Let us attempt to briefly summarize the elements of biography of al-Muradi al-Hadrami contained in various sources. Ibn Baskuwwal, who devotes a notice to him in his Kitab al-Sila ("The Continuation"), designates him by the name of "Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan al-Hadrami, known by the appellation of al-Muradi, nicknamed Abu Bakr". These patronymic(s) refer(s), as both P. F. de Moraes Farias and Rudwan al-Sayyid point out, to a dual geographic origin (Hadrami = from the Hadramawt) and tribal origin (al-Muradi = from the Murad tribe). Our figure would thus belong to the Murad tribe and originate from a region—the Hadramawt—which provided North Africa with other illustrious figures. Ibn Baskuwwal continues his presentation of al-Muradi by writing: "He visited al-Andalus (a term designating all territories of the Iberian Peninsula and some of southern France that were, at one time or another, under Muslim rule between 711 (first landing) and 1492 (fall of Granada). Present-day Andalusia, which takes its name from it, long constituted only a small part of it) and taught there. Abu-1-Hasan al-Muqri' was among his students. He said this of him: he was a man of keen intellect, possessed of vast legal knowledge, a master (imam) of the science of the sources of religion in which he composed excellent, highly instructive works. He was at the same time endowed with great elegance in written and oral expression. Al-Muqri' said: he died in the Sahara and I do not know the exact date of his death". It thus emerges that our man was above all a theologian, even though he displayed, moreover, curiosity and competence extending beyond fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), to the sciences of language and literary creation. Let us also note that he had disciples in Muslim Spain and the Maghreb. Finally, let us retain these two indications concerning the date (489/1095) and the place of his death, transcribed in our text as "Azkid" which is in all likelihood the present-day Azugi.

When and in what place did his meeting and first contacts with the Almoravid movement and its leaders take place?

Following the indications provided by al-Tadli and al-Marrakushî, Ridwan al-Sayyid believes he must have come into contact with Abu Bakr Ibn 'Umar during the latter's stay at Aghmât Warika (on the outskirts of Marrakech) at the head of his troops and that he accompanied the Lamtuni chief in his definitive return to the Sahara, which took place, in all likelihood, in 463/1070-71. Thus, Al-Muradi al-Hadrami would have, like other scholars of the region, placed himself under the protection of the rising power that constituted the Almoravid movement in the service of which he placed his skills and ambitions. An indication of al-Hadrami's "professorial" attitude and perhaps of his desire to replace Ibn Yasin in his role as spiritual guide of the Almoravid movement: his book, Kitâb al-ishâra, presents itself as a practical treatise on princely conduct.

Another facet? Al-sayh al-Imam al-Hadrami

It is under this name where the essentially mystical radiance attributed to al-Hadrami already shines through, via the double qualification of "Shaykh" and "Imam", that our figure is known in Mauritania. Drawing on the indications provided by al-Mukhtâr Wuld Hamidun, P. F. de Moraes Farias cites the names of several tribes and tribal fractions that trace their genealogies back to al-Imam al-Hadrami. Farias, who relies on sources from various Mauritanian oral traditions, reports different versions of the heroic and miraculous events that illustrate the exceptional gifts of al-Imam al-Hadrami while offering glimpses of elements of the social and symbolic context in which the politico-religious conquests of the Almoravids unfolded and the more recent settlement of certain tribes of the Adrar (Smâsid among others). Almost all narratives involve al-Imam al-Hadrami—often qualified as "Sharîf" (descendant of the Prophet Muhammad)—alongside Abu Bakr Ibn 'Umar, in the circumstances deemed decisive to the conquest of Azugi by the Almoravids. The stronghold, situated in a natural defensive site framed by the mountains of Teggel and Intarazzi, is generally described, for the occasion, as Madinat al-Kilab ("The City of Dogs"). It was believed, at the moment when Abu Bakr's troops undertook its conquest, to be inhabited by non-Muslim populations, sometimes called "Bavur" ("Bafur"), sometimes presented as being "blacks" or "Jews", or even Portuguese, in any case using fierce dogs for military purposes. It is against these dogs that the miraculous power of Al-Imam al-Hadrami would be exercised. The methods of neutralizing the dreaded guardians of Azugi vary according to the versions: in some accounts they simply lose their aggressiveness and become peaceful companions, in others their ferocity is turned, at the instigation of al-Imam al-Hadrami, against their masters who are devoured. Another constant of the "Battle of Azugi," as reported by Moorish popular traditions: Al-Imam al-Hadrami dies there as a martyr, struck by a poisoned arrow fired by a blind old man guided by his daughter's hand. But his spilled blood will cast terror into the hearts of the defenders of Madinat al-Kilab who will be annihilated. The successive "discoveries" of the tomb of Imam Al Hadrami seem to participate, essentially, under the guise of religion, in underground schemes (affirming priority of presence for a land appropriation of the area) of the Smasid, founders of the city of Atar, to the detriment of the Idayshilli who, in fact, occupied the places well before the said Smasid.

