BRIEF HISTORY OF SHAYKH IBRAHIM INYASS R T A

Ibrāhīm Niasse (1900–1975)—or French: Ibrahima Niasse, 

  Wolof: Ibrayima Ñas, Arabic: شيخ الإسلام الحاج إبراهيم إبن الحاج عبد الله التجاني الكولخي‎ Shaykh al-'Islām al-Ḥājj Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥājj ʿAbd Allāh at-Tijānī al-Kawlakhī —was a major leader of the Tijānī Sufi order of Islam in West Africa.[1] His followers in the Senegambia region affectionately refer to him in Wolof as Baay, or "father." He is the founder of the Ibrāhīmiyyah branch of the Tijānī order, whose adherents designate themselves in Arabic as the people of the Faydah Tijāniyyah (Tijānī Flood) or, in Wolof, as Taalibé Baay (disciples of Baay). Outsiders often refer to his disciples as Ñaseen, which in Wolof means "of or pertaining to the Ñas family," although his disciples do not generally use this designation. Baye niass(cheikh Ibrahim niass) is estimated to have about 250-300million followers today. 

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SHEIKH IBRAHIM INYASS IS THE FIRST EVER & ONLY MUSLIM SCHOLAR WORLDWIDE TO BE VISITED BY KING FAISAL OF THE KINGDOM SAUDI ARABIA IN HIS REMOTE VILLAGE (KAOLACK) IN SENEGAL.

BAYE NIASSE IS THE FIRST EVER MUSLIM SCHOLAR WORLDWIDE TO RECIEVE RED CARPET TREATMENT & BE TREATED LIKE A PRESIDENT IN EGYPT AND OTHER COUNTRIES.

BARHAMA INYASS IS THE FIRST EVER ISLAMIC SCHOLAR FROM AFRICAN TO DELIVER KHUDBAH AT THE MASJID OF AZHAR AND LED THEM IN JUMA'AH SALAT....!!!

Folks, Part Of Oral Historical Narratives Attributed To Sheikh Barhama Diop, Who Was The Personal Secretary Of Maulana Shehu Barhama Kaolack Was An Extra Ordinary Incident Of A Visit Of King Faisal Of Saudi Arabia To Senegal In The Sixties, Not On A Diplomatic Mission To The Senegalese Government, But Rather On A Spiritual Mission To Maulana Sheikh Baye Niass In Kaolack.

But Before We Proceed With The Interesting Narrative, We Will Narrate How They (Sheikh Barhama & King Faisal) Got To Know Each Other. It So Happened That Sheikh Barhama Used To Undertake Global Da'awah Trips And By Virtue Of His Unflinching Love Towards The Prophet (S.A.W), As He Would Make Salawat To Him As He Breaths, He Became Very Popular On The Global Scale.

When The Then Prince Faisal Heard About Him And His Mustajabah (As His Prayers Would Be Answered By Allah), He Arranged To Meet Him, During The Meeting He Made A Personal Request For Him To Pray For Him To Be Chosen Among His Numerous Cousins As The Next In Line To Occupied The Royal Throne, As Their Father Was Sick In Bed, On The Verge Of Death. Our Source Further Revealed That Sheikh Barhama Asked Him Why Should He Request Prayer From Him As A Wahabi And He Knows They Do Not Trust The Sufis.

In His Answer To Sheikh He Said, "Just Pray For Me And When I Am Chosen, I Will Grant You The Opportunity To Always Come To Saudi Arabia And Give Whatever Da'awah You Want."

So Later After King Faisal Was Chosen, He Met Sheikh In Saudi Arabia To Officially Thank Him. He Handed Him A Blank Check. And As We Know Blank Checks Are Not Usually Given, Because It Means You Are Given A Greenlight To Write And Withdraw Any Amount Of Money You Choose To Withdraw From The Donor's Bank Amount.

So Sheikh Barhama According To Sheikh Barhama Diop, Who Was With Him During This Trip Took The Check And Went With Him To A Bookshop, He Picked One Book And Asked The Book Seller How Much It Was And He Said 36 Riyals, Which Was By Then Less Than Hundred Dollars. He Handed Him The Check And Told Him To Write The Price Of The Book On It.

The Bookseller Seeing A Blank Check With The Name Of Their King On It Became So Confused And Excited At The Same Time, As He Had Seen An Opportunity To Enrich Himself Easily, He Pleaded With Sheikh To Let Him Keep The Check So He(Sheikh) Can Own The Entire Bookstore, Since He Observed Sheikh Likes Books, But Sheikh Barhama Vehemently Refused And Made Sure He Wrote The Amount Of The Book On The Check Before He Left The Bookshop.

So Later When The King Was Brought His Bank Statement, He Was Surprised To See That, Sheikh Whom He Gave A Blank Check To Write And Withdraw As Much As He Would Want Rather Used 36 Riyals For A Book And He Called Sheikh And Said, I Realised That You Are Not Interested In This Material World.

So From Then On He Began To Be Hosting A Dinner For Sheikh And Other Scholars From Other Countries Whenever They Would Come To Macca Annually For Hajj. So He Proposed Together With Sheikh Barhama To Convert This Special Annual Gathering Of A Galaxy Of Global Intellectuals An Annual Islamic Conference After Hajj Every Year . Among These Scholars Were Sheikh Shaltoot, A Legendary Egyptian Scholar And The Then Mufti Of Al-azhar University As Well As A Prominent And Renown Scholar Of Hadith In Egypt Sheikh Muhammadul Hafiz.

