Questions-Answers : Complete List

(Translated into English by Mr Taoufiq GAZOULIT)

 

 

 

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1- QUESTION : I am a sister from La Rochelle in France. I would like to know if there is any Hadith which stipulates that the Fatihi and Jawharatu –Al-Kamal could be recited. In fact, it is very difficult to prove that the mentioned above is an integral part of our Islamic spiritual practices. Isn’t following the prophet our aim to love God? I have practiced for two years the order’s DIKRS, but everybody warned me of the danger I am incurring.

1- ANSWER : A genuine Hadith reported by Abu Horaira, which says that he learnt from the prophet two series of Hadiths, therefore he is  authorised to disclose the first series, but not the second one, as it may cost him his life, because common people would not understand them. The commentators of such Hadith underlined that the execution of common use second specifications and ordinary concepts of the Charia and Sunna will be enough to the good believer, except those well built introspectively, and capable to transcend towards the maximum.

On the other hand, Sidna Mohamed had inculcated in to his companion Hodeifa some secret teachings, the latter was not allowed to disclose. The Khalife Omar Ibn Khattab came sometimes to find out about what companion Hodeifa would have eventually got from the mouth of the Prophet, among other variant “salats” (blessings of Prophet) usually recited by  believers, and the one called “salat ibrahimia” . Yet the son –in law and Khalife of the Prophet Ali Ibn Abi Talib recited another “salat”. The messenger of God qualified him as the guardian of “the science Mohamadiane city”, saying “I am the forum of the science and Ali is the means to access”. Ali recited a “salata” which includes terms of FATIHI. This “salat” is partially thus worded: “El fatihi lima oughliq wal khatimi lima sabaqa, naciri el haqq bil haqq”(referring to the works of IBn El Atir, Ibn Qoteiba, in his Mouchkil el hadith) and Ibn el Faris (letter of favors of the “salat”).in fact the companions of the Prophet often recited litanies which they have not learned from the Prophet, without any denigration of the God’s messenger. The latter have heard one day from the mouth of another companion a special prayer. He had expressly the agreement of the messenger of God- other Hadiths are cited by Tabarany and other genuine commentators.

I mention, among others the Tabiyines (successors of the companions), Omar Ibn Abdel Aziz who recited prayers which are not at all part of the mohamadiane nomenclature. The list is a long one, according to Ibn Majah, in his “Sunane”, the companion Abdellah Ibn Messaoud used to recite a special salat: “O my Lord, reserve your blessinngs and your mercies to the most sublime of your messengers, the Imam of pious Sidna Mohammed”.

The Imam Chafiyi, promoter of the judicial rite which takes his name, had his own prayer. This prayer is commonly recited nowadays in all Moroccan mosques: “O my god bless Sidna Mohammed as many times as the number of his community who had recited, or even omitted to recite it''.

 

2- QUESTION : I am a muslim who lives in Senegal, very attached to the Tijania order, i do not practice the Wadifa, but I know all its prayers, I have been told  that a person who is not initiated to the Tijania order can not and  should not recite it. For example I am taking the case of HIZBOU AL BAHRI, which I was told that who is not initiated to it and keeps reciting it, is exactly like somebody who is in a such delicate situation and who does not know how to swim, would you explain to me the Arcanum of the Tijania order ?

2- ANSWER : The Tijania order is an open way, and accessible to all Muslims from both sexes, provided they are pubescent, so to have access to  is possible , even for those who do not accomplish some religious obligations, having said that , to be a good Tijani, you have to be  a steady  practising person, who makes a constant effort to remain within the norms of prophet Mohamud , which  include both CHARIA and SUNA. When it comes to HIZB AL BAHRI mentioned above, is a special case, which is out of the ordinary, in fact it needs a special and particular initiation  confirmed by a genuine permission, given by a    great SHEIKH, otherwise , it is proven , in this case that the Sheikh Tijani himself did authorize it only to a few of his followers.

