WHO IS SAYDI ALI CISSE (RA)?
{Closest Companion Of Baye Niasse (Ra) and His Absolute Khalifah}
As-Salam Alaykum Imam. Could you tell me more about Saydi Ali Cisse, and his relationship with Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (RA)?
Thank you.
ANSWER:
Wa Alaykum As-Salam dear brother,
Saydi Ali Cisse (RA) was indeed, the CLOSEST companion of Baye Niasse (RA) and his absolute Khalifah. The one known by all the people of the Tijani Faydah as Bab al-Shaykh (The Door of the Shaykh), and Qalam al-Faydah (the Pen of the Faydah).
About him Baye (RA) wrote:
"The son of my spirit and keeper of my secret.....the one who I am completely pleased with! The one who never ever hurt me through his words, actions or thoughts; as the Prophet (SAW) said about Abu-Bakr al-Siddiq! The son of Hasan and father of Hasan, Saydi Ali Cisse!"
"To visit Saydi Ali is the same as visiting me"
"Saydi Ali is my Khalifah & the Shaykh of all my children. Obey him as you obeyed
Baye (RA) would call him "Saydi" (Sir), out of respect.
Indeed, most of Baye's children did their Tarbiyah under Saydi Ali Cisse (RA).
But Saydi's Ali's own son, Shaykh Hassan Cisse did Tarbiyah under Baye (RA)!!!
Throughout his life, Baye (RA) prayed the 5 Prayers behind Saydi Ali (RA). Baye Niasse (RA) himself would only lead the Jum'ah. Once when Saydi could not make it in time for prayer, Baye (RA) asked his son the young Shaykh Hassan to lead the Salat and prayed behind him!
Saydi Ali Cisse (RA) inherited the Qutbaniyyah after Baye (RA). Baye (RA) said of him:
"On you is the barakah of Ali al-Tamasini".
And in another letter:
"The Secret is with you and none other".
After Baye (RA) passed away, a group of the elders of the Faydah from Mauritania came to Saydi's House and asked him: "Who is the Man of the Age now?".
Saydi (RA) asked those elders: "Who is in the House?".
So they mentioned the names of the great Muqaddams sitting there.
Then Saydi Ali (RA) asked: "And who is the MAN of the House?".
They said: "You". Saydi said: "That's it then'!!!
Saydi Ali's father, named Hassan Cisse, was a close companion of Baye's father al-Hajj Abdullahi Niasse (RA). The two had promised each other that if one dies, the other would recite the entire Qur'an by his grave.
It so happened that al-Hasan Cisse died during a journey with al-Hajj Abdullahi Niasse (RA). So al-Haj Abdullahi Niasse (RA) stopped the journey, and waited for 3 days until he had finished reciting the entire Qur'an by al-Hasan's grave.
Saydi Ali's forefathers came from the village of Joussong in Senegal, and were pious saints and spiritual healers, particularly the one called Andal Cisse, whose stories are still famous. The Cisse are generally considered to be descended from an ancient Royal family in Ghana.
Saydi Ali (RA) was in the company of Baye (RA) from a young age, as he had entered the home of al-Hajj Abdullahi Niasse (RA) after the death of his own father.
It is narrated that Saydi Ali (RA) was the first one to give the Bay'ah to Baye (RA) - in his heart - on that auspicious night of the Mawlid in 1929 in the Zawiyah of Lewna Kaolack when Baye (RA) announced that he was the Sahib al-Faydah. Later on, Saydi Ali (RA) migrated with Baye (RA) to Kosi and then Medina-Baye.
Saydi Ali (RA) had such adab for Baye (RA) that he would sit in his presence for hours straight, in the jalsah position (like in prayer), without moving a bit or talking.
Saydi Ali (RA) was part of the 5 Great Forerunners of the Faydah to whom Baye (RA) had said:
"I will not enter Jannah without you all".
Baye (RA) also told them other great things, which are documented in a private letter named al-Jawhar al-Nazim fi Majlisna ma'a al-Shaykh Ibrahim.
