Tijaniyyah

The grand mosque in Kiota is the centre of the Tijaniyyah order in Niger.
Interior of the grand mosque in Kiota

The Tijjani order (Arabic: الطريقة التجانية, romanizedal-Ṭarīqa al-Tijāniyya) is a Sufi order of Sunni Islam named after Ahmad al-Tijani. It originated in the Maghreb but now more widespread in West Africa, particularly in Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Chad, Ghana, Northern and Southwestern Nigeria and some parts of Sudan. The Tijāniyyah order is also present in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka 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.