 |
SHAYKH IBRAHIM
NIASSE WITH EMIR ABDULLAHI BAYERO
|
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
KHUTUBAH (SPEECH) REFERRED TO AS:
HADIQATUL-ANWAR (THE GARDEN
OF LIGHTS)
DELIVERED BY:
SHAYKH IBRAHIM NIASSE
IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA
TRANSLATED BY:
SAYYIDAH BILQIS GRILLO AT-TIJANI
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
CONTENT
Preface
Translator’s Note
Dedication
Authorizations for the translation and distribution
project
Lecture: The Garden of Lights
Kano Conference at Emir’s Palace
Arabic texts of the lectures
PREFACE
This book comprises
of two exhilarating lectures of our Leader, Mawlana Shaykh Ibrahim Niass as
follows:
1. Hadiqatu-l-Anwar, due to what it
contained of the pillars of Islam, about wisdom and secrets, delivered by
the Qutb of his time, The Singular One of his age, Shaykh-al-Islam and The
Argument of mankind, Alhaji Ibrahim Niass al-kawlakhy, may Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) profit us by him and cause us to die on his covenant and his
love (amin). It was held in the palace of the Emir in the city of Kano Kano State Nigeria
2. Another
scintillating lecture delivered in Kano
Dear
Readers, you are invited to come along in enjoying these brilliant lectures of Shaykh-al-Islam, may Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) grant you the fruits of the efforts by endowing you with inner spiritual lights, amin.
Bi tawfeeq
wan-najah.
Translator.
TRANSLATOR’S
NOTE
In
the Name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful. All praise is due
to The Almighty Allah, The Lord of the worlds. The Most Beneficent, The Most
Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgement. May the peace and Blessings of Allah
be upon the Noble Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him], the Eye of Divine Mercy
of God, his Household the pure ones, his Companions the esteemed in grace, and
those who follow this guidance until the Day of Resurrection.
My profound gratitude goes to Almighty
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), for making this humble attempt at
translation of the work possible. It could not have been if not for His Grace. In
addition, I take full responsibility
for any observed shortcomings in the translated messages since my best efforts
do not necessarily represent the best.
The aim for embarking on this
translation work is to create opportunity for the adherents of the Tariqah of
Shaykh Ahmad Tidjani under the tutelage of The Qutb and Gawth, the Sahibul
Faydah, Fadhilatu-Shaykh-al-lslam,
Alhaji Ibrahim Niass in particular and the entire Muslims in general, to
get closer to the expositions of our great Master and Teacher, Shaykh Ibrahim
Niass, by reading through one of his many illustrious and motivating lectures
delivered in the course of his delivery of the message of truth and the trust
of Allah and His Apostle [peace be upon him] to mankind. May Allah Ta’ala
accept this work as an act of Ibadah (Amin).
My deepest appreciation goes to my
spiritual fathers and mentors, in particular Fadhilat Shaykh Ahmad Tijani
Ibrahim Niass al-kawlakhy (radiyallahu an’hu), for his unflinching support and
encouragement at all times. I also wish to place on record my gratitude to my
beloved Shaykhs who never stopped ‘leading
the way’ namely - Shaykh Muhammad Rabiu Olorire (late), Shaykh Abdul-Salaam
Akoshile, Shaykh Zubair Idris and Dr. Murtadha Busaeri. My special appreciation
goes to Dr. M. Busoeri and Professor A.0.Sanni for their contributions to the
book review efforts. May Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) bless them
throughout, till the end of time.
I will equally not fail to say a big
“thanks” from the bottom of my heart to Alhaji Muhammad Shakirudeen Grillo my
dear husband, for giving me the full moral support to push this project
through, also to Shaykh Shittu Jimoh, (Khadim and Bawaab to Shaykh Ahmad Tijani
in Lagos) who stood by my translation efforts day and night, explaining those
passages too advanced for my amateurish Arabic comprehension, and my brother in
Allah, Abdul-Lateef Owolabi. I employ the tongue of Shaykh Ibrahim Niass in my
expression of deep gratitude for the moral, spiritual and intellectual support
they all rendered. May Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) bless them immensely
for their invaluable contributions (amin).
In addition, my special appreciation
goes to a particular humble servant of Allah and Khadimi-l-Hadrah Faydatu Shaykh Ibrahim, in the person of Alhaji Abubakar Rajab for his financial, moral and
brotherly support all the way. May his fortunes never dwindle
(amin).
Finally, my gratitude goes to my
mother, the one in a million, Alhaja Nihmatallah Kasumu Gbajabiamila;
and my children: all of them, for their
fortitude, prayers and sacrifices during the long periods I kept away from
them. I put them in Allah’s Compassionate Care and He is sufficient for them.
May Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) profit every reader who may come across this
lecture by its gleam, purify our hearts by its beautiful admonitions and grant
us all His Rahmah (Mercy), till the Day of Resurrection.
Glory is to thy Lord, the Lord of
Honour and Power, far above that which they assert. May peace and blessings
also reside upon the Messengers! And all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of
the worlds.
Signed:
Hajiya Sayyidah Bilqees B. Grillo
Rabiu-l-Awwal, 1427AH (March 2006)
DEDICATION
This book is
dedicated to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), His Apostle Seyyidina
Muhammad, the Seal of The Elects, Shaykh Ahmad Tijani of Fez and the Sahibu-l-Faydah,
Shaykh-al-Islam, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullah Niass at-Tijani and to the entire
Muslim Ummah in aiding better comprehension of the ways of the Sufis, the
Elects of Allah.
AUTORIZATIONS FOR TRANSLATION
AND DISTRIBUTION:
Praise Is Due To Allah
And He Is Sufficient. May Peace of Both Worlds Reside On Muhammad the Chosen , and Upon His Household and Companions, The People
Of Light, The Exalted In Ranks.
I Have Given
Permission To The Esteemed Sayyidah, Full Of Barakah, A Muqadimmah, A Gnostic
In Allah, One Who Has Imbibed The Ways Of The Elects Of God, Sayyidah Bilqees
Bolajoko Grillo On The Publication And Distribution Of All Lectures Authored By
Shaykh Ibrahim After Translating Them To English Language So That The Accruing
Benefits Can Cut Across The Whole World Both The Tijaniyyahs And Others
(Muslims & Non-Muslims Alike). I Beseech Allah The Exalted, The Powerful To
Grant Her Benefits Until She Is Capable Of Executing The Task. This Is What I
Am Obliged To Write.
This Idhn
(Permission) Is Written By:
SHAYKH AHMAD TIJANI
IBRAHIM NIASS
A KHUTUBAH REFERRED TO AS:
HADIQATUL-ANWAR
(THEGARDEN OF LIGHTS
(THE
IN
THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST COMPASSIONATE THE MOST MERCIFUL.
MAY ALLAH’S
SALUTATIONS BE UPON THE NOBLE PROPHET.
Keep ye all quiet
with the ethics and humility. The wisdom is lost to the Muumin (Faithful).
Perhaps if anyone among you keeps quiet and listen, he may hear a word of
wisdom which will benefit him the whole of his lifetime…. The wisdom speech is
from Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) the Exalted, its target (which it aims
at) is the heart of the faithful, the Thrower is Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
and He never misses His target (as of spear) for ever, everyone that is present
will derive benefit except he who has no heart, to this end I hope that you
will be present with your hearts (attentive):
Praise is due to
Allah on the entire favours granted both manifest and hidden. These favours if
we attempt to count them, we will be unable to number them …. “But
if ye count the favours of Allah, never will ye be able to number them…”
(Ibrahim 14:34)
The first of these
favours is that He brought us from nothingness with His Power which is
incapable of being overwhelmed by anything, and His wisdom which is
Magnificent. If He, the Glorified had willed, he would have left us in the
nothingness but He brought us into existence as a grace from Him. Then, when He
brought us into existence, He evolved us from the children of a mortal; from
the children of Adam whom He ennobled, He did not make us originate from the
camel specie, the cow specie, the sheep lineage or any of the other animal
species; also not from the monsters’ genealogy but rather, He made us to belong
to the descendants of the children of Adam whom He granted Grace. He, The
Exalted says: “We have honoured the sons of Adam; transport them through land and sea;
given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special
favours, above a great part of Our Creation”(Al-Isra’il 17:70).
MANKIND is the
most perfect creation that Allah, the Source of blessing, the Most Exalted
brought into Existence; and the most honoured among the entire creations before
Him. This is premised on the fact that Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
placed the responsibilities of His Vicegerency upon mankind. He also created
everything for man. He is The One who created for you everything on the surface
of the earth and He subdues for you all that is in the heavens and the earth
altogether. Hence, perfection in the intellect and the sight; perfection in the
perception and the hearing; this phenomenon does not subsist except only in the
case of mankind. He also grants us nobility and after that, He raised-up The
Messengers and He revealed the Book; and He clarified for us the path of
earning Allah’s reward and the path of success. He also explained the road to
healing and the road to entering the fire of hell, we seek Allah’s refuge from
that amin……
THIS
ROAD is
one and it is to have faith in Allah, and also to have the fear of Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala). This involves following His Commandment and also abstaining
from His Prohibition both openly and secretly. This is what He commanded on the
First Prophet, Prophet Noah, and Prophet Hud, Salih, Lut and Shuayb. It is this
same commandment that He gave to Prophet Mustapha [peace be upon him] the last
of the prophets. The first matter which all of them enjoined on the people was
to say: ‘Fear Allah, obey Him, worship
Allah and be conscious of Him’. He completed the message through Prophet
Muhammad [peace be upon him] and made us to be among his Ummah (Community of
believers in his divine message from Allah) and this is the greatest favours He
bestowed on us. Allah the Exalted says: “You are the best of people evolved for the
good of mankind; enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and
believing in Allah”. (Al-Imran 3:110). His Ummah thus became the best
community and his religion became the most prestigious religion while his Holy
Book became the best revealed from the heavens.
THE
RELIGION of Muhammad is Al-Islam. Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
says concerning the reality of Islam thus: “If anyone desires a religion
other than Islam (submission to God), never will it be accepted of him; and in
the Hereafter, he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual
good)”. (Al-Imran 3:85).
This religion
explains to us, what will benefit us in the course of our lives in this world
and what will earn us benefit after our death in the Hereafter. “We have left nothing out (unmentioned) in the book” (Al-Anam 6:38 ). If only
mankind could hold firmly and co-operate in respect to what it (Islam)
advocates, evil would have been overcome and unity attained in all the
different regions of the world. A lot of good fortunes could have spread if all
affairs are consolidated on the threshold of Islam and the Muslims could have
elevated the Divine Ordinance which could have absolutely warded-off all evils
in the entire creation.
THE
RELIGION
of Islam as the Noble Messenger affirmed [peace be upon him] is: “Islam has been built upon five things:
testifying that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, upholding the obligatory salah, giving the
compulsory alms, fasting in the month of Ramadhan and going on pilgrimage to
the House of Allah for whoever is able
to do this”.
