi went to See also:Mecca, where he joined Mahommed b. Idris el Fassi, the See also:head of the Khadirites, a fraternity of Moroccan origin.

On the See also:

death of el Fassi Senussi became head of one of the two branches into which the Khadirites divided, and in 1835 he founded his first monastery at See also:Abu Kobeis near Mecca. While in See also:Arabia Senussi visited the Wahhabites, and his connexion with that See also:body caused him to be looked upon with suspicion by the Ulema of Mecca. It was at Mecca, however, that Senussi gained his most powerful supporter, Mahommed Sherif, a See also:prince of See also:Wadai, who became in 1838 See also:sultan of his Foaada- e native See also:state, the most powerful See also:Mahommedan See also:kingdom order.f u in the Central See also:Sudan. Finding the opposition to him at Mecca too powerful Senussi quitted that See also:city in 1843 and settled in the See also:Cyrenaica, where in the mountains near See also:Derna he built the Zawia Baida or See also:White Monastery. There he was in See also:close See also:touch with all the Maghribin, gaining many followers among the Tripolitans and Moroccans. He also maintained a close See also:correspondence with the sultan of Wadai, who greatly favoured the spread of the Senussia in his state. The sultan of See also:Turkey viewed with some disfavour the growth of Senussi's influence as likely to become detrimental to his own position as the Khalif a of See also:Islam. Probably with the See also:desire to be See also:independent of pressure from the See also:Turks, Senussi removed in 1855 to Jarabub (Jaghbub), a small See also:oasis some 30 M. N.W. of See also:Siwa. Here he died in 1859 or 1860, leaving two sons, one Mahommed Sherif (named after the sultan of Wadai), born in 1844, and the other, El See also:Mandi, born in 1845. To the second son was left the See also:succession. It is related that as the younger son showed a spirit in all things See also:superior to that of his See also:brother the See also:father decided to put them to the test.

Before the whole zawia at Jarabub he bade both sons climb a tall See also:

palm See also:tree and then adjured them by See also:Allah and His See also:Prophet to leap to the ground. The younger lad leapt at once and reached the ground unharmed; the See also:elder boy refused to See also:spring. To El Mandi, " who feared not to commit himself to the will of See also:God," passed the birthright of Mahommed Sherif. Mahommed appears to have accepted the situation without complaint. He held the chief administrative position in the fraternity under his brother until his death in 1895. Senussi el Mandi, only fourteen when his father died, was at first under the guidance of his father's See also:friends Amran, Reefi and others. He enjoyed all his father's reputation for holiness and See also:wisdom, attributes consistent with emaha all that is known of his See also:life. Mahommed Sherif, the sultan of Wadai, had died in 1858, but his successors the Sultan Ali (who reigned until 1874) and the Sultan Yusef (reigned from 1874 to 1898) were equally devoted to the Senussia. Under the Senussi el Mandi the zawias of the order extended from Fez to See also:Damascus, to See also:Constantinople and to See also:India. In the See also:Hejaz members of the order were numerous. In most of these countries the Senussites occupied a position in no respect more powerful than that of See also:numbers of other Moslem See also:fraternities. In the eastern See also:Sahara and in the central Sudan the position was different.

From the western See also:

