Sidi Abu al-Ikhlas al-Zarqani

Al-Sayyid Burhan al-Din Abu al-Ikhlas al-Zarqani was born in 1924, in a village located in the Gharbia Governorate of Egypt.[1][2][3] In his youth, Abu al-Ikhlas lived in Cairo with his extended family but later returned to his hometown in the Gharbia Governorate, before returning again to pursue a scholarship at Al Azhar University on recommendation of his uncle, a renowned Muslim scholar who had taught him the basics of religion ever since he was a young child.[1][2][3] In his adulthood, Abu al-Ikhlas went on a spiritual tour to Sudan, Morocco, Yemen, Jerusalem and Medina.[1][2][3] Upon his return to Egypt, he started an ascetic lifestyle, later building a small zawiya for himself in Alexandria; he would eventually die in 1979 and be entombed in his zawiya.[1][3]

In 1979, Abu al-Ikhlas died and he was buried in his zawiya next to his sister, Umm Muhammad.[1][4] The zawiya was incorporated into a larger religious complex in 1985 which was attached to a mosque known as the Sidi Abu al-Ikhlas al-Zarqani Mosque.[1] In 2019, the mosque and the adjoining complex was demolished by the Egyptian authorities as it stood in the way of the construction of a large integrated traffic axis that leads to El Mahmoudiyah.[4][5][6] The remains of Abu al-Ikhlas and his sister were exhumed and then reinterred in a new mausoleum, also located in Alexandria.[6][7] The actions of the government did not have much negativity from the Sufi communities, who accepted the decision to demolish the mosque and religious complex without any frustrations.[5][6]

Amongst locals, Al-Sayyid Burhan al-Din Abu al-Ikhlas al-Zarqani is known for his mystical powers, known as karamat.[8] Additionally, the Mawlid feast for his birthday is still celebrated every year in the month of October, and it lasts for almost one week.[2] During his lifetime, Abu al-Ikhlas was also the founder of a Sufi order, or tariqa, known as the Ikhlasiyya which was a subsect of the Shadhili order.[3]

• List of Sufis