 

 

3- QUESTION : I am looking for a spiritual master in Geneva, is this necessary? What is your advice?

3- ANSWER : I do not know of any spiritual master in Geneva, as the need for a counsellor of this kind. The Sufis are unanimous about it.

 

4- QUESTION : I would like to know what is Salat Al Fatih made of, which is an integral part of the Tijani Wird .could you explain to me its content, using a Latin transliteration ?

4- ANSWER : ALLAHOUMMA SALLI ALA SAYDINA MOHAMMED AL FATIHI LIMA OUGHLIQ, OUA AL KHATIMI LIMA SABAQ, NASIRI AL HAQQI BIL HAQ, OUA AL HADI ILA SIRATIQ AL MOUSTAQIM, OUA ALA ALIHI HAQQA QADRIHI OUA MIQDARIHI AL ADIM.

In Fatihithe the Prophet is qualified as the promoter of the opening of everything that is hidden and blocked for all previous messengers. He is also described as director of law by law, attributed to him by God, and also, he is the guide of believers to God’s path. Some have explained this opening by the first emergence of Sidna Mohammed, being the first human being emerged from the big void, even before the genesis or the creation of the world.

 

 

5- QUESTION : I would like to ask you few questions :

1- Where is exactly Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani buried ?

2- Has he got children? Where do they live ?

3- How many Tijani adepts are in the world ?

4- Could you help me to find a spiritual guide in Montreal ?

5- W hen, and who gave Sheikh Tijani the confirmation of his mission? And in which town ?

5- ANSWER : 1- Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani is buried in Fes, in an area called Blida, near Al Qaraouine University.

2- He had two sons: Mohammed Al Kabir, and Mohamed Al Habib, from two different mothers: Moubaraka and Mabrouka.

3- Only Mohammed Al Habib had children, whose number in Morocco only reaches a hundred, the rest are either in Ain Madi, in Algeria, or in Senegal.

4- It is quite difficult to count the number of Tijanis in the world, according to French statistic, the number of Tijanis , during the protectorate era , was over one million adepts  only in Morocco, one million and half in Algeria, and eastern Sahara, and around 600.000 in Tunisia, in a recent interview with an Indonisian academic, he confirmed that the number of Tijanis in Indonisia is over Two millions adepts.

5- The great opening of Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani given to him by God , thanks to the intervention of the prophet Sidna Mohammed, started at Telemcen, and was crowned, at Chellala, and at Abi samghoun in the eastern Sahara. that is where prophet Mohammed allowed Sheikh Tijani to inculcate in his WIRD MOHAMMADIAN to those who require it, without any pre-conditions, apart from submission to the precepts and concepts of Islam, the approval to recite the WIRD, and the WADIFA could be given to any believer of both sexes, provided to be pubescent, and to agree upon the terms. It was in 1196 of HEGIREs. As to the WIRD it was based only on ISTIGHFAR and SALLAT AL FATIHI. These two elements have been crowned by the reciting of HILALA, at the beginning of the Thirteenth century of HEGIRE..

 

6- QUESTION : After a long inner journey, I am interested in the Jewish cabal, and I ended up experimenting how the four letters of God, YHVH: leader of the formation of our bodies and thoughts, and being the link that unites us to the divine. I tried a few exchanges on the websites on the cabal, but I could not find any contacts. I am confident now that there is Muslim cabal, where the letters have a prominent place in the bond that unites man with God. I am sure also that the letters of the name of God in Arabic, ALLAH, have the same value and the same functions as YHVH. Unfortunately, I do not know how; so could you help me? These considerations are not theoretical; they are inseparable from the work I am doing.

6- ANSWER : What you are talking about for real Sufis is not only an enigma, but an inexorable forum, because it is extremely dangerous for a real esoteric. That is what some call “Al jadwal”, like Al Ghazali and others.

