Cheikh Saad Bouh (lit. "the happiness of his father") (also transcribed Saadbûh, Sa'dbûh, Sa'd Bu or Sadibou), born in 1848 in Hodh in Mauritania and died on July 12, 1917 in Nimjat (Trarza, Mauritania), is a saint, a Sufi and a great figure of Islam in West Africa.

He is the son of Sheikh Muhammad Fâdil ben Mâmîn, founder of the Fadiliyya, and Mariama daughter of Ahmed Abdi.
Cheikh Saad Bouh, thirty-first son of Cheikh Muhammad Fâdil ben Mâmîn (1797-1869), is part of the line of Taleb Mokhtar (Ahel Taleb Mokhtar) originating from Tafilalet and is a descendant of Muhammad (quality of "Sheriff") by both Idris2. According to Cheikh Saad Bouh, quoted by Paul Marty, the Ahlel Taleb Mokhtar are Beni Hashem. A. Le Chatelier adds that Cheikh Mouhamed Fadel was of Cherifian origin from Oualata and this dignity was very important in the Saharan region3. The genealogy of Cheikh Saad Bouh was drawn up by L. Bouvat in the review of the Muslim world published by the Scientific Mission of Morocco, dated February 19124,5.

Sheikh Mohammed Fadel set up during the 19th century a branch within the Qadiriyya brotherhood: the Fadiliyya, which innovated in particular through a certain eclecticism, aloud invocations and ecstatic religious practices.
Cheikh Mouhamed Fadel procédait par routinisation de son charisme personnel et essaimage de sa grande famille formée de plus de quarante hommes (Boubrik, 2000)[pas clair]. Cheikh Saad Bouh et son frère Cheikh Ma El Aînin (1831-1910) ont ainsi participé à la diffusion de l'islam par le biais de la Fadiliyya. Alors que son frère s'était établi en zone nord à la frontière marocaine (Sâgiya al-Hamrâ), Cheikh Saad Bouh avait axé son action dans l'ouest mauritanien (le Trarza) et les pays de l'Afrique occidentale.
It was at the age of eighteen that Cheikh Saad Bouh began to settle in the area of ​​Trarza (western Mauritania) on instructions from his father. Previously, he received from him a religious, legal and esoteric formation. To the arid and desert nature of the regions, there was added an almost general insecurity extending to the west bank of the Senegal River due to the raids of the warrior tribes, the slave trade and the smuggling of weapons to fire.

Its installation in Trarza encountered opposition from indigenous tribal powers. This move was in fact part of the conquest of new spaces and the broadening of the social and cultural base of his fellowship. Its influence and fame grew with the support of the indigenous populations. The Emir Sidi Ould Muhamad Lahbib let Cheikh Saad Bouh settle after a confrontation with local scholars8. His spiritual power was thus consolidated. Access to land and the construction of a kasbah in Touizikt enabled him to have a center for teaching and giving impetus to his movement9.
It was after having conquered Trarza that he began to travel to Senegal to win new followers of the Qadiriyya and to propagate the teachings of Islam. The first trip to Saint-Louis took place in 1872. Cheikh Saad Bouh took advantage of this stay to consolidate his network of disciples in the capital of the French colony and inside the territory. His fame was growing and he established relationships with local monarchs, religious leaders and dignitaries. The local context was characterized by the continued conquest by France of territories fragmented into small kingdoms and their administration by commandants de cercle – French officers – and chefs de canton generally chosen from the subject ruling families.

In 1881, he made a second trip and was received by the Governor of Lanneau who made a connection with the religious guide whose prestige and fame were unanimously recognized10,11. A. Le Chatelier listed in 1888 the many tribes affiliated with the Fadilyya and the consecrated sheikhs in Mauritania and Senegal. Cheikh Saad Bouh was recognized as the only representative in Senegal of this branch of the Qadiriyya12. Further trips and tours to Senegal followed in 1903, 1905,1906 and 1913.
He encouraged the faithful to seek peace and sincere faith by giving an active part in the worship of the divine and by fighting against fetishism and paganism. He had managed to build a vast network of influence through the consecration of sheikhs and dignitaries affiliated with the Qadiriyya. The sheikhs are disciples known for their loyalty to the Master, their scholarship and their experience. With this consecration, the sheikhs acceded to a higher dignity within the brotherhood and had the authorization to distribute the wird (special liturgical formulas) and to represent Cheikh Saad Bouh in their areas of influence. They thus participated in spreading Islam in the most remote regions of Senegambia and the West African sub-region through the creation of schools and associations of the faithful (Dahira).
Anthropologist Guy Thilmans reports "Cheikh Saadbouh's camp was an important center whose students, mostly from either maraboutic tribes or Wolof from Saint-louis