Biography of Sheikh Ahmad Tijani (RA) .
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Biography of Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani (RA) 1150 – 1230 (1735 – 1815)
The holy descendants of the prophet(SAW)
The holy prophet(SAW) has descendants through his daughter Fatima (RA) and her husband also a cousin to the prophet(SAW) Ali bn Abi Talib(RA); the two beget two sons, Hassan and Hussayn (RAA). The holy lineage continues through these two to the end of time.
Ahmad and Abu Yaala relate from Abu Saeed Khudri that the Prophet of Allah (Salla Lahu ‘alaihi wa Aalihi wa sallim) remarked:
“In the near future I would be summoned by Allah and I would respond. I leave amongst you two weighty things, The Book of Allah and my descendants, my Ahlil Bayt . The All-Aware and the Kind (Allah) has informed me that these two will not separate till they reach me at the Haudh (Tank of Kauthar). So take care as to how you behave with them."
"... Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! And to purify you a (thorough) purifying."
Noble Qur'an (33:33)
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) has compared his Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) to Noah's ark. Whoever loves and follows them will attain salvation and whoever violates their sanctity will drown. While holding the door of Holy Kaaba, Abu Dharr mentioned that he had heard Prophet Muhammad (SAW) says, "My family among you is like Noah's ark. He who sails in it will be safe, but he who holds back from it will perish."
In another place Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: "The parable of my Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) is that of the boat of Noah, whoever gets aboard it is saved and whoever stays away from it is drowned."
And many more places Allah or His messenger(SAW) make emphasis on the holy descendants of the prophet(SAW) sanctity and obligation to love, respect and take care of them.
In Sufism, they are Muhammadan saints (ويلاية محمدية Wilayat Al-Muhammadiyya) who inherits some of the esoteric of their grand father(SAW).
Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani(RA) is the spiritual leader of these holy descendants and was spiritually raised to the position of seal of Muhammadan saints (خاتم ويلاية محمدية Khatimul wilayat Al-Muhammadiyya) a notion we will inshAllah digest in future sections.
Nativity
Sheikh(RA) was born in 1150 AH equivalent to 1735 AD in the blessed village of Ayn Madhi at the Eastern Sahara into a family of prophet(SAW) descendants (present day Algeria). According to the book of Shama’il, Sheikh’s lineage is raised to his grandfather the Chosen (SAW) through his father Mawlana Muhammad, the son of Mawlana al-Mokhtar, the son of Mawlana Ahmed, the son of Mawlana Muhammad, the son of Mawlana Salim, the son of Mawlana Abil Eid, the son of Mawlana Ahmed, the son of Mawlana Ahmed, the son of Mawlana Ali, the son of Mawlana Abdellah, the son of Mawlana Abbas, the son of Mawlana Abdeljabbar, the son of Mawlana Idriss, the son of Mawlana Idriss, the son of Mawlana Ishaq, the son of Mawlana Zayn al-Abidin, the son of Mawlana Ahmed, the son of Mawlana Mohammed Nafs- Zakiya, the son of Mawlana Abdellah al-Kamil, the son of Mawlana al-Hassan al-Muthanna, the son of Mawlana al-Hassan as-Sibt, the son of Mawlana Amir al-Muminine Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Lady of the Universe Fatima Zahra (RAA), the Daughter of the Prophet (SAW).
In the present day Algeria in Africa, there is a town known as Ayna Madhi literally meaning "Past Spring". The town like many towns in Northern Africa is on desert plain with very few vegetation, sand hills and scarcity of water. Very few number of well are found in the region. The name of the town comparing the geography of the town may mean that in the past years spring of water is found in the town which later desert plain consumed it. Ayna Madhi is originally Moroccan town under the control of Algeria now, and is is located in western-central Algeria about 30 miles(48 km) from the city of Laghuat (al-Aghwat).
The dominant tribe in the town are the Tijana clan, which are clan among the Berbers tribe that are found in North Africa. Sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA)grandfather the great saint Sidi Mohammed ibn Salim (RA) migrated from the town of Asafi (Safi) on the Atlantic coast to Ayn Madhi and settled among the clan of Tijana and he got married to a woman from Tijana clan and thus gained the nickname of 'At-Tijani' (A member of Tijana clan), a surname that permanently passed on to his descendants, including our Master, Sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA).
