Editing Muhammad Ahmad (section)

==Early life==
{{Islam}}
{{Sufism}}
Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Fahal was born on 12 August 1843 in Labab Island, [[Dongola]] in northern Sudan. He was born into a notable religious [[Arabization|Arabized]] [[Nubians|Nubian]] family<ref name="auto1">{{Cite book |last=Rodriguez |first=Junius P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N70GiNB8aQ4C |title=Slavery in the Modern World: A History of Political, Social, and Economic Oppression [2 volumes]: A History of Political, Social, and Economic Oppression |year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-788-3 |language=en}}</ref> tracing their lineage from the Prophet of Islam [[Muhammad]] through the lineage of his grandson [[Hassan ibn Ali|Hassan]].<ref name="Holt">[[Peter M. Holt|Holt, P.M.]] ''The Mahdist State in Sudan, 1881–1898.''  Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970. pp 45 cf.</ref> When Mohammed Ahmed was still a child, his family moved to the town of Karari, north of [[Omdurman]]. There his father, Ahmad bin Abdullah, managed to find enough supplies of wood for his work in boat-building, but died shortly after they arrived. After the death of his father, his brothers Mohammed and Hamed, who continued to trade and built boats. Then the family moved to live in [[Khartoum]] for a short time, where their mother, Zainab bint Nasr, died and was buried. 

While his siblings joined his father's trade, Muhammad Ahmad showed a proclivity for religious study. He studied first under Sheikh al-Amin al-Suwaylih in the [[Gezira (state)|Gezira]] region south of [[Khartoum]], and subsequently under Sheikh Muhammad al-Dikayr 'Abdallah Khujali near the town of [[Berber, Sudan|Berber]] in northern Sudan.<ref name="Holt"/> 

Determined to live a life of asceticism, mysticism and worship, in 1861 he sought out Sheikh Muhammad Sharif Nur al-Dai'm, the grandson of the founder of the Samaniyya Sufi sect in Sudan. Muhammad Ahmad stayed with Sheikh Muhammad Sharif for seven years, during which time he was recognized for his piety and asceticism. Near the end of this period, he was awarded the title of Sheikh, and began to travel around the country on religious missions. He was permitted to give [[tariqa]] and [[Uhud|Uhūd]] to new followers.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

In 1870, his family moved again in search for timber, returning to [[Aba Island]]. There, Muhammad Ahmad built a mosque and started to teach the [[Quran]]. He soon gained a notable reputation among the local population as an excellent speaker and mystic. The broad thrust of his teaching followed that of other reformers: his [[Islam]] was one devoted to the words of Muhammad and based on a return to the virtues of strict devotion, prayer, and simplicity as laid down in the Quran.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

In 1872, Muhammad Ahmad invited Sheikh Sharif to move to al-Aradayb, an area on the [[White Nile]] neighboring Aba Island. Despite initially amicable relations, in 1878 the two religious leaders had a dispute motivated by Sheikh Sharif's resentment of his former student's growing popularity. As a result, Sheikh Sharif expelled his former student from the Samaniyya Order and, despite numerous attempts at reconciliation by Muhammad Ahmad, his mentor refused to make peace.<ref name="auto"/>

After recognizing that the split with Sheikh Sharif was irreconcilable, Muhammad Ahmad approached another respected leader of the Samaniyya Order named Sheikh al-Qurashi wad al-Zayn. Muhammad Ahmad resumed his life of piety and religious devotion at Aba Island. During this period, he also traveled to the province of [[Kordofan]], west of Khartoum, where he visited with the notables of the capital, [[El-Obeid]]. They were enmeshed in a power struggle between two rival claimants to the governorship of the province.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

On 25 July 1878, Sheikh al-Qurashi died and his followers recognized Muhammad Ahmad as their new leader. Around this time, Muhammad Ahmad first met Abdallahi bin Muhammad al-Ta'aishi, who was to become his chief deputy and successor in the years to come.{{cn|date=December 2022}}