AS
FOR
Faith which is the first pillar, one
is expected to say: “La ilaha illa Allah,
Muhammad Rasulullah”(meaning: There
is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah)”. This is the statement of bearing witness which guarantees that one
has faith in Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala). To have faith in Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) is an affirmation that one also possesses faith in Prophet
Muhammad [peace be upon him]. To have faith in Prophet Muhammad is also a
guarantee that one believes in the rest of the entire Prophets, the Books, the
Angels and the Hereafter.
AFTER
THE
profession of faith, the most
complete of the remaining pillars which is also the most dignified and meritorious
is the observance of the five obligatory
daily prayers offered between the day and the night. It is the second pillar and the most meritorious
of all the pillars and it is to Islam, what the head of a man is to the whole
body.
THE
MAN
who watches over his observance of salah is testifying that he is a bona-fide
Muslim while the one abandoning salah is also testifying to his fact of being a
disbeliever. In the case of all the obligatory duties, the injunctions for
their performance occurred on the earth surface, but in the case of salah, the
injunctions about it came from above the seven heavens. The Angel was, with
respect to the other obligatory ordinances, sending the messages to the earth
and this was arriving upon Muhammad [peace be upon him] who then conveyed the
message to the people. However, in the case of salah, Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) carried His Prophet heavenwards, travelling the night journey with
him from The Sacred Mosque to The Distant Mosque, climbed him up from the
Distant Mosque until he went beyond the seven heavens and arrived upon the
Divine Presence of Allah, the Source of blessing, The Most Exalted and He made
obligatory on him the observance of salah from that Exalted Establishment.
“THE FIVE obligatory daily prayers
acts as expiation (of sins or lapses) that was between them (of man’s actions)”,
as was related in the sound Hadith. This is because observance of salah has
guaranteed the soundness of the other pillars of Islam. In the composition of salah
there is the standing posture, the bowing, the prostration, recitation of the
Qur’an, remembrance of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), in all its segments.
In Salah, there is also the Hajj pillar there. This is because Hajj is to make
a resolve to visit the House of Allah that is in Makkah, and a devotee praying
has to abandon all the entire activities with which he is faced, abandon his
entire pre-occupations, and face the Qiblah for as long as he is in the act of
devotion. At that point, he has made a pilgrimage; if not for that reason,
mankind would have prayed in any direction he wishes; Allah the Exalted says: “And
wherever you may turn, you will surely find the Face of Allah”. (Al-Baqarah
2:115).
ALSO
IN
salah is the pillar of fasting; for as long as a man is praying, from the point
he makes the takbiratul ihram (the first Allahu Akbar) until the point of
saying the taslim (as-salaam alaykum indicating the conclusion of prayer),
he neither eats nor drinks, hence he is in a fasting state.
ALSO
IN
the salah is spending as well as zakah which involves taking a portion from the
things within one’s control and giving it as charity and spending it to seek
the Face of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), the Source of blessing, the
Most Exalted. Salah cannot be sound except with zakah, because a man cannot
pray except with water and this water (being used) is an article of wealth; he
cannot pray except after eating and drinking, and also until he gathers
sufficient strength for the observance of the prayer. He cannot pray except
covering the body with cloth; all these are expenditures; he builds a mosque by
spreading a mat, all these are zakah which the prayer guarantees.
ZAKAH,
AS
we shall explain further in the paragraph of Zakah, is spending money to seek
the Face of Almighty Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), and is comprised of
every object which a servant extracts from his wealth whether it be little or
much, whether he spends it on himself, his wife, his neighbour, or gives it to
a Muslim, to a non-Muslim, or to the domestic pets and animals; as long as he
makes an intention that he is spending it in order to seek Allah’s pleasures
and acceptance.
THERE
IS
no doubt that the first logical spending for a man is to build for himself a
house wherein he can enjoy shade and this represents spending in the way of God
as long as he makes by it, an intention
that he is doing it in order to seek His face, may He be Glorified and Exalted.
There is no doubt about seeking means of survival with which to discharge his
personal affairs, and it is a means of worship of Allah among many other
articles employed in the worship of Allah, the Source of blessing, the Exalted;
as long as he makes an intention that he is spending it to seek the face of
Allah, The Almighty. The Noble Apostle used to say: “Up to those means acquired
for feeding subsistence provided for your wife (this is part of spending in the
way of God)”.
THE
MISCHIEF
which Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) disapproves is to spend anything and
regard it as being within your capability and not in order to seek Allah’s pleasure.
With this attitude, if what is spent is very small, it makes the spender to be
regarded as a spendthrift. Even if it is much, you are still regarded as a
spendthrift. On the contrary, when someone gives out something for Allah’s approval,
even if he gives the whole of the property within his control, that act is not
regarded as being extravagant. This can be corroborated with the case of Sayyidina
Abu Bakr who gave out all that he has within his control until nothing remained
except the overall cloth that he was wearing at that moment. If this was an
extravagant spending, the Holy Prophet [peace be upon him] would have
restrained him.
THE
CONCEPT
of extravagance leading one to be regarded as a spendthrift is to spend
anything, even if small believing that it was not spent in seeking Allah’s
Face. May Allah grant us fortune towards making pure noble intentions. So
whoever spends something to seek Allah’s pleasure is not a spendthrift. This
position is very clear since all spending generally are like this (in terms of
the intention behind it).We all know that what ever you wear in order to offer salah,
the mat you spread in order to pray, the
food, the drink, all of these are some forms of expenditure in the way of Allah
(Subhana’u wa ta’ala). If this is so, then Zakah, as an institution and
a pillar of Islam had entered the principles of obligatory salah. It is because
of this that salah became the best in merit as a means of worship over all other
means of worship; salah stands on top of all. It is the means of
drawing the servant nearer from Allah to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
especially when the devotee is in the posture of sujud (prostration); it is the
closest of all the means that can draw a servant near to his Lord. Allah the
Source of blessing, The Most Exalted affirms: ”So prostrate thyself and draw near to God” (Al Alaq 96:19).It is
due to this position of salah that it becomes an object of expiation for all
kinds of sins.
THE
NOBLE Apostle
said to his companions: “Supposing there is for every single person
among you who has by his door, a river in which he bathes therein five times
every day, can you see any remnants of dirt on such a person? They said: No, He
said: That is how the five daily prayers are”. As the Holy Prophet
said, prayer is sufficient for the devotee as a veritable medium to God. A
praying devotee commune with his Lord and stand before Him (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala). This is a very great mark of dignity for the devotee. Mankind is
moulded to be naturally in love of dignity. He loves to be dignified with
esteemed and exalted status and to possess all kinds of dignifying things; the
highest in value of all such things: this is the natural state of mankind
although in the real sense, mankind’s dignity, elevation, merit and perfection
lies in humbling himself before Almighty Allah by earnestly calling Him in
humility.
ALLAH
THE SOURCE OF BLESSING and Exalted created the totality of the creations
and divided it into three sections as follows:
1.
The section that is perfect and which will
not suffer any form of depreciation, ever.
2.
The section that is imperfect and can never
attain any form of perfection.
3.
The section that is sometimes perfect and
sometimes below perfection.
The group that is
always perfect and never depreciates at all times is the angels; they do not
oppose Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) on any commandments He gave them and
they always act as they are commanded. These are the group that suffers no
imperfection.
The section that is
permanently depreciating without any form of perfection relates to the
mountains and animals class; it is not easy for them to attain any form of
perfection. They are absolutely and permanently imperfect.
However, the section
that sometimes attains perfection and sometimes depreciates relates to the
children of Prophet Adam (on whom be peace).
AT
TIMES,
the children of Adam attain perfection and sometimes exhibit imperfection in
nature. Hence, for a person who is sometimes perfect and sometimes imperfect,
his source of perfection is not from his own person or making; if it were to be
from his own person or volition, he could have maintained himself on a perfect
state permanently. But the contrary is the case as his perfection is from
someone else [Allah]. This is the nature of man; his perfection only occurs
while standing up (in prayers) in front of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
and while conversing with Him (in supplications or glorifications and while
remembering Him. This is the only source of his perfection and dignity; this
remains so far as long as he is engaged in the remembrance of Allah. However,
whenever he is neglectful of Allah’s remembrance (Subhana’u wa ta’ala),
he becomes imperfect. Due to the fact that human being loves perfection, every
matter which he thinks will engender his perfection he repeatedly make its
mention to himself and proudly associate himself with it. This is why Allah
reminds us in the Holy Qur’an and invites us all to His remembrance in many
verses of the Qur’an. He says: “And ye all engage in remembering Allah.”
(Al-Ahzab 33:41) He also says:”To Allah belongs the Most Beautiful Names,
so
call Him by it”(al-Qur’an). It is because Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) knows that we are not perfect except by virtue of our remembrance
of Him; this is why He guided us to the
need for regularity in the course of His remembrance. Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) knows that we are children of Adam (on whom be peace). We are used to
leaning towards those things that we think will grant us perfection. But in
reality our perfection is only in the remembrance of Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala).
You will see among us
an Arab saying “I am an Arab and a Hausa man proudly saying: “I am an Hausa”,
and also a Kanawi man saying: “I am a Kanawiyy”; each one proud of his tribal
descent etcetera, based on the remembrance of his lineage because he thinks
that fact will elevate him. For as long as that elevate him in his thinking, he
will continue to mention it.
HOWEVER
IN
reality, perfection does not pertain to us except in the course of remembrance
of Allah. That is why Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) repeatedly reminds us
to remember Him and that we should make the remembrance (Dhikr) plentiful to
Him since his perfection in reality,
and his dignity lies in the remembrance of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
above other factors. Since Almighty Allah is Noble and Good in His personality,
His Attributes and in His Names He reminds us of this goodness in the verse
that reads: ”To Allah belongs the Most Beautiful Names” (al-Qur’an)
This is in order to heighten
our hopes and aspirations to this Nobility of His, because good things
cannot possibly be associated with another thing
except that the other thing is equally good. In this regard, since we have
unbecoming, blameworthy dispositions in our personalities, deeds and utterances,
we should not be aligned again to any deed that will merge in us again our
unbecoming attitudes.
THIS
WILL
be buttressed with a narration that subsists among our Righteous people of God
who said: Narration is one of the many soldiers of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) which He employs to strengthen the hearts
of whoever He wills among His servants; and to lend credence to this
fact, Allah says: “And we relate unto thee, all of the tidings of the messengers, whereby
we make thy heart firm” (Hud 11:120). Two men went to a righteous man
of God and requested from him to give them useful admonitions. One of them was
handsome while the other was ugly by appearance. He faced the handsome man and
said: “You can see that you are handsome by physical appearance; hence it is
not noble of you to do anything except to engage only in good and honourable
deeds. He then faced the ugly man and said: “You can see that you are ugly by
nature hence it will highly unbecoming of you to engage in any ugly deeds that is capable of
connecting again to your ugly nature; since by nature you are ugly, you must
ensure that your deeds are nothing by good and noble.
