EXEMPLINARY LIFE OF IMAM LI HUDA, IMAM HASSAN ALI CISSE
WRITTEN BY; GIWA IBRAHIM BAYE (ADMIN MUHAMMADAN FAMILY)
LIFE BEFORE HIS BIRTH
Sheikh Hassan Cisse was the grand son of Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse, and his mother’s name is Seyyida Fatima popularly known as “ YAFATU” which happened to be first child of Sheikh Ibrahim. Sheikh gave birth to Nana Fatu when he was 24yrs of age after being married when he was 22yrs. When mother of Imam Hassan was about to marry, Sheikh Ibrahim intended to hand her in marriage to one of his closest disciples that showed interest in marrying her, which the disciples include: Sheikh Umar Toure, Sheikh Usman jai, Sheikh Abubakr and Seyyid Ali Cisse. Sheikh Ibrahim instructed them one by one to put the request of marrying his daughter in writing.
Sheikh Ibrahim consulted his brother, Sheikh Muhammad Zaynab on marriage proposal of his first child, his brother replied that Sheikh should do istikhara on which one of them is the best for her, since they are all good and close disciple. Which Sheikh later replied that he saw the name “HABEEB”from the result of his prayer, but surprisingly, no one of them is bearing the name. His brother then replied that only one of them bears that name because of his charisma and love for Baye ,which the person is SEYYID ALI CISSE, sheikh Ibrahim replied to his brother that he passed, that’s was how our beloved Seyyid married the first daughter of Sheikh.
After marriage, Shaykh Hassan's mother Yafatu had lost 4 babies before through miscarriage or death in babyhood before the birth of Shaykh Hassan (RA). She was very sick when she became pregnant with Shaykh Hassan (RA). She went to her father, Shaykh Hassan's (RA) grandfather, Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) to make dua that she would have no more babies. Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) refused and told her that Allah had the power to give her a baby and good health. Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) rather gave Yafatu the Mubarak shoes of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) which were in his possession to keep under her pillow for the safe delivery of Shaykh Hassan (RA), telling her that no one sleeping with those shoes under her pillow would lose a baby. Those shoes are still with YaFatu. Shaykh Hassan (RA) was born in an inner room of Shaykh Ibrahim (RA).
HISTORY OF SEYYID ALI AND CISSE FAMILY
Seyyid Ali Cisse (d. 1981), who had been the friend and spiritual successor (khalifa) of Sheikh Ibrahim, and Fatima Zahra Niasse, the first child of Shaykh Ibrahim.
The Cisse lineage is thought to be one of the oldest Muslim scholarly families in West Africa, tracing their descent from the first converts to Islam in the ancient kingdom of Ghana in the eleventh century. Oral traditions in the Saloum region of Senegal say that the Kaya Magha (‘King of Gold’) at the ancient Ghanaian capital of Kumbi Saleh, who had converted to Islam by the time of the Almoravid expansion (1076), bore the name Cisse. This is not unlikely, since the original founder of the city was a certain Dyabe Sisse (or Cisse), the son of Dinga, from whom the oldest Mandinka lineages — Cisse, Kante, Sylla — trace descent. With the conversion of Kaya Magha Cisse to Islam, the Cisse family has since come to be closely associated with Islamic scholarship in the vast areas of West Africa influenced by Soninke and Mandinka clerical traditions. Muslim scholars bearing the name Cisse came to settle in the Saloum region of Senegal perhaps as early as the thirteenth or fourteenth century. By the early nineteenth century, the Cisse of the Saloum had become thoroughly Wolofized. Andal Mbouri Cisse gained some fame as a religious scholar in the region, hosting recruits for the Jihad of Ma (Muhammad) Ba Diakhou (d. 1869) in the Saloum region. His son Biram (Ibrahim) Cisse continued the Jihad with Ma Ba’s son, Saer Maty, before falling out with the latter and eventually being exiled by the French colonial authorities to Gabon. Here he met the well-known founder of the Muridiyya Sufi order, and symbol of Senegalese anti-colonial resistance, Amadou Bamba (d. 1927). Biram’s grandson, Alassane (al-Hasan; d. 1922), was known as “Tafsir Hasan” for his expertise in Qur’anic exegesis. He became a disciple of al-Hajj Abd Allah Niasse (1845-1922), who had moved from the northern kingdom of Jolof to participate in the Jihad of Ma Ba Diakhou. Al-Hajj ‘Abd Allah, who was the father of Shaykh Ibrahim, would establish a famous network of Islamic scholarship in the SineSaloum region. Alassane helped found the town of Diossong, where his son Sayyid Ali was born in 1906.
