Shaykh Sufi

Abd Al-Rahman bin Abdullah al Shashi (عبد الرحمن بن عبد الله الشاشي) (b. 1829 - 1904), popularly known as Sheikh Sufi, was a 19th-century Benadiri scholar, poet, reformist and astrologist.

Life
Sheikh Sufi was born in Mogadishu, where he founded the Qadiriyyah congregation, an Islamic school of thought or tariqah whose disciples included colleagues of his such as Uways al-Barawi. He studied astrology and wrote extensively on the future of Mogadishu and religious sciences, and authored popular books such as Shadjarat al Yakim ("The Tree of Certitude").

Besides his scholarly career, Sheikh Sufi was known as a great mediator between merchants and shop keepers in the coastal cities. As a reformist, he is credited with having put an end to what he considered to be the urbanites' immoral dancing rituals. In private, he also wrote many poems, which would eventually be taken up by fellow scholars such as Abdallah al-Qutbi in their books.

Pilgrimage to his mausoleum
After his death in 1904, Shaykh Sufi's mausoleum became a site of annual pilgrimage for the faithful from across Somalia and East Africa. A cemetery was eventually constructed around his mausoleum, where prominent Somali ministers, entertainers and Presidents would also be buried.