Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Ghulam Haider Aasi, Muslim Under-

standing of Other Religions: A Study of Ibn Hazm’s Kitab 

al-fasl fi al-milal wa al-ahwa wa al-nihal (Islamabad: 

International Institute of Islamic Thought and Islamic 

Research, 1999); Lois A. Giffen, “Ibn Hazm and the 

Tawq al-hamama.” In The Legacy of Muslim Spain, edited 

by Salma Khadra Jayyusi, 420–442 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 

1994); Maria Rosa Menocal, The Ornament of the World: 

How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of 

Tolerance in Medieval Spain (Boston: Little Brown & 

Co., 2002).

Ibn Idris, Ahmad

 

(ca. 1750–1837)  19th-

century reformist Sufi leader

Ahmad ibn Idris was an influential Sufi teacher 

in the 19th century. Born in m

orocco

, Ibn Idris 

received a religious 

edUcation

 at the Qarawiyyin 

mosqUe

 in F

ez

 and established himself as an 

important Sufi teacher there. In 1798, he left 

Morocco and spent the remainder of his life in the 

Hijaz (western Arabia), Upper e

gypt

, and y

emen

,

where he died at the advanced age of 87.

Ibn Idris focused his work on preaching and 

teaching. He was an excellent organizer and 

trainer of disciples, but he did not leave a coher-

ent corpus of writings. Apart from prayers, lita-

nies, and personal letters, most of what remains 

are summaries of his teachings assembled by 

his disciples. Profoundly mystical yet humble, 

Ibn Idris influenced the lives of many Sufis who 

passed through Arabia during nearly 40 years in 

the region. He is well known for his defense of the 

Sufi way in a debate with two Wahhabi scholars 

near the end of his life. His legacy was to point 

Sufi movements toward a moderate path and away 

from the controversial practices and doctrines that 

earned the criticism of literalist groups such as the 

Wahhabis. Although Ibn Idris did not found his 

own 

tariqa

, his disciples established influential 

Sufi orders that have spread his teachings beyond 

Africa to the Middle East, eastern Europe, and 

Southeast Asia. The term Idrisiyya refers both to 

his school of thought and to the Sufi order that 

looks to him as its founder.

See also 

reneWal

 

and

 

reForm

 

movements

; 

s

UFism

; W

ahhabism

.

Stephen Cory