BULŪGH AL-AMĀNĪ BI’L IJĀZA LI-MURĪD AL-WIRD TIJĀNĪ
The Attainment of Aspirations by the License Given to the Seeker of the Tijani Wird
By: Shaykh Ahmad Sukayrij
Translated by: Talut b. Sulaiman Dawood
Forward
In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful
May God bless the Opener and Seal, his family and companions and greet them
All praise is for God, who adorned with the crowns of acceptance, among those who have arrived, whoever drinks from the Litany of the Seal al-Tijani- the constant recitation of which is brings about the furthest of aspirations and the attainment of hopes. This has been guaranteed by the Messenger, upon who be blessing and peace, as well as his family and companions forever.
As to what follows:
From the favors of God upon the slave of his Lord who is named at the end of this text, is that he received [permission in] the Tijani Path, with an authentic permission, along with a license to transmit it to anyone who seeks to tie himself to its rope, in order to obtain its perfect bounty, by complying with its established integrals and its stated conditions. This permission was obtained from a group of its transmitters who all had authentic permission. The highest of the chains that I possess, in both the obligatory invocations of the Path and the non-obligatory invocations, which are related to its [the Path’s] secrets, is from our Shaykh, the Knower of God, My Master and Leader, Ahmad ‘Abdallawi (may God be pleased with him), who took it from the Qutb, Sidi ‘Ali al-Timasini (may Allah be pleased with him), who took it from our Shaykh, the Qutb al-Aqtab the Seal at-Tijani (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Master of Existence (may Allah bless him and give him peace), directly, in a state of wakefulness and not in a dream.
Our brother in Allah, Sayyid …………………… has requested that I give him permission to recite its [the Path’s] litanies, so that the connection between him and the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him) may, through our authentic chain in the Path, be complete. And we have granted his request after he has sworn to uphold its established conditions.
A Mention of the Conditions of the Ṭariqah
1. That he consistently recites the litany until death, while maintaining one direction in the Path, by not combining it with the litany of any other Shaykh.
2. That he does not visit any of the Saints, neither those who are living, nor those who are dead.
3. That he perseveres in the love of all the People of Allah, holding them in high esteem anyone that is included among them, and avoiding criticizing any of them in any manner.
Mention of the Obligatory Remembrances of the Tariqah
1. The Wird, which is recited in the morning and in the evening.
2. The Wazifah, which is recited at least once a day.
3. The Haylallah, which is recited after the ‘Asr prayer on Friday, observing its conditions, in a group or alone.
The Most Important Matter with Which the Murid Should Concern Himself While Wayfaring on This Path
He should take his task most seriously by obeying Allah’s commands and avoiding what He has prohibited, as much as he is able. Thereafter, he should turn, immediately, in repentance to Allah if he ever commits any act of disobedience. It is also important for the murid to concentrate, before any voluntary act, on performing the obligatory prayers perfectly at their proper times, and especially in congregation. Further, he should perform any missed prayers that remain in his debt. Indeed, there are many morally responsible people whose missed prayers have piled up since they reached puberty, while they do not give any importance to making them up. Nevertheless, they are owed, and busying oneself with them is more important than any voluntary act.
Elixir
Every act revolves around one’s intention. For that reason, it is imperative that the murid perfect his intention as much as possible. He should also take advantage, in our Path, which is a Path of gratitude, of the recitation of al-Fatihah with the basmallah (Bismi ‘Llahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Rahim), with the intention of thanking Allah for all His blessings, whether they are apparent or hidden, physical or nonphysical; whether he knows them or is ignorant of them, whether they were speedy or delayed, both in the past and in the future. It is recited with this intention from one to one hundred times.
Additionally, according to us, the foundation of action in the Path is the Book and the Sunnah, and avoiding all heretical innovations, in both deed and belief, as much as one is able. Our Master (may Allah be pleased with him) has said, “If anything is related to you from me, weigh it on the scales of the Sacred Law. If it is in compliance with the Sacred Law, act upon it. If it contradicts it, then leave it.”
Thus, the murid should avoid anything that contradicts the Book and the Sunnah, and avoid supporting heretical innovations of any kind, except in the case that one is acting upon a weak Hadith that deals with the benefits of certain acts. In that case, he may act upon it and pay no mind to the critics.
An example of that is the prayer to expiate for the missed prayers that one owes [Salah al-Fawa’it]. Even though it has not come in an authentic Hadith, the Shaykh used to perform it. So, the murid may act upon it in his emulation of the Shaykh.
A Beneficial Lesson on Salah al-Fawa’it
Salah al-Fawa’it has become widespread among the brethren. It is beneficial for someone who does not know how many prayers he has missed in his life. If one knows how many prayers he has missed, he must make them up, just as was done by a group among the brethren, to whom Allah granted facilitation.