I
LOVE to
say that since Allah is Good and Noble and possesses beautiful Attributes and
Names, he will not punish us because He does not engage in any matter except
what is noble and beautiful; hence He will efface all our shortcomings – all of
us, and since we know that our works, attributes and souls are filthy and ugly,
Allah will not connect or merge anything by way of punishment which is
naturally bad to that already existing bad natures in us, such that ugliness
becomes increased in us. On the contrary, he will ennoble us with His
compassion & Goodness as is His Practice – may He be glorified and exalted.
PRAYER
IS enjoined
upon you! Prayer is indeed enjoined upon you! “Verily prayer eschews from indecency and evil”. (Al-Ankabut 29:45). Allah The Exalted says: ”Watch strictly over the prayers
especially the Middle Prayer and stand up for Allah, being obedient to Him”
(Baqarah 2 : ). Allah promised the one abandoning salah with two
different types of punishments which He never promised by them to anyone
before, except to the one who abandons observance of salah. He says: “But after them there followed a
posterity who missed prayers and followed after lusts. Soon, then, will they
face destruction..” He also states: “So woe unto those who pray, but are unmindful of their prayers” (Al-Maun
107:4-5) Perdition and woe are two punishments which Allah did not promise to
inflict either of the two on anyone in the entire world except the one who
abandons performance of the obligatory prayers.
Allah says: “And command your people to uphold prayer, and be patient over it, We
ask thee not for provisions. It is We that provides for thee” (Ta Ha
20:132).
IN THESE Qur’anic verses we understand that whoever maintains a strict watch
over the performance of prayers, Allah will protect him and provide sustenance
for him from avenues he cannot contemplate. He will also protect his family and
grant them sustenance as a result of this watch over prayer. In the same
manner, whoever treats his prayers with latitude or neglect, Allah will suffer
his family to bear the resultant negative consequences. Hence the family that is
to be pitied most is the family of a man who handles his salah carelessly.
WHEN THE Almighty Allah makes injunctions for the performance of the obligatory
prayers, He did not just stop it there without further enabling prescriptions.
He commanded about the mode and manner for its observance, the need for it to
be performed in congregation, how it should be performed within its appointed
hours without delay and the surrounding pre-conditions and stipulations
relating to it. He also made injunctions relating to the need for serious
concentration and humility of heart while on it. He said: “And keep up prayer”. This
is to mean the upholding of prayer along with its complete rules, stipulations
and conditions governing it. Therefore, any prayer that someone performs
neglectfully, delays till the end of its due period, or without concentration
of the heart in it, haphazardly or performed in a hurried manner as likened to
the way the cock plucks grains from the ground (never attaining any form of
tranquilility or rest in-between prostration, as if the devil is chasing the
prostrating person). That kind of prayer is the one the noble prophet referred
to as the ‘prayer of the hypocrite’.
In this kind of prayer, when its observer concludes the taslim, (saying as-salaam
alaykum signifying the termination of the prayer), it will be folded up and
thrown back at the owner’s face.
IT WAS this form of prayer that a man once observed in front of the Holy
Prophet [peace be upon him], the Prophet said: ‘Go back and repeat your
prayer for you have not really prayed’. So the man went back and
repeated the prayers. Then he came back to the Prophet who said again: “Go
back again and repeat the prayers for you have not prayed”. The man
went back again and prayed. Then he came back and for the last time, the
prophet said: “If you remain on this kind of attitude praying in this manner and you
die, you would have died the death of an ignorant person. Henceforth,
if you approach prayer, you must face the Qiblah (the direction of the Ka’aba
where all devotees face to offer prayers), do the takbir (the first mention of
‘Allahu Akbar’ raising your hands up), then recite the Fatiha and Surah (which
you are capable of reciting). Then you bow until you maintain a state of
balance, then you prostrate”. You do all these with orderliness and not in a
manner that is easily attributable to the prayer of the hypocrites as
previously explained.
ALLAH THE Almighty the Most Exalted commanded that the Prayer be performed in a
congregation as He said: ”And bow down (in prayer) along with those
who bow down” (Al-Imran 3:43 ).
The Holy Prophet [peace be upon him] said: “There is no acceptability of a
prayer observed in the neighbourhood or vicinity of an existing mosque, except
if there are valid excuses”. Concerning the need to observe prayers
within its fixed periods, Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) says: “Verily,
the prayer is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours” (An-Nisa
4:103); that is salah has been ordained with its own time-period within which
it must be observed. We are also enjoined to be humble in the course of
performance of salah, because prayer offered without humility of the heart
cannot be regarded as one for which The Face of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
is sought. A prayer cannot be offered except the heart is entrenched in Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala). It must be done in full consciousness, other wise the motions
and resting in-between cannot avail anything for the devotee since there was no
concentration or the presence of mind before Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
in the process. The Noble Prophet [peace be upon him] and his companions and
the believers after them, accepted fully all these injunctions and carried them
out to the letter as Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) stipulated for their
proper observance. They kept strict watch over it and upheld the performance in
congregation and at their respective due periods entrenching the fear of Allah
in its observance until such a time Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) made
mention of them and also their end. He said: “These are the heirs who will inherit paradise” (Al-Mumin 23:11 -12).
IN
THE
same vein Abu Jahl, the head of the disbelievers and those who followed him in
disbelief till the Day of Judgement refuted these and refused to pray. Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) also mentioned them in the Qur’an and mentioned their ultimate
end. He said: “What has caused you to enter Hell? They will
say: “we were not of those who used to offer the salah (prayers)”
(Al-Mudathir 74:42-43). Among the great characteristics of salah is
that Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) commanded its observance and stipulated
its time period. He also divided it between the night and the day and made its
numbers smaller. He appointed for it a Caller at every hour that it is due for
performance.
SALAH
IS also
embedded in Fasting, Zakah and Hajj. Fasting is withholding oneself from the
desires of the stomach and the sexual organs from the appearance of dawn until
the setting of the sun with an intention of seeking nearness to Allah by
following His commandments. The fasting person is enjoined to be someone who
remembers Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) always hence this is salah. The
fasting person is enjoined to perform salahu-t-tarawih in the night of Ramadhan;
this is also salah. In the same vein, he is enjoined to make plentiful the
performance of Salah and Nafilahs (voluntary prayers) because every voluntary
act or deed in Ramadhan stands in the position of an obligatory act offered in
other months apart from Ramadhan. We are all conversant with the fact that an
obligatory act is greater in worth than any voluntary act.
AGAIN,
ZAKAH
is entrenched in the institution of fasting. This is because the fasting person
seeks purification and based on this need, sympathizes with the needy by
granting him a portion of his wealth as a form of mercy. The fasting person
makes himself to taste hunger to which the needy ones are accustomed, until he
is increased in mercy towards the needy ones. This is apart from the fact that
a fasting person always wakes up for the morning meal. His searching for the
meal of breaking fast and feeding others also - all these are forms of
expenditure in the cause of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala). The fasting
person desires purification hence, for this reason; he is fasting and this is a
form of spending. There was an equitable Emir in times past, when there came
upon him the period of hunger but knowing that all the people were hungry, he
decided not to eat food for the whole afternoon so as to taste hunger as his
people were tasting hunger. For this reason Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
thanked and forgave him.
EVERY
FASTING
person is like this Emir because each one is making himself to taste hunger,
which the needy ones are used to until his sympathy for them increases. He who
abandons eating, drinking, refraining from sexual intercourse without the aim
of doing it to seek Allah’s pleasure, this one can not be regarded as a fasting
person. As for the institution of Hajj, once his aim is to seek Allah’s Face
this again becomes salah, hajj, fasting and spending. We cannot regard any
spending as expenditure in the way of Allah until the purpose is for Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala). Whoever spends all his money so that he can be applauded as a
generous and open-handed person, this act can not be regarded as spending in
the way of Allah.
AFTER
ZAKAH
there is Hajj – pilgrimage to the Sacred House of Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala). As for what Hajj connotes, there is the guarantee of salah,
fasting and spending in Allah’s way. In Hajj, the first obligation is to pray
two rakahs for the entering into a state of Ihram. This is salah, for there is
no doubt about making adequate provisions for his needs for the purpose of
pilgrimage both on the departure and returning and for spending on the needy
ones. This is spending and there is also the hidayah (the sacrificial animal slaughtered on the day of
sacrifice). Salah is also embodied in it as people will face the Qiblah during
the performance of this act. It also encompasses the remembrance of Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) since all the other pillars have a guarantee of the mentioning
of Allah’s Name always.
FOR
HAJJ regarding
the dhikr in it, this talbiyyah is recited: “Labbayka Allahumma Labbayk, labbayka
la sharika Laka Labbayk, inna-l-Hamda wa Nihmahta Laka wal Mulk, laa sharika
Lak”.( Here I come O Allah! Here I come! Here I come, there is no partner with
Thee, Here I come! Verily the Praise and the Favour are Yours, and The Kingdom
too! There is no partner with Thee). This is dhikr and this is salah.
And when he does circumambulation (tawwaf) round the house, he remembers Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) and when he finishes his tawwaf he offers prayer as Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) commanded him thus: “And offer prayers at the station of Ibrahim”
(Al-Qur’an). He does the Sa’y [running between Safa and Marwa] and returns to
Minna and Arafat and in all these cases, he chants the dhikrullah. All these
are salah.
THESE
RITES
and obligations also represent spending and fasting. The main real goal in all
these acts of devotion entirely – the salah, fasting, zakah and hajj is to
remember the Name of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala). Remembrance (Dhikr has its opposite in forgetfulness and
occurs [that is dhikr is upheld] when you forget every other-than-Allah. Allah
Ta’ala mentions this situation, He says: “And call thy Lord to mind when
thou forgets” (Al-Kahf 18:24 ). When forgetfulness occurs, he is awoken to
the remembrance of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)… The heart that neglectfully
forgets Allah is not remembering Allah in a perfect, sound state; but whoever
is consciously constant on the remembrance of Allah may either enter into dhikr
with full presence of heart or may enter into dhikr with absence of mind from
every other-than-Allah, and that is not difficult for Allah. The dhikr which is
the end-goal of the entire dhikr efforts has its sole object in the attainment of
the knowledge of Allah. His Words (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) indicates this fact: “And I have not created the Jinn and the Men
except that they should worship Me”. (Ad-Dhariyah 51:56) meaning: “Except
that they should know me”.
SINCE
THE
GOAL in all the various forms of worship and in all Divine Ordinances is
to achieve concentration of the heart in Allah, that may not be possible except
by first knowing Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) and this cannot be achieved
until you leave off everything other-than-Allah from your heart, and
consciously work for the attainment of concentration of your heart towards Allah’s
Majesty and not turn your attention hither or thither in the pursuit of
other-than-Allah in whatever situation
among many that one may encounter as that was the aim of this effort. It is due
to this reason that we accustom ourselves to the companionship of the Shaykh
and holding on to the recitation of the awraad (litanies).