Sayyid Ali came to reside in the house of al-Hajj Abd Allah following the death of his father, and soon became the close friend of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse. When the latter established the town of MedinaBaye following his 1929 declaration of being the “bringer of the flood” (sahib al-fayda), Sayyid Ali followed him. As Shaykh Ibrahim’s closest disciple, Sayyid Ali led the daily prayer in the grand mosque, supervised students in spiritual training (tarbiya), and taught Maliki jurisprudence (fiqh). Where another disciple, Ahmad Thiam, became known as “the school of Arabic grammar,” Sayyid Ali became known as “the school of jurisprudence.”
LIFE OF IMAM HASSAN CISSE
Shaykh Hasan b. Ali Sisi, more often known by the French spelling Cissé (1945-2008, Senegal) was a prominent Muslim scholar, humanitarian activist and spiritual guide of the Tijaniyya Sufi order. He was the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Medina-Baye Kaolack, Senegal, a position for which he had been designated by his grandfather, Shaykh al-Islam Ibrahim Niasse (d. 1975). Shaykh Ibrahim was one of the most renowned Muslim leaders in twentieth century Africa, with millions of followers throughout Africa and beyond. Starting from the early 1930s, he had guided a revivalist network of the Tijaniyya known as ‘community of the flood’ (jama‘at al fayda), which had had a profound impact upon the transmission of religious knowledge (‘ulum) and mystical gnosis (ma‘rifa) throughout the West African region.
As a young boy, Shaykh Hasan was sent to Mauritania, where he memorized the Qur’an under the tutelage of the Rabbani family. He then returned to Medina-Baye to study the rest of the Islamic sciences (jurisprudence, exegesis, literature, Prophetic traditions, Sufism) under his grandfather and father, as well as under other renowned scholars and associates of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, such as Ahmad Thiam. Later on, Sheikh Ibrahim took Shaykh Hasan alongside with eleven of his children, among them are Sheikh Nasir, Sheikh Mamoon to hajj when Shaykh Hassan was 15years old, on their way back Sheikh Ibrahim took them all to Cairo to pursue higher education degrees at the personal invitation of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser. He obtained a BA in Islamic Studies and Arabic Literature from ‘Ayn Shams University, after completed his study and returned back to Kaolack, though on his way back home, he got mega offer job appointment from President of Libya Muhamar Ghadafi, which Sheikh rejected the offer after he wrote a letter to his grandfather on the appointment and Sheikh Ibrahim replied him to reject it . On returning to Kaolack, Shaykh Ibrahim still sent him to London to learn English Language. Here, he completed his MA in English from the University of London, and went on to pursue a PhD in Islamic Studies at Northwestern University (Evanston, US). Upon the death of his father Seyyid Ali in 1982, and before the completion of his PhD, Shaykh Hasan returned to Senegal to assume the imamate of the mosque in Medina-Baye.
During the life of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, the fame of Medina-Baye had grown into that of an international center of Islamic scholarship, regularly visited by scholars and students from many West African countries (especially Nigeria, Ghana and Mauritania). Throughout the year, visitors were coming to receive the spiritual training (tarbiya) that had become the hallmark of the ‘people of the Tijanifayda.’ The rhythm of didactic and devotional activities was particularly intense every year during the two months of Ramadan and Rabi‘ al-Awwal, when the town was overflowing with visitors attending Shaykh Ibrahim’s exegesis of the Qur’an (in the nights of Ramadan) and the communal celebrations dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad (in the nights of Rabi‘ al-Awwal). After the death of Shaykh Ibrahim in 1975, MedinaBaye had remained the center of gravity for the growing network of his followers and associates. From a university student in Cairo, London and Chicago, to the new imam of the Grand-Mosque of Medina-Baye, Shaykh Hasan was opening a profoundly new phase in his life. Gradually, in his new position at the center of an international network of scholarship, Shaykh Hasan’s fame as an Islamic scholar spread beyond Senegal, while he continued to gather personal diplomas (ijazat) from famous traditional hadith scholars such as Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani (d. 1990) of Indonesia and Shaykh Ahmad Muhammad ‘Abd al-Jawwad of Medina, Saudi Arabia. In all, Shaykh Hasan related that he had collected more than 600 ijazat from scholars around the world.