The method of this prayer is that one pray four rak’ahs, in pairs, before ‘Asr on Friday. In each rak’ah, one recites Surah al-Fatihah three times, Ayah al-Kursi ten times, Surah al-Kawthar fifty times and Surah al-Ikhlas three times. After he finishes the four rak’ahs, he should recite Salat al-Fatihi seventy times.
There are other methods. However, what we have mentioned is the most complete version.
An Encouragement: The Method of Performing Salah al-Tasbih
The murid should also take advantage of praying Salat al-Tasbih once a day, on Fridays, once a month, once a year, or once in a lifetime. Most importantly, he should strive to perform it every night of Ramadan.
The method of performing this prayer is to pray four rak’ahs in pairs. In each rak’ah, one should recite Surah al-Fatihah and another Surah. Then, before ruku’, he should recite the tasbih “Subhan Allah. Wa ‘l-hamdu li ‘Llah. Wa la ilaha illa ‘Llah. Wa ‘Llahu Akbar (Glory be to Allah. All praise is due to Allah. There is no god but Allah. Allah is the Greatest).” In his ruku’, he recites the same tasbih ten times. He then recites it ten times after rising from ruku’, in sujud, when rising from sujud, in his second sujud and when rising from the second sujud[1]. In that way, he will have recited it seventy-five times in each rak’ah[2].
An Admonition
The murid should not busy himself with looking for the Greatest Name. Nor should he seek out the special Names because that is the characteristic of idle folk, whose only reward for that is exhaustion. Rather, it is imperative for the murid to avoid mixing the different invocation. Nor should he busy himself with seeking secrets that have certain, specified conditions. That will only divide his efforts, preventing him from concentrating his spiritual energy. The best thing for the murid is to recite as much Salah al-Fatihih, tahlil (la ilaha illa ‘Llah) and istighfar (astaghfiru ‘Llah) as possible.
A Stern Warning
It is not allowed for anyone to begin transmitting the litanies without having an authentic permission as a muqaddam. One should also beware of anything that may sever him from the Path, such as abandoning the wird, because the penalty for that is severe. The murid should also beware of believing that the Shaykh has any influence in anything. For the One who acts is Allah alone. The Shaykh has no partnership with Allah in bringing anything into existence or causing it to not exist. He is only one of the slaves of the Divine Presence who guides towards Allah in his Path.
The murid must also avoid excessively praising the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him) to the point that he praises him in a way that is censured by the Sacred Law. Even though the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him) has reached the level of Khatmiyyah (being the Seal of the Saints) and Katmiyyah (the hiddenness of one’s station), which are the highest levels of the station of Qutbaniyyah, it is not allowed to hold him superior to the lowest of the Companions in rank.
The degree was only named Katmiyyah because its excellence is hidden from the majority people. Thus, it is not proper to speak about it openly, lest it be interpreted the wrong way or disrespected, removing its special nature. It may also be mentioned to one of the critics for who takes lightly the matter of takfir (declaring people disbelievers).
Conclusion
Our brother, who has been granted permission in our Muhammadan, Tijani Tariqah, should know that adherence to the reciting its obligatory litanies is enough to obtain the good of both abodes. This has been established through an indubitable guarantee and the promise of the Truthful and Trustworthy one (peace be upon him). It is part of the glad tidings that he gave the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him) in a wakeful state, and not in a dream. Obtaining this bounty revolves around belief in it.
According to we Tijanis, the path revolves around adherence to its obligatory litanies, which were received through a solemn oath, by performing them, while observing their conditions, after obtaining authentic permission from a muqaddam of the Path. One should not turn his attention to anything beyond that, which one may find in the books of the Path, such as mention of benefits and other matters, because what is beyond adherence to the litanies in the manner we have described is either increase or meddling in matters that do not concern one. Increase is for the people who have sound belief in the Path, while the second leads to them denying such things, or being criticized by others. Everyone works according to his nature. Nevertheless, the intelligent person is the one who is aware of the limits of his knowledge, and therefore travels with the safer Path with the People of Allah.
Additional Advice
I further counsel this brother to perform the litanies with measured recitation, to recall the meanings of the invocations as much as possible, and to observe the conditions of the Path. If he should be remiss in anything that we have mentioned, it is imperative that he repent immediately and seek to renew his covenant in the Path, from one of the people of authentic permission. If not, he exposes himself to being severed from the path after being connected to it.
Allah is sufficient for us, and how excellent a Guardian. I ask Him (Exalted is He) to strengthen us in both word and deed.
May Allah bless our Master Muhammad, his family and companions and extend them a worthy salutation.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.
Stated and written by the servant of the Muhammadan Presence, the slave of his Lord, Ahmad b. al-Hajj al-‘Iyashi Sukayrij al-Khazraji al-Ansari.
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