El-Hadji Malick Sy (Fula: Allaaji Maalig Si, 1853–1922) was a Senegalese religious leader and teacher in the Tijaniyya Sufi Malikite and Ash'arite brotherhood. Painting of Cheikh El Hadji Malick Sy Life Edit Born in Gaya, northern Senegal, to a Fulani family, El-Hadji Malick Sy traveled to Mauritania, then to Saint-Louis, Senegal in 1884 as a religious student. He traveled to Mecca, then returned to teach at Louga and Pire [fr] before establishing a zāwiya (religious center) at Tivaouane in 1902 following guidance received from his father in law Mor Massamba Diery Dieng father of his wife Sokhna Yacine Dieng and at the invitation of local leader Djibril Guèye, which became a center for Islamic education and culture under his leadership. In Senegal's Wolof country, especially the northern regions of Kajoor and Jolof, the Tijānī Order was spread primarily by El-Hajj Malick Sy. WIKIPEDIA