THE
WIRD (litany
undertaken by devotees) is not compulsory on any servant among Allah’s
worshippers, but what is compulsory is the worship of Allah with every act of
sincerity: “And they have not been
commanded except that they worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion”
(Al-Bayinnah 98:5). This is sincerity and it is not attainable as long as there
is the presence of filth in the self. They asked Shaykh Tijani: “Is
the taking up of the awrad (litanies) compulsory on the servant”? He
said: “No, but from shariah’s
stipulations (Divine ordinance provisions), it is compulsory to have the
companionship of a Shaykh (a learned matured elder) who will teach you the obligations of the fardu-l-ayni (what a matured,
sensible Muslim is expected to know about his religion) because ignorance of
the fardu-l-ayni is forbidden. Hence
there is no doubt that every Muslim must know the fardu-l-ayni, and there is to doubt that he must
associate with whoever will teach him the fardu-l-ayni. This is essential
according to the shariah”. He said further: “But making companionship of the Shaykh and obtaining the Awrad
(litanies) is not compulsory by way of shariah’s stipulations, but it is
compulsory from the rational angle that human beings are seen to be sick, often
attaining the highest level of sickness until, if he does not visit the Doctor
for a cure, he dies”.
SO
WE advocate
to the sick one: “if you desire death, then it is not incumbent upon you to seek the
Doctor, but if you wish for good-health, then it is obligatory to seek for a
doctor”. Hence if a sick person loves to be healed, we say to him from
the rational viewpoint to go and seek out a doctor. This is the essence of
prayer. Every devotee is likened to this sick person and Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) enjoined him to worship him with Ikhlas (Sincerity) and he cannot
attain the standard of Ikhlas in his worship as long as this self of his
possesses pride, conceit, the diseases of show-off, jealousy, hatred and all
that he possesses among the debasing, unhealthy, filthy attributes.
THEREFORE,
IF
he desires a cure from all these, it is compulsory for him to associate himself
with a Shaykh who occupies the position of doctor, that will cure him of these
ailments. However, if he desires to be destroyed from the maladies, it is not
compulsory for him to undertake the recitation of the wird or associate with
any Shaykh. It is only when cure is desired that a servant goes to the doctor
or to a Shaykh who is perfect in gnosis, who then takes him out of the various
maladies of his filthy bad self and joins him to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
The Salihin (Elders in the path of Allah
who has attained this named rank) before us had tested and affirmed that
the awrad (litanies) and companionship with Shaykhs perfect in gnosis are two
veritable avenues through which the servant is joined to Allah, the Glorified
and Exalted. By these means, a Murid [student on the spiritual trek] is
emancipated from the maladies plaguing his base, filthy self and may be we got some
few who had adopted this method and thus attained the knowledge of Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala). To attain arrival in this manner is not possible, not with the
ritual worship, or possession of scholarship, not with anything amongst so many
others, but only with the companionship of the Shaykh
only.This is because associating with the people of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
necessitates emulation and companionship closes the distance for the servant by
means of attraction for the servant, hence emulation is a fast route in all
things especially when there is no antagonism in the hearts. The Noble Prophet
again corroborates: “Mixing with the
leper makes one leprous too. Hence whoever mixes with a sick person becomes afflicted
with his maladies as we have witnessed
in many instances.
WHAT
IS
closer to this in analogy is to imagine a person coming to a particular seminar
where the entire people are laughing. There is no doubt that he will share in
their laughter, even if he does not have a reason for this laughter. Hence, if
he goes to an assembly of people who are crying, there is doubt that he will
join them in crying even if there is no sadness in his heart. This is
emulation. Love has the capacity of sticking the young with the elderly
directly without hitch just as when you hold a needle and place it on a sword,
it gets stuck to it. This is how affection is, whoever is in love with a person
gets stuck to the person loved, and that love acts as a vehicle that leads him
to arrive at his station.
THE
MEANING
of awrad (litanies) is the establishment of constancy over the remembrance of
Allah, the Source of blessing, the Most Exalted, and attaining the love of the
friends of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala); for surely the remembrance of
Allah is the greatest. “I am sitting with whoever is remembering Me”.
Having the love of the friends of Allah is a compulsory obligation, as Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) Himself remarked: “Whoever takes My friend for an enemy, I will
wage war against him“(Hadith-al-Qudsi). Shaykh Tijani (radiya Allahu
ta’ala anhu) also remarked about the guarantee that subsists with this
hadith: “Whoever takes My Elect for a friend, I will equally make him My Elect”.
The whole of this has been tried and tested and we found it sound hence we will
not dwell longer on it.
THE
ENEMIES of Islam however when they want to tear down Islam, they begin in
this order:
·
First by labeling it with the address of
innovation so as to disperse the people from the friends (of Allah).
·
They then disperse them from observance of salah,
·
Then they dispel them from the religion of
Islam absolutely.
We have heard many of them attacking the
Tariqah Tijaniyyah [by labeling it with bad names) in this our time, but
Tariqah Tijaniyyah is simply Istigfar (seeking forgiveness), as-salah on the
Prophet [peace be upon him] and chanting ‘La ilaha illa Allah’. I want you all
my brothers to ponder deeply over this matter, which kind of blameworthy
quality can you observe in any of these adhkars (prayer formulae). Is it not
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) Himself who said: “And seek ye all forgiveness of
your Lord”. (Nuh 71:10) and also: “O ye who believe, send prayers of
peace and salutations upon him” (Al-Ahzab 33:56). In addition, did He (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) not says: “And remember Allah with much remembrance”
(Al-Ahzab 33:41) and also: “And glorify Him in the morning and evening”
(Al-Ahzab 33:42). They then erroneously attribute disbelief and
innovation to this noble path.
What can be correctly
termed as innovation is whatever is introduced after the passing away of the
Messenger of Allah [peace be upon him] which he did not come with and which is
not found in the Qur’an. But a matter which Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
commands by it in the Qur’an, how can someone term it to be innovation and
which the Holy prophet also enjoined, and for which he says: “I used to do Istigfar seventy times daily,
and in another tradition, one hundred (100) times daily”.
The Noble prophet who
is absolved from all sins is incapacitated over contradicting Allah’s
commandments (Subhana’u wa ta’ala). Just like your feeling of incapacity
or helplessness when flying in the aeroplane in the heavens, or like your
incapability over the aeroplane you are watching in the horizon. He is inept
over doing a thing that is at variance with the shariah, and Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) addresses him. “Surely we
have granted Thee a clear victory. So that Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
may cover up for thee thy shortcomings, past and future” (Al-Fath 48:1-2).
If we have taken it as a compulsory observation that he is liable to sins as a
mortal, Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) has forgiven him what was
committed in the past and what will be committed later in the future, despite
this he still does Istigfar to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) seventy times
everyday. So how can we (common folks) now abandon doing istigfar? Someone who is protected from the commission
of sins and whom Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) has forgiven his past and
future sins still engages himself in seeking forgiveness from Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala). Can we therefore abandon istigfar?. They will soon tell us to
abandon performance of salah, abandon fasting, and continue to affirm that
there is no existence by Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala). O you people!
Adhere to this recitation of the adhkars and istigfar and asalah on the holy
prophet and whoever says this act amounts to disbelief such a person shall be
responsible for the consequences of his affirmations; therefore adhere firmly
to this their so called disbelief. I am commanding you all by it and I am
taking responsibility of guaranteeing you all in this matter. This is the truth
and the truth is being proclaimed. Surely Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
came to us with this religion of the Arab Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him]
and the tone of the Qur’an is in the clear Arabic tongue. It is the Arabs that
came with this religion of Islam to us and they in this period wants to take it
back (that is, Islam) from us and we will not allow that to happen. I spoke to
an Arab who remarked: “We are the one who brought Islam to you; we are
the people responsible for bringing this religion to you”. I replied
him: “Yes, you came to us with this religion and we have held firmly to
it, but today you wish to snatch it away from us. We will never accept this if
you are indeed with us in this religion, for we are with you; but if you
abandon it, we will remain with it (Islam)”. It is this truth that the
enemies are witnessing.
I spoke with an Arab
some few days past and he said: “We are so many in the land and we see that
Islam is still on its pristine nature; it subsists (in its fine state) in Nigeria Senegal Mauritania Nigeria
We love the Muslims
among them because they belong to the race of our prophet. We love their tongue
because it is the tongue of Al-Qur’an (the language with which the Qur’an was
revealed to mankind); but whoever abandons following the religion of Islam
among them, do not turn your attention to him because he has no standpoint with
which to justify his attitude.
We
were once
in a research conference and the Muslim World League sent word to us to select
three or four delegates to come to the television in order to talk to the
people. They said: “Ibrahim Niass of Africa
is the one calling the people of Africa to
Islam, he should therefore be nominated”. So when I got to the
television I said: “The call to Islam is a compulsory duty of every
individual in Africa but that I will like to
call the Arabs first to Islam before calling others. This is because we are not
pleased with the way the Arabs are practising other alien religions apart from
the religion of Islam, their natural heritage and we are seeing many among the
Arabs who are not Muslims (having decamped to embracing other unimportant
faiths). Again, we see many Arab Muslims who are neglectful (about the correct
practices of the obligations of Islam); who abandon it and are far away from
anything Islam (much to our amazement). We are not at all comfortable with these
phenomenons. Therefore, we are calling unto you to return back to this
religion, oh you Arabs! After that, we
call on the Europeans, the Americans, the Asians and the Africans to hold
firmly unto this religion. Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) says:
“Come to a word that is common between us and you: ‘that we shall not worship any but Allah and will
not set up as equals other deity, and we shall not take a part of us as Lords
in the [place of Allah’. But if they turn away, bear us witness that we are of
those who submit to the will of Allah” [Al- ].
This conference has
been unbearably prolonged; so let me summarise for you all that has been
discussed in this conference. I will briefly highlight all the high points of the entire
sermon on your behalf.
v We all
bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that
Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah. We all bear this witness and we revive our
faith by it. ‘La ilaha illa Allah’ is to have faith in Allah and it signifies
the worship of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) Alone. This is the first
compulsory duty on every creature.
v Following
this obligation is the duty of goodness of disposition and of character towards
every creation of Allah. Kindness of disposition to every creature of Allah is
possible by harbouring good thoughts. If a servant harbours good thought about
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) and also about His servants and also put
every person in his rightful position which Allah has placed him (by according
each the respectability due to him/her, based on his rank within the community),
then it will be easy for him to practice good behaviour or disposition towards
every creature of God.
v From the
foundation or basic level, all of us are equal; we are all children of mortals
(born through the same route) to this world. Thereafter, Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) granted some of you more grace and favour than the others in the
provision of sustenance. So whatever is with you all by way of favour is
definitely from Allah.
v Therefore,
anyone who is occupying any position of esteem or rank, it is Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) who placed him there. So the best code of ethics towards Allah is to
accept whatever Allah has given him as a basis of rendering praise to
Him and to leave-off envy. It is Allah who has determined each person’s share
of gifts from the foundation of existence and His sharing is equitably
pleasing. It is therefore incumbent on every servant to be pleased
with Allah’s judgement and decree upon him.
v In this
wise, it is essential for the devotee to exhibit a high degree of decorum
towards the elders and reciprocally for the elders to show mercy towards the
younger ones. The best man is he who respects the elders and is merciful to the
younger ones. Those who practice acts of mercy, Allah, the Source of
blessing the Most Exalted is also merciful towards them. “So be ye merciful who are on the
earth so that those in the heavens may be merciful unto you too” (that
is the highly-placed should extend mercy to the lowly).
v Whoever
has a need, let him seek for it from Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) because
it is Allah Who has commanded us to pray to Him to seek our needs, He asked us
to ask Him out of His Bounty; therefore ask Allah all of you, from His Grace. “And
when My servant asks thee concerning Me, tell them that I am Near. I answer the
call of the caller when he call Me” (Al-Baqarah 2: 186).
v Therefore
ask Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) and leave off being envious of others.