 

7- QUESTION : Dear brother, I am allowing myself to write to you with the aim to having a clear opinion about the Sharia. , in order to get an accommodation for me and my family, in view of my income,I have to get a loan with interes from a bank. This means a serious problem of conscience for me, because the loan with interest is similar or rather a Riba, it is illegal oua alyadou bi ALLAH. However, in the absence of an Islamic organization for lending to individuals according to to Sharia and Sunna of Sidna Mohamed, I have no other alternative. I wonder, if the need may allow me to do so in this particular case, knowing that the credit with interest Iam getting from the bank will not make me rich, or do I take it that by this gesture I am encouraging the exercise of Riba ?

7- ANSWER : In principle, the loan with interest is prohibited, particularly where there is loss on one hand and profit on the other. For this case, there will be a sense of despoiling, but there will be just gain for everybody, whatever the percentage of that gain. I mention a case of a believer who got a loan from a company guaranteed by a bank. There may be a profit for everybody, if the person in question could get a loan, provided he gives an amount of money on monthly basis as a rent, which allows the person who receives allowances and tenant to appropriate the place. At the end of a decade for example, if the three partners gain, then the loan is not forbidden, because as Sidna Omar Ibn Khattab says” Islam is not against the general interest, especially if we discover that in this case, there is actually a general profit .” There is another alternative, which is a loan without interest according to the sharia (Islamic law), but this alternative should be carefully analysed, in order to see that there is neither loss nor profit, or simply profit at the end of the day.

 

8- QUESTION : I have asked for help, I was given your address. I will allow myself to ask you a question and will try to explain to you what bothers me. Since a year and a half ago, I have been learning Hebrew, ancient Greek, and Arabic, after getting deeply involved with religion, in order to be able to read the writing in their language of revelation. I have stopped learning Arabic for the time being, because I had the intention to do two more years of Hebrew and Greek, in order to dedicate my time exclusively to Arabic as from next September. In fact, I would have learned in both Hebrew and Greek some basics which will allow me, if needed, to read and understand some verses. In the meantime, I understand that all this takes time (and that is primary in a person’s life), and that the more I advance the more I am doubtful of the utility of this learning, as I think that the Koran is enough to fill the entire life of a person, which makes studying these two languages unimportant. In fact, the question can be formulated otherwise: is the bible so important for a Muslim? Or is it surpassed by the Koran? Is the knowledge of these languages (as well as the texts) an additional asset for the Muslim development ?.

8- ANSWER : Learning the Arabic language, or at least partially, is a necessity. In Africa and Asia there are Muslims who know the Koran by heart, although they do not know Arabic. It is sufficient to learn some verses of a few lines, to recite Koran in the case of prayer. As to learning Hebrew, for one reason or another, the prophet has authorised his companion Zeid to be in command of it, in order to become his interpreter. As to the lecture of the bible by a Muslim, the Kalife Omar Ibn Al, Khattab made the prophet angry, when he told him that he spent two weeks reading the bible. Islam encourages the faithful not to be distracted, by dispersing their efforts in several areas, for the messenger of Allah the Koran being, according to the koranic text a reminder of the other revealed books. The Muslim believer should be concentrating only on the Koran.

 

9- QUESTION : I find your website good. I have something to ask you:  I would like to know everything about child adoption in Islam. Is it allowed ? Under what circumstances ?

9- ANSWER : In principle, the adoption of a child in Islam is not recommended. Each child must be attributed to his father or his mother (if the father is unknown). The Koran insists on the accuracy of any attribution to the legitimate father. The adopted child is not entitled to inherit, except the third if he is left. This has nothing to do with any kind of adopting an orphan child in need, whose father or mother unknown. This act is recognized as a simple act of charity.

 

10- QUESTION : I would like to have some knowledge of the El Qadiria order.