In 2007, Azhar University in Egypt presented him with an honorary degree of “highest distinction.” It was especially his reputation for engaging the Islamic scholarly tradition with pressing humanitarian concerns that earned him the admiration of several international humanitarian organizations. In 1988, he founded the African American Islamic Institute to promote education, health care, women’s rights and cultural exchange between the Muslims of Senegal and America. Many, particularly among the African-American community, had converted to Islam and become affiliated to the Tijaniyya during his earlier stay in Chicago and subsequent visits to New York, Detroit and Atlanta.
After assuming the imamship of Medina-Baye, Shaykh Hasan continued to cultivate links with his American students. The African American Islamic Institute has since received official recognition from the United Nations as an affiliated NGO, and has been successful in establishing clinics and schools in Senegal. Shaykh Hasan also worked closely with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Rotary International to promote projects dealing with issues such as polio immunization, breastfeeding, childhood and adult literacy and campaigns against female circumcision.
In 1989, Muhasasatu Nasrul ilm started in Nigeria when some southwest Shuyukh went to Kaolack and made an official complain to Sheikh Hassan Cisse on how things are hard for Mureeds, Imam Hassan now gave the permission (izni) for them to establish Muhasasa Nasrul ilm in Nigeria. In 2005, his role as an Islamic scholar committed to humanitarian ideals occasioned his election as president of the Network of African Islamic Organizations for Population and Development. Imam Hassan Cisse established first private University in Senegal which was affliated with one famous University in America and was named after Baye’s name, the University was started with faculty of medicine.
Shaykh Hasan’s scholarly credentials, international visibility and spiritual inheritance from Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse made him one of the preeminent spokesmen of his time for the Tijani Sufi order. Continuing the mission of his grandfather, he was influential in spreading Islam and the Tijaniyya in Africa. In places such as Chad, Cameroon and South Africa, he is reported to have converted thousands. Aside from West African diaspora groups of disciples in Europe and elsewhere, dispersed communities of Tijanis tracing their initiation through Shaykh Hasan have also emerged in Southeast Asia, Pakistan, Libya, the Middle East and the Caribbean. The birth and the expansion of a Tijani community in South Africa can also be traced back to his initiative.6 His routine teaching activities in Medina-Baye included giving exegesis of the Qur’an, explanation of Hadith collections, and teaching primary works of the Tijaniyya such as the Jawahir al-Ma‘ani by ‘Ali Harazim Barada (of which he was said to possess the original manuscript inherited from his grandfather), the Kitab-al Jami‘ by Muhammad ibn al-Mishri (d. 1809) and Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse’s treatise titled Kashif al-Ilbas.7 He also authored the Kanz al-Masun (2007), a collection of Shaykh Ibrahim’s supplications on which Shaykh Hasan provided commentary, and translated into English his grandfather’s first work, the poem Ruhal-Adab, which he published with extensive commentary as The Spirit of Good Morals (1998). He published a short biography of Shaykh Ibrahim called ‘Revivalist of the Sunnah’ (1984). Many of his speeches on Islamic and Sufi principles have been recorded or transcribed and made available online.
The life and career of Shaykh Hasan Cisse constitute a remarkable example of integration of traditional and modern knowledge by a West African Muslim scholar. The global reach of his network of disciples and associates challenges the notion that West African Sufi sm is mainly a ‘local’ manifestation of a ‘popular’ form of Islam. Moreover, the ease with which Shaykh Hasan integrated humanitarian activism into both Islamic and Western-based institutions defies the simplistic notion of an inevitable ‘clash of civilizations.
Shaykh Baye Haiba said that Shaykh Hassan (RA) would say “Nobody will work for me except that Allah will give him blessing.” He recounted the story of a trip he made with Shaykh Hassan (RA) to Makkah along with Shaykh Hassan's (RA) son and others. On the trip, Shaykh Baye used to attend to all of Shaykh's (RA) needs. Shaykh Hassan (RA) rebuked his son saying that he had brought him on the trip to give him a chance to serve him as there were too many taalibes (students) around all the time competing for the chance at home, yet he wasn't utilizing that opportunity. Even his mother's relationship with him was that of a taalib to a big Shaykh. She would even kneel down on the ground and guide the shoes onto Shaykh's (RA) feet. This is an especially big deal in Senegal where the mother's role with her children is akin to that of a queen.
Shaykh Hassan (RA) liked people to pray in the masjid, and he would give money as
encouragement to do this. He was known to often single out an individual student and say “I didn't see you in the masjid today” with great accuracy despite the fact that the Masjid was always full of people.
One of the ways he used to encourage people to pray in jamaat was by promising to help anyone who read Fajr at the masjid for 40 consecutive days to travel to Mecca for Hajj.
Shaykh Baye said the wisdom in this is knowing that after keeping a practice 40 days you will keep it forever.