It Was At One Of This Annual Gatherings Of Prominent International Scholars That, The Idea Of ﺭﺍﺑﻄﺔ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻹﺳﻼﻣﻲ ....World Muslim League Was Muted. During Its First Annual Meeting, Maulana Sheikh Ibrahim Delivered A Powerful Speech Which Won Him Many Admirers Including Sheikh Shaltoot Of Al-azhar Who Moved A Motion To Made Sheikh Ibrahim Deputy Chairman Of The World Muslim League And Virtually All Of The Scholars Seconded The Motion To Make Him Deputy To King Faisal. And He Would Respect And Regard Views Of Sheikh Ibrahim As Sound Fatwah.

In One Of Such Meetings, The Scholars Proposed To Move Maqamu Ibrahim Claiming That It Causes Stampede Within The Premises Of The Holy Mosque, Ka'abah. But Sheikh Ibrahim Kicked Against That And Instantly Revealed To Them That There Were Some Hidden Secrets And Mystifies At The Space Between Maqamu Ibrahim And Ka'abah And Even Disclosed To Them The Distance In Terms Of Meters. And Surprisingly, When They Sent A Team Of Land Surveyors To Go And Measure It, They Discovered That It Was Exactly The Same Distance Sheikh Revealed To Them. They Then Dumped The Idea Of Moving It Away.

However, In 1964, The Saudi Scholar Revisited The Matter Insisting They Have To Move It. But Having Known The Intellectual Dexterity And Capacity Of Maulana Shehu Barhama, They Sent A Letter To Him In Kaolack Seeking His Views As To Why It Should Not Be Moved. Sheikh Took Few Days And Emerged With A Whole Book ( ﺳﺒﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﺴﻼﻡ ﻓﻲ ﺇﺑﻘﺎﺀ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺎﻡ )- Leaving The Maqam(Ibrahim) Is The Pathway To Peace, Which I Translated Last Year) As An Answer To Their Question And Upon Reading, Those Opposed To The Idea Of Moving Maqamu Ibrahim Changed Their Mind. And Scholars Of Saudi Together With Rabidah Published The Book And Distributed It Worldwide.

Few Years Later, The Saudi Authority Wanted To Move It Again, They Used Excavators And (Miraculously) Were Unable To Dig It Out And Then Decided To Leave It Alone Until Now.

So Since Then King Faisal Became A Great Admirer Of Shehu Barhama. He Sent Him A Letter Of His Intention To Visit Him In His Village In Kaolack. So Upon Arrival In Dakar, The Then Senegalese President Sangore Wanted To Claim Him As His Guest, And Tried To Prevent Him From Visiting Shehu In Kaolack(The Main Purpose Or Destination Of His Trip).

So He Asked Shehu Barhama To Rather Come To Dakar And Meet His Guest. So After He Came And Welcomed The King At The State Guest House, King Faisal Diffidently Told President Sangore That He Has To Go And Visit Sheikh In His Hometown Since That Was What Brought Him To Senegal.

So Since President Sangore Had No Option And Could Not Convince Him Further Not To Go, He Decided To Accompany Him To Kaolack.

Upon Arrival In Kaolack Maulana Shehu Barhama As A Welcome Gesture Invited Young Boys And Girls Students Of His School To Recite The Qu'ran With A Melodiously Beautiful Tajweed Tone.

Having Been Excited By The Quranic Recitation From These Young Students Who Have Memorized The Qur'an, King Faisal Declared: "....In Fact The Grave Of The Prophet S.A.W Is Physically In Madinah But His Spiritual Light Is In Kaolack...".

And It Was Further Narrated That, The Then Mufti Of Saudi Arabia Was Sheikh Bun Bazz Whom The King Assigned With The Help Of Other Scholars To Compile Names Of Scholars That Were Being Invited Worldwide For The Conference So He Would Send Them Tickets.

Sheikh Bun Bazz Decided That Year That They Would Not Invite Shehu Barhama (Because Of Differences Of Aqidah?). When He Told The King Of Their Decision Not To Invite Sheikh He Answered Him Saying That The Scholars From Other Countries Who Meet Him Annually Would Ask About His Absence When They Come Because He Is Known Worldwide, While Bun Bazz Was Known By Then Only In Saudi As The Mufti, Said King Faisal, According To The Personal Secretary Of Baye Niass.

So As If Baye Niass Was Informed About The Decision Of Sheikh Bun Bazz, When King Faisal Defiantly Sent Him The Invitation, He Declined To Attend That Year And Sent His Son Alhaji Abdullahi Niasse And Barhama Diop, His Personal Secretary, Who Narrated This Incident.

But However, Despite The Fact That Sheikh Barhama Diop Gave A Good Speech, The Audience Were Not Happy About The Absence Of Baye Niasse. So Since Then King Faisal Took It Upon Himself To Be Inviting Sheikh Barhama Personally As His Guest Whenever He Would Come To Hajj And For The Annual Conference.

Based On Oral Historical Narrative From A Couple Of Authenticated Sources Via An Interview Conducted.