# Abd al-Aziz al-Amawi (Sheekh Cabdicasiis al-Amawi)

> Abd al-Aziz al-Amawi (1838-1896): Barawa-born scholar, Qadiriyya shaykh and judge and adviser to the sultans of Zanzibar.

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Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who was he?

Abd al-Aziz al-Amawi was a Somali scholar of the [Shafi'i](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/) school of law and the Ash'ari school of theology, and a shaykh of the Qadiriyya Sufi order, in which he founded his own branch ([Wikipedia, Abd al-Aziz al-Amawi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al_Aziz_al-Amawi)). Wikipedia gives his dates as 1838 to 1896 in the text and lists his birth year as 1832 in its categories (same source). He was born in [Barawa](/en/regions/barawa/) to the Ra Ma'limu clan (same source).

## Judge in Zanzibar

He studied in Barawa, then went to Zanzibar in his teens to study under Muhyi al-Din al-Qahtani, chief Shafi'i judge of Zanzibar ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al_Aziz_al-Amawi)). In 1854, aged sixteen, Sultan Sayyid Sa'id appointed him qadi (judge) of Kilwa (same source). He later served as a judge in Zanzibar until 1891, when his son Burhan took the post (same source). The historian Abdallah Salih Farsy wrote that he was in effect prime minister under Sayyid Khalifa (ruled 1888 to 1890) (same source).

He also served as adviser, ambassador and envoy for Sayyid Majid and Sayyid Barghash, travelling to Somalia, the Comoros and the Rovuma River region (same source). See [Somalis in Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/).

## Writings

He wrote on theology, law, Sufism, grammar, rhetoric and history, and began a Swahili-Arabic dictionary ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al_Aziz_al-Amawi)). Since 2000, unpublished parts of his work have been found in Dar es Salaam and in a library in Seeb, [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) (same source). These include travel diaries, a history of the Busaidi dynasty and a theological poem, *Iqd al-la'ali* (Necklace of Pearls), with a commentary (same source).

## Relations with the sultan and with Christian missionaries

The historian Randall Pouwels writes that his success as a Sufi teacher drew converts from Ibadi to Sunni Islam, and that Sultan Barghash banned him from Friday prayers and briefly jailed him ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al_Aziz_al-Amawi)). In his own surviving writings, al-Amawi describes himself as a close counsellor of the sultan (same source).

Farsy reports that he was the coast's most active debater with Christian missionaries (same source). He also helped Bishop Edward Steere translate some of the Psalms and the Gospel of Luke into Swahili (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A Barawa-born scholar who became a judge, Sufi leader, writer and envoy in nineteenth-century Zanzibar.

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