Shaykh Hassan (RA) didn't like men to dress in red clothing as the Prophet (SAW) also disliked it. He liked truthfulness and sincerity and was prepared to cut ties with any dishonest person.
Shaykh Hassan (RA) loved to read Qur'an and he greatly respected the person who memorized the Qur'an. When by the Kabah, sometimes he would opt to read the Qur'an rather than making tawwaf.
Once a university student asked Shaykh (RA) to tell them “Something that will increase us in our Journey to Allah” He advised them to be in a state of wudhu at all times and to increase the reading of Salatul Faatihi all the time. He often quoted the words of Imam Junaid: “All Tariqahs are closed except the one that follows the footsteps of the Prophet (SAW)
REFLECTIONS FROM SHAYKH IBRAHIM HAIBA ON IMAM HASSAN CISSE
On his visit to our country late last year Shaykh Ibrahim Ehaibah (also known as Shaykh Baye, may Allah preserve and increase him) of Mauritania, Shaykh Hassan Cisse’s (RA) nephew and
“offcial representative to South Africa”, shared some reflections on the life of Shaykh Hassan (RA). Shaykh Baye, in his usual humble manner, repeatedly expressed hesitation to speak on
the life of Shaykh Hassan (RA). “I feel I am not valuable enough to speak about Shaykh” said this modest man. “If I speak a whole day about Shaykh Hassan I would feel like I hadn’t said anything!”
Nonetheless, the community was greatly enriched and grateful for the reflections that he shared. Below are excerpts of his valuable comments as related to AlFaydatul Tijani Gauteng community.
WRITTEN BY; GIWA IBRAHIM BAYE (ADMIN MUHAMMADAN FAMILY)
LIFE BEFORE HIS BIRTH
Sheikh Hassan Cisse was the grand son of Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse, and his mother’s name is Seyyida Fatima popularly known as “ YAFATU” which happened to be first child of Sheikh Ibrahim. Sheikh gave birth to Nana Fatu when he was 24yrs of age after being married when he was 22yrs. When mother of Imam Hassan was about to marry, Sheikh Ibrahim intended to hand her in marriage to one of his closest disciples that showed interest in marrying her, which the disciples include: Sheikh Umar Toure, Sheikh Usman jai, Sheikh Abubakr and Seyyid Ali Cisse. Sheikh Ibrahim instructed them one by one to put the request of marrying his daughter in writing.
Sheikh Ibrahim consulted his brother, Sheikh Muhammad Zaynab on marriage proposal of his first child, his brother replied that Sheikh should do istikhara on which one of them is the best for her, since they are all good and close disciple. Which Sheikh later replied that he saw the name “HABEEB”from the result of his prayer, but surprisingly, no one of them is bearing the name. His brother then replied that only one of them bears that name because of his charisma and love for Baye ,which the person is SEYYID ALI CISSE, sheikh Ibrahim replied to his brother that he passed, that’s was how our beloved Seyyid married the first daughter of Sheikh.
After marriage, Shaykh Hassan's mother Yafatu had lost 4 babies before through miscarriage or death in babyhood before the birth of Shaykh Hassan (RA). She was very sick when she became pregnant with Shaykh Hassan (RA). She went to her father, Shaykh Hassan's (RA) grandfather, Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) to make dua that she would have no more babies. Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) refused and told her that Allah had the power to give her a baby and good health. Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) rather gave Yafatu the Mubarak shoes of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) which were in his possession to keep under her pillow for the safe delivery of Shaykh Hassan (RA), telling her that no one sleeping with those shoes under her pillow would lose a baby. Those shoes are still with YaFatu. Shaykh Hassan (RA) was born in an inner room of Shaykh Ibrahim (RA).
HISTORY OF SEYYID ALI AND CISSE FAMILY
Seyyid Ali Cisse (d. 1981), who had been the friend and spiritual successor (khalifa) of Sheikh Ibrahim, and Fatima Zahra Niasse, the first child of Shaykh Ibrahim.