The two types of saintship
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِي اللَّهُ النَّبِيَّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَى بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
Qur' an 66:8
Translation (O ye who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance: In the hope that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow,- the Day that Allah will not permit to be humiliated the Prophet and those who believe with him. THEIR LIGHT WILL RUN FORWARD BEFORE THEM AND BY THEIR RIGHT HANDS, while they say, "Our Lord! Perfect our Light for us, and grant us Forgiveness: for Thou hast power over all things.)
Sufi scholars in an attempt to explain THE LIGHT OF THE PROPHET(SAW) RUNNING FORWARD BEFORE HIM as mysterious and spiritual light coming from the soul of the prophet(SAW) passing though the souls of his Ahlil Bayt(Descendants) providing guidance to the world in their times and becoming the representatives of their grand father (SAW) inheriting esoteric knowledge from the holy soul of the prophet(SAW) that is why in a hadith the prophet(SAW) said "I am a city of knowledge and Ali is the door (to it)", meaning the progeny of Ali(RA) get access to the esoteric. This line produces saints that are term as Mohammedan saints (Awliya'u Muhammadiyya)and they are the highest group of holy people on Earth second to the prophets(ASA), and in this period when no prophet(AS) will ever be raised by God, they became the highest holy people on Earth. The same way, among the prophets(ASA) some are chosen as Apostles(ASA) by God and are given religion to bring to humanity, Muhammedan saints are chosen by the prophet(SAW) and are given Sufi orders for drilling men to rise to highest spiritual level and comes very close to God. The number of prophets(ASA) elevated to apostles(ASA) were 313 and the number of Muhammedan saints elevated to Wasilat (Patron-saint of sufi order) are equally 313. The last religion ends with Muhammad(SAW) who is seal of the prophets(ASA) and Sufi order ends after sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA) who is the seal of Muhammedan saints(RAA). No Divine religion after Muhammad(SAW) and no sufi order after sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA).
THE LIGHT OF PROPHET(SAW) RUN BY HIS RIGHT is been explained to apply to the same light flowing from the soul of the prophet(SAW) to the soul of other pious people not Ahlil Bayt. This starts from Sayyidina Abubakar (RA) down to the last saint before the last hour. These category are second to the ahlil bayt and are referred to as common saints (Awliya'u Al-Amm/ Mutlaq). One can only be anointed by God in one of the three ways:
- Nubuwwat (prophet hood) which has been sealed with the coming of the prophet Muhammad(SAW) who is Khatimil Nubuwwat.
- Shurufa (progeny of the prophet SAW) here too it has been sealed by the coming of Sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA) who is Khatimil Wilayatil Muhammadiyya.
- Khilafa (Vicegerent of the above two) which is open to the last hour. The epitome of this category is Sahibul Faydha, custodian of the flood, Mawlana Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass(RA).
Ahlil Bayt, the Mohammedan saints all predicted the coming of their leader who shall be the seal of the Muhammedan saints and their prediction became reality by the advent of Mawlana Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani, the patron saint of Tijjaniyya Sufi order, the concealed pole, the sealed isthmus, the hope of every seeker, the Bridegroom of the universe in this our time, the possessor of solicitude and mysterious powers, the Vicegerent of God on Earth, the supreme paradigm, the symbol of the light, the autonomous succour, the chieftain of the sages, the champion of the truth, the supporter of the poles, the doctor of rapture, the revivalist of Sufism, the unique in his time in esoteric and rhetoric sciences, the Unique Being with Two Sublime Spiritual and Bodily Lineages: the Two Upper Angelic and Royal Sainthood, the Patron Saint of Fez, the Phoenix of Maghreb ,the Descendent of the Noble Sharifian Saints, the Hassanid Sharif, the mirror of Divinity, the Disposer of spiritual affairs, the Imam of saints, the medium to reach the prophet(SAW), the one with absolute faith and loyalty to the prophet(SAW), the perfect progeny of the prophet(SAW), the wise orator of Islam, the eloquent teacher of the holy Qur’an, the essence of spirit of Islam, the perfect teacher of the time, the custodian of salatil Fatih, the recipient of spiritual visions, the one who sees the prophet(SAW) awake, the perfect symbol of guidance to Sufis, our master Abul Abbas Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mokhtar Tijani al-Maghribi (RA) may Allah continue to bless us with his graces.
