Senusiyya

Sanussi
السنوسية
Country
Place of originLibya
FounderMuhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi
Current head
Final rulerIdris of Libya
Titles
Deposition1969: Overthrown by Muammar Gaddafi's 1 September Coup d'état
Map showing the empire of the Sanussi order in 1297 Hijri, 1880 Gregorian

The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi (Arabic: السنوسية, romanizedal-Sanūssiyya) are a Muslim political-religious Sufi order and clan in Libya and surrounding regions founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Sanussi (Arabic: السنوسي الكبير as-Sanūssiyy al-Kabīr), the Algerian Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi.

During World War II, the Senussis provided vital support to the British Eighth Army in North Africa against Nazi and Fascist Italian forces.

The Grand Senussi's grandson became King Idris I of Libya in 1951. The 1969 Libyan revolution led by Muammar Gaddafi overthrew him, ending the Libyan monarchy.

The movement remained active despite sustained persecution by Gaddafi's government. The Senussi spirit and legacy continue to be prominent in today's Libya, mostly in Cyrenaica.


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