Ahmad al-Badawi

Born in Fes, Morocco to a Bedouin tribe originally from the Syrian Desert,[3][4] al-Badawi eventually settled for good in Tanta, Egypt in 1236, whence he developed a posthumous reputation as "One of the greatest saints in the Arab world"[5][3] As al-Badawi is perhaps "the most popular of Sufi saints in Egypt", his tomb has remained a "major site of visitation" for Sufis in the region.

[3] After a trip to Mecca, al-Badawi is said to have travelled to Iraq, "where his sainthood believed to have clearly manifested itself" through the karamat "miracles" he is said to have performed.

[3] According to the various traditional biographies of the saint's life, al-Badawi gathered forty disciples around him during this period, who are collectively said to have "dwelt on the city's rooftop terraces,"[3] whence his spiritual order were informally named the "roof men" (aṣḥāb el-saṭḥ) in the vernacular.

[3] As with every other major Sufi order, the Badawiyya proposes an unbroken spiritual chain of transmitted knowledge going back to Muhammad through one of his Companions, which in the Badawi's case is Ali (d.

[7] In this regard, Idries Shah quotes al-Badawi: "Sufi schools are like waves which break upon rocks: [they are] from the same sea, in different forms, for the same purpose.