Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi

Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi (1202/1787-1276/1859), often called al-Sanusi al-Kabir ("the Elder"), was a scholar and Sufi reformer who founded the Sanusiyya, a religious order (tariqa, a Sufi brotherhood) that became one of the most influential movements of nineteenth-century North Africa. He was born in the village of al-Wasita near Mostaganem in what is now western Algeria, into a family claiming descent from the Prophet's house.

After early study at home, he spent roughly eight years at the Qarawiyyin mosque-college in Fez, then traveled east, briefly studying in Cairo. In the Hijaz (western Arabia) he became a disciple of the Moroccan reformer Ahmad ibn Idris, a teacher-link the sources treat as attested and central to his outlook: an emphasis on returning to the Qur'an and the Prophet's example (Sunna).

After Ibn Idris died in 1837, al-Sanusi established his own lodge near Mecca, then moved westward as political conditions tightened. From 1843 he built lodges (zawiyas) across Cyrenaica in eastern Libya, beginning with the "White Lodge" (al-Zawiya al-Bayda). He later returned to Mecca for several years before settling at the remote oasis of Jaghbub, where he died.

The Sanusiyya he founded spread among the tribes of the Sahara and later played a major role in Libyan resistance and statehood; his grandson Idris became Libya's first king. Whether his movement is best described as quietist revival or proto-political is debated among historians.