The Sherifula Coordination Group (SCG) is a family entity under the governance of Sherifula Family Foundation (SFF), Inc, a foundation that belong to the global Sheriff family currently residing in Africa, Australia, Asia and Middle East, Europe and the Americas.

Information on this site concerns the Sherifula family and in particular, direct descendants of Abdul Rahman “Talhata” Sheriff (native of North Africa and a descendant of Prophet Mohammad).

According to historical narrations, passed down by generations since the 1500 AD. It is said that “Talhata” , as he was well known, came on a special invitation to Sub-Saharan Africa to enlighten and share knowledge on Islam.

History has it, that his sojourn to West Africa was prolonged and consequently ended in matrimonial relation with a Sub-Saharan African woman of the Mandingo ethnic tribe. By the Mandingo customary tradition, once a special guest overstays by any means possible, or is appreciated by his/her host, he/she is encouraged and/or endowed to tie the knot as a good sign of trust and relationship with the host. Talhata married into one of the families that had accepted Islam as a religion and a way of life.

Talhata and his beautiful wife, (the daughter of Foine-gama Kamara) got blessed early on with 3 boys: Alieu, Musa and Osman.

As the sons grew into teens, history has it, that Talhata sought his host blessings for his return to North Africa on a courtesy visit to his family. Unfortunately, he passed away on his sojourn. It was speculated several years later that he met his demise in a village 100KM away from Musardo, where he had called second home, leaving behind three orphan boys in the care of their mother, the mother’s family and the Kanneh family an early well-known clergy family.

As time passed by, the boys grew into men and took different paths in life. The elder son, Alieu (Jala) would assume the leadership role; engaged into business and worked to spread Islam in West Africa, and hence, ascending to the role of Imam, which is seen among his descendants today. The middle son, Musa (Kuluka) would pursue business interest and gained riches in private businesses, as well spread Islam, and the last of the brothers, Osman (Meindu) would pursue interest in spreading Islam like the two brothers, as well as involve into politic and public service as is notable amongst his descendants in West Africa.

The family in Sub-Sahara Africa extends to over 11 West African countries (Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal) with variation in family name. In English speaking West Africa, the name is spell as Sheriff, Sherif and Sirleaf, whilst in the French speaking, it is spell as Cherif, Cherif-Haidara, Haidara, Kuraish and Quarishe.

We are blessed to be associated with such variation of spelling of our family name, which gives us unique identity in West Africa. In general, it is well known amongst the family, wherever settled, that the spelling does not matter, but the identity is most important.

We continue to research and expand on Our History searching and seeking more facts – the full discovery of our family is yet to come. Meanwhile, as part of this research, we are also interested in the story of Musardu, the village know then as the capital of the Western Mandingo and portrayed n this Cambridge University research (please read).

Meanwhile, for avid readers wishing to expand their knowledge on the family, it is recommended to read the fictional story of Talhata Sheriff in character as "Black Napoleon", written by one of our own, Bro. Vamba Sherif, acclaimed global writer, novelist, journalist and film critic. This first edition is written in Dutch. The English edition is being published soon. So look out while you enjoy translating and reading the Dutch version.