al-Hajj Umar Taal

Al-Hajj Umar ibn Sa'id Taal al-Futi (c. 1797-1864 CE) was a West African Islamic scholar, warrior, and founder of the Tijaniyya-based Tukolor Empire in what is now Senegal, Mali, and Guinea. He studied in Madinah and became the West African representative (Khalifa) of the Tijani Sufi order. His major Islamic work, Rimah Hizb al-Rahim 'ala Nuhur Hizb al-Rajim (Spears of God's Mercy against the Armies of Satan), is a defense of the Tijaniyya order. He led military campaigns against the Bambara kingdoms (which had resisted Islam) and the French colonial presence. Islam.wiki note: his Tijani affiliations are contextualized per the theological guidelines on Sufi orders.