al-Shādhilī

al-Shādhilī (born 1196/97, Ghumàra, near Ceuta, Mor.—died 1258, Humaithra, on the Red Sea) was a Sufi Muslim theologian who was the founder of the order of the Shādhilīyah. The details of al-Shādhilī’s life are clouded by legend. He is said to have been a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and to have gone blind in his youth because of excessive study. In 1218/19 he traveled to Tunisia, where his Sufi teachings of ascetic mysticism...