When he came back from Mecca, he went to teach in Louga and Pire before establishing a ‘Zawiya’ (religious center) in Tivaouane in 1902.
They were promised a dominant role in the colonial administration and protection for their Zawiya tribes against the attacks of Hassane warriors.
Later during the day, Al Jazeera English stated that the rebels had taken control of a key highway running through Zawiya, the one that links Tunisia to Tripoli.
Ahmed was a parliamentary representative for the district of Bulaq at the time of the forcible relocation of the population of that quarter to public housing in the az-Zawiya al-Hamra district in the periphery of Cairo.
He traveled to Mecca, then returned to teach at Louga and Pire before establishing a zāwiya (religious center) at Tivaouane in 1902 at the invitation of local leader Djibril Guèye, which became a center for Islamic education and culture under his leadership.
He was the grandson of Abdallah ben Houssein al-Hassani, who was the founder of the zawiya of Tameslouht, one of the greatest Zawiyyas in the region of Marrakech (founded ca. 1525).
The Associated Press reported that among the rebel forces advancing on the city, a leading contingent were rebels from Zawiya who had fled to the mountains.