Pearls of Wisdom of the Tijani Scholars (4)

The greatness of the basmala, the Supreme Name, prayer upon the Prophet, sacred knowledge, sincerity in supplication, and other spiritual teachings

In this fourth installment of Pearls of Wisdom of the Tijani Scholars, we continue gathering concise yet profound teachings drawn from major Tijani authorities, especially Sidi Ahmad Skiredj. These passages touch on the greatness of Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, the mystery of the Supreme Name, the etiquette of remembrance, the rank of prayer upon the Prophet, the purpose of sacred knowledge, the life of the barzakh, and the sincerity required in supplication.

As requested, each pearl appears as its own subtitle, and the wording remains as faithful as possible to the original meanings while being rendered in clear English.

The Greatness of Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim

It is reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that whoever writes Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim and writes it beautifully out of reverence for God will be forgiven.

Another report says that when a servant says Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, the angels respond: “At Your service and good fortune to You. O God, Your servant so-and-so has said Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim; keep him far from the Fire and admit him into Paradise.”

Imam al-Ghazali is also quoted as saying that whoever recites the basmala twelve thousand times, and after every thousand performs two rak‘as and asks God for his need, then returns to the recitation and repeats this pattern until the number is completed, his need will be fulfilled by God’s permission.

Other benefits are also mentioned in the transmitted literature: reciting it 113 times while the khatib is on the pulpit, while making du‘a together with the khatib, is said to help obtain one’s request; reciting it fifty times before sleep brings protection from harmful things; reciting it forty-one times into the ear of someone afflicted may help restore him; and writing it on the door of a place is said to preserve those inside from harm for as long as it remains written there.

The Supreme Name of God

Sīdī Aḥmad al-Tijānī said that the Master of Existence, peace and blessings be upon him, told him that the Supreme Name is veiled and that no one is allowed access to it except the one whom God singles out with love.

The scholars explain that God may honor whomever He wills by granting knowledge of this noble Name in different ways: through spiritual finding, through being guided to one of God’s knowers who is acquainted with it, or through receiving it in a dream, as happened to many of the beloved servants whose sincere intention led to such a gift.

It is also reported from Sidi al-‘Abdalawi that whoever is taught something by the Shaykh in a dream is authorized in it with a special permission.

The scholars add that God gave Surat al-Fatiha a distinction not granted to other passages, in that the letters of this Supreme Name are complete within it for the one who believes this without doubt or hesitation.

Sidi Ahmad Skiredj further remarks that by mathematical principles one can distinguish correctness from error in the clearest way. He alludes to immense calculations related to the merit of one recitation of al-Fatiha within the obligatory prayer performed standing in congregation. His conclusion is simple and practical: how could the responsible believer fail to preserve congregational prayer in order to attain such immense merit? He praises God for the grace of tasdiq, by which one becomes among the people of this special gift.

Supplications and Devotional Prayers of the Righteous

Among the beautiful invocations cited by the scholars is the prayer:

“O God, bless our master Muhammad, the Opener of what was closed, the Seal of what came before, the Helper of the Truth by the Truth, the Guide to Your straight path, and his family according to his true worth and immense rank. O God, I seek refuge in You from Your subtle plotting. There is no god but You. Glory be to You.”

Another prayer reads:

“O God, give me mastery over my soul in a way that sanctifies me from every blameworthy trait, and guide me to Yourself, O Guide to whom all things return, and You encompass all things.”

Another supplication says:

“O God, I ask You by the light of Your Face before which all faces bow, and by Your light toward which all eyes look, to guide me to Your special path with a guidance that turns my face away from every sought thing besides You. Take me by the forelock toward You with the grasp of care, O Possessor of majesty and generosity.”

The scholars also preserve this plea:

“We ask God, majestic is His greatness, to write us in the register of the people of felicity, in which only the greatest of His saints and the people of His special favor are written, in a way that admits neither erasure nor replacement; and that He line our inner sight with His light, the light He scattered upon spirits in pre-eternity; and that He look upon us with the eye of His mercy, for the one upon whom He looks with that gaze is protected from the afflictions of this world and the next.”

A short invocation inscribed in the seal of Sidi Mahmud reads:

“O Knower of hidden things, O Provider of creatures with gifts, forgive us our sins.”

Skiredj also recounts that his father, during pilgrimage, asked God at the noble station to let the affairs of creation flow through his hands in service, to grant him righteous children, and to place among them a saint endowed with the grace of the nadhra, one through whom God would benefit His creatures.

The scholars then say that seeing the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is the supreme karama for the one whom God grants it. It is the greatest blessing that the knowers could hope for in this world and the next, with nothing beyond it but the vision of the Face of God Himself.

