Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui:From Andalusia to the Heart: Abu Madyan, Wilayah & Tazkiyah | Summer Suhba Ep 5 - Al-Madina Institute July 2, 2025
We gather in Episode 5 of Summer Suhba 2024 to trace the road “From Andalusia to the Heart.” Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui guides us through Sayyidna Shuayb Abu Madyan’s life, the secrets of wilāyah (sainthood) and the practical steps of tazkiyah (soul-purification).
YouTube Video:
The Life Abu Madyan: NBF 64 - Shaykh Shadee Elmasry -Safina Society - May 26, 2022
YouTube Video:
Abu Madyan - Wikipedia
Mecca Books: The Way of Abu Madyan - Vinvent Cornell
About the Book:
This is the first English translation of works attributed to Abu Madyan, a seminal figure of Sufism in Muslim Spain and North Africa. The Arabic text accompanying the English translation also represents the first scholarly edition of these works in the original language.
About The Author
Abu Madyan (1126–1198), also known as Abu Madyan S̲h̲u'ayb, or Abū Madyan, or Sidi Bou-Mediene, or Sidi Abu Madyan Shuayb ibn al-Hussein al-Ansari, was an influential Andalusian mystic and a great Sufi master.
Some even refer to him as the national figure of Maghreb mysticism as he was such a forerunner of Sufism in this geographical area. Devoted to the fervent service of God, he helped introduce looking into oneself and harmonizing internal occurrences with the external observances through asceticism.
Abu Madyan was born in Cantillana, a small town about 35 km away from Seville, in 1126. He came from an obscure family and his parents were poor. As he grew up, he learned the trade of a weaver as it was a popular practice at the time. As a young adult, Madyan moved to Marrakech where he joined a group of Andalusian soldiers and worked as a guard for the city. His insatiable hunger for knowledge, however, piqued his interest in the Qur'an and the study of religion and mysticism. The basic principles and virtues taught at Madyan’s school in Bejaia were repentance (tawba), asceticism (zuhd), paying visits to other masters, and service to experienced masters.
He emphasized futuwa (youth/chivalry) but only when accompanied by the obedience of devotees to their master, the avoidance of disagreements between devotees, justice, constancy, nobility of mind, the denunciation of the unjust, and a feeling of satisfaction with the gifts of God. Aside from attaining Ghawth status and teaching hundreds and hundreds of disciples, Abu Madyan left his mark in more ways than one.
He gained immense popularity because he was relatable, despite his high scholarly status. He had a personality and way of speaking that united people from all walks of life, from the common people to the academics. Even to this day, scholars say that no one of the time surpassed him in religious and intellectual influence. His school produced hundreds of saints and out of the 46 Sufi saints in the Rif region, 15 were his disciples. People still visit his tomb today for pilgrimage from all around the world.
The variety of Abu Madyan’s oeuvre, which includes doctrinal treatises, aphorisms, and poetical works in the ode, qasida, style, provides a unique opportunity for students of Arabic and Sufism, as well as the interested layman, to experience several of the most important genres of religious writing in the Islamic Middle Period. The Arabic texts have been extensively vocalised in order to aid the student. The work as a whole is well-suited for use as a reader for advanced level classes in the Arabic language. In addition, notes have been provided in the English translation.
The Arabic parallel text, set by DecoType, Amsterdam, marks the debut of a new form of calligraphic typesetting in the classical Nashkstyle, combining state-of-the-art computer technology with unique faithfulness to the great calligraphic tradition of the Islamic world.
The Arabic parallel text, set by DecoType, Amsterdam, marks the debut of a new form of calligraphic typesetting in the classical Nashkstyle, combining state-of-the-art computer technology with unique faithfulness to the great calligraphic tradition of the Islamic world.
Abu Madyan (1126–1198), also known as Abu Madyan S̲h̲u'ayb, or Abū Madyan, or Sidi Bou-Mediene, or Sidi Abu Madyan Shuayb ibn al-Hussein al-Ansari, was an influential Andalusian mystic and a great Sufi master.
Some even refer to him as the national figure of Maghreb mysticism as he was such a forerunner of Sufism in this geographical area. Devoted to the fervent service of God, he helped introduce looking into oneself and harmonizing internal occurrences with the external observances through asceticism.
Abu Madyan was born in Cantillana, a small town about 35 km away from Seville, in 1126. He came from an obscure family and his parents were poor. As he grew up, he learned the trade of a weaver as it was a popular practice at the time. As a young adult, Madyan moved to Marrakech where he joined a group of Andalusian soldiers and worked as a guard for the city. His insatiable hunger for knowledge, however, piqued his interest in the Qur'an and the study of religion and mysticism. The basic principles and virtues taught at Madyan’s school in Bejaia were repentance (tawba), asceticism (zuhd), paying visits to other masters, and service to experienced masters.
He emphasized futuwa (youth/chivalry) but only when accompanied by the obedience of devotees to their master, the avoidance of disagreements between devotees, justice, constancy, nobility of mind, the denunciation of the unjust, and a feeling of satisfaction with the gifts of God. Aside from attaining Ghawth status and teaching hundreds and hundreds of disciples, Abu Madyan left his mark in more ways than one.
He gained immense popularity because he was relatable, despite his high scholarly status. He had a personality and way of speaking that united people from all walks of life, from the common people to the academics. Even to this day, scholars say that no one of the time surpassed him in religious and intellectual influence. His school produced hundreds of saints and out of the 46 Sufi saints in the Rif region, 15 were his disciples. People still visit his tomb today for pilgrimage from all around the world.
Vincent Cornell is an American scholar of Islam. From 2000 to 2006 he was a Professor of History and Director of the King Fahd Centre for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Arkansas. He was an advisor to the award-winning, PBS-broadcast documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet (2002), produced by Unity Productions Foundation. He left Arkansas in 2006 to become a Professor of History at Emory University, in Atlanta. Sufism and Islamic philosophy are among his specialities.
As a Muslim and self-described "critical traditionalist", Cornell has publicly deplored what he calls the superficiality of modern-day Islamic practices, which he sees as removed from the religion's traditions of deliberation. In his view, context should be taken into account in interpreting the sacred texts of Islam, and that in the globalized world of shifting ideas, Muslims cannot isolate themselves from reflexivity. He is critical of the spread of Wahhabism in the last several decades -- a phenomenon he attributes to a "corporate" form of organized Islam fueled by petro dollars. Nevertheless, he cautions against a simplistic view that "demonizes" the role played by the Saudi monarchy, which he sees as compelled to promote Wahhabism.
posted by NFIE @ 9:00 PM
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