borders of Egypt See also:south to See also:Darfur, Wadai and See also:Bornu; See also:east to See also:Bilma and Murzuk, and See also:north to the See also:coast lands of Tripoli, Senussi became the most powerful sheik, acquiring the authority of a territorial See also:sovereign. The See also:string of oases leading from Siwa to Wadai—Kufra, See also:Borku, &c.—were occupied and cultivated by the Senussites, See also:trade with Tripoli and Benghazi was encouraged, See also:law and order were maintained among the See also:savage Bedouin of the See also:desert. But the eastern Sahara, though vast (covering approximately about 500,000 sq. m.), is among the most desolate and thinly populated parts of the See also:world, and of more importance to the order was the dominating influence possessed by the sheik at the See also:court of Wadai. Although named El Mandi by his father there is no See also:evidence to show that the younger Senussi ever claimed to be the Mandi, though so regarded by some of his followers. When, however, Mahommed Ahmed, the Dongalese, See also:rose against the Egyptians in the eastern Sudan and proclaimed himself the Mandi, Senussi was disquieted. He sent an emissary via Wadai to Mahommed Ahmed, this delegate reaching the Mandi's See also:camp in 1883 soon after the See also:sack of El Obeid. " The moral and See also:industrial training of the Senussi " [delegate], writes See also:Sir Reginald See also:Wingate, " revolted from the slaughter and rapine he saw around him. The sincere conviction of the regeneration of the world by a mandi whose See also:earnest piety should influence others to See also:lead wholesome and temperate lives, the dignity of honest labour and self-See also:restraint, these were the sentiments which filled the mind of the emissary from Wadai." The sheik Senussi, there is See also:reason to believe, shared the lofty views which Wingate attributes to his See also:agent. He decided to have nothing to do with the Sudanese Mandi, though Mahommed Ahmed wrote twice asking him to become one of his four See also:great khalifs. In his second See also:letter, the See also:text of which has been preserved, the Mandi urged Senussi either to attack Egypt or to join him in the Sudan. To neither letter did Senussi reply, and he warned the See also:people of Wadai, Bornu and neighbouring states against the new creed. In 1890 the Mandists advancing from Darfur were stopped on the frontier of Wadai, the sultan Yusef being See also:firm in his adherence to the Senussi teaching.

As evidence of the influence of the sheik may be instanced the See also:

appeal made to him in 1888 by the sultan of Borku (or Borgo), a state to the north of Wadai, when invited by the chiefs of Darfur to rise against the See also:khalifa Abdullah. Senussi advised Borku to abstain from Sudan affairs and only to fight against the Mandists should they attack his kingdom. The Darfurian revolt of 1888–1889 against the khalifa was nevertheless carried out in the name of the Senussi. The growing fame of the sheik Senussi el Mandi See also:drew upon him the unwelcome See also:attention of the Turks. In many parts of Tripoli and in Benghazi the See also:power of the sheik was greater than that of the See also:Ottoman See also:governors, and though Abdul Hamid II. looked favourably on an organization which might become actively See also:anti-See also:Christian, he did not desire that a new mandi should anse to dispute his authority. In 1889 the sheik Senussi was visited at Jarabub by the See also:pasha of Benghazi at the head of some troops. This event showed the sheik the possibility of danger and led him (in 1894) to leave Jarabub and See also:fix his headquarters at Jof in the oases of Kufra, a See also:place sufficiently remote to secure him from any See also:chance of sudden attack. By this See also:time a new danger to Senussia had arisen; the See also:French were advancing from the See also:Congo towards the western and See also:southern borders of Wadai. In 1898 Senussi, in his See also:character of See also:peace-maker, wishing also to range together all the states menaced by the French advance, sought to reconcile Rabah Zobeir (q.v.) and the sultan of See also:Bagirmi; neither of those chieftains belonged to the Senussi order and the sheik's appeal was unavailing. At the end of the previous See also:year, at the See also:request of Sultan Yusef, the sheik had sent an See also:envoy to Wadai to be his permanent representative in that See also:country. Yusef's successor See also:Ibrahim, who ascended the See also:throne of Wadai in 1898, showed signs of resenting the See also:advice of the sheik, stirred perhaps by the over-throw of the khalifa Abdullah at See also:Omdurman. Senussi retaliated, says See also:Captain See also:Julien in his See also:history of Wadai, by prohibiting the people of Wadai from smoking See also:tobacco or drinking merissa, the native See also:beer, " which is to the Wadaiin what the skin is to the body." Sultan Ibrahim rejoined that his people would fight and See also:die for merissa; rather than give it up they would renounce Senussiism.