The Cisse lineage is thought to be one of the oldest Muslim scholarly families in West Africa, tracing their descent from the first converts to Islam in the ancient kingdom of Ghana in the eleventh century. Oral traditions in the Saloum region of Senegal say that the Kaya Magha (‘King of Gold’) at the ancient Ghanaian capital of Kumbi Saleh, who had converted to Islam by the time of the Almoravid expansion (1076), bore the name Cisse. This is not unlikely, since the original founder of the city was a certain Dyabe Sisse (or Cisse), the son of Dinga, from whom the oldest Mandinka lineages — Cisse, Kante, Sylla — trace descent. With the conversion of Kaya Magha Cisse to Islam, the Cisse family has since come to be closely associated with Islamic scholarship in the vast areas of West Africa influenced by Soninke and Mandinka clerical traditions. Muslim scholars bearing the name Cisse came to settle in the Saloum region of Senegal perhaps as early as the thirteenth or fourteenth century. By the early nineteenth century, the Cisse of the Saloum had become thoroughly Wolofized. Andal Mbouri Cisse gained some fame as a religious scholar in the region, hosting recruits for the Jihad of Ma (Muhammad) Ba Diakhou (d. 1869) in the Saloum region. His son Biram (Ibrahim) Cisse continued the Jihad with Ma Ba’s son, Saer Maty, before falling out with the latter and eventually being exiled by the French colonial authorities to Gabon. Here he met the well-known founder of the Muridiyya Sufi order, and symbol of Senegalese anti-colonial resistance, Amadou Bamba (d. 1927). Biram’s grandson, Alassane (al-Hasan; d. 1922), was known as “Tafsir Hasan” for his expertise in Qur’anic exegesis. He became a disciple of al-Hajj Abd Allah Niasse (1845-1922), who had moved from the northern kingdom of Jolof to participate in the Jihad of Ma Ba Diakhou. Al-Hajj ‘Abd Allah, who was the father of Shaykh Ibrahim, would establish a famous network of Islamic scholarship in the SineSaloum region. Alassane helped found the town of Diossong, where his son Sayyid Ali was born in 1906.
Sayyid Ali came to reside in the house of al-Hajj Abd Allah following the death of his father, and soon became the close friend of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse. When the latter established the town of MedinaBaye following his 1929 declaration of being the “bringer of the flood” (sahib al-fayda), Sayyid Ali followed him. As Shaykh Ibrahim’s closest disciple, Sayyid Ali led the daily prayer in the grand mosque, supervised students in spiritual training (tarbiya), and taught Maliki jurisprudence (fiqh). Where another disciple, Ahmad Thiam, became known as “the school of Arabic grammar,” Sayyid Ali became known as “the school of jurisprudence.”
LIFE OF IMAM HASSAN CISSE
Shaykh Hasan b. Ali Sisi, more often known by the French spelling Cissé (1945-2008, Senegal) was a prominent Muslim scholar, humanitarian activist and spiritual guide of the Tijaniyya Sufi order. He was the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Medina-Baye Kaolack, Senegal, a position for which he had been designated by his grandfather, Shaykh al-Islam Ibrahim Niasse (d. 1975). Shaykh Ibrahim was one of the most renowned Muslim leaders in twentieth century Africa, with millions of followers throughout Africa and beyond. Starting from the early 1930s, he had guided a revivalist network of the Tijaniyya known as ‘community of the flood’ (jama‘at al fayda), which had had a profound impact upon the transmission of religious knowledge (‘ulum) and mystical gnosis (ma‘rifa) throughout the West African region.
As a young boy, Shaykh Hasan was sent to Mauritania, where he memorized the Qur’an under the tutelage of the Rabbani family. He then returned to Medina-Baye to study the rest of the Islamic sciences (jurisprudence, exegesis, literature, Prophetic traditions, Sufism) under his grandfather and father, as well as under other renowned scholars and associates of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, such as Ahmad Thiam. Later on, Sheikh Ibrahim took Shaykh Hasan alongside with eleven of his children, among them are Sheikh Nasir, Sheikh Mamoon to hajj when Shaykh Hassan was 15years old, on their way back Sheikh Ibrahim took them all to Cairo to pursue higher education degrees at the personal invitation of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser. He obtained a BA in Islamic Studies and Arabic Literature from ‘Ayn Shams University, after completed his study and returned back to Kaolack, though on his way back home, he got mega offer job appointment from President of Libya Muhamar Ghadafi, which Sheikh rejected the offer after he wrote a letter to his grandfather on the appointment and Sheikh Ibrahim replied him to reject it . On returning to Kaolack, Shaykh Ibrahim still sent him to London to learn English Language. Here, he completed his MA in English from the University of London, and went on to pursue a PhD in Islamic Studies at Northwestern University (Evanston, US). Upon the death of his father Seyyid Ali in 1982, and before the completion of his PhD, Shaykh Hasan returned to Senegal to assume the imamate of the mosque in Medina-Baye.
