SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF SHAYKH AHMAD TIJĀNĪ IBRĀHĪM NIASS SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF SHAYKH AHMAD TIJĀNĪ IBRĀHĪM NIASS By: Sayyidah Balqīs Grillo at-Tijānī For anyone coming across Khalifa Shaykh Tijani for the first time, if he asks for the description of Shaykh Tijani, the right answer is to say that he is Sirr Barham Niass. Why is this so? It was Shaykh Ibrahim himself who said in one of his many statements when referring to the maqāmāts of three of his sons as follows: “Abdullah ilmī, Nazīr Sūratī wa Shaykh Ahmad Tijānī Sirrī” Meaning: “Abdullah is my knowledge, Nazir is my picture and Shaykh Ahmad Tijānī is my secret — my hiddenness.” Shaykh Ahmad Tijānī was born into a home of knowledge, sainthood and piety in December, 1932 some 88 years ago. His mother was a simple-natured, honourable woman of substance and piety in the person of Sayyidah Maryam Muhammad Niyam, a woman that was righteous to her husband and who produced for him good fruits by way of noble children. “A pure l...