10- ANSWER : The Qadiria order is the path established by the great Sufi Sidi Abdelkade JILANI whose grave is in Iraq. He is a big Sheikh considered by the eminent scholar IBN TAYMIA, being the most prominent in the category of Sheikhs in Islam. Most of the marabout orders refer to this sunnit sect because of its source and the high dignity of its promotor. Not one of the Fatwas of IBN TAYMIA, among those of around 30 works in this particular case does not counter the caracteristics and the aunthenticity of this Sheikh, considered by  the promoter of the Tijania order as one of the most eminent poles of  Islam.

 

11- QUESTION : What is the degree of responsibility of “those who know“: such as  masters, marabouts, imams before God with regards to those who consider themselves as learners in comparison with those scholars ?

11- ANSWER : The degree of responsibility of the imams Sheikhs or others vis-à-vis their mourides or just simple believers is to show them the Sunni truth, to recommend to them the fulfilment of the religious acts and their detachement of everything forbidden by God. These recommendations or apprehensions are the basic of their duties. If the person in question answers this appeal, the Imam can resume his directives every time he feels the need to do so. But if the interested seems not to be careful, a new warning turns out to be necessary. Otherwise, he has to abandon him. All this should be done according to an authentic Hadith which clarifies that if a believer follows only his passion and pleasures; then Imams, Sheikhs, and others are entitled not to get involved in his business.

 

12- QUESTION : I live in a country where many atrocities are committed on dogs, with justifications which seem to be doubtful: don’t we have to respect all of God’s creatures ?

12- ANSWER : The protection of animals is mandatory for every Muslim or other believer. The life within the Islamic community constitutes a paradisiacal forum for animals. Islam considers them as beings that must live in entire safety on every single level.  An authentic Hadith reported by Al Boukhari in this respect says: “a non believer saw his sins forgiven by God, for a small gesture, he was able to help a dog, panting with thirst, trying to quench his thirst. God opens the way to paradise for him”. On the other hand, the grand  Imam al Ghazali was seen in a deam after his death “as it was mentioned”, he recognized that  his sins were forgiven only because he let a fly quench its thirst in the ink of his feather.

 

13- QUESTION : What do you mean by the tradition of Medina ?

13- ANSWER : I meant by the hadith of Medina, the tradition of the last days of the life of Sidna MOHAMED spent in Medina. His daily practises amounted or overruled the other previous hadiths. It is there the main reference on which the Imam Malik establishes his rite and which he calls the “tradition of Medina”. Indeed, the number of companions of the Prophet that he left before his death did not exceed 140000 companions, most of them scattered around Medina or further up. The Hadiths which they could report in this particular case could not have the same authenticity as those practical traditions of Medina.

 

14- QUESTION : Can we be a Tijani and follow the Malekite rites ?

14- ANSWER : The Sheikh Tijani belonged to the Malekite Rites. The Imam Malik considered that the hadith (the prophetic authentic tradition) is his real rite. That is why any valid rite is a function of hadith to which he refers. The Imam Malik adds to materialize his “madhab” the consensus of Oulemas for lack of hadith.

 

15- QUESTION : I would like to begin to study Ibn Arabi’s work “Sheikh al akbar”, but after several attempts of direct reading of the work, I had to give up because of the complexity and the difficulty of the ideas which are developed. Would you be kind enough and indicate to me a book in French which can introduce me to his work? ADDAS Claude’s book called “Ibn Arabi, ou la quête du souffre rouge” Paris: Gallimard 1989. Would it suit me? I would like to thank you for your help and attention.

15- ANSWER : In addition to the work which you quote, you can consult the work of Henry Corbin entitled “the creative imagination at Ibn Arabi”. It is a work of Shiite tint but very deep. It could balance itself with Claude Addas’s work. I had the pleasure to have read both.

 

16- QUESTION : Could you tell me accurately a technique of Dikr that I can follow ? I sometimes practise it but I do not know exactly how nor which form to use ...?

