Leaders of the Tijaniyya sectTijāniyyah (Arabic: الطريقة التجانية, romanized: Al-Ṭarīqah al-Tijāniyyah, lit. 'The Tijānī Path') is a Sufi tariqa (order, path), originating in the Maghreb but now more widespread in West Africa, particularly in Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Chad, Ghana, Northern and South-western Nigeria and some part of Sudan. The Tijāniyyah order is also present in the state of Kerala in India. Its adherents are called Tijānī (spelled Tijaan or Tiijaan in Wolof, Tidiane or Tidjane in French). Tijānīs place great importance on culture and education, and emphasize the individual adhesion of the disciple (murid). To become a member of the order, one must receive the Tijānī wird, or a sequence of holy phrases to be repeated twice daily, from a muqaddam, or representative of the order.History and spread of the orderFoundation of the orderAhmad al-Tijani (1737-1815) was born in Aïn Madhi in Algeria and died in Fes, Morocco. He received his religious education in Fes, Morocco. Inspired by other Moroccan saints he founded the Tijānī order in the 1780s; sources vary as to the exact date between 1781[1] and 1784.[2] Tijānīs, speaking for the poor, reacted against the then-dominant conservative, hierarchical Qadiriyyah brotherhood, focusing on social reform and grassroots Islamic revival.