Founder of the Rifa'iyya Sufi order and a major mystic (1118–1182). Born in the village of Umm Ubayda near Wasit in southern Iraq, he descended from a sayyid family tracing lineage to Husayn ibn Ali (TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, "Ahmed er-Rifâî"). He studied the Islamic sciences and Sufism under leading masters of his age and was renowned for his asceticism, humility and compassion. His mausoleum at Umm Ubayda is a major pilgrimage site, visited by Ibn Battuta in 1326 (Wikipedia, "Mausoleum of Ahmad al-Rifa'i").