Realizing Islam

Zachary Valentine Wright’s Realizing Islam: The Tijaniyya in North Africa and the Eighteenth-Century Muslim World presents a comprehensive introduction to the origins and teachings of the Sufi brotherhood Tijāniyya. Founded by Aḥmad al-Tijānī (1737-1815) in Fez, Morocco, this brotherhood successfully strengthened the religious identity of individual Muslims during a period of political and social uncertainty. The author argues that the emergence and great success of the Tijāniyya should be understood against the backdrop of the vibrant discourse around verification, realization, and actualization (taḥqīq) in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Scholars like John Voll (in Ḥadīth studies), Ahmad Dallal (in legal methodology), and Khaled El-Rouayheb (in theology [kalām] and Sufism) have extensively documented this discourse.

In the first chapter, Wright provides an overview of the main traditions prevalent in the 18^th-century Islamicate world and outlines the discourses in which the Tijāniyya participated. He describes the 18^th century as a pinnacle of Islamic scholarship, wherein the pursuit of verification served as a driving force (19). The verification of knowledge, coupled with independent reasoning (ijtihād), was considered an alternative to the blind adherence (taqlīd) to traditional doctrines.

Chapter 2 features an intellectual biography of al-Tijānī, first tracing his traditional education in Islamic law and legal methodology (uṣūl al-fiqh) before detailing his sometimes-critical stance toward rational theology (kalām), as well as his position on Ibn ʿArabī’s concept of the unity of being (waḥdat al-wujūd). After introducing the popular esoteric sciences prevalent among scholars in the 18^th century (70-74), he describes how al-Tijānī extends existing Sufi prayers by influential figures like Abū l-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī, Aḥmad Zarrūq, and Ibn al-ʿArabī, incorporating their prayers into his own Sufi practice.

The third chapter explains al-Tijānī’s concept of the Muḥammadan path (ṭarīqa muḥammadiyya), purportedly transmitted to al-Tijānī “in an awake state” during his numerous encounters with the Prophet Muḥammad—an idea that gained significant popularity in the Islamicate world of the 18^th century (101). However, these encounters between the Prophet and al-Tijānī were not limited to the founder of the brotherhood. Indeed, Wright underscores the important role played by prominent disciples of al-Tijānī in highlighting and confirming the outstanding significance of their shaykh. For example, the disciples themselves transmitted messages between al-Tijānī and the Prophet on various matters and thus played a legitimizing intermediary role (131-138).

Chapter 4 discusses the concept of paradigmatic sainthood, well-known in most Sufi brotherhoods, and introduces the hidden Sufi hierarchy, which includes such ranks as The Seal of Sainthood (khātim al-awliyāʾ) and The Pole of the Poles (quṭb al-aqṭāb). Within this context, Wright explores how al-Tijānī, who himself claimed these titles, navigated the claims of earlier, widely recognized holders of these ranks, namely Ibn al-ʿArabī and ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī. Additionally, Wright elaborates on al-Tijānī’s status of The Hidden Pole (al-quṭb al-maktūm), which was introduced by al-Tijānī and distinguished him from all humankind (156-158). Thus, al-Tijānī is reported to have said, “all shaykhs take from me, from the time of the [Prophet’s] companions until the resurrection,” for the souls (rūḥ) of Muḥammad and al-Tijānī are said to have been interlinked since the beginning of time (151-152). Finally, Wright demonstrates how al-Tijānī was able to harness this special relationship with the Prophet for the benefit of his disciples, granting them access to an unprecedented sacred authority through the teachings of the new Muḥammadan path. This authority promised both salvation and saintly status for al-Tijānī's followers (173).

The fifth and final chapter situates the emergence of the Tijāniyya within the discourse surrounding what many contemporaries perceived as the “age of corruption.” This referred less to the increasing influence of European powers than to the internal condition of individual Muslims (175-176). Wright describes how al-Tijānī, forced to leave his native Algeria, quickly established himself in Fes, garnering a significant following among leading scholars and earning the favor of Sultan Mawlāy Sulaymān. The author then explores how al-Tijānī utilized the age-old concept of gratitude and why the doctrine of God’s abundant grace (faḍl) was so successfully received in the late 18^th century. The solution al-Tijānī offers to the challenges of this corrupt age appealed to both leading scholars and ordinary people from the lower classes: Through the grace of al-Tijānī’s paradigmatic sainthood, his followers gain direct access to divine reality—“a type of short-cut to lengthy exertions of past Sufi practices” (204).

This study successfully paints a vivid portrait of the world in which the Tijāniyya emerged. One particularly notable aspect of the book is Wright’s adept use of a wealth of primary sources, accompanied by extensive translations from Tijānī texts. As a result, readers are granted firsthand access to the intellectual world of al-Tijānī, his followers, and later authors from Tijānī circles. The book is thus very valuable for people who are not proficient in Arabic. Moreover, the book will facilitate the exploration of topics such as the self-perception of Sufi shaykhs and the dynamics of master-disciple relationships, as well as concepts such as gnosis (maʿrifa) and the Sufi hierarchy in university classes.

It is worth noting, however, that the heavy reliance on texts from Tijānī circles largely crowds out voices that were critical of al-Tijānī. In several places, the author points out that al-Tijānī’s self-presentation, teachings, and success provoked criticism and doubts, and the study would have benefited from the inclusion of more outside perspectives.

Wright’s contribution to current research on the discourses of verification in the 17^th and 18^th centuries is particularly stimulating and novel. He argues that al-Tijānī strove for the verification and realization of religious knowledge on the epistemological levels of transmission, rational proof, and spiritual experience, with a special emphasis on Sufi practice (6). Research on verification in the 18^th century, and the influence of this discourse on various fields of knowledge, is only in its beginnings, making Wright’s contribution even more valuable.

The book is highly recommended not only for scholars of Sufi and Islamic Studies or religious studies, but also for those interested in the “dawn of the modern age” (180). The combination between Tijānī sources from the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, along with the inclusion of interpretations by Tijānī authorities from the 20th century, collectively draw a fascinating picture of this living Sufi tradition—from its beginnings to the present.

Natalie Kraneiß is a research associate and PhD candidate in Islamic and Arabic studies at the University of Münster, Germany.

Natalie Kraneiss

Date Of Review:

May 26, 2023