Ahmad Zarruq also known as Imam az-Zarrūq ash Shadhili was a Sunni, Ashari Muslim scholar and Sufisheikh from Fes, Morocco. He is considered one of the most prominent and accomplished legal, theoretical, and spiritual scholars in Islamic history, and is thought by some to have been the renewer of his time. He was also the first to be given the honorific title "Regulator of the Scholars and Saints". His shrine is located in Tripoli, Libya, however unknown militants exhumed the grave and burnt half the mosque.
Life
Zarruq was born on 7 June 1442 - according to SheikhAbd Allah Gannun - in a village in the region of Tiliwan, a mountain area of Morocco. He was a Berber of the tribe of the Barnusi who lived in an area between Fes and Taza, and was orphaned of both his mother and father within the first seven days of his birth. His grandmother, an accomplished jurist, raised him and was his first teacher. Zarruq is one of the most prominent scholars in the late Maliki school but is perhaps better known as a Shadhili Sufi Sheikh and founder of the Zarruqiyye branch of the Shadhili Sufi order. He was a contemporary of Muhammad al-Jazuli. He took the name 'Zarruq' and he studied the traditional Islamic sciences such as jurisprudence, Arabic, traditions of Prophet Muhammed and wrote extensively on a number of subjects. His most famous works are first of all his Qawa’id al-Tasawwuf , his commentaries on Maliki jurisprudence and his commentary upon the Hikam of ibn 'Ata Allah. He travelled East to Mecca in Tihamah and to Egypt before taking up residence in Misrata, Libya where he died in 899. He was buried in Misrata, Libya. On Sunday 26th August 2012 at 3am, ISIS sympathisers exhumed the grave for Ahmad Zarruq and was allegedly disposed of his body in an unknown location. Later unsubstantiated reports revealed that his body was being held in a secret location, away from those who wished to disrespect his remains. Anecdotes of Zarruq's childhood, travels and education appear in an untitled fahrasa and Fawa'id min Kunnash, the second being edited in its Arabic version. Selected passages appear in translation in: Zarruq the Sufi: a Guide in the Way and a Leader to the Truth by Ali Fahmi Khushaim