It was also Saydi Ali (RA) who compiled the majestic poetry of Baye (RA) in praise of the Beloved Prophet (SAW) in the form of Diwans. Referring to that, Baye (RA) wrote:
علي خديمي خازن السر كاتبي
بتزيين مدحي قد علا كل فائق
Aliyyun (Cisse), My Servant, My Scribe, Keeper of My Secret
By compiling my praises (of the Prophet SAW), he has surpassed all achievers
فإن مديحي للأمين طريقة
لإدراك فيض دونه كل سابق
For indeed, my poetry in praise of the Prophet (SAW) is a sure means
of getting a flood of spiritual sustenance beyond all rivals
Like Sayyidna Ali (RA) was to the Prophet (SAW), Saydi Ali Cisse (RA) was the official scribe of Baye (RA) and writer of all his letters. Baye (RA) would dictate and he would write, usually two copies. One to be sent, and the other to be kept for records. Our Imam Shaykh Hassan (RA) had inherited hundreds of these Ibrahimi letters from his father (RA).
It was due to this love and dedication that Baye (RA) married off his eldest daughter Sayyidah Fatimatu Zahra Niasse (Yafatu) to Saydi Ali (RA), although many other had proposed for her, some of them through Saydi himself!
Baye (RA) also wrote a letter to Shaykh Ahmad Sukayrij (RA) in Fez informing him of this marriage and asking him to pray for barakah in it. I possess a copy of this letter, in which Baye also made big Duas for this union and stated that "May the Barakah of Ali bin Abi-Talib and Fatimah al-Zahra be upon the two of them and their progeny".
So this blessed union produced 3 giants of Islam, the Tariqah and the Faydah:
 |
| Imam Hassan bin Ali Cisse |
 |
| Shaykh Tijani Cisse |
 |
Shaykh Mahy Cisse |
Their immediate sister, Sayyidah Zaynab (RA) was the mother of our beloved Shaykh Ibrahim (Baye) Haiba of Mauritania.
Recently, the Duas of Saydi Ali (RA) were published by Shaykh Tijani Cisse, in which there is one Dua where he made very big Prayers for his progeny from Yafatou Niasse (RA).
Saydi Ali (RA) married other women as well afterwards, with the permission of Baye (RA). Amongst his children from them are: Shaykh Muhammad Cisse (One of the Imams of the Medina-Baye Mosque), Sayyidna Umar Cisse, Shaykh Uthman Cisse, Mame al-Haj Cisse, and others.
Saydi Ali (RA) would head Medina-Baye and its Grand-Mosque whenever Baye (RA) would travel.
If Baye (RA) could not travel to a particular country he was invited to, he would send Saydi Ali (RA) saying:
"To meet him is to meet me"
Due to delegating his duties to him so much, Baye (RA) would tell all his murids in Medina-Baye:
"I am the Shaykh of Saydi Ali only! Saydi Ali is the Shaykh of all of you!!!!"
Saydi Ali (RA) was very secretive of the Knowledge of Haqiqah. He would hit anyone who would want to discuss Tarbiyah matters with him anywhere outside of his private room.
He would not give Tarbiyah to anyone until they had fully studied the poem of Baye called Ruh-ul-Adab, which outlines all the rules of the Tariqah. No Ma'rifah without Adab.
Baye (RA) called Saydi (RA) in one letter:
"The Complete Khalifah of Shaykh Ahmad Tijani (RA)"
Saydi (RA) was also from those Awliya who would meet the Prophet (SAW) in wakefulness. He had reached this Maqam before the age of 30 already.
Among two of his authentic karamat I know of are:
- It was his habit to go to the Hospital of Kaolack daily to check the sick, pay their bills, buy them medicine..etc. One day when he asked a Taxi driver to take him there, the driver said: "There is no petrol in the car." Saydi said to him: "Just drive". So the man started driving and took Saydi to the Hospital and back. Then Saydi told him: "If you keep this a secret, you can keep driving like this - without gas - forever". So the driver drove like that for a week but couldn't keep the secret longer than that and revealed it.
