Sanussi

(also Sanusiyah), a Muslim religious and political order. Founded in Mecca in 1837 by Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanussi (born 1787 or 1791; died 1859). The center of the Sa-nussi order moved to Cyrenaica, in what is now Libya, in 1843. Its members, the Sanussis, advocated the restoration of the purity of early Islam and a holy war against the infidels. In the mid-19th century, al-Sanussi assumed leadership of the Libyan struggle against Turkish domination, and from 1911 to 1931 he took part in the struggle against Italian colonialists. His grandson, Muhammad Idris al-Sanussi, ruled Libya from December 1951 to August 1969 as King Idris I. Outside of Libya, the principles of the Sanussi order are maintained in Algeria, Nigeria, Chad, the Sudan, and several other African countries.