The support and loyalty of Muhammad al-Tayyib al-Basir and his brother, Sheikh Ahmad al-Mahdi, to the Mahdiya among the Shayqiyya tribes were unparalleled among the leaders of the orders. Sheikh Muhammad al-Tayyib was strongly connected to the Mahdi, as their relationship was bound by blood ties, kinship, shared thought, and joint jihad. The Mahdi was married to al-Surra, daughter of Sheikh al-Tayyib, and Sheikh al-Tayyib was also the grandfather of al-Zayn, the teacher of the Mahdi. The Mahdi confided in his relatives about his intentions when his call was in its early stages.

As for Sheikh al-Ubayd Badr, he is considered among the leaders of the orders who did not believe in the Mahdiya from its inception and only carried its banners out of compulsion. The Mahdi threatened him until he was forced to be by his side. After the death of the Mahdi, the suspicion of the men of the orders towards the Mahdiya increased, yet they could not openly defy the Khalifa's authority. Thus, they remained Mahdists in pretense, practicing their teachings in secrecy and behind a veil. In addition to what we have mentioned, it should be noted that the Mahdi sought to win the favor of the Sheikhs and leaders of the Sufi orders, knowing their status and influence over people and their standing in the hearts of their disciples. Among the Sheikhs of the orders whom the Mahdi sought out and visited in their regions was Sayyid Muhammad al-Makki Ismail, Sheikh of the Isma'iliyya order, and the family of Salih Biswar, who accompanied Sayyid Muhammad Uthman to al-Abyad and died there.

The Mahdi knew the influence of the men of the orders and their impact on their followers. Therefore, the Sufi leaders were the first whom the Mahdi addressed and sought to win their favor and draw them to his side. They were the first circle of his call, which he wanted to bring under his wing. He may have relatively failed to achieve this goal, as he did not obtain absolute support from the Sheikhs of the orders. Among those who pledged allegiance to the Mahdiya, there were individuals who rejected it and only accepted it out of fear and awe, as the Mahdiya was unforgiving towards its opponents. Great leaders in the Mahdist state were subjected to brutal killings and other forms of oppression that the internal opposition to the Mahdiya movement experienced.

In the area of "Awsali" west of Masawarat Island, Sheikh Ahmad al-Hadi was born in the mid-nineteenth century. He embraced the principles of the Tijaniyya order and called for them. Shuqayr mentioned that the Mahdi sent Sheikh al-Hadi a sword and one thousand riyals and appointed him prince over Dongola. He accepted the gift and pledged allegiance to Muhammad al-Khayr (see: Shuqayr, History of the Sudan, vol. 2, p. 787). A number of Hawara and Hassaniya followed him in his jihad with the Mahdiya, and they fought two battles against the Turks, but they lost them. Sheikh al-Hadi forced a group of the Khalifas of the Khatmiyya from the Shayqiyya region to go out with him. He and those who accompanied him were killed. (See: Salih Karrar, Hoods of the Sudan, pp. 122, 123, 124). Muhammad Mahjoub Malik: Previous source, p. 72. Ahmad Uthman Muhammad Ibrahim: The Island during the Mahdiya, p. 102. Same: p. 103. Ahmad Uthman Muhammad Ibrahim: Previous source, p. 104. Muhammad Mahjoub Malik: Previous source, p. 110. P. M. Holt: The Mahdist State in the Sudan during the reign of Khalifa Abdullahi, p. 72.