- One day Saydi's doorman saw him come go into the Mosque for prayer, but when he came out he was wet as if he came out of a river. When asked why he was so wet? Saydi said: "A murid of mine in Niger was drowning in the river so he called my name so I went to save him, while I was praying."
Saydi (RA) was also very strict on the Shariah. He would hit with his walking stick, any woman that was not wearing Hijab or man that was lazy to go to the Mosque for Prayer.
Saydia Ali Cisse (RA) was Fana in his Master Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (RA).
Saydi was so Fana in Baye that he missed the Janazah Salah of his own mother, as he was busy at that time naming one of the newborns of Baye. The Janazah was done by Baye (RA)!
Saydi Ali (RA) would many times sit for hours in Baye's Presence in the Salat-Position without saying a word or moving a bit. He served Baye (RA) so much that Shaykh Hassan (RA) said that Baye (RA) had once told him:
"There are 3 men whom I tired a lot: Muhammad al-Mishri, al-Tilmidi, and your Father".
When the so-called "learned tijani shaykh" Ahmad Dem al-Futi, authored an ugly book condemning Baye (RA) and his claim to the Faydah, Tarbiyah and Ma'rifah, Saydi Ali Cisse (RA) stood up to him and authored a teeth-shattering refutation named al-Mikhzam fi Radd Abatil Ahmed Dam.
Saydi Ali (RA) also authored some other short works, that I also possess.
When Baye (RA) authored the Kashif al-Ilbas, Saydi Ali wrote the "Introduction to the author" which became a masterpiece in its own right and the most important source for Baye's biography.
After Baye's (RA) passing on, Saydi (RA) publicly read out his Will as ordered by him. In the Will, Baye (RA) had written that:
"Saydi Ali is my Khalifah and Successor."
After publicly reading the Will in the Masjid, Saydi Ali (RA) stated:
"This is what Baye had written, however I was and will always remain a slave of Baye and nothing more".
Thereafter, in accordance with the Will, he led the first Jumu'ah Prayer in the Grand Mosque of Medina-Baye, after the passing on of Baye (RA).
However, a week later, when the time for the next Jum'ah came, Saydi Ali (RA) handed over that function to Baye's eldest son al-Haj Abdullah out of respect and declined to do the Jum'ah, despite much request.
Due to this humility of Saydi Ali towards the sons of his Shaykh (RA), two of his own sons inherited the Jum'ah Pulpit of Medina-Baye with the consensus of the living sons of Baye (RA):
Imam Hassan Cisse (RA) and Shaykh Tijani Cisse.
Shaykh Mahy Cisse and Sidi Muhammad Cisse also lead the Salah when the Imam is absent.
This is not surprising as Baye (RA) had written in his Will that the, "Imamat of the Mosque will go Saydi Ali and HIS SONS after him, al-Hassan and whoever Allah chooses".
Saydi Ali (RA) passed away in 1982 and was buried next to Baye (RA).
His eldest son Shaykh Hassan Cisse (RA) was chosen to be the Chief-Imam of the Grand Mosque. And after he passed away in 2008, his younger brother Shaykh Tijani Cisse was chosen for the esteemed position of leading so many Awliya in prayer daily!
Shaykh Hassan Cisse (RA) once told me that he saw Rasul-Allah (SAW) in wakefulness and he (SAW) told him (RA):
"You are my beloved and your followers are my beloveds, and their gatherings are my gatherings."
A famous Tijani muqaddam of Ghana, Shaykh Ahmad Sha'aban wrote in his famous poem in praise of Saydi Ali Cisse (RA):
فثالث من عليين
علي لرسول الله
He was the third of the two Alis
The Ali of Rasul-Allah (SAW)
علي حرازم الشيخ تجاني
علي الشيخ برهام
Ali Harazim (RA) of Shaykh al-Tijani (RA)
The Ali of Shaykh Barhama
Was-Salam
Imam Fakhruddin Owaisi
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