The Difference Between Names of Takhalluq and Names of Ta‘alluq

The scholars explain that the divine Names fall broadly into two categories: Names through which one morally takes on a corresponding quality, and Names through which one remains attached in supplication and dependence but does not imitate their meaning in himself.

The first category includes Names such as the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Tender, and the Loving. The one who remembers these Names should necessarily take on something of their meanings: mercy, compassion, tenderness, and loving concern.

The second category includes Names of overpowering majesty or exclusive divine action, such as the Subduer, the Majestic, the Creator, the Giver of Life, and the Taker of Life. The servant does not imitate these meanings in himself. Rather, he attaches himself to their higher reality in order to seek victory over his inward enemies, like the ego and Satan, or outward enemies, and to seek the enlivening of his heart and the creation of strength in obedience.

Ecstatic Movement and Remembering God While Standing

Skiredj asks: how can remembering God while standing be denied, when God Himself says: “Those who remember God standing, sitting, and lying on their sides”?

He also cites the report of ‘A’isha, may God be pleased with her, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to remember God in all of his states.

He then says that if standing in remembrance is accompanied by movement or ecstasy, there is no basis for condemning it, because such things may arise from the delights of spiritual witnessing and inner states. He notes that in some narrations Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib moved before the Messenger of God when the Prophet told him, “You resemble me in appearance and character,” and that the Prophet did not condemn this reaction, thereby providing a basis in general for the movement and ecstasy of the Sufis when touched by spiritual sweetness.

He then quotes the well-known lines attributed to Abu Madyan in meaning: do not condemn the people of ecstasy if you have never tasted the wine of love; when spirits tremble in longing for encounter, bodies move; even a caged bird trembles when the homeland is mentioned; likewise the spirits of lovers are shaken by yearning for the highest world.

Some Formulas of Prayer Upon the Prophet Composed by Sidi Ahmad Skiredj

The scholars affirm that praying upon the Prophet in any valid wording is a direct act of obedience to the Qur'anic command: “O you who believe, pray upon him and greet him with peace.”

Sidi Ahmad Skiredj composed a number of beautiful forms of salat upon the Prophet without forced effort, according to what came to him spiritually.

Among them is a prayer whose meaning is:

“O God, bless the most perfect of messengers, the bearer of the Banner of Praise, the source of every perfection, and the spring of every مدد and spiritual provision, the spirit of all creation; were it not for him, no secret would have flowed for them. And O God, send peace upon his purified spirit, and upon his family always, and upon all the messengers and every Muslim who obeys God forever.”

Another reads in meaning:

“O God, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and send peace upon his spirit among the spirits. Convey to his exalted rank the most complete praiseworthy honor upon the tables of generosity and perfect safety, and upon his family and all the people of God.”

Another says in meaning:

“O God, bless and send peace upon the spirit of the Messenger, the source of every مدد, every severed and connected secret, the root of mercy and the locus of wisdom, the noble Messenger of God forever, the path leading to the Abode of Peace. Bless and send peace upon his family, his children, his in-laws, and all who love him for as long as God’s kingdom endures.”

Another says in meaning:

“O God, bless the root of spirits and the one who extends to them the complete مدد that reaches the people of righteousness, and the secret that God granted to the messengers. Were it not for him, peace be upon his spirit, God would not have given the messengers what they asked, and others are even less deserving. O God, let peace remain upon his spirit, bring him to the promised station, and send peace upon his noble family and everyone who allies himself with them forever.”

Yet another says in meaning:

“O God, to You belongs all praise for the generosity You bestowed upon the noblest of messengers, Muhammad the Praised One, bearer of the Banner of Praise, imam of the people of God. Bless his purified spirit, send peace upon his most pure secret, bless and send peace upon his noble family, and have mercy on all who love him and walk his path forever, and upon his children and his in-laws and the people of affection toward them, and all the people of God for as long as God’s kingdom remains.”

The Importance of Seeing the Prophet, Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him

The scholars say that the Prophet is the manifestation of the divine Name al-Hadi, the Guide, and cite the Qur'anic verse: “Indeed, you guide to a straight path.”

They then نقل a report found in devotional literature that whoever sees the Prophet in a dream is given the glad tidings of a good ending, his intercession, Paradise, forgiveness for him and for his Muslim parents, the reward as though he had completed the Qur'an twelve times, ease at the pangs of death, relief from the punishment of the grave, safety from the terrors of the Day of Resurrection, and the fulfillment of his worldly and otherworldly needs by divine kindness and generosity.

They add that among the greatest and most confirmed special favors connected to this is that whoever sees him in a dream receives glad tidings of seeing him in wakefulness.