The sheik had the wisdom to give way, declaring that in response to his prayers Allah had deigned to make an exception in favour of the faithful Wadaiins. Ibrahim died in 1900 and his successors See also:

fell again under the influence of the sheik, who again changed his headquarters, leaving Kufra for Geru, in See also:Dar Gorane, a western See also:province of Wadai, where he was welcomed with, veneration. He built and strongly fortified a zawia on the See also:top of a rocky See also:hill, difficult of See also:access. His See also:object Conflict in taking up this position was, presumably, to prevent with the the advance of the French. But, as Julien points out, French, Senussi was too See also:late; Rabah had been slain by the French (See also:April 1900), and Bagirmi was occupied by them. Nevertheless the sheik made an effort to prevent the French obtaining See also:possession of Kanem, a country north-east of See also:Lake See also:Chad and on its See also:northern and eastern frontiers bordering Saharan territory, which the Senussites considered their particular preserve. A zawia was built at Bir Allali, in Kanem, that site being chosen as it was an entrep8t for the trade of Tripoli with all the Chad countries. Bir Allali was strongly garrisoned by the Senussites and See also:war with the French followed.' After a severe engagement Bir Allali was captured by a French See also:column under Commandant Tetard in See also:January 1902. The sheik Senussi, much affected by the loss of Kanem, died shortly afterwards (May 30, 1902). He was succeeded by his See also:nephew Ahmed-el-Sherif, who in view of the presence of the French on the borders of Dar Gorane removed to Kufra. The new head of the Senussites maintained the friendly relations of his predecessors with Wadai, and, following the example of his See also:uncle, made advances to Ali Dinar, the sultan of Darfur, which were not reciprocated. To keep in touch with Darfur a zawia had been built on the See also:caravan route from Kufra to that country.

The adherents of the Senussi el Mandi in the deserts bordering Egypt maintained for years that he was not dead, and in See also:

March 1906 a public See also:declaration was made at Siwa that " Sidi Mahommed-el-Mandi had returned from his See also:secret See also:journey to Kufra." Commenting on this announcement Sir R. Wingate wrote: " It is well known that the body of the late sheik lies in a See also:tent at Zawia-el-Taj in the identical See also:shrine which was made for it at Geru when he died " (Egypt No. 1 (1907), p. 120). It will be seen that the Senussites occupy desert fastnesses which could only be attacked by Europeans after overcoming great difficulties. By See also:Henri See also:Duveyrier and other writers of the last See also:half of the 19th See also:century they were regarded as likely to See also:pro-claim a See also:jihad or See also:holy war against the Christians of North See also:Africa. This view was founded upon the supposed tenets of the order and upon See also:geographical and political considerations. The See also:record of the first and second Senussi sheiks shows them, however, to have acted chiefly on the defensive. A study of all available data up to 1906 led M L. G. Binger, one of the greatest authorities, to the conclusion that the politics of the sect were subordinated to the material interests of their chief, and that the Senussi sheik was as unable as were other noted Moslem leaders (such as Abd el Kader in Algeria; Samory in the western Sudan and the Dongolese Mandi in the See also:Egyptian Sudan) to overcome the rivalries and divergence of interests of their own co-religionists. This view received See also:confirmation in the events of 1906–1910 when the French came in conflict with the sultanate of Wadai.

Although there was severe fighting the French found less difficulty than had been expected in seizing the See also:

capital of Wadai, nor was there any See also:general See also:movement of the Senussites against them. The French also sent flying columns into Borku and Enndi. The See also:comparative ease with which these operations were carried out seemed to demonstrate the weakness of the Senussites (see WADAI). Nevertheless, like any other Moslem fraternity, and perhaps more readily, the Senussites might be speedily transformed into a powerful fighting organization. Through the seaports of Tripoli and Benghazi, with the connivance (or in See also:defiance) of the Turks, the importation of arms and See also:ammunition into the eastern Sahara is a See also:matter of little or no difficulty, and the Bedouin of that region could furnish a numerous and well-armed fighting force. A Senussi sheik would also recruit many followers in the central Sudan. At the same time the Senussi organization is not so widespread The power in the Sudan and the western Sahara as would appear of the from the exaggerated reports once current. The Senussi sheiks, with the doubtful exception of Darfur, sites. are without followers in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Bagirmi, Kanem and other states once dependent on Wadai did not embrace Senussiism. In the See also:Hausa States and in the greater See also:part of the western Sudan as far as See also:Timbuktu the Moslems acknowledge the spiritual headship of the emir of See also:Sokoto, 1In the accounts of the fighting in French See also:equatorial Africa at this See also:period it is necessary to distinguish between the sheik Senussi el Mandi and the sultan Mahommed el Senussi (b. c. 185o) of N'Dele, a prince who had married the See also:sister of Rabah Zobeir.

