"Tlemcen, Capital of Islamic Culture"
Sidi Boumediene Chouaib of Tlemcen, Sufi icon in Algeria and Maghreb
TLEMCEN (Algeria)- The town of Tlemcen, capital of the Islamic culture 2011, has been home to many illustrious scholars and clerics, including Sidi Boumediene Chouaib El Ichbili, the Sufi figurehead of Algeria and all the Maghreb.
The name of Sidi Boumediene is closely linked to the town of Tlemcen, of which he became a patron saint. Coming from Bejaia (263 km east of Algiers) along with his disciples on their way to Marrakech, Morocco, at the invitation of Sultan Yacoub El Mansour, he settled in the village of Takbalet, about 30 km from Tlemcen. He died on November 13, 1197 (Hijri Year 594) in that village after an illness. His disciples buried him at El Eubbad, a place of meditation and piety on the hills overhanging the town of Tlemcen.