Ibn al-Arif

Who was Ibn al-Arif?

Ibn al-Arif or Abul Abbas Ahmad Ibn Mohammed Ibn Musa Ibn Ata Allah al-Mariyyi al-Sanhaji, also known as Al-Urruf was a famous Sufi. His father came from Tangier and his family belonged to the Berber tribe of the Sanhaja. He is especially well known as the founder of a Sufi school or tariqa, which was based on the teachings of Ibn Masarrah, and as the author of Mahasin al-Majalis.

Ibn al-Arif was born, and spent most of his life, in Almeria in Al-Andalus at the height of the Almoravid power. Almeria was a center of Sufism at that time. He and Ibn Barrajan, another Andalusian Sufi based in Seville, gathered around themselves a large number of followers, which attracted the attention of the Almoravid authorities. In 1141 both men were called to Marrakech by the sultan Ali ibn Yusuf, where they were accused of "professing heterodox doctrines." Ibn al-Arif defended himself and was released, but died shortly after. According to Ibn al-Abbar, either "the sultan was convinced of Ibn al-Arif's excellence and piety and ordered him to be released and escorted to Ceuta" where he died of an illness, or "Ibn al-Arif was poisoned on his return journey, while making the sea crossing." His tomb is in Marrakech.