Prediction about the coming of seal of Muhammedan saints
Muhyiddeen bn Araby(RA) declared that seal of common saints (Wilayatil Mutlaq) shall be Jesus Christ(AS) when he descends for rapture. After describing seal of Muhammedan saints, Ibn Araby(RA) remarked “I was made to visit the seal of Muhammedan saints and saw his secret mark which most people could not see”. This is mystical unveiling where Ibn Araby(RA) is spiritually made to see our master Sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA). Many translators and commentators mistaken this remark of Ibn Araby(RA) and assumed Ibn Araby(RA) has claimed unto himself the title. After seeing the seal, Ibn Araby(RA) started annihilating into seal and some of his utterances are not his, rather coming from the spirit of the seal and translators, commentators and biographers of Ibn Araby(RA) thought Ibn Araby(RA) actually claimed being the seal. In chapter 43 of futhatil Makiyyah for example, Ibn Araby(RA) stated “I am the seal of the sainthood without any doubt, by virtue of the inheritance of the Hashimite along with the Messiah! ”. coming into hadrat of seal of the Muhammedan saints through spiritual vision and accessing his holy soul makes the personality of Ibn Araby(RA) to start annihilation into the holy soul of the saint and some of his esoteric and lutfah graciously flow into personality of Ibn Araby(RA) and his body erroneously made the claim. Some Sufis grand masters said is not an erroneous utterance, rather Ibn Araby(RA) like Mansoor bn Hallaj(RA) is confessing being recipient of mystical manifestation (Tajally) of the holy seal of Muhammedan saints. The mysterious mark of the seal of Muhammedan saints is similar to the mark on the Israelite prophets(ASA). On the shoulder blade, at the right side, on the back of every Israelite prophet(ASA) is situated a ball of tissue like a boil, at the size of pigeon egg bulging the skin out. It is surrounded with black long hairs. That is their secret marks as prophets(ASA). While prophet Muhammad(SAW) being the seal of the prophets(ASA) has his own on the left shoulder bladder pointing directly to his heart. Sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA) had such mark on his shoulder blade at the back, sacred mark for the seal of Muhammedan saints. Ibn Araby(RA) further remarked “The seal of Muhammedan is placed in Maghrib (Morocco).” That is where our Master spent most of his life and was even buried there.
Hakim Al-Tirmidhi(RA) remarked that “prophet Muhammad(SAW) was the seal of the prophets because prophethood was perfected in him, not because he was the last in the line of prophets; similarly the seal of the Muhammedan saints was the seal because saintship was perfected in him and not because he came last in that line. ” according to Tirmidhi (RA) the Muhammedan seal is a special seal of sainthood of a community which is visibly that of Muhammad(SAW) and is the ultimate source of all sainthood, including that of the Israelites prophets(ASA) in their capacity as God’s saints.
