KAOLACK, SENEGAL. Sheikh Hassan Ali Cisse (center) leaving the Grand Mosque after prayer in Kaolack, Senegal on Thursday, November 2, 2006. Sheikh Hassan Ali Cisse is the Chief Imam of the Grand Mosque in Medina Kaolack, Senegal and one of the leaders of the Tariqa Tijaniyya, a Sufi order based exclusively on Qur'an and Hadith. A respected Islamic scholar and leader, Sheikh Hassan Cisse has been appointed to the Ulaama of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and Special Advisor on Islamic Affairs to the Republic of Ghana . He is the founder and president of the African American Islamic Institute (AAII), an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) headquartered in Senegal , West Africa with affiliates throughout Africa, Europe and North America . © Chet Gordon / THE IMAGE WORKS