And if one sees him smiling, then what a glad tiding that is regarding the obedience and adherence to the Prophetic sunnah that the person has practiced in his waking life.

A Saint Should Not Be Sought for a Purely Worldly Need

The scholars are very clear on this matter: the saints should not be sought merely for worldly matters. Whoever seeks them only for such a purpose is in serious danger, and he is fortunate if he escapes unharmed.

The whole purpose of visitation, they explain, is reverence for God through reverence for those whom He ennobled. As for the one who visits them only for personal interests while imagining that he is honoring them, his claim is false in the eyes of any fair-minded person.

An Example of the Chains of Sacred Learning

Skiredj gives an example from his own teachers, mentioning his shaykh, the righteous saint and noble sharif Mawlay ‘Abd Allah ibn Idris al-Wudghiri, known as al-Badrawi al-Hasani. He says that this shaykh was among the people of opening and righteousness, known among the people of God for sainthood and clear unveiling.

Skiredj studied grammar, fiqh, and hadith with him. He then carefully records chains of transmission in fiqh through major Moroccan scholars, all the way back through Malik, Nafi‘, Ibn ‘Umar, and finally the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

He also records that through this same shaykh he read Sahih al-Bukhari more than once from beginning to end, both as lesson and in continuous reading, and he traces that isnad through a long chain back to Imam al-Bukhari himself.

The point of this pearl is not merely historical detail. It is to show the seriousness with which authentic knowledge was transmitted: through living teachers, disciplined learning, and carefully preserved chains.

The Different Kinds of Knowledge

A report attributed to Sayyiduna ‘Ali says that knowledge is of four kinds: knowledge whose little and much are both beneficial, and that is fiqh; knowledge whose abundance is beneficial, and that is grammar; knowledge whose little is beneficial, and that is astronomy; and knowledge whose little and much are both useless, and that is sorcery.

Skiredj also transmits from his shaykh al-‘Abdalawi, from al-Qutb al-Hajj ‘Ali al-Tamassini, a further classification attributed to the Shaykh: knowledge is of four kinds. One kind hardens the heart, namely fiqh when one becomes frozen in it. Another leads to pride, namely grammar and what resembles it. Another makes one renounce the world, namely history and its related sciences. Another illuminates the heart, namely hadith and what pertains to it. This last, he says, is the knowledge for which a sanad is especially needed, and sanad is part of religion.

The scholars then add an ethical warning: whoever has been made fit for teaching and writing should never look at his knowledge or practice with the eye of self-satisfaction and perfection. However far he goes, he must remain humble and leave off claims for himself. Skiredj says: be learned for your own sake, and if you learn much, count it as little, and say, “My Lord, increase me in knowledge.” Teach people so that they may be placed in your scale, not so that you may be placed in theirs.

He also warns against claiming sufficiency in knowledge without need of others. However far one reaches, one’s capital in knowledge remains small. The self-claiming scholar earns the resentment of souls and causes people to note his slips.

He quotes Ibn ‘Abbas: knowledge is greater than to be fully encompassed, so take the best from every branch. He quotes Abu Hurayra: to know one chapter of knowledge concerning command and prohibition is more beloved to me than seventy campaigns in the path of God.

They also repeat the principle: whoever acts upon what he knows, God causes him to inherit knowledge of what he did not know. In this way he rises in stations of knowledge accessible only to their people.

And they quote the famous line: say to the one who claims mastery in knowledge — you learned something, but many things escaped you.

The Life of the Barzakh

Sidi al-‘Arabi ibn al-Sa’ih was asked whether the soul, after leaving the body and settling in the barzakh, returns to the body, or whether this return belongs only to the people of goodness, and how such a return occurs if it is affirmed.

He answered that when the soul leaves the body, it does not literally return to it, nor does it leave the barzakh. What is affirmed regarding a kind of return is only a subtle connection extending from the soul to the body by which the body is given life. This, he said, belongs only to those of certainty, such as martyrs and those who continue to exercise spiritual influence after death.

As for unbelievers, that subtle connection does not return to their bodies except at the questioning of the two angels, after which it returns to its place in the barzakh.

He then mentions the hadith, “No one sends peace upon me except that God returns my spirit to me until I return his greeting,” and says that much discussion around this issue has been marked by confusion, while the correct indication is what he summarized.

Another report says that Gabriel informed the Prophet that La ilaha illa Allah is a source of intimacy for the Muslim at death, in the grave, and when rising from the grave. The believers emerge dusting off their heads, some saying La ilaha illa Allah with brightened faces, while others cry out in regret.

