Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani al-Khatim

Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani known as Al-Khatim was the founder of the Khatmiyya sufi tariqa that has a following in Egypt , Sudan , Eritrea , Somalia and Ethiopia .¹ He was born into the Mirghani family in Mecca which was one of the most noble families that have descended from the Islamic prophet Muhammad . He is the son of Muhammad Abu Bakr who is the son of AbdAllah AlMahjoub who is the son of Ibrahim who is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad . The lineage of Muhammad Othman AlMirghani was verified by Murtada AlZubeidi and this was further verified by Al-Jabarti in his book Taareekh AlJabarti / AlJabarti's History part two. Muhammad Othman AlMirghani was born in Altayief and died in Mecca and was buried there in AlMa'alla. He lived a life of devotion to the spread of the Islamic faith in many parts of the world and many people embraced Islam through his teachings and example. His sons followed in his footsteps after his death, the most famous of whom were Muhammad AlHassan AlMirghani , Gafar Elsadig AlMirghani , Abdullahi Almahjoub AlMirghani , Hashim AlMirghani and Sirr Alkhatim AlMirghani . AlKhatim's religious journey began in Mecca from whence he travelled to Tarim in Yemen and then to Somalia by sea and to Massawa on the Red Sea coast where he travelled inland into the Ethiopian hinterland before returning to Mecca. On this trip tens of thousands of people embraced Islam including entire clans and tribes. His second trip started from the Egyptian countryside south of Cairo and he was accompanied by his teacher Ahmad ibn Idris who parted ways with him in AlZeyniyyah . AlKhatim traversed the Nubian lands of the Mahas and the Sakot and went to Kordofan and reached the lands of the Fur people and the Borno tribe. He then travelled to Sennar on the banks of the Blue Nile and then to Shendi via Gezira and via the Butana to the Taka Mountain region near Kassala from which he entered into Ethiopia and visited many regions before returning to Mecca .²