16- ANSWER : The best Dikr is the recitation of the Koran, especially three surats: “the Fatiha” which amounts according to a hadith to the whole Koran. Two other suras of which one is called “sura of fate” and which amounts the middle of the Koran. The third sura is called “sincerity” and is the equivalent of a third the Koran. Among other known Dikrs, the “Hilala” (La ilaha illa Allah) and the similar prayers such as “salat ala nabbi” (blessing of the Prophet).

 

17- QUESTION : Iam interested by the book of Sheikh Umar Futiyu Tall "Rimah". Are you aware of any translation of the book ? Thank you for your patience, and congratulations for your site.

17- ANSWER : Concerning the book “ RIMAH”, so far there is no translation, but it seems to me to have heard that a number of Senegalese people have showed interest, and willingness in translating some extracts of the book.

 

 

18- QUESTION : I would like to know if there is any translation in French or in English concerning the main book of Sheikh available, and how can I get hold of a copy ?

18- ANSWER : Concerning the translation of the Sheikh’s book , I would like to point out that a number of Tijanis have agreed  to translate “JAWAHIR AL MAANI” (pearls of ideas), but nothing was done so far in this respect. Having said that, I have been told by an Italian Tijani Moqaddem that he is in the process of translating Jawahir into Italian language. What I have done myself is the elaboration of the main elements of the order which were inserted, in the 7 quests of the order, introduction of the BOUGHYA of SIDI Larbi Benssayeh, which I have personally translated, and was published under the title “Sufism afro-maghrebin during the 19th and 20th centuries» in addition to my book about the order untitled “LA TIJANIA”: spiritual and social way”.

 

 

 

19- QUESTION : Does a woman have to wear socks in order to cover the whole foot during the prayer ?

19- ANSWER : A woman does not have to wear any socks whilst doing her prayer but it is mandatory to wear long clothing during the prayer. In principal, parts of the woman’s body to be exposed are the face and both hands.

 

 

20- QUESTION : Can I go to the cemetery to visit my brother’s grave in Algeria ? 

20- ANSWER : The visit to the cemetery was prohibited at the beginning of Islam. The Prophet SIDNA MOHAMED was very tough particularly with his own daughter FATIMA-ZOHRA who had announced to him to have gone to a friend to present her condolences. Furious, the messenger of Allah had told her that hell awaits for whoever goes to the cemetery. A verse of Koran had referred to this ban but the Prophet had in later stages to inform believers that the ban was abolished. The cemetery is opened to all believers today because there is no heathen eventuality anymore for which the prohibition was proclaimed.

 

21- QUESTION : Have I the right within the framework of the purchase of a house to get a loan with very weak interest as my employer proposed to me (this interest is equivalent to the inflation which is approximately 1%) or is it totally illicit ?

21- ANSWER : If the interests amounts even to 3%, then the prohibition is eliminated because this rate represents only the overhead expenses of the bank in addition to an eventual inflation.

 

22- QUESTION : I am in search of the structure of reading the holy Koran within 3 days (I believe that is called Hizb). I cannot manage to find it. Would you be kind enough to inform me about the subject? Thank you for your attention.

22- ANSWER : I advise you the translation and notes of “AL QURAN AL KARIM” by the doctor Salaheddine Kechrid, Dal El Gharb El Islami, Habib El Lamsi publishing house, Beirut PB 113/5787000.

 

23- QUESTION : Members of my entourage ask me if the fact of going to consult a hypnotizer with the aim of quitting smoking cigarettes is licit or not ?

23- ANSWER : To reach such a goal, the believer has to refer only to his will of attachment to God, by making sure of the legitimacy of the fact. Here, it is rather a matter of spiritual education which has a vital effect to the exclusive attachment to Allah.

