Born in 1900 in the village of Tayba aseen (spelled Taba Niassne in French),

between the Senegalese city of Kaolack and the border of Gambia, he was the son
of
Allaaji Abdulaay as (18401922), the main representative of the Tijani Sufi Order,
often referred to asTareeqat al-Tijjaniyyaa, in the Saalum region at the beginni
ng of
the twentieth century. During his youth, Sheykh Ibrahim relocated with his fathe
r to
the city of Kaolack, where they established the zawiya (religious center) of Lew
na
aseen. After his father's death in Lewna aseen in 1922, Shaykh Ibrahim's elder
brother, Muhammad al-Khalifa, became his father's successor or Khalifa. The 22-y
ear-
old Shaykh Ibrahim spent most of his time farming in the family's fields and tea
ching
a growing number of disciples in the nearby village of Kosi Mbittyeen. Although
Shaykh Ibrahim never claimed to be his father's successor, due to his charisma a
nd
precocious knowledge, he gained a large number of disciples, and tensions arose
between his disciples and those of his elder brother, Muhammad al-Khalifa. In 19
29,
while on the farm in Kosi Mbittyeen, the youthful Shaykh Ibrahim announced that he

had been given the Key to Secrets of Divine Knowledge, and thus became the Khali
fa of
Sheykh Tijani in the Tajaniyya Order, a position yet to be attained by anyone as
of
the time. Sheikh Ibrahim then declared that whoever wishes to attain ma'arifa, a
level
of Divine Certainty in the Sufi Order must follow him. In 1930, after the prayer
of
?Id al-Fi?r (the end of the month of Ramadan), a fight broke out between Shaykh
Ibrahim's disciples and those of Muhammad al-Khalifa The incident made Shaykh Ib
rahim
to immediately decided to relocate with his disciples to a new place. That eveni
ng, he
set out with a small group of his closest disciples to find a new place to live,
and
the next day they established a new zawiya in Medina Baay, a village that was la
ter
incorporated into the growing city of Kaolack. In the following years, Shaykh di
vided
his time between teaching during dry season in Madina Baay and farming during ra
ining
season in Kosi Mbittyeen. During the summer of 1945 he reestablished himself in hi
s
father's house in his natal village of Tayba aseen, rebuilding and reorganizing t
he
village after a fire outbreak destroyed much of it.
Shaykh Ibrahim's fame quickly spread throughout the countryside and most of his
father's disciples ultimately became his disciples in spite of his junior status
in
the family.Although his disciples remain a minority within Senegal, ass disciples
form the largest branch of Tijanis worldwide. In an unlikely role reversal durin
g the
1930s, several leaders of the Arab 'Idaw ?Ali tribe in Mauritaniathe same tribe t
hat
introduced the Tijani order to West Africadeclared to follow Shaykh Ibrahim and
became his disciples. Notable among the included Shaykhani, Mu?ammad Wuld an-Na?
wi,
and Mu?ammad al-Mishri. Tareeqa al-Tijaniyya al-Ibrahimiyya, as Shaykh's discipl
es
came to known, flourished and gained large number of followers throughout the 19
30s
and 1940s across North and West Africa. In the 1937, on meeting with Shaykh Ibra
him
during a pilgrimage to Makkah, the Emir of Kano,Alhaji 'Abdullahi Bayero (Nigeri
a)
made a declaration to follow and became his disciple. That incident made Shaykh
Ibrahim to gain the allegiance of many of the prominent Tijani leaders of Northe
rn
Nigeria and lots of those who were non-Tijanis during the time. One of his close
st
disciples and father of Sayyida Bilkisu( one of the youngest wives of the Sheikh
), was
a Prince from Okene, the first High Commissioner of Nigeria to the UK, Alhaji
Abdulmalik Atta. Shaykh Ibrahim became a renowned Shaykh al-Tareeka (Master of S
ufi
Order) throughout Hausa areas of West Africa and in fact ended up with far more
disciples outside of Senegal than within it. By his death in 1975 in London, Sha
ykh
Ibrahim as had millions of followers throughout West Africa. His branch of the
Tijaniyya, Tareeqa al-Tijaniyya al-Ibrahimiyya has become the largest branch in
the
world. After his death the community was led by his closest disciple,Shaykh Aliy
y
Cisse and as's eldest son, Alhaji Abdulahi Ibrahim Niass. The current Khalifa in
Medina Baye is his eldest surviving son,Sheikh Ahmad Tijani he became the khalif
a in
2010 after the death of his brother khalifa Ahmadu as (known as Daam) on Tuesday
18th of May 2010. Shaykh Ibrahim's role as principal Imam of the Medina Baye mos
que
has been carried out by the Cisse family. While serving as Medina Baay's Imam, S
haykh
Hassan Cisse (Shaykh Aliyy Cisse's son and Shaykh Ibrahim's maternal grandson) c
arried
Shaykh Ibrahim's teachings to the United States, United Kingdom and many other w
estern
countries. Shaykh Hassan Cisse was generally regarded as the Leader of Tareeqa a
l-
Tijaniyya al-Ibrahimiyya worldwide until his sudden death in August, 2008. Since
then,
Shaykh Hassan's younger brother Shaykh Tijani Cisse has been given the position
of
Medina Baay's Imam.
-HIS POLITICAL/DIPLOMATIC INFLUENCE-IN REGIONAL AFRICA & GLOBALLY: This rare
personality in the history of Mankind has played roles that one could hardly bel
ieve
that it comes from an 'esoteric-scholar' that lives somewhere in the semi-arid z
one of
the tiny belt of the Sene-Gambia. He fought for the independence of Black Africa

throught his relentless direct contact with leaders and communities of many Afri
can
states in the Post-independence era. Immediately after the end of the World War
II,
Sheikh Ibrahim embarked upon this laborious task of seeing the unity of the cont
inent
and hence prepares it towards achieving it self-autonomy. In his celebrated work
"Al-
Ifriqiyyah Lil-Ifriqiyyin" published in 1950, he opined elaborately that Africa
"MUST"
be governed by its own children. Indeed, the quest for true freedom is considere
d by
Sheikh Ibrahim(RTA) to be the purest obligation of all Men of ample discretion,
knowing no religious boundaries as exactly portrait by the Statesmanship of the
Holy
Prophet(S.A.W.) in Medina when he engaged in truce with the 'Bani- Nadhir','Bani
-
Qainuqah' and 'Bani-Mustaliq' Jewish communities in order to defend 'Human Right
s &
Freedom'. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was a protg far excellent, who vows total allegiance t
o
the Sheikh in the struggle to achieve 'practically unequivocal independence' for
Black
Africa and the entire world from the British Colonial Masters.