Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish al-Alami


ʻAbd al-Salām ibn Mashīsh al-ʻAlamī was a Moroccan Sufi saint who lived during the reign of the Almohad dynasty. He was born in the region of Beni Aross near Tanger and lived from 1140 to 1227 AD. At one point in his life he withdrew to the mountain Jabal al-ʻAlam, near Larache, where his mausoleum now is situated. He was the spiritual guide of Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili, his only disciple. His spiritual master is Abdu-Rahman Al Madani Al Atthar also known as Zayyad.. He is one of the great formulators of Moroccan Sufism along with Abul Mahasin Abu Abdallah Mohammed Amghar and Sidi Ali ibn Harzihim. His spiritual legacy is connected with that of Al-Dakkak and Abu Madyan. He is the ancestor of Moulay Ali ibn Rashid, founder of Chefchaouen.
He was a Sharifian, a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali

Family Tree

  1. Muhammad
  2. Ali Ibn Abi Talib
  3. Hasan ibn Ali
  4. Hasan al-Muthanna
  5. Abdullah al-Kamil
  6. Idris I
  7. Idris II
  8. Muhammad ibn Idris
  9. Ali ibn Muhammad
  10. Ahmad Mizwar
  11. Salam al-Arouss
  12. Isa
  13. Abu Hurma
  14. Ali
  15. Abi Bakr al Alami al Idrissi
  16. Mashish
  17. Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish al-Alami

    Works

He is the author of a collection of reflections about religious and political life in his time and of a famous eulogy of the prophet Mohammed on which a commentary was written by Ahmad ibn Ajiba. He also wrote a metaphysical paraphrase of a widely known prayer, called al-Salat al-Mashishiyah, in which the believer calls on God to bless the Prophet to thank him for having received Islam through him. In it, Ibn Mashish sees in the prophet Muhammad as an expression of the one Spirit from which all revelation comes and which is the eternal mediator between the ungraspable Godhead and the world. He also gave the Islamic world a prayer of salawat called Salawat al-Nariyah. It is still recited today by Muslims around the globe.

Death

Ibn Mashish was assassinated in 1227 by followers of the false prophet and anti-Almohad rebel :ar:ابن أبي الطواجين|Ibn Abi Tawajin, who in turn was assassinated by a dispatch from Ceuta as a revenge for the act.