Madthir Ali Al-Bushi and his role in political life
Al-Azraq at the mouth of the Rahad River, which is now part of the Al-Batanah province, and it is also one of the most important centers of the Al-Markabiyyin Sayyids. There, Muhammad Abu Al-Naja married (Al-Mubarakah), daughter of Ali Haroun Al-Markabi, whose mother was Halimah, daughter of Sultan Badi Abu Shulukh, one of the kings of the Funj, from his wife, daughter of Sharif Ibrahim Ain Al-Shams, who was of Moroccan origin. Muhammad Abu Al-Naja died approximately at the beginning of the year 1840 AD in the area of Assar, Al-Qadarif, leaving his wife Jali with her first child. When she gave birth, she named him Ali, in good omen of his father.
Ali Al-Bushi was born in 1840 AD (7) and grew up under the care and guidance of Sheikh Wad Younis, the Sheikh of the Al-Markabiyyin in Abu Haraz. He memorized the Holy Quran and studied religious sciences, but he did not follow the Qadiriyyah order of his Sheikh Wad Younis. Instead, he turned to the Samaniyyah order. For this reason, his Sheikh, Aboud Al-Mashri (8), might have rejected him. It is possible that his adoption of the Samaniyyah order was at a relatively late stage, and it seems that it was after his return from Egypt, where he traveled to study at Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, where he met Sheikh Alish and took the Shadhiliyyah order from him. However, after his return to Sudan, he changed his order to the Samaniyyah order (9).
Ali Al-Bushi spent part of his early life as a wandering ascetic devoted to worship, and he did not have a fixed place to settle permanently. He stayed for a while in the village of Al-Hamra in eastern Sudan and remained in that area in a cave he discovered there. During that period, he became famous for his asceticism and devotion to religion, so people gave him the nickname (Abu Zamaam). He would not sleep without remembrance, and he took measures to prevent sleep. It is said that he tied a rope to the ceiling of the cave to wake him if he dozed off. This harsh method of worship is common among Sufis. Ali Al-Bushi later returned to his homeland, Abu Haraz (10). In 1861, he left for the Hijaz to perform the Hajj pilgrimage (11), then traveled to Al-Azhar.
He stayed there for twelve years studying Sharia and religious sciences. During the period he stayed at Al-Azhar, he met some Sudanese, most notably Ahmed Al-Azhari, son of Sheikh Ismail Al-Wali, and a close friendship developed between them (12). This was the beginning of the acquaintance and connection between the Al-Bushi family and the Ismail Al-Wali family (13), until they were later united by kinship and marriage. When Sayyid Al-Baqir bin Ismail Al-Wali, Ahmed Al-Azhari's brother, visited the city of Wad Madani, Ali Al-Bushi married Al-Baqir bin Ismail Al-Wali's daughter, Nafisa (14). Several marriages took place later between African Studies 106