Ahmad Zarruq al-Fasi

Founder of the Zarruqiyya branch of the Shadhiliyya; a Maliki jurist and Sufi who made jurisprudence the foundation of Sufism and sharply criticised innovations and corruption in Sufi circles. His full name was Abu al-'Abbas Shihab al-Din Zarruq Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Isa al-Burnusi al-Fasi.

He was born in Fez in 846 (1442). He belonged to the Berber tribe of the Baranis, living in the region between Fez and Taza, from which his nisba al-Burnusi (al-Barnusi) derives. He received the epithet Zarruq ("blue-eyed") from his grandfather, whose eyes were blue. When he was only a week old both his parents died of the plague. His father had named him Muhammad, but his maternal grandmother Fatima Umm al-Banin began to call him by his father's name, Ahmad, and Zarruq preferred this name. He was brought up by his grandmother, a pious woman and a jurist; when she died, at the time he completed memorising the Qur'an at the age of ten, he went to work for a shoemaker. Later a desire for study awoke in him: he read treatises with 'Ali al-Sitti and 'Abd Allah al-Fakhkhar, the Qur'anic sciences with Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Qawri and al-Zarhuni, and theology and jurisprudence with 'Abd al-Rahman al-Majduli, and in the lessons of the Qarawiyyin Mosque and the 'Inaniyya Madrasa he took a particular interest in jurisprudence and hadith.

Turning to Sufism, he was drawn to the Shadhili masters, above all Ibn 'Ata' Allah al-Iskandari, and in 870 (1466) he took initiation from Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Zaytuni, shaykh of the Shadhili lodge in Fez. After a time he fell out with his stern shaykh, left Fez for Tlemcen and visited the tomb of Abu Madyan; there he benefited from scholars such as Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanusi and Abu Zayd al-Tha'alibi. In 873 (1468) he left Fez for the pilgrimage and stayed about a year in Cairo, passing through Cairo again in 876 (1472) on his way back; he attended lessons at al-Azhar and studied hadith methodology and jurisprudence with al-Sakhawi. In this period he met his second shaykh, the Qadiri master Ahmad ibn 'Uqba al-Hadrami, who had come from Yemen and settled in Cairo, and continued his spiritual training with him according to the Qadiri path.

Returning to the Maghrib at his shaykh's command, he stayed more than a year in Tripoli, studied in Tunis in 878 (1473) and in Bijaya the following year, and began his work of guidance in Bijaya. He returned to Fez in 880 (1475), but because he sharply criticised innovating Sufis and narrow-minded jurists he left Fez a second time in 884 (1479) for Bijaya. His shaykh al-Hadrami warned him in letters about his uncompromising attitude and advised him to withdraw from the world. He stayed seven months with his shaykh in Cairo and performed the pilgrimage a second time; in this period he held the Maliki imamate at al-Azhar and taught jurisprudence. It is reported that some 6000 people, together with his disciples, attended his lessons.

In 886 (1481) he went to Tripoli. He spent the last four years of his life in Misrata, which he said God had chosen for him, in teaching and guidance, and died there in 899 (1493-94).

His Circle of Influence — After his death his deputy Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Laqani returned to his village of Laqana in Egypt; the activities of the order were probably carried on by Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman, the builder of the lodge. Among the scholars who received Sufi training and instruction from him are Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Qastallani, Nasir al-Din al-Laqani, Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Kharrubi, al-Hattab al-Ru'ayni and 'Abd al-Wahid al-Wansharisi. Many branches issued from the Zarruqiyya, among them the 'Asimiyya, the Bakriyya (Abu al-Hasan al-Bakri, d. 909/1503), the 'Isawiyya, the Rashidiyya, the Nasiriyya, the Darqawiyya, the Madaniyya, the Yashrutiyya and the Sanusiyya (Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Sanusi, d. 1276/1859).

His Poetry and Sufi Line — As the source reports, Zarruq explains Sufism through the concepts of ihsan and istihsan: creed is the station of faith, jurisprudence the station of Islam and Sufism the station of ihsan, and perfection is reached only through ihsan. What distinguishes him from other Sufis is that he takes jurisprudence as the foundation: Sufism alone, without jurisprudence, is not sufficient; the saying "Be a Sufi jurist, but not a jurist Sufi" sums up this view. Holding that the real hostility to Sufism came from its own adherents, he strongly opposed an understanding of the path that weakened the stations of the sharia and of the truth, yet he was equally opposed to the idea of removing Sufism from Islamic life. He approaches sama' with caution and considers sama' with musical instruments forbidden. He likens the shaykh to a physician; in his view the shaykh must have experience as well as knowledge.

His Works — He wrote many works close to one another in subject, and commented several times on Ibn 'Ata' Allah's Hikam. Among the chief ones: Qawa'id al-tasawwuf, setting out the principles of Sufism so as to reconcile the sharia and the truth; the commentary on the Hikam; al-Nasiha al-kafiya on the principles of the Zarruqiyya; 'Uddat al-murid al-sadiq on the ways of purifying Sufism of superstition and taint; al-Wazifa al-Zarruqiyya, the daily litany he gave his followers; commentaries on Bukhari and on al-Ghazali's creed; a commentary on the Risala of Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani; a commentary on al-Shadhili's Hizb al-bahr; and al-Kunnash, which also contains information on his own life.

His Tomb and Complex — His disciple Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman built a mosque beside his grave. As visitors increased the place became known as the Zawiya of Ahmad Zarruq; it turned into a madrasa where the Islamic sciences were taught to students coming from Libya and Tripoli, and for many years it functioned as the first madrasa in Libya. In the unstable climate that followed the popular uprising of 2011, an extremist group hostile to Sufism destroyed the cenotaph in the tomb on 25 August 2012, opened the grave and carried away the remains inside it.