Senussi of N'Dele became an ally of the French. The state of N'Dele lies S. of Wadai and is cut by 90 N., and 20° E. (See Karl Kumm in Geog. Jour., Aug. 1910.) whose influence is believed to be sufficiently strong to prevent the spread of Senussiism among his followers. The general attitude of the Mahommedans in the western Sudan towards the Senussi emissaries was described by See also:

European observers in 1907 as one of See also:good-natured tolerance. They are occasionally allowed to preach, but apparently with little effect. In Bornu, which does not acknowledge the spiritual supremacy of Sokoto, the Senussi propaganda meets with less opposition, but the adherents of the order are not numerous. Here and there in the western Sahara are tribes professing Senussiism, but they are regarded as unimportant. It should, however, be remembered that while other See also:dervish fraternities are mystical and latitudinarian in theology, and only sporadically meddle in politics, the Senussites have exercised a continuous political influence and have sought to revive the faith and usages of the See also:early days of Islam. The order is in a sense an outcome of the Wahhabite movement, but, as gathered from the writings of Mahommed el Hechaish, a Tunisian sheik, and other trustworthy See also:sources, appears to be neither mystical nor puritan. There is less of secrecy about their See also:rites than is usual in Moslem fraternities.

The use of tobacco and See also:

coffee is forbidden, but the drinking of See also:tea is encouraged, and the wearing of See also:fine clothes is allowed. While they profess to belong to the Malikite rite (one of the four orthodox sects of Islam), the Senussites are charged by the Ulema of Cairo with many deviations from the true faith; chiefly they are accused of interpreting the See also:Koran and Sunna without consulting one of the recognized glosses. Thus the Egyptian theologians regard the Senussites as inaugurating a new rite rather than forming a See also:simple fraternity; in this, if not in See also:puritanism, resembling the Wahhahites. Their great See also:work in the eastern Sahara, apart from proselytism, has been colonization and the encouragement of trade. See also:Wells have been dug and oases cultivated, See also:rest houses built along caravan routes, merchants from Tripoli, Bornu, Wadai and Darfur welcomed. Such at least is the See also:report of Mahommedan writers and of French and See also:British political agents; very few Europeans have had opportunities of making See also:personal observations. Gustav See also:Nachtigal was in Wadai in 1873, See also:Gerhard Rholfs traversed the Cyrenaica and visited Kufra in 1879; but in general the Senussi, supported by the Turks at Tripoli, have closed the regions under their See also:control to Europeans. At the oasis of Siwa (See also:Jupiter See also:Ammon), however, they are in contact with the Egyptian See also:administration. Siwa was visited by See also:Silva White in 1898 and by Freiherr von Grunau in 1899. The last-named reports that he found the representative of Sheik Senussi living in perfect agreement with the Egyptian authorities, the inhabitants of the oasis being divided into two sections, known respectively as the Mussulmans and the Senussites, a distinction which goes to show the See also:special position occupied by the Senussites in Islam. The missionary zeal of the Senussites is undoubted. Outside the regions adjacent to their headquarters they appear to be most strongly represented in Arabia.

In the eastern Sahara and Wadai practically all the See also:

population are Senussites; the order in other countries draws its adherents from a higher social See also:rank than the generality of Moslem secret See also:societies. Its chief agents are personages of See also:wealth and importance and highly educated in See also:Oriental See also:lore. They are in general on good terms with the rulers of the countries in which they live, as instanced in 1902 by the conferment of the See also:Legion of See also:Honour on the head of the zawia at Hillil in Algeria. These agents make See also:regular See also:tours to the various zawias placed under their See also:charge, and expound the Senussi doctrines at the Moslem See also:universities. From all that has been said it is apparent that the Senussi sheik controls a very powerful organization, an organization probably unique in the Moslem world. The See also:present writer, in endeavouring to arrive at a just conclusion on an obscure and much controverted subject, is indebted, in addition to the above, to the See also:article by D. A. See also:Cameron in the loth ed. of this See also:encyclopaedia, and to communications from Prof. D. B. See also:Macdonald. (F.

R.

End of Article: SENUSSI [SANUSI]

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