Recourse has to be made on saintship, saints are special personalities that are drawn very close to Allah, and they are loved by God as His best servants. The very beginning of taking any anointment from God is to become saint first, later one rise to more and more spiritual heights which becoming a prophet is one of the highest, above it is becoming a prophet charge with delivering religion to a domain, such prophets are called apostles or messengers of God. The primitive and initial position is becoming a saint, and that is why saintship is a mysterious topic in Sufism. The patron of all saints is prophet Muhammad(SAW) is the medium and link between all saints (including those that will later become prophets and apostles) and God, he is the water they all quench their thirst. Halo of the soul of prophet Muhammad (SAW) flows into the soul of the saints and bestow on them esoteric and mysterious knowledge and guidance, that is why the holy Qur’an stated:
يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولُنَا يُبَيِّنُ لَكُمْ كَثِيرًا مِمَّا كُنْتُمْ تُخْفُونَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَعْفُو عَنْ كَثِيرٍ ۚ قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَابٌ مُبِينٌ
”O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Now has come to you Our Messenger (Muhammad SAW) explaining to you much of that which you used to hide from the Scripture and passing over (i.e. leaving out without explaining) much. Indeed, there has come to you from Allah a light (Prophet Muhammad SAW ) and a plain Book (this Qur'an).” Qur’an 5:15
Physical features of Sheikh Ahmad Tijani, my master and beloved patron
How does the holy person, Sheikh Ahmad Tijani, the phoenix of Maghreb (RA) looks like. It is relented in Kitabil Shama’il Tijaniyya that the seal of Muhammedan saintship, may my soul be sacrificed in his honour, had a whitish face with reddish tones and his white hair gained over his black one. Such state has genuinely pleased him(RA) as he always wished to meet his Lord on this state. His close companions were competing in getting his hair remnants during haircuts, and warmly greeting the barber who had the honour to be so close to him. He used to wear a camel hair-made dress in some occasions while in other occasions he wore a cotton-gown arranged through his neck and not lied upon his shoulders, putting the other end of the gown upon his head when he does not want to see people’s faces especially during the passage of women attending preaching sessions. The colour of his mantle (barnus) was a white one. He also possessed another camel-hair woven one. His turban was according to trustworthy sources from the well-known lamtayyeb type. The clothing is a rarity now. It is made of ten yard hard clothing rolled on red cap underneath another white cap which end is held through a pin. Such way of turban setting is an old tradition and habit of the Prophet’s descendents. He used to wear the Fasite high-quality masshita-shoes. Since the companions were constantly requesting his shoes for graces (baraka), he was usually wearing new ones. Seldom had he wore old shoes in his ingoings and outgoings. He had a rosary for his daily litanies of the kind called al-yusr; made of a tree that had dark seeds and a very beautiful scent. He has only used this kind of rosary and nothing else, and this, Allah Knows best, for two reasons: First, because it has a pleasant odour and since dhikr is also a pleasant deed, therefore he joined pleasant over pleasant. Second, the al-yusr-rosay brings glad tidings (al-faal al-hassan) and his grandfather (peace and blessing be upon him) did always like glad tidings. The number of rosary’s beads was of one hundred, and since then all Tijani rosaries are to have one hundred beads." The humble and poor biographer, out of love for this holy personality is forced to utter these poetic composition:
Outruns, the lion of God in the plain desert.
Perplexed is door of city of knowledge,
Agile, beautiful antelope not yet known in knowledge.
Sufis keep mysteries under control,
Mastering and disposing it with full control.
Allah decried on every sage, a master sage resides,
In Maghreb, all Sufis living and dead perceive mystery resides.
The commons rely on Sufis, to see in the dark world of mystery,
To Poles, the Sufis bend to pick clues to mystery.
One mystery dumbfound all poles in celestial plain,
Transfiguration of the Isthmus of the celestial plain.
This pole concealed from Poles in Sufism,
Or they will cross red lines of poles in Sufism.
Gnosis, esoteric and rhetoric sciences,
Built by spiritual drills, meditation and metaphysical sciences.
Cannot read the poleship of champion of holiness,
Only his Lord and grandfather apprehends his holiness.
Concealed Pole is question no Pole can answer,
And answer only the veils and doomed can question.
The universe is under his one look,
Allow to do and undo with sign from single look.
His glorious face, full of lustre and admiration,
In singular hour, grants eternal bliss to its onlooker.
In the history of Islam, according Sufis grandmasters, there are numerous Sufi types. Efforts were put in place by many Sufis schools to exhaust on pattern of the Sufi types, efforts done under the strict interference of holy spirit. The whole lesson come to a peak of discourse with the emergence of a unique type of Sufi master, who embodies in his person all the ranks of saints, all the secrets of saints, all the inherited esoteric from the soul of prophet Muhammad(SAW), all the meanings of saints, all the miracles embedded in body of saints, all the accomplishments of saints, all the spiritual unlocking bring forward by spirits of saints, all the understanding of Reality achieved by saints, all the adoration put in place in saints; for he is himself their seal whose feet are above their necks, for he is himself the cosmos that supplies them over the whole span of the history of the world. As the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) knew that he was a prophet when Adam was between water and clay, this Sufi knew he was a saint when Adam was between water and clay. This Sufi is characterised by spiritual sobriety that excludes all splendour and singularity. While his mind is fixed on the Mohammedan Essence, he affirms the obsolete validity of the law(shari'a) and the four schools of Jurisprudence (madhab) of Islam. It is this Sufism that gathers all the good traits of other Sufi paths. It is this Sufism that does stand alone with what is specially endowed to its adherents. That is the kind of Sufism that characterises the founder of the Tijaniya sufi order, who exercised a tremendous influence on the world around him and, through his order, on the history of Islam to the end of time. Those who know him, know him and those who do not, do not actually know him.