During the life of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, the fame of Medina-Baye had grown into that of an international center of Islamic scholarship, regularly visited by scholars and students from many West African countries (especially Nigeria, Ghana and Mauritania). Throughout the year, visitors were coming to receive the spiritual training (tarbiya) that had become the hallmark of the ‘people of the Tijanifayda.’ The rhythm of didactic and devotional activities was particularly intense every year during the two months of Ramadan and Rabi‘ al-Awwal, when the town was overflowing with visitors attending Shaykh Ibrahim’s exegesis of the Qur’an (in the nights of Ramadan) and the communal celebrations dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad (in the nights of Rabi‘ al-Awwal). After the death of Shaykh Ibrahim in 1975, MedinaBaye had remained the center of gravity for the growing network of his followers and associates. From a university student in Cairo, London and Chicago, to the new imam of the Grand-Mosque of Medina-Baye, Shaykh Hasan was opening a profoundly new phase in his life. Gradually, in his new position at the center of an international network of scholarship, Shaykh Hasan’s fame as an Islamic scholar spread beyond Senegal, while he continued to gather personal diplomas (ijazat) from famous traditional hadith scholars such as Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani (d. 1990) of Indonesia and Shaykh Ahmad Muhammad ‘Abd al-Jawwad of Medina, Saudi Arabia. In all, Shaykh Hasan related that he had collected more than 600 ijazat from scholars around the world.
In 2007, Azhar University in Egypt presented him with an honorary degree of “highest distinction.” It was especially his reputation for engaging the Islamic scholarly tradition with pressing humanitarian concerns that earned him the admiration of several international humanitarian organizations. In 1988, he founded the African American Islamic Institute to promote education, health care, women’s rights and cultural exchange between the Muslims of Senegal and America. Many, particularly among the African-American community, had converted to Islam and become affiliated to the Tijaniyya during his earlier stay in Chicago and subsequent visits to New York, Detroit and Atlanta.
After assuming the imamship of Medina-Baye, Shaykh Hasan continued to cultivate links with his American students. The African American Islamic Institute has since received official recognition from the United Nations as an affiliated NGO, and has been successful in establishing clinics and schools in Senegal. Shaykh Hasan also worked closely with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Rotary International to promote projects dealing with issues such as polio immunization, breastfeeding, childhood and adult literacy and campaigns against female circumcision.
In 1989, Muhasasatu Nasrul ilm started in Nigeria when some southwest Shuyukh went to Kaolack and made an official complain to Sheikh Hassan Cisse on how things are hard for Mureeds, Imam Hassan now gave the permission (izni) for them to establish Muhasasa Nasrul ilm in Nigeria. In 2005, his role as an Islamic scholar committed to humanitarian ideals occasioned his election as president of the Network of African Islamic Organizations for Population and Development. Imam Hassan Cisse established first private University in Senegal which was affliated with one famous University in America and was named after Baye’s name, the University was started with faculty of medicine.
Shaykh Hasan’s scholarly credentials, international visibility and spiritual inheritance from Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse made him one of the preeminent spokesmen of his time for the Tijani Sufi order. Continuing the mission of his grandfather, he was influential in spreading Islam and the Tijaniyya in Africa. In places such as Chad, Cameroon and South Africa, he is reported to have converted thousands. Aside from West African diaspora groups of disciples in Europe and elsewhere, dispersed communities of Tijanis tracing their initiation through Shaykh Hasan have also emerged in Southeast Asia, Pakistan, Libya, the Middle East and the Caribbean. The birth and the expansion of a Tijani community in South Africa can also be traced back to his initiative.6 His routine teaching activities in Medina-Baye included giving exegesis of the Qur’an, explanation of Hadith collections, and teaching primary works of the Tijaniyya such as the Jawahir al-Ma‘ani by ‘Ali Harazim Barada (of which he was said to possess the original manuscript inherited from his grandfather), the Kitab-al Jami‘ by Muhammad ibn al-Mishri (d. 1809) and Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse’s treatise titled Kashif al-Ilbas.7 He also authored the Kanz al-Masun (2007), a collection of Shaykh Ibrahim’s supplications on which Shaykh Hasan provided commentary, and translated into English his grandfather’s first work, the poem Ruhal-Adab, which he published with extensive commentary as The Spirit of Good Morals (1998). He published a short biography of Shaykh Ibrahim called ‘Revivalist of the Sunnah’ (1984). Many of his speeches on Islamic and Sufi principles have been recorded or transcribed and made available online.
The life and career of Shaykh Hasan Cisse constitute a remarkable example of integration of traditional and modern knowledge by a West African Muslim scholar. The global reach of his network of disciples and associates challenges the notion that West African Sufi sm is mainly a ‘local’ manifestation of a ‘popular’ form of Islam. Moreover, the ease with which Shaykh Hasan integrated humanitarian activism into both Islamic and Western-based institutions defies the simplistic notion of an inevitable ‘clash of civilizations.