A Special Supplication Inserted Into Salat al-Fatih

The scholars mention a righteous man, al-Hajj al-Ghali ibn al-Mu‘allim al-Sayyid al-Mukhtar ibn al-Hajj Hammadi Lahlu, who used to insert a supplication into Salat al-Fatih in the following meaning:

“O God, by the rank of ‘O God, bless our master Muhammad, the Opener of what was closed,’ open for me the doors of good pleasure and ease, and close against me the doors of evil and hardship. By the rank of ‘the Seal of what came before,’ seal me with the supreme opening, with the presence of our master Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, in the most beloved hour to You. Take my soul with Your own Hand while I am prostrating to You and You are pleased with me on the day I come to You, surrounded by the celebration of Your near angels, Your prophets and messengers, and all Your righteous servants. Make me among Your specially beloved servants who remember God standing, sitting, and lying on their sides in their lives and in their graves, tasting delight in Your mercy and intimacy in Your generosity...”

The report adds that this man died while prostrating on Thursday, 21 Ramadan, 1341 AH.

Al-Fatiha With the Intention of the Supreme Name Is Not Mentioned Except in the Daytime

A letter from Sidi al-Hajj ‘Abd al-Wahhab ibn al-Ahmar to the faqih Sidi Muhammad Akansus explains why al-Fatiha with a certain special intention is not recited except during the daytime.

He says that the matter goes back to the immense rank of al-Fatiha and the greatness of its reward. Even al-Fatiha without that special intention carries vast merits. If this is the case for al-Fatiha in its ordinary recitation, then what of it when recited with that intention?

He explains that all adhkar are multiplied in reward at night, but that al-Fatiha with this special intention was still restricted to the daytime because of the gravity of its station. He recounts that one of the companions asked Sīdī Aḥmad al-Tijānī whether he could recite it one hundred times. The Shaykh refused and said that its affair is immense and its reward tremendous, and that it is not to be recited except by day. He added that whoever recites it one hundred times becomes specially beloved to God. When the man replied, “If God loves me specially, no problem,” the Shaykh answered: “Poor man — when God loves someone with a special love, He tests him.”

The letter concludes that toward the end of his life, the Shaykh stopped giving permission in it broadly because people heard of its merit and thought the matter easy and near at hand, while he feared for them trial and poverty.

Sincerity in Turning to God Through Supplication

A passage from a letter of Sidi Akansus says that whoever truly seeks God must be sincere in the worship of God and not mix it with personal aims, for among the truthful this mixture is counted as a subtle form of association, and God does not accept association.

He then comments on the saying: actions are outward forms, and their spirits are the secret of sincerity within them.

He explains that supplication, remembrance, and worship do not in themselves alter decree or change divine judgment. Rather, they are forms of servanthood linked to causes, just as prayer is linked to its time, burning to fire, and satiety to eating. The response to supplication is like the reward of prayer: it is entrusted to God’s choice. If He wills, He answers the supplicant and rewards the worshipper; if He wills, He leaves it. He is not questioned concerning what He does.

Still, supplication is beneficial in every case if the Face of God is intended. It never goes to waste with God. Either it brings about the very thing requested, or it brings a hidden gentleness into the unfolding decree, easing the matter upon the soul until the heat of need and the burn of urgency are cooled — and that itself is the true objective.

So the supplicant should pray while intending worship, displaying poverty, weakness, incapacity, and humility, while entrusting the matter to God, thinking well of Him, and letting hope dominate regarding the request. Whoever perfects this intention in supplication, Akansus says, has succeeded, by God’s will.

The Importance of Consulting the Books of the Path and Verified Notebooks of Secrets

The final point is a brief but important one. The scholars mention a witnessed statement to the effect that a certain immense merit connected to Salat al-Fatih remains veiled from the one who does not know its rank. Whoever prays it without awareness of that station does not reach that immense merit, even if he recites it for a very long time.

The lesson is not that bare recitation is useless. Rather, it is that knowledge matters. The verified books of the path and the authenticated notebooks of its scholars are important because they preserve not only texts, but ranks, intentions, nuances, permissions, and meanings without which many realities remain hidden.

Closing Reflection

These pearls show the breadth of the Tijani scholarly inheritance. It is not limited to formulae of remembrance, nor to devotional enthusiasm detached from knowledge. It joins transmitted merit with careful discipline, reverence with caution, spiritual aspiration with humility, and abundant hope with sincere surrender.

In these teachings, the basmala becomes a gate of mercy, the Supreme Name remains a guarded secret of love, prayer upon the Prophet becomes a living path of illumination, knowledge becomes a trust rather than a claim, and supplication becomes pure servanthood rather than bargaining.

That is one of the hallmarks of the Tijani tradition at its best: not merely multiplying devotions, but deepening sincerity.

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