Early childhood
The super grandmaster of all Sufis, Sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA) grew up in Ain Madhi. His parents gave him the best of parental care and upbringing. His father, Sidi Muhammad Al-Mukhtar (RA), has been a God-fearing scholar and saint according to his biographers. He was an adept in Sufism in different of its branches and full of spiritual and mystical powers one of which is that he used to communicate with the world of spirits (al-ru'haniya), mysterious spirits in our plains and those coming from other plains. These spirits apparently even consulted him for the fulfillment of their wishes and in most cases demanded him to beseech God to grant their requests. God Almighty bestowed in him mysterious power to grant wishes to come to reality. Some of these spirits were carrying requests of men who consulted them to beseech God for granting the requests and seeing another creature more close to God than them have to place these requests before him. Naturally, as Sufis dictum stated “Miracle is the menstruation of men” therefore detested by most saints, Sidi Muhammad Al-Mukhtar(RA), finally used to ignore the requests of the spirits and lamented, who am I to be interfering with Divine issues (What Allah destined should be welcome by the spirit by not wanting a change on it). Sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA) mother was called Aésha Sanusi(RA). She had many children, most of whom died. The surviving children were our master(RA) himself, his brother Sidi Muhammad and elder sister Ruqayya(RA). He became orphan at the age of fifteen and at the age of twenty-one he lost his mother resulting from plague which hits the community.
He memorized the holy Qur’an at a tender age of seven under the tutorship of Sheikh Abu Abdullahi Sidi Muhammad bn Hammu Tijani(RA). He memorized and recited the Holy Qur’an under Nafi’u mode of Qur’anic recitation. He received rigorous and scholarly tutorship of science of worship (Fiqhu) under Maliki school of jurisprudence under the tutorship of profound scholars like Sheikh Aissa Boukhaz Tijani(RA) and Sidi Ibn Boufiyya Tijani(RA). Sheikh (RA) is well disciplined student in sciences of worship (fiqhu) and it was not long he became an icon in the field. He was gifted student full of passion for learning, zeal, understanding and quest for scholarly activities; and at a tender age he was regularly consulted for edict (fatwa) on obscure matters on the discipline. He was equally noted for studying the traditions of the prophet(SAW) and putting them into practice in all his dealings. He fashioned out his conduct on ethical values derived from traditions of the prophet(SAW).
Our master, Sheikh Ahmad Tijani(RA) busied himself with meeting Sufi teachers and masters. He started searching throughout the sharifian kingdom in order to meet with and learned from almost all the available aqatab (poles) or masters of his day. This spiritual quest, took him to Fez in Morocco, Wazzan and Taza. He first met the head of Shadhiliyya-Wazzaniya Sufi order, Sheikh Mulay Tayyid Ibn Muhammad Ibn Al-Qutb Mulay Abdullah Sharif Al-Wazzani(RA (d. 1181/1766), a spiritual icon and master in branch of Shaddhiliyya Sufi order and was later promoted to a patron-saint of Wazzaniyya Sufi order an offshoot of Shaddhiliyya Sufi order. He initiated Sheikh(RA) into his order and gave him the authorization to initiate others, although our master (RA) never did exercise this privilege, for two reasons, according to most of his biographers: firstly, he was engrossed in his own spiritual self-development having very little time to start initiating others, and secondly, he was not sure of his exact position in the spiritual hierarchy at the time, for his position will be a patron-saint and not an authority in another Sufi order, destiny will soon prove this.