Discovery of the tomb of Imam Al-Hadrami

Let us therefore say a few words about the events that inaugurate the second life of al-Hadrami and which seem to unfold as neighbors or contemporaries of Shurr Bubba in an apocalyptic atmosphere. It is to Banimmu Wuld Ahmadu that we owe the earliest written account of the events of which Muhammad al-Majdhûb was the hero. Al-Mukhtâr Wuld Hamidun, taken up by P. F. de Moraes Farias and H. T. Norris, appears to have had as its main source, if not sole, the narrative of Banimmu, to which Abd al-Wadûd Wuld Antahah, who also devotes a few lines to "the al-Majdhûb affair," also seems to have drawn. It emerges from these various accounts that Muhammad Wuld Ahmad Wuld Hsayn Wuld Bû Shaq Wuld Ahmad Wuld Shams al-Din, called al-Imam al-Majdhûb, went one day, at the urging of a companion who accompanied him, in search of the unidentified tomb of a saint reputed to have died at Azugi. When they reached a place where there were "twelve stones and a tree," they were seized with the conviction that this was where the sought-after tomb lay. They slaughtered a sheep at that place. The blood of the sacrificed animal "rose to the sky" and the tree shook. Al-Majdhûb and his companion received these signs which confirmed their premonitions with great satisfaction. Then al-Majdhûb fell asleep and dreamed during his sleep that he was visited by the man whose tomb he had just discovered and that the latter spread a refreshing breeze over his heart. Following this vision he was frequently subject to bouts of fever and his right arm began to swell. To soothe his arm and calm his fevers he began to write at the dictation of the man whose tomb he had just discovered—who was none other than Imam al-Hadrami—texts whose sum was to constitute, according to Banimmu, "three volumes of medium size". Banimmu, who specifies that Al-Majdhûb was illiterate, informs us that his writings were favorably received by some who found their content in accordance with the Qur'an and the Sunna, and rejected by others among whom the illustrious qadi of Shingîti, al-Talib Muhammad Wuld al-Mukhtâr Wuld Billa'mash. Al-Majdhûb would moreover, during his previously mentioned pilgrimage, obtain from several scholars of the Mashriq a certificate of orthodoxy for the work he had just completed. Known in Atarian scholarly circles by the title of Kitâb al-Minna ("The Book of Grace"), the work that al-Hadrami allegedly miraculously dictated to al-Imam al-Majdhûb was partially preserved among the manuscripts of certain Atarian families.

Second discovery of the tomb of Imam Al-Hadrami

In the 1980s, Abdelweddoud ould Cheikh had the good fortune to discover, in an anonymous collection of "nazawil" (legal responsae) belonging to Jili Wuld Antahah, a text attributed by the copyist to Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr Ibn al-Hâshim al-Ghallâwî and in which the author, taking up the opinions of his master, Wuld Billa'mash, formulates a severe judgment on the "Mahdism" of Nasir al-Din and that of al-Imam al-Majdhûb. After expounding their visions and revelations, Ibn al-Hâshim concludes that the discovery of the Imam of Atar is chimerical and that his claims are inadmissible when he asserts that he holds his knowledge from divine inspiration miraculously relayed by al-Imam al-Hadrami. The major reproach formulated by the qadi of Shingîti touches precisely on the prophetic implications of the denounced attitudes, on the fact that to pose as a Mahdi, to claim to receive revelations directly from the divine, is to deny the necessity of the authorized mediation of a prophet, whereas it is said that Muhammad is the "seal of the prophets". This denunciation did not prevent the development at Azugi of a cult of the Imam exhumed by Muhammad al-Majdhûb... To judge by the control of the current administration of this cult by the descendants of another Smasid family than that of al-Majdhûb, it seems that there may even have been a second later "discovery" of the tomb of al-Hadrami. Indeed, according to paragraph four of the introduction to the "golden book" offered for signing by visitors to al-Hadrami's mausoleum, which can be consulted in the room reserved for the reception of these visitors, it is Abd al-Fattah (called Baydna) Wuld al-Tiyyib Wuld al-Shaykh Ahmad (called Bu-Tâj Wuld al-Ghallâwî Wuld Abd-Allahi Wuld Ahmad Wuld Shams al-Din, who would have, in the company of his two sons B-Bahinnayn and al-Sayh [Shaykh], his slave Navi, Li Bawbba and al-Bashir Ibn al-Taya' Ibn Maham, who discovered the tomb on which stands the building that can be seen today. The "discovery" of the tomb appears to date to around the end of the 17th century. According to the introduction text and oral tradition, Baydna and his companions would have dug at the place where they suspected the presence of al-Hadrami. A blinding light soon burst forth from the trench they were digging and a young man, of fair complexion, perfectly preserved, appeared to them. Baydna threw his gandoura over him, ordered the tomb to be closed and the building that stands there today to be erected above it. Since then, it is the descendants of Baydna who administer the cult of al-Imam al-Hadrami. Even serious doubts are raised, in circles close to this family, about the effectiveness of a visit to the tomb of the saint that would not be guided by a descendant of Baydna. Currently, the exact moment when this second "discovery" of al-Imam al-Hadrami took place is unknown, and from the still very incomplete information gathered, an acceptable interpretation cannot be proposed.