Tariqa Tijaniyya is a path, a way (Tariqa), and a method of studying and putting into practice Islamic Spiritual Science (Tasawwuf). Spiritual Science has at times been misleadingly called Mysticism. However, in Islam it is a regular Science with its set laws and a full scheme of knowledge, in details. It is based on definite experiences that can be reproduced, just like in any other science. Every person passes through the same stages in their spiritual journey as the Masters before them. Even the humblest learners can at least aspire to develop a sense of the presence of Allah and acquire an increasing control over their passions and desires for things worldly. Studying Spiritual Science is a means of learning:
Muraqabah - to see Allah in everything i.e. (being conscience of Allah at all times),
Mushahadah - to witness Allah in everything, and
Ma`rifah - to know, or to experience Allah in everything.
The Tariqa Tijaniyya is based purely on Qur`an and Hadith. To describe the Tariqa, we will say that it is simply to rule oneself according to the teachings of Qur`an and the teachings of the Prophet (pbuh).
The Tariqa Tijaniyya was founded by Shaykh Ahmad Al Tijani (ra), who lived from 1739 to1815. The Tariqa was granted to Shaykh Ahmad Al Tijani from the Prophet (pbuh). It should be noted that to see the Prophet after his death is not impossible. Until today, virtuous Muslims are still seeing him and meeting him.
In the Ahadith [Sahih Muslim, vol. 4, Kitab Al-Ruya`, The Book of Vision, Chapter 948, page 1225], (5635) Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (pbuh) as saying: He who saw me in a dream in fact saw me, for the satan does not appear in my form. In another report (5636) Abu Huraira reported: I heard Allah's Messenger (pbuh) as saying: He who saw me in a dream would soon see me in a state of wakefulness, or as if he saw me in a state of wakefulness, for the Satan does not appear in my form. And, (5637) Abu Qataada reported Allah's Messenger (pbuh) as saying: He who saw me in dream in fact saw the truth (what is true).
In Al-Ghazzali's 'Mishkat Al-Anwar', 'The Niche For Lights', by W.H.T. Gairdner, on page 141, he says:
"When the Prophet (pbuh) said, 'I saw Abdur Rahman enter Paradise crawling,' you are not to suppose that he did not see him thus with his own eyes. No, awake he saw him, as a sleeper might see him in a dream, even though the person of Abdur Rahman b. `Awf was at the time asleep in his house. The only effect of sleep in this and similar visions is to suppress the authority of the senses over the soul, which is the inward light divine; for the senses preoccupy the soul, drag it back to the Sense-world, and turn a man's face away from the world of the Invisible and of the Realm Supernal. But, with the suppression of sense, some of the lights prophetical may become clarified and prevail, inasmuch as the senses are no longer dragging the soul back to their own world, nor occupying their whole attention. And so it sees in waking what others see in sleep."
Therefore, we should know that to see the Prophet (pbuh) today is not impossible, and that Allah provided this gift for His beloved and righteous servants. ***
Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani is the founder of Tariqa Tijaniyya. His full name is Ahmad bin Muhammad bin al-Mukhtar bin Salim. His father was Muhammad al-Mukhtar bin Ahmad bin Mahmad bin Salim, a well-respected man of learning. Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani's lineage has been traced back to the Prophet (pbuh) through Imam Hasan (r.a.), Grandson of the Prophet (pbuh), and Fatima (r.a.), Daughter of the Prophet (pbuh).
It was after the Prophet (pbuh) appeared to him, while he was in a state of awakeness, that he informed his students and followers that the Prophet (pbuh) had authorized him to start his work of spiritual training and guidance, and had assigned the Wird and Wazifa of the Tariqa.
Shaykh Sidi Ahmad al-Tijani was born in a village in Algeria called Ain Maadi in 1737. Ain Maadi is located in Northern-Central Algeria about 30 miles from the city of Laghuat. His father lived and taught in Ain Maadi. Shaykh Tijani became distinguished early in his life. By the age of seven, he had memorized the Qur`an under Muhammad bin Ba`afiyya and the Mukhtasar by Shaykh Sidi Khalil, which was considered a standard legal text in West and North Africa. Before he reached puberty, he was known for his knowledge, intelligence, modesty, and piety by the religious scholars of his time. He learned the fine points of Islamic Law through the Maliki Madhhab which was taught to him by his teacher Muhammad ibn Hamwi al-Tijani, who was also called 'Abu `Abdullah'.
Afterwards he memorized several books, of which are: the Lakhdaari, the Risaalah of Imam Qairawaani, the Khalil, and the Muqaddimat of ibn Rushdi. He also studied the Risaalah Jama`at al-Sufiyya bi bilad al-Islam by Abu al-Qasim al-Qushairi, and the Muqaddimat of Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Akhdari.
Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani became an orphan in 1752. His mother and father died during a Smallpox epidemic (1752-1753) while he was only sixteen years old. He then decided to further his own education, which he did with great enthusiasm. In 1757, five years later, he went to Fez to apply himself to the study the Prophetic Traditions (Hadith), to meet Sufi Shaykhs, and to take advantage of the lessons given by various renowned scholars from different countries. By the age twenty-one, he was firmly grounded in religious learning. He also received diplomas conferring on him the authority to teach Islamic Sciences.
During this time, Shaykh Tijani felt a call for the Sufi life and thereafter participated in Sufi brotherhoods: The Sufi order of Ahmed al-Habib bin Muhammad, the Qadiriyya, and the Nasiriyya. A Wali by the name of Muhammad bin al-Hasan al-Wanjili predicted that Shaykh Tijani would achieve spiritual realization in the desert. Thus, the Shaykh went to a village on the outskirts of the desert called Al-Abiad and settled in the Zawiyya of Sidi Abdul Qadir bin Muhammad, where he pursued Allah and taught for 5 years.
After a stay in Al-Abiad, the Shaykh began traveling to Mecca. On his way he stopped at the town of Azwawi, near Algiers, where he was initiated into the Khalwatiyya Sufi order by a Muqaddam named Mahmad bin Abdur Rahman. In 1774, when he finally reached Mecca, he met an Indian Sufi Shaykh named Ahmad bin Abdullah through the Indian Shaykh's servant. The Sufi Shaykh claimed to have been forbidden to hold discussions with any human being except his own servant. After Ahmad bin Abdullah died, it was said that the Shaykh Tijani had received all of his occult mystical powers from him, through Tarqiyyah.
Later, Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani went to Medina to visit the Prophet's (pbuh) tomb where he met the leader of the Khalwatiyya Sufi order, Shaykh Abdul Karim al-Samman. Shaykh Abdul Karim al-Samman informed Shaykh Tijani that he was to become Qutb al-Aqtab (The Dominant Authority, or Pole of Poles) among the Walis. Leaving Medina, this idea lead him to spend a prolonged period of seclusion (khalwa) in dhikr and contemplation, in the village of Abi Sanghum or (Sam'hun), which is a Saharan oasis located south a Geryville.
During the first year of his stay in 'Abi Sanghum', Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani was blessed with the vision of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He announced to his followers that the Prophet (pbuh) appeared to him in a wakeful state, and commanded him to leave all the ways (paths, tariqahs) he had been following before that time, saying, "No one will reproach you, for I myself will be your intercessor in front of your Lord and your Helper."
He informed his following that the Prophet (pbuh) asked him to accept the rank of khalifa of the Messenger of Allah, and that the Prophet himself assigned him the Wird and the new conditions of the tariqah, saying " Keep this tariqah without retiring from the world, nor ceasing to interact with people until you reach the spiritual station that is promised you, maintaining your state without any undue mortification nor cultural efforts." (Jawahir ul Ma`aani, p.32, Cairo edition)
The Prophet (pbuh) also told him that these prayers (wird) were such that if someone accepted them from Shaykh Tijani, they would become friends of Allah and would not leave this life before they have reached the state of Wilaayat. Shaykh Tijani also said that he was given the position of Al Khatim ul Wilaayat, the Seal of Sainthood, and that this meant that Shaykh Tijani had obtained a position never to be reached again by the Saints that come after him, and therefore those who accept his way have accepted the perfected practice of Tariqa
The Tariqa Tijaniya was founded in the year of 1778 (1190AH). From 1781 to 1799 (about twenty years), Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani was the main teacher of the doctrines of the tariqah. He traveled through the Sahara, the Sudan, and Tunisia setting up Zawiyyas, and nominating pious Muqaddams. At that time, the majority of his disciples and students were `Ulamas (religious scholars), Fuqahah (learned in jurisprudence), Qadis (judges), and Muftihs (officially appointed religious heads, usually of a particular country), such that until this day the Tijaniyya Tariqa is also known as 'the Tariqa of the Ulamas'. Around the years 1798 and 1799, and in the midst of growing political difficulties, Shaykh Tijani was compelled to leave his native country of Algeria and settle in Fez, Morocco. He was already well known and respected there.
Shaykh Ahmad Tijani was well known for his strict observance of Qur`an, the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh), and principles of the other main Islamic sources. He was quoted as saying to his followers, "If you hear someone quoting me, place the statement on the scale of the noble Shari`ah; if it balances, take it, if it doesn't, leave it, for within the noble Qur`an and Hadith you will find the Tariqa Tujaniyya. Outside the circle of Qur`an and Hadith, there is no such thing..." ***
Noor Ala Noor
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