The Holy Prophet [peace be upon him] enjoined us to look towards those who are
below us in ranks, and not look towards those who are above us in prestige.
This is in those matters or affairs of this world (that is, pertaining to
life’s gifts or luxuries). So whatever is with you by way of favours is from
Allah Ta’ala even if you have achieved the heights of your attainments. If you
should look at a person who is above you, you will see him as possessing more,
in multiples upon multiples of those things you lack or cherish, and thereby
you will belittle the great good that is in your hand of Allah’s favours and be
envious of that person. However, if you look towards the person who is below
you, you will see him possessing what is much smaller than yours and by that be
induced to render thanks and praise to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) over
the favours He has bestowed you above the other person.
This analogy relates
to only those things pertaining to the gifts of this world. However, concerning
those things pertaining to the religion, the judgement and after-life, you
should look towards the person who is above you if you are striving to excel in
the way of God no matter your status in the strivings. If you look towards someone who is above you,
you will realise who among you is greater in strivings and you would want to
emulate him to do more and by that belittle the much-perceived quantum of
knowledge that you possess, and this a praiseworthy stand.
On the contrary, if you look at those who are
below you, no matter how weak he may be in his act of neglect, your own false
pedestal will make you perceive yourself as if you are the best in strivings
when in reality, the case is not so at all. Therefore,
v You should
mirror yourself against those who are lower than you when it pertains to
mundane affairs of life and not match yourself with those more
favoured with material means.
v Then, you
should mirror yourself against those above you in matters of the religion
and not look towards those spiritually below you for comparison.
I will recite this
Surah to end my speech:
“Wal
asri.
Inna-l-insaana lafii khusrin.
Illa ladhina a’manu wa amilu-saliha;
Wa tawassaw bil-Aqqi wa tawassaw bi-s-sabr”
Meaning:
”By The Declining Day.
Certainly Man is in a
state of loss.
Except those who
believe and engage in righteous deeds;
And exhort one
another to The Truth, and exhort one another
to Patience”(Al Asri 103:1-4)
Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) swears that Man is in a state of loss. This affects the entire
mankind. Every person is involved in this loss except those who share in the
following four attributes:
v Have faith
in Allah
v Engages in
good righteous deeds
v Exhort
others to the Truth
v Exhort
others to patience
I am beseeching Allah
for the good of the entire people of Kano and the country of Nigeria; I beseech
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) to grant you all the fortune towards what He
loves and is pleased with; to protect you all from every evil, and to spread
peace, sound health, all variants of goodness and affluence unto this land, and
to place it afar from all evils, afflictions and misfortune. Whoever
does not render thanks to mankind, will never appreciate the need for rendition
of thanks to Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala). I therefore thank the people of this household and I
call all of you to expression of gratitude to them all because they are the
league between me and you all; and they are the cause of good fortunes
regarding all that transpires amongst us, openly and secretly; in this world
and in the next.
We hope for them all
good things in plentiful measure since they are the league between us and Nigeria
First and foremost
among them is the departed and the late, on whom Allah’s mercy resides, Alhaji
Abdullahi Bayero. As you all know that together, and after him his
elderly son, Muhammad Sunusi passed along this benevolent and grace
throughout his lifetime. Today again, his son Alhaji Adam, as you all
know followed after his father’s footsteps and that of his elder brother.
Therefore, we express
our thanks to them all and invite you all to the expression of this
appreciation to them and we pray to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) for
their welfare. We charge you all to do likewise by remembering them in prayers
in your privacy in their absence and also in every period out of your time
while you are alone or in a group.
May Allah make
permanently available upon them His bounty, increase, complete and perfect this
grace, make them Emirs in this present life and also honour them to become
Emirs in the Hereafter. In the same manner, as you all know, Alhaji Abdullah
Bayero when he obtained the hand of Tariqah (Bayath) from me, I appointed him
as Mukaddam in the Tariqah Tijaniyyah and when he passed on, I made his son
Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi the next Mukaddam also in this Tariqah Tijaniyyah and
made him to stand as the khalifah of Shaykh Ahmad Tidjani (may Allah’s pleasure
be with Him).
Today also, I
hereby make Alhaji Adam the next-in-line Mukaddam in the Tariqah Tijaniyyah and
give him the post of Mukaddam who has absolute authority and absolute rights
and priviledges (to the litanies/adhkars/asrars
of the tariqah). Today, he stands on my stand and they [as earlier mentioned]
are my person and I am also their person, and since this is so, we are all one
single entity – nay; Bayero is myself and I am yourselves (all members of the
household of Bayero). Therefore, since this is the case, then all of us
represent a single entity, this (statement of mine) will be comprehensible
to only him who has the tasting of the Aqeeqah (reality).
I beseech Allah to
entrench His bounty, increase it and perfect it on them; and make them Emirs in
this world and the next. We hope for that priviledge from Allah because Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) has said in His statement. [“ fa ama zabadu fa yadhabu
jufaan, wa ama ma yanfau n nas fayamkusu fil ardi] “.
As you all know,
their entire works, their movements abroad and at home is in affording benefits
to the entire creation.
I will make a repeat
visit to you all once again. May Allah grant you all the best in reward due to
your show of love. May Allah grant you all the best reward for your warm
reception and your quiet listening (to the lecture), may Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) grant you all benefits in this world and the next, increase you in
the good things of this world and of the next world. I pray to Allah to make
your wealth plentiful; as well as your children; and to also stamp His Barakah
(blessings) on all that He has provided for you by way of sustenance. May Allah
send down to you, goodness and affluence – all of it to descend and abide in Nigeria
May Allah open to you
all the door of beneficial knowledge, and make you those who are always busy in
communion with Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) through the quiet of the
night and the length of the day. May Allah Ta’ala reconcile your hearts until you
all become one brotherhood that will be resting on couches facing one
another just as Allah described the people of Al-jannah.
I have renewed for
you all the existing (already obtained) authority of the Tariqah of Shaykh
Tijani (radiya Allahu ta’ala anhu). Whoever tells you; “Abandon this
Tariqah! You respond by saying to him: “How can we abandon saying the Istigfar
to seek forgiveness from Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), and As-salah on the
Holy Prophet [peace be upon him] and the statement: La ilaha illa Allah? Also
whoever says to you: “But Allah has proclaimed: “Today, I have perfected for you
your religion, completed my favours upon you, and have chosen for you Al-Islam
as a religion” (Al-Maidah5:3). But then, this wird you are doing came much thereafter? Then tell him by way of
reply: “The wird (that I am doing) was part of what the Apostle of Allah [peace
be upon him] came with, and the Holy Prophet also said: “It is incumbent upon you (to
practise acts of devotion) through congregation”.
We that are the
people of awrad (litanies) in this world are more than those people condemning
the awrad and we say to them: “We are more than you in number, more
knowledgeable than you, so how can you be bordering us with your forgetfulness,
you who are just one-third of the people of award, the Tijaniyyah people”. The
Tariqah Tijaniyyah from its first period to this our day is always referred to
as the Tariqah (path) of the learned ones (who are knowledgeable).
Just look critically
at Nigeria; at those who are present amongst the fold of the Tijaniyyah
Brotherhood (and compare the situations of life) of those of the Tariqah as
well as those who are fond of condemning the Tariqah: can you compare the intellectual and general
well being of these opponents of the Tijaniyyah path to the gem of Ulamas
(learned crop of outstanding achievers) that we have who are Tijaniyyahs? Well,
praise is due to Allah! The truth subsists in the midst of the (larger) congregation,
and we are that congregation. The truth stands by knowledge, and we are the
custodians of knowledge.
I am not saying these
statements except for the purpose of acknowledging Allah’s bounty upon us. “But
the Bounty of thy Lord – rehearse and proclaim!“(Ad-Duha 93:11).
I enjoin everyone to
stretch out his hands and make intention of his needs to Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) while I recite surat-al-Fatiha once; may Allah grant to every
single person the satisfaction of his needs.
Was-Salamu alaykum,
wa Rahmatullah Ta’ala wa Barakatuhu
KANO
The
conference was opened by our leader the Qutb Ar Rabani, and the Gawth of the
Age, the Vicegerent of Allah on His earth, and the Transmitter of Divine Power
to all by Allah’s command, from His Faydah (spiritual flood of blessing) Alhaj
Ibrahim ibn. Abdullah at –Tijani, may Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) purify
our hearts by his blessing, from the incitement of the devils, and brighten it
with the light of Divine Gnosis, Amin. His statement goes thus:
IN THE NAME OF
ALLAH, THE MOST COMPASSIONATE, THE MOST MERCIFUL.
Praise be unto
Allah, and there is no strength nor power save by Allah, my good fortune would
not have been except by Allah, whatever is with you all by way of bounty is
definitely from Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala). May the peace and blessings
of Allah be upon the Noble Prophet [peace be upon him] “And remind men,
for reminding is beneficial. He who fears will mind, but the most unfortunate
one will avoid it, who will burn in the great fire, wherein he will neither die
nor live. Verily he is successful who purifies his soul, and remembers the name
of his Lord and then prays. But nay! They prefer the life of this world,
although the Hereafter is better and more lasting. This is in the earlier
scriptures, the scripture of Abraham and Moses” (Al-A’la 87:9-18)
As long as there is
admonition, if one thousand people are admonished, at least one hundred people
thereof will benefit, and if one hundred are admonished then at least ten
people will benefit, hence admonition is an obligatory duty.
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) Himself
created the world and the next world and informs us in His book which: “Falsehood
cannot approach it either from before or from behind it”. (Fusilat 41:42). Just as He created
this world, He created the next world in like manner and the homes therefore
became two homes. The first home is this world that we all presently
inhabit; and the other is the next world which we are all
journeying towards. Whoever Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) grants the grace
to exist in this world, there is no doubt that he will be in it, and it is also
inevitable that he will simultaneously, be journeying towards the next
world while still living in it. since
this is therefore the case, then it is a must for an intelligent mind to work
assiduously for his Hereafter during the period that he is in this world.