 

 

24- QUESTION : A Tijani adept, who is possessed by a devil ,  has he got the right to consult a person who is able to help to get rid of devils (DJINN), taking into account that the person I am talking about, is not a Tijani adept, and he calls other  non Tijani saints, in order to find a cure ?
24- ANSWER : According to the Sufism norms, a good Tijani should refer to God through his Sheikh, for any discomfort, the effect is sure, but it depends on the degree of attachment of the adept in question with his Sheikh, and to what extent he is totally convinced that the Sheikh is only a guide, and that only God has the supreme power, therefore you have to stick to God through your guide.

 

25- QUESTION : Could you tell me where to obtain the source of information on SIDI LARBI BENSSAYAH, his life, his route, his place in the court of the sheikh Tijani, and the time he lived…? I have had for a long time a very strong spiritual relationship with this boss of the Zaouia of Rabat, which I regularly visit on my way to Fes. I would like to know more about him. I read on your website what you have said about him.

25- ANSWER : I was enchanted with your links of attraction to this grand Calif SIDI LARBI BENSSAYAH about whom the Sheikh Tijani would have said:” before visiting me in Fes, go first to the SIDI LARBI MESSAYAH’s zaouia in Rabat.” Here there is an authorization of the Sheikh. As for the information about his CV, they are unfortunately scattered in numerous books of the order, particularly “Kachf Al Hijab” of SIDI AHMED SKIREJ. Nevertheless, an unpublished manuscript of the big Moqaddem Lahjouji contains almost 500 pages on the spiritual and cultural life of this grand Caliph. By reading his “Boughia”, you can foresee between lines the interesting elements of his exemplary and ideal behaviour, which has to reflect the spiritual life of every Tijani Mouride. I incite you to read notably the seven requests which echo these strong signs of a real mouride to reach the highlight of the approaches towards “Hadrat al Qods” (the plenary session of the presences). I underline here that I have already translated 7 requests through a commented adaptation in my work “the afro Sufism from the Maghreb in 19th and 20th centuries”.

 

26- QUESTION : What does Islam say about music and dance ?

26- ANSWER : In my work in Arabic entitled “encyclopaedia of the Islamic Sufism between the West and the occident” published in 3 volumes, I have reserved a substantial study on music and dance, such as they are conceived and often legitimized by the Sheikh Tijani, when they are loosened of any eccentric elements, from which I quoted some specimens.

 

27- QUESTION : I would be grateful if you could give me some information and advice about bulimia and anorexia and especially from our religion’s point of view. I have suffered from this disease for 23 years. I tried all the methods that exist but without results. After all these long years, I realised that the solution lies in my religion and its philosophy, but I need someone to guide me.

27- ANSWER : It is of good omen that you can recover from it, in the last resort, it is the will of Allah. Even some among the big Christian Western spirits, eventually they confide after all in God, as a healer. Alexis Carrel, died in the 40’s, holder of the Nobel prize in medicine and author of “The man, this stranger”, had opted after tens of decades for this happy divine approach. In a most recent work on the prayer, he motivated some of his options by underlining that when the classic therapy failed; the invocation of Allah turns out operational. Your attachment to Allah must be firm, emanating from a true believer, a practising person and assiduous, whose conscious must be eminently stimulated by love and by helpfulness for humanity, as was specified by the authentic comments of the Prophet: “Creatures (humans or animals) are provided and maintained by Allah, those who do favours to them are the most loved by God” (Hadith).

 

 

28- QUESTION : I have been given a piece of black material of the Kaaba. What use could I make of it? What are the properties of this material ?
28- ANSWER : According to certain traditions of the Prophet and his companions, it is enough to keep this material in a clean place by respect, without other means which risk being eccentric. Being positively sure that Allah is the only refuge, the messenger of Allah had kissed the sacred stone of Kaaba.

 

29- QUESTION: At 35 years of age, I am not married yet. Is there any invocation or particular prayer to remedy it ?

29- REPONSE: It is enough to address to Allah without insisting on the possibility of marriage by leaving the option of the place and the time for him to choose. The Prophet in the similar cases recovered fundamentally in God’s will by inciting the believer to become attached to fasting.

