of each tariqa’’ as the direct murid of Muhammad. The story of meeting the Prophet is the turning point of Saʿd’s conversion as he met him, according to the story, when he was young and rebellious. History The Saʿdiyya is usually considered to be a Syrian branch of the Rifāʿiyya, especially by European sources. In al-Wāsiṭī’s work on the Rifāʿīs, it is mentioned as khirka Saʿdiyya and in Lane’s note as a "celebrated sect of the Rifāʿees", because of the similarity in practices of the two: loud dhikr, ḍarb al-ṣilāḥ, snake-charming, and ingesting live coals and glass. The two orders are also popular in the same settings. It is noteworthy that the Saʿdiyya never switched from the Shāfiʿī to the Ottoman Ḥanafī madhhab. Syria The first Saʿdī whose existence was attested in contemporary accounts was Ḥasan al-Jibāwī (d. 910 or 914). He came from Hauran to Damascus during the late Mamluk period. It was widely believed that he could cure insanity through miraculous qualities of Basmala. Ḥasan had a son who succeeded him called Ḥusayn (d. 926/1519). He served both the spiritually needy and the worldly rulers of Damascus with generous hospitality at the zāwiya and this practice was continued by his son Aḥmad b. Ḥusayn (d. 963/1555) and later became a Saʿdī trademark. The Saʿdiyya were involved in clashed between the Mīdān and the central authorities, and that lasted throughout the whole Ottoman era. Even though the tariqa had a localist sentiment at times, they usually displayed a strong pro-imperial stance. Some sultans even financially supported the Saʿdiyya like Maḥmūd I, ʿAbd al-Mejīd and ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd II, who financed the renovations of the Jibā Saʿdī shrine. During the Egyptian occupation (1831-9), the Saʿdi were providing a refuge for the resisting factions. An Egyptian contingent raided the zawiya to punish the Mīdānīs for doing that and they captured twenty men for execution or exile. Documents say that the sheikh at that time was either Khalīl al-Saʿdī (d. 1264/1847) or Ibrāhīm b. Muṣṭafā al-Saʿdī (d. 1282/1865). Egypt The order came to Cairo with Yūnus, one of nine sons of Saʿd al-Dīn, according to Egyptian Saʿdī accounts. He is credit with introducing the dawsa, a ceremony which they celebrated biannually. Because of the dawsa, the Saʿdīs play the main role in the story of state regulation of Egyptian tariqas. Khedive Tawfīḳ banned them in 1881 and the prohibition might have been a