Human beings love,
in this world bounties granted by way of sustenance in provisions, good health,
honour and the likes while he detects hardship, sickness, dishonour and the
likes. Just as he loves these things in the present world so does he also loves
them in the next world. Allah says: “Nay, but they love the present life,
and neglects the next life) (Al-Qur”an). Hence whoever chooses this
world in preference to the next world and does not know anything except this
present world, Allah makes a statement corroborating his attitude thus: “that
is the height of their knowledge” (Al-Qur’an).
Human beings today
love elevation but hate abasement, he loves affluence but hates poverty, he
loves sound health but hates sickness, he loves honour but hates debasement, so
how can he love all these good attributes mentioned but hate their opposites
here in this world? In the same way, he does not desire these negative things
in the Hereafter. All that is to come has come (hence there is nothing new
under the heavens again). This world comprises both the wealthy and the poor;
the food (each class consumes) is not similar; hence whoever is rich, you will
observe that his food, drink and clothing are better that those of the poor
person and the present world is more /////// than the next world.
A man may perhaps
be poor in his condition for now but hope for wealth in the future, or he may be poor today and hopes for
affluence tomorrow: but the case of the conditions operating in the Hereafter
is at variance with that. Whoever is poor in the Hereafter can never be hopeful
of affluence a day after that poverty state, because that day (in the
Hereafter) is the last of all days. Nay! He has attained impoverishment through
which he can never attain affluence after it; may Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) protect us from the poverty of the Hereafter.
It is because of
this that man should chose affluence for his soul now in this present world
(now that the power of choice is open to him), before he gets to the next
world. Whoever is affluent in the Hereafter he will get everything gratifying
by way of feeding, drinking, clothing and marrying far in standards of excellences
above those he enjoyed in the first world. In the case of an impoverished
person however, the situations appertaining over there (Hereafter) is different
from that. The money of the present world is of no benefit in the Hereafter,
the Dirhams (dollars/pounds) and the ordinary stones in the Hereafter are of
the same worth, no one can benefit by use of Dirhams in the Hereafter except
whatever one has sent forth (by way of good deeds) only. A rich man with
Dirhams in the Hereafter is one who spends it in the present world for the sake
of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), he is the one who will benefit by it in
the Hereafter.
As
regards the fire of the Hereafter; whoever enters it realizes it becoming his
food, drink clothing and mattress; is this better or the paradise that has
every comfort within it?
Therefore let the servant chose that which
is beloved to him of the two, but I think that everyone of us will
chose comfort. Is there anyone among us who will not die? Death is inevitable
to everyone, hence whoever is certain about death; let him be certain that
there is nothing in the Hereafter except the two homes.
As for paradise, the prophet [peace
be upon him] has come with its key and that is Al-lslam. The prophet on whom be
peace and blessings of Allah says; “The key of Al-jannah (paradise) is
Al-lslam, “And the key of Al-lslam is: “La ilaha illa Allah”; The
prophet (peace be upon him) also reported Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) as
saying: ‘Lah ilaha illa Allah is My Fence; whoever enters My fence is
safe from My punishment”.
Prophet Musa who
used to talk directly with Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), requested from
Allah, the Source of blessing the Most Exalted, a special prayer that can be
exclusively used by him in devotion to Allah. Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
told him; say: “La ilaha illa Allah”. He (Musa) said: “every
worshipper is saying that, but what I want is a special phrase that will be
exclusive to me”; Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) said; “O Musa, don’t you know that the seven Heavens and The Earth, The Throne and The
Chair, if all of these were put on top of a Weighing Scale, and “La ilaha illa
Allah” is put on the other side of the scale, the scale containing “La ilaha
illa Allah will be weightier”.
Also it is said in the hadith: “it
is the ultimate testimony, it is the statement of piety, it is the statement of
sincerity, it is the firm handle (that is unbreakable)”. It is enjoined upon you all, “say you all: ‘La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad
Rasulullah’. Renew your faith with its wordings. The prophet [peace
be upon him] said to his companions; “Renew your faith, say: “la ilaha illa Allah,
Muhammad Rasulullah’
Regarding the
importance of this statement, if an unbeliever is fortunate to utter it after
his being firmly established in his kufr (state of disbelief) for a period of
one hundred years, he will be exonerated from the negative consequences of his
denial of faith and enter into lslam, and will exit from the circle of ill
fortune to the ring of the fortunate ones, because of his uttering this statement
for just once, so how great is it for someone who utters it times without
number? So because of this, Allah made the affair plentiful by His remembrance.
The most elevated
of His remembrance slogan is: ‘La ilaha illa Allah’. Allah
prescribed time for salah (prayer), for sawm (fasting) for Zakah (alms), for
hajj (pilgrimage) but in the case of dhikr (that is, remembrance of
Allah), He did not prescribe any particular time for it, rather it is all time-encompassing,
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) says: “O ye who believe! Remember Allah
with much remembrance”(Al-Ahzab 33:41).
A little thing
becomes plenty before the poor person, but a plentiful thing becomes small
before the affluent person. The meaning is that the thing that Allah gave us
which is small from His perspective is so because of the (greater, more
plentiful) things that is with him, and what we regard as being plentiful from
our own perspective, which is our mentioning of His Name becomes small from His
perspective because He is far Independent of it on His side. Hence, He
commanded us to do large numbers of dhikr. The meaning is the making plentiful
our chanting of La ilaha illa Allah. Whoever makes it in high
numbers, he will obtain the provisions of this world and those of the Hereafter,
his sins will be erased and misfortunes, removed.
This is because
everything that descends on the earth by way of misfortunes from the self,
wealth and family has its root cause from sins, Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
says:
“And whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from what your
hands have wrought, and He effaces many (of your errors)” (Al-Qur’an).
This statement of ‘la ilaha
illa Allah’,
if a human being mentions it, the Heavens will break apart, and the Screens,
the Throne, the Chair, until it stands erect before its Lord (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) and says: ‘I will not move away from this spot
until you have removed the distress of my caller’.
This makes for us better understanding of the statement of the prophet [peace
be upon him] which states: “The best statement that I and the
prophets before me have uttered is ‘La ilaha illa Allah’.
Allah
(Subhana’u wa ta’ala) taught the prophet [peace be upon him] the
knowledge of the earlier-ones and those of the latter-ones, and increased him in
other sciences; see what he taught him and what he bestowed him of secrets and
gnosis, of adhkars, prayers and the likes; and, despite all that he said: “Out of everything
that is with Him, the best among them all is La illah illa Allah
– we know that is the best of all things that is mentioned, and it is mentioned
in plentiful numbers. The meaning among the learned is: ‘None
deserves the right to be worshipped except Allah’.
As to the meaning of Muhammad Rasulullah: that is: ‘He is the Apostle that came to us from Allah’.
Allah Ta’ala says: “whatever The
Messenger brings unto you, take it and whatever he forbids you from, abstain
from it” (Al-Hashr 39:7).
Then, He [Allah Ta’ala] commanded us
with Salah (prayer). Salah is one of the five pillars of Islam and is next in rank after la
ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadu Rasulullah.
Prayer is the best form of worship, and the best of what is used as tools for
worship. The indication in support of that fact is that every obligatory acts
which Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) made compulsory, was decreed to
mankind on the surface of the earth. In the case of salah however, Allah
brought its governing provisions down from heaven to His servants and made it a
compulsory duty while in the heavens.
First, He decreed fifty periods for its
daily observance; but every time the prophet descends (into the next lower
heaven), he is made to request for reduction in this number, until it was
reduced to five periods of prayers within a day, with a bonanza that whoever
succeeds in performing these five-period formulae obtains the reward of the
fifty period-prayers originally decreed by God. This is so because every good
deed attracts a ten-fold reward in the like manner. It was made lighter for us
and we observe only five daily prayers, but we are given fifty portions of
reward.
The prophet [peace be upon him] followed
the commandments of Allah as also did his companions, and those who followed
them till the Day of Resurrection: may Allah count us among them. He (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) says: “These are the heirs who will inherit
paradise, they will abide therein” (al-Muminun
23:12) He mentioned them at the first instance with His statement thus: “Verily
successful indeed are the Believers” (al-Muminun
23:1) and He mentioned their return (after leaving this present world) at the
last with this statement: “These are the heirs who will inherit
paradise”
(al-Muminun 23:12)
The leader of the disbelievers was Abu
Jahl and together with their company of followers, Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala) mentioned them and mentioned their end. The people of paradise said
to the people of hell fire: “What brought you to the fire of
saqar? They said: ‘we were not of those who pray”. (Al-Mudathir
74:42-43) The observers of prayer enter paradise but whoever rejected it enters
into the fire. The inmates of the fire answered by themselves: “they said: “we
were not of those who pray”.
Salah
(the obligatory prayer observed daily) is not sound except by upholding its
pre-conditions. Its first pre-condition is purity and
purity is only possible with water. Many people think purity is achieved with
either of water and sand ablutions; this is not so; sand ablution is not sound except as a matter of
excuse;
The excuse being:
v The
lack of water absolutely, or lack of water at the time of prayer. This is very
rare because there is plenty rain and it is easy to find it.
v The
sound excuse is illness or lack of power to use water; whoever makes sand
ablution without these two pre-conditions has abandoned prayer.
Similar in comparison also is the case
of one who did not complete the bowing and prostrating genuflexions,
such a person has equally abandoned prayer. In the hadith, it is stated: “If a servant
observes the prayer with its pre-conditions, rules and regulations, it will
stand firm, breaks off the screens until it arrives before Allah (Subhana’u wa
ta’ala). If it has been perfected with all its rules, it becomes acceptable,
otherwise it returns to its observer folded like cloth and falls down (in
anguish) before its observer, and say: ‘may Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) suffer
you as you have suffered me’, just as it will say if it is made good; ‘may
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) protect you as you have protected me’.
Whoever makes the observance of his salah
in a commendable, good manner, Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) will make
comfortable his affairs and those of his family, but if he suffers it, Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) will not show compassion to his family. Allah says: “And enjoin Prayer
on thy people, and be constant therein. We ask thee not for provisions. It is
We that provide for thee”
(Ta Ha 20:132). Whoever observes salah in a good way, provisions will come to
him from sources he cannot account for. Also in the Hadith-el-Qudsiyy Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) says to the
present world: “serve whoever serves Me but suffer whoever serve you”.
Salah is the greatest of all forms of worship.
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) has prescribed time for it, if not that
Allah has ordained time for it, man would have shifted it to other personally
preferred times. Hence, it is obligatory to pray the zuhr, asr, maghrib isha’i
and subh and perform each at its prescribed time. Every prayer has its
specified time and its disturbed situations or excuses, it also has its callers
as distinct from the other pillars (of lslam). Whenever the time of salah
arrives you will hear the Muazins (appointed callers who invite the community
within the mosque vicinity to prayer in mosques) calling every one to hearken
to the observance of the devotional service.