 

 

30- QUESTION : I wish to know the position of Islam concerning being affiliated to the insurance at work, is it prohibited or not

30- ANSWER : When insurance is compulsory in an administration, then it is  apparently licit. But, when there is a possibility of avoiding it, sometimes even within certain administrations, in my opinion, the insurant has to refuse it.

 

31- QUESTION : I need your lighting about the Friday HADARAT, most of  Tijanis from Senegal, seem to neglect it, they often satisfied with a small number of “HILALA”, instead of 1200, 1600, or more…they seem to maintain that when tijanis are gathered in a group, any number of HILALA is enough: 200,300,500. Does reciting HILALA in a group require a thousand or more ? What is the view of the order books in this respect, and particularly the Boughia ?

31- ANSWER : According to the Boughia, the minimum of HILALA should exceed 1000, and should be done during the last hour of Friday, until sunset. Some KHALIFES such as NADIFI recommended 300 times of HILALA. The reciting of HILALA in a group requires at least on thousand times of it. NADIFI used to greet adepts who live in the suburb of Marrakech, in order to recite HILALA with him, but the 300 times of Hilala was not enough. One case which is plausible: if a mouride joined the group, which has already stated the Hilala; then for him reciting the rest is enough, 200 or 300 instead of 1000 times.

 

32- QUESTION: I am almost four weeks pregnant. I have a daughter of 2 years and one month, two twins of six months and what can call accidental happened to me. I had my boys by caesarean, followed by various complications. My pregnancy was extremely painful and very hard to stand (from the 3rd month, remaining upright was unbearable for me), without forgetting that my daughter, who was still very small, was constantly demanding me (which is normal). Psychologically, feeling incapable of taking care of her during this pregnancy was frustrating. Now I am convinced that a big gap is needed between each birth for 2 reasons: to take good care of the children and most importantly (and this, no man could ever understand), to recover from the pregnancy and the birth. We can give as an example, our mothers who spent most of their lives giving birth, being mothers without being women, which must have pleased many, but they might not be a majority. Ma mother had 8 children and asked me not follow her example because her health suffered from it. She regrets not having spaced out her pregnancies and as she said, at the time, nobody had told her to take care of herself and her health. I am in the following situation: I am exhausted by the pregnancy of my boys, physically, I haven’t got anything back (I’ll let you imagine the distension of the skin of a stomach which carries twins). How to take care of my baby and my daughter with a fourth or maybe a fifth child, because this birth could bring twins? Anyway, I don’t feel able, and in fact, I don’t accept this pregnancy. I feel sick because frankly, I don’t want the child and I don’t want to take this as a fatality. I want kids as long as health allows me to, but I have neither the physical force, nor the psychological one to go through a third pregnancy in less than 6 months after my caesarean. I would like to know the point of view of Islam on the subject, because “Qardaoui” had spoken about it saying that we were authorized until a certain date.

32- ANSWER: I am aware of the delicacy of your case. In such a situation, the pregnant mother earths up on a double physical and psychological problem. Many pregnant women believe they can resolve this problem by abortion, which may be normal, if we refer to the preventive therapeutic requirements against some risks to which women are vulnerable, who neglect the spacing of the pregnancies, which is the only way to normalize similar cases. The Prophet himself recommended such spacing against what took place in his lifetime at the Persians and the Byzantines. The fact that this abnormal situation took place at the neighbours of the Arabia, the messenger of Allah did not believe to have to insist. To counter this bad habit, abortion seems to be the only solution. Having said that, it is known that some Islamic countries opt for a limited date where abortion is legitimized. This date is spread out between the first day and the 40th day of the conception. Indeed, in a hadith reported by Tabarany and Bazzar, this period would not overtake the first week. You have thus any latitude to follow what takes place in these muslim countries. But my own opinion consists in strictly following the last hadith. In your case, it is impossible to have a miscarriage, otherwise the out of date the abortion would be killing the foetus, except in the case of a major therapeutic strength.

