History of Sheikh Ahmad Tijani Part 3

Biography of legendary mystic icon, seal of sainthood maulana SHAYKH AHMAD BN MUHAMMADU TIJANI AL-HASSANI (May Allah sanctify his precious secret)  

Via: Anatomy of Sufism Tv 📺 

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FATH EL AKBAR – THE EMERGENCE OF THE PATH:

During the same year that he accomplished his pilgrimage, in 1188 of the hegira, he finally returned to the Maghreb and settled in Tlemcen. 

Here, he met the first of his future disciples, the great scholar Sidi Muhammad ibn Mechri (may ALLAH be pleased with him). He transmited the Tariqa Khalwatiya to him and appointed him to lead the prayer, because Seyyidina (may Allah be pleased with him) did not like to take this responsibility. 

Sidi Muhammad ibn Mechri (may Allah be pleased with him) remained his faithful companion until his death in 1224 of the hegira.

During this time in Tlemcen, certain people came to visit Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctifiy his precious secret) to take him as a Sheikh and to put themselves in his hands. However, he would say to all those to whom he gave authorization: “We are just companions, and there is no Sheikh between us.”

In 1191 of the hegira, Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) undertook a journey to Fes to pay a pious visit to Mulay Idriss (may Allah be pleased with him). Passing through Oujda, he met one of his greatest companion, Sidi Hajj Ali Harazim (may Allah be pleased with him) who had joined a caravan going to Fes and he met Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) who introduced himself to him. 

Sidi Hajj Ali Harazim (may Allah be pleased with him) had seen him in a dream two years previously, and he knew that he would become his companion but he had forgotten. After spending two or three days together, through his prodigy of unveiling, Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) reminded him with accuracy of his dream. So his travelling companion was impressed and Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) added: “Know that this encounter is all I wished for, praise be to ALLAH.”

Upon reaching Fes, Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) settled here for a while in order to visit the tomb of Sidi Mulay Idriss (may Allah be pleased with him). During this time, he also transmitted the Khalwatiyya path to Sidi Hajj Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and taught that which ALLAH had revealed to him of the knowledge and the secrets of the Sunnah. 

When the moment to return to Tlemcen came, and having bade farewell to Sidi Hajj Ali Harazim (may Allah be pleased with him), he instructed him: “Hold tight to the covenant and to love until you attain spiritual opening.” Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) also announced that he planned to leave Tlemcen for another place that ALLAH would choose for him, because his spiritual state could not be in accordance with this place where he found himself to be in a tightened spiritual state. 

So he (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) returned to Tlemcen, and stayed there for some time, until his growing reputation came to preoccupy the Bey Muhammed ibn ‘Uthman who undertook to intimidate all those who came to him (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) and particularly since he was at the head of a great army in order to attack the cities of Laghouat and Ain Madhi. 

Thus, Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) went towards the desert in 1196 of the hegira and stayed in the ancestral village of Bussemghun.

This ksar is named after a Pole who resided in the city where he is buried. Some say that forty Poles lived here and that Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) would have been the fortieth. From there, he went to visit certain virtuous Awliya in the town of Touat, with whom he exchanged knowledge and secrets, particularly with the Knower Sidi Muhammed ibn Fudil (may Allah be pleased with him). Then he returned to Bussemghun.

It was in this very village, when he was 46 years old, that Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) received his most precious and most majestic prodigy. When he (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) had withdrawn, as was his habit, in one of the rooms of his house, in broad daylight, he experienced his Great Opening. At this very moment and during the awakened state, the noble Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) came to him. 

In his awakened state, the Master of Existence (peace and blessings be upon him) announced to him: “From now on I will be you Initiator, your Master, no other human being can claim to be your initiator. 

Consequently you must abandon everything that you have previously taken from all the paths. Nobody will be able to reproach you for anything for it is I who will be your intermediary with ALLAH and also your help.”

He (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) became the custodian of the spiritual path of the beloved Prophet himself (peace and blessings be upon him), the “mother path”, i.e. the quintessence which encompasses all the other paths. 

It is the Tariqa Ahmediya, Muhammadiya, Ibrahimiya, Hanifiya which contains immense blessings never obtained within the other paths, in the same way that the community of the well beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has blessings never obtained by any other community before Islam. 

This is because this path originates and receives its irrigation from the Seal of the prophets and the messengers. Sheikh Muhieddine ibn Arabi (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Awliya follow in the footsteps of the prophets. Each wali is following in the footsteps of a prophet.”

Thus, each Sheikh drinks from the spiritual source of one of the prophet of ALLAH. Of course the highest spiritual station for the Shouyoukh is that which drinks from the highest station of the prophets which is without doubt that of the Seal, our Master Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). He is the mother source and the origin of all spiritual sources. 

So Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) went from a spiritual chain encompassing numerous masters back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) over several centuries, to a single, unique and precious chain linking him directly to him (peace and blessings be upon him).

The merits of the path of the well beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Caliph Sidi Ahmed Tidjani (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) are countless.

The well beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) the wird that he should transmit containing the lights of his particular station and then he dictated the inherent conditions of his path. He (peace and blessings be upon him) also granted him the litanies of which the content was secret that had been specifically reserved for him, as well as their implementation.

Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) said: « I recite no evocation if it has not been planned and specified by the Messenger of ALLAH.” 

Among the immense gifts that he receives for himself (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) as well as for his disciples, is a prayer upon the beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called Salat Fatihi.

Although he had learned and had accomplished this prayer before receiving directly from the well beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in reality Salat Fatihi and its merits had been reserved for his time. Thus, he, his disciples and those who have received the authorization alone can benefit from the extent of its special merits. 

He said: “I was performing Salat Fatihi from the time of my return from pilgrimage until I reached Tlemcen, because I had come to know the merits that it contained. Indeed, a single recitation of Salat Fatihi is equivalent to the recitation of 600 000 other prayers as it has been stated in Ouird Jouyoub. Its author narrated that it had been mentioned by Sidi Muhammad El Bakri Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) who was a Pole and who had said: “Any person who has recited it even once and who does not enter Paradise, may He catch me and bring me before ALLAH on the Day of Judgment.” And so I evoked it continually until I left Tlemcen for Bussemghun.

Then, I noticed another prayer that was the equivalent of 70000 recitations of Dalail El Khayrat so I abandonned Salat Fatihi and concentrated entirely on this prayer because of its blessings. Then, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordained me to continue Salat Fatihi and I asked him what were its merits. He told me that a single recitation of Salat Fatihi was equivalent to all the glorifications of all creation as well as all the formulas of evocation and supplication be they large or small.

He (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) said : Salat Fatihi is a divine act (i.e a divine blessing) that leaves no room for human reason… Suppose there were a hundred thousand communities and each one comprised a 100000 tribes and that each tribe comprised 100000 men and that each one of those men lived 100 000 years and recited 100 000 prayers on the Prophet –other than Salat Fatihi- every day. Suppose now that we gather together all the rewards of all these communities of all this time. They would not be equivalent to the reward that comes from the evocation of one single Salat Fatihi.

He (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) also received another special prayer upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) known as Djawharatul Kamal, whose majestic formulation is a concentrate of the knowledge of the Muhamadian Reality. Its merits and secrets are numerous. 

Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) mentioned in a letter: “Know that ALLAH has graced us with immense generosity by the gift of the prayer called Djawharatul Kamal. Indeed, for all who recite it twelve times having performed complete ablutions, and then say: “This is a gift for you O Messenger of ALLAH”, it is the same as visiting the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his Rawda Sherifa --a place in the mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in Medina, called the heavenly garden-- and the same as visiting all the Awliya that have ever lived since the exile of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until the accomplishment of this dhikr. Note, may ALLAH have mercy upon you, these great favors, these invaluable precious stones that ALLAH The Generous has given us and of which all other peoples were deprived”

The well beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him several specific recommendations and advice concerning the code of conduct to follow: “Remain in this Tariqa, without withdrawing from the world nor ceasing relationships with others men until you attain the spiritual station that is promised to you, keeping your state, without excessive discomfort, nor difficulty, nor excessive worship. From now on, renounce all the Saints.”

Later, Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) said: « Indeed, we have taken from numerous Shouyoukh, may ALLAH be satisfied with them, but ALLAH has decreed that none of them would lead me to my goal. Thus, our chain and our Master in this path go all the way back to the Master of Existence (peace and blessings be upon him) and ALLAH has also decreed that our opening as well as all that we obtain would only be realized in his hands. No other Shouyoukh hold sway over us. And that is sufficient.”

Although until now he refused the role of Sheikh, Seyyidina (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) became the beloved Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) representative in the transmission of his path. 

As soon as he became the noble depository of this heavy responsibility, he was filled with the sentiment of fear but also of hope so as to be a cause of salvation for the members of the community of the well beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So he made it known to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who confirmed this and revealed: “You are the door to Salvation for all who disobey and bring harm upon themselves.”

Infused with the same state of mind, Seyyidina Ahmed Tidjani (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) wrote his requests for assurance to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), for himself and his companions, as follows: “I request, by the grace of our Master, the Messenger of ALLAH, assurance for me and all those ones that I and every living person among them die in Islam and Faith. 

I request that ALLAH the Most High preserve us from His Chastisement, from fear, apprehension and fright, from all evil, from the moment of death until we are established in Paradise and also that He forgives me and them for all our previous sins and all those yet to come. I request that ALLAH The Most High shades us with His throne on the Day of Judgment and that ALLAH The Most High leads us to drink at the pool of our Master The Messenger of ALLAH (peace and blessings be upon him). 

I request that our Lord admits us to Paradise without judgement or punishment, in the first group to enter and that our Lord establishes all in the Iliyine of Firdaws and Adnane Paradise. I also request the Messenger of ALLAH for assurance from ALLAH The Most High that everything that has been mentioned in these notes for myself and all my companions be granted and that ALLAH grants both me and them all that I have requested here and its entirety, by a promise of Him that enable us to achieve everything that has been mentioned in this letter.”

This writing was then delivered to the blessed hands of the well beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in an awakened state, not in a dream. He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: “Know that I assure all the requests contained in this letter, with an infallible promise to you and them, until you are all with me in the highest degree of Iliyine. I confirm this commitment, without fail, for all your requests. Peace be upon you.”

رضي الله عنه وأرضاه ونفعنا ببركاته