In the same vein, salah is made obligatory
on every human being right from the age of puberty till death time,
and there is no time that salah is exempted for anyone. Once someone has:
v Attained
puberty, and
v Is
possessed of intelligence, he is expected to observe salah up to the
level of his ability that is easy for him.
v If
he has the ability to stand, he should pray standing, otherwise,
v He
should stand and rest his back on a wall while praying,
worse still,
v He
should sit and pray without resting his back,
but
v If
unable to do that, then he should rest his
back sitting.
v If
still unable, then he should pray lying on his right or his left,
or
v Finally,
he should pray with his back down (face up); in
whatever condition he is, he must
not allow salah to fail as long as he is
of intelligence.
Exemptions are:
v The
woman observing her haydah (menstruation), or
v Nifas
(child-birth blood flow), or
v The
mentally insane person.
It is on account of this that the holy
prophet [peace be upon him] said: “There is no distinction between us and
the unbelievers
except salah”. Therefore, struggle well in observing
it. If mankind should count the total number of minutes during which he
observes salah altogether, he will find it very small but these minutes are
more meritorious than its entire time period (outside salah). He has twelve
hours in the day and twelve hours at night also, and he only offers prayers in
these few minutes. He spends the rest of the time outside salah doing whatever
he likes.
Man has the ability to offer each salah
within five minutes; Allah is the One Who creates you, and keeps you alive, and
provides for you, and He is the One that will take your life, and resurrect you
again. He did not make anything incumbent upon you except these obligations so
if you do not do what we say to you then you have no further arguments.
This is followed by the
institution of fast. The month of fasting is only once in a
year. Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) made only one month obligatory for
fasting. For this month, no time is made compulsory for you to fast except the
daytime only, which means that it is only half a month with which fasting is
made obligatory. Once you carry out this fasting duty, you have followed His
commandments, if not you have no argument.
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) has
taught us that He has made fasting obligatory on us just as He has enjoined it
on the community before us. Allah says: ”Fasting has been
prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you”). (Al-Baqarah
2:183) Also in the hadith: “whosoever fast the Ramadhan fast, all
his sins which he has sent forth, will be forgiven”. In
another tradition: “And also the sins which he has
delayed”.
It is incumbent on the fasting person to
abstain from indecency. Whoever indicts him, he should say to him: ‘I am
fasting, I am fasting’. The smell from the mouth of a fasting person is sweeter
in the sight of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) than the scent of musk (the
best perfume, according to some pious elders). The reward of fasting has no
limit. Whoever evades fasting in Ramadhan for just one day without any
impediments if he is to fast his entire life time in expiation, he can never
redeem the worth of the single day missed.
It was related thus; that somebody broke
fast intentionally and then informed the prophet [peace be upon him]. The
prophet [peace be upon him] said to him: “Go and fast for
two consecutive months. He did so and
informed the prophet the second time that he has done so, the prophet informed
him again: “fast
(further) for two consecutive months” and
he did so then he informed the prophet the third time.
The prophet said: “fast (again) for
another two consecutive months” and he did so but
died after that. The Holy prophet was informed about his death and he [peace be
upon him] said: He died and yet he still has unexpiated balance of fast
that very day”.
Then comes the subject of zakah
(payment of the poor-rate). As for zakah and hajj only few people are eligible
for the performance of both. Whoever is unable to give out zakah or perform hajj need not do any
expiation, but for salah and fasting, whoever abstains from these has
disbelieved (in Allah) and has committed sin; it is whoever upholds this pillar
that is a completely perfect Muslim:
v He
is someone who says: ‘La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad Rasulullahi,
v then
observes prayer,
v fast
in the month of Ramadhan, then
v gives
out zakah and
v makes
a pilgrimage to the House of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala).
Whoever carries out some of these acts
and abandons some of it is a weak believer. A man will strive
continuously in order to become a strong believer; the strong person is one who
has chosen the Hereafter (as a better option) for his soul (and is therefore
willing to exert efforts in the performance of devotional duties decreed by
God, his Maker).
This world is evil and good, evil for
whoever causes mischief in it, through acts of ingratitude and sin, but good
for whoever makes it good through faith and obedience (to Allah and His
Apostle).
It has been related that man abuses this
world and this world says; woe to you! ‘Am I not the
vehicle for the Hereafter?’ In
this world there are mosques and it is in these mosques that Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) is worshipped. Also there (in the world) is also the trading
place of the Awliya (the Friends of Allah, His Elects). When a believer spends
something in the cause of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), He multiplies it up to seven hundred
times for him as He said in the Glorious Book: “The parable of
those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like the parable of a grain
of corn which grow seven ears; in each ear is a hundred sprouts”.
(Al-Baqarah 2:261). For this reason, one says that this world is the market
place of the awliyahs of Allah; hence, they strive earnestly for that reason,
what they seek therein.
Whoever
is in this world works therein the work of sustaining his livelihood, and also
works the works of the Hereafter as if he will die today. Whoever works in that
way is he who finds the share of today and tomorrow. So it becomes essential for
a servant who is a Muslim to utilize (profitably) his hour before his death.
This is because human beings are divided into
four groups:
v The first groupings are those who will
live in the garden (of paradise in this world) and move to paradise (in the next
world). May Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) make us all among them.
v The second groupings will move from the
fire to the paradise;
v The third groupings will
move from the paradise to the fire while
v The fourth groupings will move from the
fire to the fire.
The
first group that will move from paradise to paradise is he who is wealthy in
this world and is a Muslim; he is from one form of paradise to the other. The
one moving from hell to paradise is he
who is poor in this world and is a Muslim, he is moving from fire to paradise.
The one moving from paradise to fire is he who is rich in this world but dies
as an unbeliever; he is moving from paradise to hellfire. The one who is moving
from hell to hell is the poor person who also dies as an unbeliever; he is
moving from one form of hell into another. Every matter that is transient, its
affairs are easy.
The poor and the rich, every one of them
will not remain eternal, the upright one among these two situations is who is
not beclouded about his Lord; he is not impoverished and thereby abandons
obedience to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), nor is he someone made wealthy
and thereby abandons the obedience of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala). On
that account, wealth is a shade that can slip away.
If wealth is concentrated in the hands of a person there is no doubt of either of
these situations occurring:
v The
wealth goes before his very eyes and he becomes poor again; we see a lot of
these situations, or
v He
himself dies and leaves his wealth behind.
Definitely either must occur. If you now
contemplate closely you find that both poverty and wealth are the same; what
the wealthy person has is nothing but the food, drink, clothing, sleeping
comfort, marriage mate, and the breathing of air, and all these you invariably
also find with the poor person. These are the affairs and we find nothing
higher than this.
A narration:
It was adjudged that one the foremost Emirs had a vast control of wealth and
properties. A pious man went to him and the Emir requested admonition from the
pious man. The Emir came with a container having water in it for drinking, so
the man ordered the Emir to suspend drinking the water until after he has
completed his speech with him: “supposing you are thirsty and find
no water to drink except that you should relinquish everything (by way of wealth)
in your possession, will you relinquish it?” He replied: ‘yes’. He asked
further: “supposing you now drink this water, and Allah withholds your ability
to urinate and it becomes a condition that urination will not occur in you till
you relinquish all your possessions, will you let go”? He said: ‘of course I
will’. He therefore said: “the kingdom which has no value of even the water in
a container should not be allowed to debar you from obedience to Allah”.
If everyone of us subsists with the best
of health or we make a specific move out of being `in health, this is a grace
from Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala). Allah brought you into existence,
created you in the best make, and He protects you in your presence and absence,
in your sleep and wakefulness, in your movement and while at rest and in your
entire period, and there is no other who protects mankind except Allah, every
single individual, Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) is his protector. He
(Almighty Allah) says; ‘For him are protectors from before
him and from behind him, watching over him from the commandment of Allah’. (Ar-Rad
13:11)
When our Seyyidina
Aliy (karama Llaha waj’ahu) became the caliph, people went to him to act as
security guards but he said to them: ‘what do you want to do to me’? They
said: ‘we want to protect you’. ‘Do you want to protect me from (the evils)
that subsist in the heavens or from those on the earth’? They said: ‘no, we
want to secure you from the evils on the land’. He said ‘get away all of you
from me; the One Who sends down what is in the heaven is the same One who sends
out what is in the earth’. Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) has not left anything
except He makes a mention of it in the Qur’an. He, The Almighty says: “We have left nothing out (unmentioned) in the Book” (Al-Anam 6:38 )
The Muslims are
a single group and a single hand; they are as one single person. That cannot be
so except by honouring the elders and being compassionate to the young ones.
Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) Almighty commanded the prophet to put every
man in their position (of status or esteem; to put a great man in the place of
a great man and a small person in the position of a small person.
The prophet said: “The following
three people, no one disregards them except a hypocrite. They are:
v A just commander or
leader (Emir/King),
v A grey-haired
person who is in Islam, and
v A learned person
who works with his knowledge”.
Every one of these three categories has
taken up attributes pertaining to specific attributes of Allah.
The king or emir is
not really a king or an emir because he has taken up Allah’s attribute of ‘The
King; Allah is the real King.
Allah is the One who sends down this status to him (made him king), He is the
one who honours him with the post, hence if you underrate him, Allah will
equally underrate you because of his position.
In the same vein
is someone who is described with the attributes of ‘The all-knowing God,
Allah is The Custodian of knowledge, therefore it is
incumbent to honour a knowledgeable
person by virtue of sharing out of this name.
Also whoever is described with the
attributes of greatness or a state of being aged or elderly, he has taken-up
the attributes of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) referred to as ‘The Great’
because it is Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
who is really The Great’. Hence whenever
you honour a grey haired man, you are honouring Allah.
The fourth category of people (worthy of
mention) is the wealthy or the rich. The rich people are the treasure-troves of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) for He has put
His wealth in their hands just like a
servant whose master appoints as guardian over his money. All these people
mentioned, Allah enjoins that people should honour them, because honouring them
is honouring Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala). Allah Ta’ala says: “And
Whoever
dignifies the sacred things of Allah, that is better for him with his Lord”(Al-Hajj
22:30 ).
There was a difference of opinion on the
issue of a poor man who is patient and forbearing (of his state of poverty). Is
he better in bounties than a rich man who is thankful? Whoever remembers Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala), keeps up the (daily) prayers,
carries out fasting, pay the poor alms (zakah), goes for hajj (the
pilgrimage to Makkah for worship), is patient, and abandons the envying of
others until he dies on these qualities will be wealthy in the Hereafter
despite his poverty (in this world): but whoever is rich but whose riches did not debar him
from following Allah’s path, and knows (with certainty) that the wealth in his
possession is Allah’s provisions put under his charge,
that
person is above all men.
Man’s external appearances
vary, but their internal features are uniform. A man can be an elect of Allah
and still be a poor man in appearance, he has nothing with him by way of
wealth; this condition does not reduce anything of his status (as a friend of
Allah; the same goes for a trader, maybe he is an elect [wali] in his riches.
