Sidi Mahrez

The shaykh with whom the Sufi movements of Tunisia are held to have begun; the sources also give his name as Shaykh Muhriz b. Khalaf. His grave is among the foremost places of visitation in the city of Tunis.

He has no independent entry in the TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam; what is known of him is confined to a few sentences in the culture and civilisation section of the TUNISIA article. According to it, Sufi movements in Tunisia began in the IV (X) century with Shaykh Muhriz b. Khalaf. Supported by the state, Muhriz and his disciples played an active role in the struggle against the Shi'is in Tunisia.

His Poetry and Sufi Line — He is counted among the poets of the Zirid age: together with poets such as 'Ali b. 'Abd al-Ghani al-Husri, Ibn Rashiq and Ibn Sharaf he was present at the court of the Zirid amir al-Mu'izz b. Badis. On his Sufi line the source gives no more than that the Sufi movements of Tunisia began with him and that he and his disciples enjoyed the support of the state.

His Tomb and Complex — The grave of Muhriz, who was held in great esteem, is today among the foremost places of visitation in the city of Tunis. The Zawiya of Sidi Mahrez, which bears his name, lies in the north of the old city (the Medina), in a district dense with markets; the zawiya building dated 1862, with its cells around a domed central space and a tomb section under a distinct vaulted roof, is a variation on the Tunisian zawiya plan. The adjoining Sidi Mahrez Mosque takes its name from this zawiya: a small mosque on the site was demolished and the present mosque built in its place, begun in 1104 (1692-93) by Muhammad Bey al-Muradi, continued after his death by his brother Ramadan Bey, and completed in 1110 (1698-99) by Murad Bey. For this reason some sources also call it the Muhammad Bey Mosque; with its centralised plan and Iznik tiles it stands as the representative of classical Ottoman art in Tunisia.