Shaykh Baye Haiba said that Shaykh Hassan (RA) would say “Nobody will work for me except that Allah will give him blessing.” He recounted the story of a trip he made with Shaykh Hassan (RA) to Makkah along with Shaykh Hassan's (RA) son and others. On the trip, Shaykh Baye used to attend to all of Shaykh's (RA) needs. Shaykh Hassan (RA) rebuked his son saying that he had brought him on the trip to give him a chance to serve him as there were too many taalibes (students) around all the time competing for the chance at home, yet he wasn't utilizing that opportunity. Even his mother's relationship with him was that of a taalib to a big Shaykh. She would even kneel down on the ground and guide the shoes onto Shaykh's (RA) feet. This is an especially big deal in Senegal where the mother's role with her children is akin to that of a queen.
Shaykh Hassan (RA) liked people to pray in the masjid, and he would give money as
encouragement to do this. He was known to often single out an individual student and say “I didn't see you in the masjid today” with great accuracy despite the fact that the Masjid was always full of people.
One of the ways he used to encourage people to pray in jamaat was by promising to help anyone who read Fajr at the masjid for 40 consecutive days to travel to Mecca for Hajj.
Shaykh Baye said the wisdom in this is knowing that after keeping a practice 40 days you will keep it forever.
Shaykh Hassan (RA) didn't like men to dress in red clothing as the Prophet (SAW) also disliked it. He liked truthfulness and sincerity and was prepared to cut ties with any dishonest person.
Shaykh Hassan (RA) loved to read Qur'an and he greatly respected the person who memorized the Qur'an. When by the Kabah, sometimes he would opt to read the Qur'an rather than making tawwaf.
Once a university student asked Shaykh (RA) to tell them “Something that will increase us in our Journey to Allah” He advised them to be in a state of wudhu at all times and to increase the reading of Salatul Faatihi all the time. He often quoted the words of Imam Junaid: “All Tariqahs are closed except the one that follows the footsteps of the Prophet (SAW)
REFLECTIONS FROM SHAYKH IBRAHIM HAIBA ON IMAM HASSAN CISSE
On his visit to our country late last year Shaykh Ibrahim Ehaibah (also known as Shaykh Baye, may Allah preserve and increase him) of Mauritania, Shaykh Hassan Cisse’s (RA) nephew and
“offcial representative to South Africa”, shared some reflections on the life of Shaykh Hassan (RA). Shaykh Baye, in his usual humble manner, repeatedly expressed hesitation to speak on
the life of Shaykh Hassan (RA). “I feel I am not valuable enough to speak about Shaykh” said this modest man. “If I speak a whole day about Shaykh Hassan I would feel like I hadn’t said anything!”
Nonetheless, the community was greatly enriched and grateful for the reflections that he shared. Below are excerpts of his valuable comments as related to AlFaydatul Tijani Gauteng community.
In 1983 Shaykh Baye Haiba memorized the Qur'an. On the occasion Shaykh Hassan (RA) asked a griot (historian/praise singer) to read his lineage back to the Prophet (SAW). He jokingly said to Shaykh Baye “You think you are the only Sharif?” Shaykh Baye used to sit in a chair when in the presence of Shaykh Hassan (RA) Hand Shaykh Hassan (RA) never asked him to come down from the chair.
One day, 1 or 2 months after memorizing the Quran, Shaykh Baye came down from the chair and sat on the floor. He felt something within himself that he cannot explain that made him submit. From that day Shaykh Hassan (RA) was his Shaykh. Shaykh Baye would ask permission from Shaykh Hassan (RA) for everything he wanted to do. “To stay with him was more beloved to me than to travel back to Mauritania. He never told me anything that I wasn't happy with,” says Shaykh Baye.
In 1992 Shaykh Baye made Tarbiyyah with Shaykh Hassan (RA). In the same year he made Ziyarah with Shaykh Hassan (RA) to Shaykh Tijani (RA) in Morocco. Shaykh Baye's favorite memory of Shaykh Hassan (RA) is sleeping in the same bed with him on this trip at Shaykh Hassan's request as there was only one bed in the room. Shaykh Baye was scared, but very grateful.
“If I needed to use the bathroom (even for Wudu) I would use someone else's bathroom,” says Shaykh Baye with a laugh.
