The Grand Sanusi does not tolerate fanaticism.…

The Grand Sanusi does not tolerate fanaticism.

He forbids the use of stimulants as well as the practice of voluntary poverty.

Lodge members are to eat and dress within the limits of religious law and, instead of depending on alms, are required to earn their living through work.

No aids to contemplation, such as the processions, gyrations, and mutilations employed by Sufi dervishes, are permitted

The Grand Sanusi accept neither the wholly intuitive ways described by the Sufi mystics nor the rationality of the orthodox ulama; rather, he attempts to adapt from both.

The Bedouin had shown no interest in the ecstatic practices of the Sufis that are gaining adherents in the towns, but they are attracted in great numbers to the Sanusis.

The relative austerity of the Sanusi message is especially suited to the character of the Cyrenaican Bedouin, whose way of life has not changed markedly in the centuries since the Arabs had first accepted the Prophet's teachings.