The same goes for a king, he may be a wali in his kingdom; every work there is,
you invariably find a friend of Allah in it. We Muslims are especially thankful
to Allah in this time of mischief and wrong-doings. The holy Prophet [peace be
upon him] has promised us the coming of this time of mischief-making, and gives
us glad tidings by it in his statement thus: “A time is coming
when the good-doers therein will earn fifty extra rewards. They (the
companions) asked: Above ours or ours above theirs? He said, ‘no, theirs above
yours’ (i.e the rewards of those people will be more than yours).
The time is now here, the
disbelievers have divided all ruling powers among themselves
(controlling all aspects of government altogether); the Americans, French,
Russians (have clenched powers in their hands) – and (how about the Muslims?) -
The Muslims
have nothing with them except this religion (of Islam).
We thank Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) for leaving this religion for us as
our own share.
Hence, whatever
else remains with us (by way of powers in government and governance), like
Emirate ruling system, the like of this
Emir of Kano, Alhaji Abdullah and his
likes who are adjudging among us with The Divine Code of Allah (the Shariah),
prays, fasts and perform hajj (with us), we thank Allah, Subhana’u wa ta’ala.
If the position is reversed (and we have non-Muslims as rulers) the Emirate
adjudication will be worse off than we see. All of us represent a single
congregation, therefore, strengthen your Emir with your support and your Emir
would also strengthen you all with his support. If you do not support him, the
disbelievers will support him against you, and the adjudication will become
theirs entirely (they will rule you by their ideologies).
Hence, if you no longer have your own
Emirs, then you will not be put in the maintenance of your affairs as you are
thinking and this is the conspiracy that they are digging the grave for you
about, and you do not know. Man must not say all that he knows.
Otherwise I would have explained in more details [this unhealthy phenomenon] to
you.
Therefore obey Allah
(Subhana’u wa ta’ala) and the Apostle and the rulers over you. It is
compulsory for a Muslim to love his ruler or leader, honour and obey him, for
as long as the kingdom persists amongst us. It is good for us (as it is to our
benefit), but when they cease to be, difficulty will prevail. The prophet [peace
be upon him] said: “Love Allah with what He has bestowed
you of bounties, and love me with the love of Allah which resides in me”. A
believer can never be so if not with the love of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala)
and His Apostle. Therefore you Muslims should love one another in Allah, so you
will all be in the shade of Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) on The Day of
Resurrection, the Day when there shall be no shade except His shade.
For the wird of Shaykh Tidjani (the Tijaniyyah
path), whoever has embraced it, it is not right for him to embrace other paths.
Allah Ta’ala says: “And they have not been commanded
except to worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion”
(AL-Bayyinah 98:5). In mankind there are bad natures, and all these bad natures
are clearly diseases, and a sick person has a choice between two alternatives,
either he seeks out a cure or not. But the intelligent individual seeks out a
cure for himself from these hidden maladies from the Shaykhs who know Allah by
Allah, and know the disposition of the Hadrah (the divine establishment of
Allah) and brings to the fore (abiding with) its obligations, and harmonising
the worshippers thereto, and for that reason the seeker of cure will take up
the litanies, and follow the Shaykhs’ code of instruction in the path be it
Tijaniyyah, Qadriyyah, Shadhilliyah, and others like it.
These paths
are as many as the number of our heartbeats. Everyone of it is aiming at
joining the person to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), but the
Tijaniyyah path is the one atop all,
and it is the one that I am practising, and the one I know about.
However, these litanies of the
Tijaniyyah and others likes it are being opposed by the people. They say it is
innovation but this is not so. Innovation is something that is not found in the
Qur’an or Hadith and not practised by the Holy prophet [peace be upon him] as
well as his companions.
A close appraisal of the wird reveals that it is nothing but:
v the
saying of Istigfar (seeking forgiveness), and
v prayer
of peace on the prophet, and
v saying
the testimony: ‘La ilah illa Allah’.
The saying of Istigfar (seeking
forgiveness) has been made compulsory to the worshippers. Allah (Subhana’u
wa ta’ala) says: “And that you should seek forgiveness
of your Lord” (Nuh 71:10). The Holy Prophet [peace be
upon him] said: that he used to say ‘astagfiru laha’ everyday, seventy times and in another
traditions, up to one hundred times.
As for injunctions supporting the rendition or doing of ‘asalah’ on the
prophet, Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) says: “O ye who believe!
Send prayer of peace and salutations upon him” (Al-Ahzab
33:56). The holy prophet himself said: “whoever do just
one asalah on me, Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) will do ten times of asalah (more
meritorious in worth) back to that person.
But Allah’s blessing made on the servant for just once, there is nothing more
meritorious than it which can be found anywhere. The one engaged in invoking
blessing on the Holy Prophet does not know “what has been
kept hidden for that soul by way of eye-pleasing good things with Allah”. (al-Qur’an)
As for the saying: ‘La ilaha illa Allah, we have enumerated its merits earlier
on.
What now remains
of the contender’s arguments is to say: ‘How come the Shaykh prescribes the
mentioning of these things in the morning and evening and how come he assigns
numbers to them? I say: The Almighty Allah says: “And glorify Him
mornings and evenings” (Al-Ahzab 33:42). It is the Shaykh
that prescribes the numbers because he is a doctor of souls,
and it is only a doctor who knows the condition of the ailment and the measure
of medicine to cure it. Human beings get quickly disinterested with things,
hence if any prayer is enjoined upon him without specific numbers, he gets tired
of it, and he may even count small numbers and think that he has counted large
numbers.
As a result of this fact, the Tijaniyyah
has gazetted these three things to be one hundred times each in the morning,
and one hundred times each in the evening. For the non-Tijanis, they have not
made their Astagfirullaha one hundred, their salah on the prophet one hundred,
their aylala (la ilaha illa Allah) one hundred in the evenings. For the Tijanis
(adherents), if he does not know the number to do as mentioned here (for each
of the three) he may see these numbers as being small; that is, the prescribed
one hundred times each), but it has a very great impact on the soul (as a
polishing agent) and this Tariqah Tijaniyyah is the best of all the paths.
Therefore, whoever
has ‘signed on’ the wird
(litanies) of Shaykh Tijani, his entire sins will be forgiven, his entire needs
taken care of, and he will enter Al-jannah (paradise) without reckoning. The
opponent sees these benefits as being too much, and belittles the work (that is
being done). Does he not know that Istigfar is an eraser of sins? Also the
‘salah’ on the prophet, as well as ‘la ilaha illa Allah’? Whoever is constant
with these things, his sins will be wiped off. Shaykh [Tijani] who the speaker
has no one who is ahead of [in leadership among the past generations of
awliyahs] is speaking the truth; and on the Day of Resurrection nothing will
harm anyone except sins, and the reckoning (or the giving of one’s accounts in
life) – this also arises out of sinfulness. But these people (of tariqah and
awrad – litanies) there is no sin upon them. The people of awrad has no reckoning to give on the Day of Resurrection. This is because
they have taken account of their selves (soul) before the reckoning.
In an Hadith the prophet enjoined: “all of you, take account of your
souls, before you are subjected to accountability”.
The Holy prophet [peace be upon him]
said: “Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) promised me that 70,000 of my Ummah
will not render any account”, Seyyidina Umar said that the Holy prophet should
ask for an increase in that number, and Allah increased the number for me, that
in every unit of the 70,000 people, I will have 70,000 again (meaning a total
of 70,000 x 70,000 or 4,900 million people). Seyyidina Umar also said again
that the holy prophet should request for further increase and he said he will
ask God. “And
my Lord increased the number further for me to three battalions among the
battalions of my Lord.” A man said: ‘ask for further
increase from Him’, Seyyidina Umar
said: ’Do not ask for further increase. Do you not know that with just one
batallion from Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), the entire creation of Allah
is short of meeting up with its number?” Then the Holy Prophet said: ‘Umar has
spoken the truth’. Allah Ta’ala will
take out the size of the batallion until the prophet will say: “O my Lord – my
Ummah do not reach up to this number, among them are those who are not of my
Ummah”. He (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) will say: “I am only giving
you what I promised you”. It is easy that in
this measure, the people of Shaykh Tijani will be among them, and Shaykh is a
truthful person in all his statements.
Seeing the prophet while awake is
possible, whoever disclaims it, we know that such a person is not one of the people
(so priviledged to belong to that category), for the best of favours (from
Allah is faith (Iman). Every grace is a branch from it; if not for faith, a
thing will not exist in this world and the next; Allah Ta’ala says: “say, who has
forbidden the adornment of Allah which he has produced for His servants, and
the good things of His provisions? Say, they are for the believers in the
present life, exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection” (Al-Araf 7:32 ).
Islam is from faith, sainthood (wilayah) is
from faith, being a Qutb (divine post holder) from faith,
prophethood is from faith, Apostleship is from faith, whoever is not a faithful
believer can never be a Muslim, whoever is not a Faithful can never be a Waliy
(an Elect), and whoever is not a believer can never be a Qutb; whoever is not a
believer can never be a Prophet or a Messenger; everything is from Iman, and the
greatest of honour is to be a human being that is a Murid [student on the
spiritual trek] of Shaykh Ahmad Tijani (radiya
Allahu ta’ala anhu).
We are now in the 14th century [of
Islam] and have entered into the guarantee of the prophet [peace be upon him]
despite that we did not meet his time (on earth); whoever disclaims this is a
most ignorant person. An ignorant person do not know anything, the soul that is in your body,
you know noting about it, whoever is
ignorant about something puts another who knows about it in the position of an
ignorant person like him, and this is erroneous. Allah, the Source of all
blessings, the Almighty informs us that He has sent down to us the camel, the
cow, the ewe and the sheep from the heavens. He says “And He sent down
for you from among the animals eight pairs (male and female)”.[ ] We
do not know how He sent these things down from the heavens, but we see the cow
giving birth to a cow, the camel giving birth to a camel, the ewe giving birth
to a ewe, and the sheep giving birth to a sheep. We do not know how these are
sent down from the sky.
For this reason, everything that the prophet [peace be upon him]
said, we believe in, and he never said
anything except the truth, may the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him. I
pray to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) to put blessings on this land of
Kano Nigeria, to prolong the life of its Emir and the Emirate, elevate them to
high positions, enliven the land by them, purify the worshippers by them, make
the people obedient to Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala), the Apostle, the
constituted authorities of the Emirates, make them all esteemed chosen people,
and cater for all their needs, for Allah (Subhana’u wa ta’ala) has power
over that and is quick in answering prayers.
O Allah!
Shower your peace and salutations on our Leader Muhammad, the Opener of what is
closed, the Seal of what preceded (him), Helper of the Truth with the Truth and
a Guide unto Your Most Straight Path. May this peace also be upon his household
according to the measure of His worth and dignity which are great. Glory is to
thy Lord, the Lord of honour and Power, far above that which they assert. And
peace be upon the Messengers. And all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the
worlds.
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SHAYKH IBRAHIM NIASSE WITH EMIR SANUSI
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SHAYKH IBRAHIM
NIASSE WITH EMIR ADO BAYERO
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