Pillars
of the Tidjaniyah Tariqa
The
Tidjaniyah tariqa is the sophist order of the scholars. Most of its adherents
are religious scholars. It is a tariqa of knowledge, cognition, deed, and
devotion.
The
tariqa has three pillars:
·
Istighfar (Asking for Allah’s
forgiveness)
·
Recitation of Prayers upon the Prophet (صلى الله
عليه وسلم)
·
Hailalah (La ilaha illa Allah: There is no God
but Allah).
The
Prescribed Acts of Remembrance (collectively called “Wirds”) in this honorable
tariqa are:
·
The Morning Wird
·
The Evening Wird
·
Wazifa,
and
·
The Hailalah of Friday Evening.
That
is it!
All
of them consist of all or part of these pillars.
These
prescribed Wirds are the basis and foundation of the Tidjaniyah tariqa, beyond
which there are no other obligatory Wirds whatsoever!
The
essence of the matter is in perseverance on performing the prescribed Wirds by
fulfilling all its conditions and etiquettes. The most significant of these
conditions are the observance of the prescribed prayers in time by satisfying
all their pillars and conditions as defined by Shari’a & performing them in
a non-innovative group; and abiding by the commands and abstaining from the
forbidden as much as possible. In addition, exertion of effort in: making the
intention exclusive for Allah, cleansing & purifying the inner self, acting
truthfully with the Creator and the creatures, discarding the disgraced and enjoining
the commendable; and above all, freeing oneself from feeling secure from
Allah’s plan. Allah the Exalted says, "But none feels secure from Allah's
plan except the people who perish"; chapter 7, verse 99.
The
Tidjaniyah tariqa is the easiest sophist order, without exception. It is the
tariqa of thankfulness & gratefulness, following the way of the righteous
ancestors, which was based on joy with, and gratefulness to, the Bountiful,
Allah the Exalted, and on heart training. Thus, the way (tariqa) of
thankfulness is worshipping of Allah with devout servitude, quitting oneself of
all vain inner desires, and admitting one's helplessness and incapability in
fulfilling the rights of His Lordship with settlement of this a state
constantly in the heart. This was the way followed by the hearts of the Chosen
ones, like the Companions of the Prophet and the rightly-guided others.
Therefore,
the walk in the tariqa of gratefulness is the walk of hearts (training), by
looking into the conditions of the heart and into that which reforms it, and
that which spoils it, in abidance by the holy Shari'a and the honorable Sunnah
and its etiquettes, moderately, without excessiveness or negligence.
Ata'a
narrated that Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet صلى الله
عليه وسلم said, "Allah says whoever is hostile to My saint I declare
war against him. And My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more
loved by Me than what I have prescribed upon him. And My servant continues to
draw near to Me with voluntary deeds until I love him, and when I love him, I
become his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and
his hands with which he strikes, and his legs with which he strides (walk). And
if he asks Me, I shall surely grant him his request, and if he seeks My refuge,
I shall surely protect him. I do not hesitate in what I intend to do, as I
hesitate to take the soul of the faithful servant: he hates death whilst I hate
any harm to come to him. [Bukhari].
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Virtues of the Three
Pillars
Istighfar (Asking
Allah for Forgiveness)
Allah
the Exalted Said: "And those who, when they have committed an indecency or
wronged themselves, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins – and
none can forgive sins but Allah – and do not persist in what (wrong) they have
done, while they know" (Surah 3 verse 135). Asma'a bint El-Hakam El-Fazari said: I heard Ali
(RAA) saying "I was the sort of man who would benefit as much as Allah
Wills from hearing a Hadith from the Messenger of Allah. If one of his
Companions told me a Hadith, I would ask him to swear to its authenticity. I
would trust him once he sworn. Abu Bakr once told me, and Abu Bakr has said the
truth, that he had heard the Messenger of Allah said: "No man commits a
sin, and makes ablution, prays , then ask Allah for forgiveness, but Allah
forgives him". Then he recited the verse: (And those who, when they have
committed an indecency or wronged themselves, remember Allah and ask
forgiveness for their sins …). [Ahmed
and the four, and Ibn Habban who said it is
sound]…
Allah,
the Exalted, said, "Allah and His angels send their Salat (prayers) on the
Prophet, O you who believe! Send your Salat on him, and greet him with a
trustworthy greeting." [Ahzab, verse 56].
Abu
Talhah El-Ansari said, "One morning the Messenger of Allah صلى الله
عليه وسلم was in a cheerful mood and looked happy. They said, 'O Messenger
of Allah, this morning you are in a cheerful mood and look happy.' He said,
"Indeed, a messenger came to me from my Lord and said, 'whoever among your
Ummah recites prayer (Salat) upon you, Allah will record for him ten good
deeds, and erase from him ten evil deeds, and will raise for him ten degrees,
and will return to him with something similar to it'." [Ahmed, Tirmizi. And the messenger is
Gabriel according to Nisa'i and Tabarani]…
Allah,
the Exalted, said: (Allah bears witness that none has the right to be
worshipped but He, and the angels, and those having knowledge (also bear
witness to this); (He always) maintains His creation in justice. None has the
right to be worshipped but Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise). Verse 18 Al Imran.
Abu
Hurayrah (R.A.A.) said that I asked: O Messenger of Allah! Who will be the
luckiest person, who will gain your intercession on the Day of Resurrection?
The Messenger
of Allah صلى
الله عليه
وسلم said, "O Abu Hurayrah! I have thought that none
will ask me about it before you as I know your eagerness to (learn) the Hadith.
The luckiest person who will have my intercession on the Day of Resurrection
will be the one who said sincerely from (the bottom of) his heart or himself La
ilaha illa Allah (There is no God but Allah). [Bukhari]…
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