In 1994 when Shaykh Hassan (RA) was travelling he put Shaykh Baye in charge of his house for two months. Shaykh Hassan (RA) said to him “After Allah, I put my house in your hands” While guarding the house Shaykh Baye says he wasn't able to sleep due to the weight of the responsibility and would so stay awake and pray. “When Shaykh Hassan came back then I was
able to sleep because the responsibility was lifted.”
Shaykh Baye remembered that on the great occasion of opening the clinic in Madina Baye, Senegal, Shaykh Hassan (RA) recounted that his father and grandfather were forced to travel outside of the country (to France and London) when they were sick so he built the clinic so that people wouldn't have to travel out of the country for treatment.
In 1998 Shaykh Baye met Shaykh Hassan (RA) in Mecca and made umrah with him.
Shaykh Baye said that if you were blessed to travel with Shaykh Hassan (RA), you knew you were trav-elling with a special man. He travelled only to do Allah's work and he could pay for his own stay anywhere, although Allah would often provide someone willing to pay the full expenses of Shaykh and all those travelling with him. When travelling, “Shaykh Hassan didn't
return to anyone, only to Allah.
Sheikh Hassan would also often quote the poems of Shaykh Ibrahim (RA). He especially liked to quote the lines “When the best of mankind moves, I follow behind him and if he stops for a day, there is no going further” and “When they ask me regarding my beloved and my Madhab my reply will be ... 'It is the messenger of Allah.'” (from the Diwan of Shaykh Ibrahim).
Shaykh Hassan (RA) used to advise that in front of the Mubarak graves of the Prophet (SAW), Shaykh Ahmed Tijani (RA), and Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) one should read Sirrul Ziyara. Shaykh Hassan (RA) used to recount an incident that occurred when he was returning home from his studies in Cairo. Shaykh's father Sidi Ali (RA) was supposed to be leading Salaat but for some reason wasn't present. Shaykh Hassan (RA) had on a suit and felt hesitant to lead dressed in that way but Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) pushed him to the front noting that the outward
doesn't matter as long as your inside is good. Shaykh Baye said that in reality, “All of his life was teaching.” But he would often teach without talking; he would teach with action. “His moving was teaching, his staying was teaching.”
DEALTH OF IMAM HASSAN CISSE
On the dealth of Sheikh Hassan, Shaykh Baye remarked that when Allah wishes to take the lives of His beloveds, He sometimes takes their lives very suddenly without giving the people at large the chance to make dua to beg for the avoidance of their death, which duas He might otherwise grant. He further remarks that Allah uses any means that please Him to take the lives of any of His slaves (such as the use of poison in the case of Rasullullah [SAW] ), and therefore it should not matter what the cause of Shaykh's (RA) death was because there should be no humiliation attached to it.
When he was about to pass away, Shaykh (RA) continued with all of his activities just as though things were normal. He had no fear of death and he didn't sit still waiting for death. “I believe he knew he was going to die but he carried on as normal. We should try to do this,” Shaykh Baye said. Shaykh Baye also noted that before he left for his last trip, Shaykh Hassan (RA) left instructions of what should be done if he should pass away while on that trip.
Shaykh Hassan's (RA) mother, Yafatu also noticed that on his return from that trip there was a huge amount of Nur on his face.. Shaykh Baye said that when Yafatu heard of his passing, she said that Allah did not ask anybody's permission to give Shaykh Hassan (RA) to us and hence he did not need anybody's permission to take him. She said that she simply thanked Allah for
Shaykh Hassan.
At the end of his life, Shaykh Hassan (RA) spoke a lot about Salaat. On his last day, Shaykh (RA) obseved all of his prayers in jamaat and made all of his adhkaar.
Imam Hassan Ali Cisse (RA), passed away before fajr on the 14th August 2008 in his native village of Medina-Kaolack, Senegal. His age was that of the Prophet (SAW), 63. This suited him well, after spending his life as a genuine representative of the Prophet (SAW) in our times. Shaykh Hassan's (RA) janazah salaah was attended by approximately 2 million people at the Mosque in which he was the Imam for 3 decades. He has been succeeded by his younger brother and closest companion Shaykh Tijani Cisse.
References:
1. Shaykh Hasan Cisse (1945-2008), Imam of the Fayda Tijaniyya
By Zachary Wright (Northwestern University in Qatar)
2. Sheikh Usman Giwa Lecture on Exemplinary Life of Imam Hassan Cisse
At Imam Hassan Cisse Day sponsored by Muhasasa Nasrul ilm ,Ogbomoso branch.
3. Reflections of Sheikh Baye Haiba on Imam Hassan Cisse.
Al hamdu lilLlah.
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