 

33- QUESTION : At first, I would like to thank you for your efforts, diligence and kindness, with which you answer my emails. I had a dream this weekend and I wondered if you could interpret it for me. I dreamt that a sticky and thick liquid went out of my nostrils and formed a long rope, very long. At a certain time, the rope transformed into 2 snakes, one small and the other big. They were green then they disappeared in my flat. So, we started to look for them and we saw the small snake going out of the flat, passing by the bottom of the main entrance door… and someone told me that the other snake had died.
33- ANSWER : In answer to your question, I am anxious first of all to thank you for your trust. The interpretation of a dream is not given to everyone except to those who have the gift. But, people like me, to a certain extent, can entrust the inspiration granted by the Koran to every good believer. From there, I can give you evidence concerning the double evil which by going out, was eliminated from your brain, centre of the faith. It is a confirmation of your happy conversion. The passage through the nostrils indicates the origin of evil. The bulk of this double evil was eliminated by the death of the mother snake. The young snake remains and will be eliminated as well. It symbolizes the potential harm that you may face.

 

 

34- QUESTION : I would be grateful if you could clear up the following points for me: I have read that SIDI AHMED TIJANI reported in his book “Jawahir al Maani” two hadiths:-“when the prophet, (peace and blessing on him and his family) went one day to Fatima’s, whereas Ali was sleeping in the room and Al Hassan and Al Hussein were playing next to her: “In fact, you, these two and the sleeper,  will be with me in thev same level in paradise, but this isn’t true for others even among prophets and envoy”; On the other hand, the prophet said in one of his hadith: “we were, me, Ali and two lights before God and then he left us in the loin of Adam and kept moving us from loin to loin until we reached our grandfather Abd al-Mouttalib. Then I moved to the loin of Abd Allah and he moved to those of Abutalib. Then, our light reunited in Al Hassan and Al Hussein: they are in fact two lights of the light of the Lord of the Worlds”.

1- Are these two hadiths reported in Al Jawahir al Maani ? ;

2- What are their degrees of authenticity ? ;

3- How can we interpret these hadiths knowing that a saint will never reach the level of a prophet ?

34-ANSWER : In general, a hadith is authenticated in accordance with the authenticity of the Sanad (chain of transmission). Or a million hadiths, according to Imam Ahmed Bin Hambal, was already in vogue in his time, i.e. the second century of hegira. Only a maximum of 10000 hadiths were authenticated and that is why the hadith reported by Boukhari and Mouslim in there “Stories of Sahih” does not exceed 5000. For Imam Malik in his “Mouatta”, he has chosen from among the 10000 hadith just 700 which constitute the current wording of “Mouatta”. Where does this profusion of apocryphal hadith come from? The origin of this euphoria is the Israelit extract from a falsified Bible and words so called prophetic, fabricated by theological organizations and their promoters. The Shiites who are enthusiastic supporters of Ali did not fail to participate, where hundreds of hadiths concerning Sidna Ali. Some of them may be authenticated without any reference to any Sanad. The lack of chain of transmission may be motivated not by none authenticity but by other motives more or less plausible. That is why we can come across some of these hadiths in Sufi books such as “Jawahir al maani” and the “Boughia” of Sidi Larbi Bessayah. Given the credibility of the authors of these books, they cannot be put off especially since the sublime position of Sidna Ali. The content of the hadith cited in your questions are surely among the hadiths unsupported by the sanad, but that could be authenticated. A hadith was reported on Sidna Ali about which the prophet said: “I am the city of science and Ali is the Guardian”. In other hadiths, the prophet advocated that Sidna Ali is considered as his brother, that Lalla Fatima is the most sublime lady and that her two sons Hassan and Hussein are the Lords of paradisiacal youth. For that, to compare the prophet and messenger of Allah, a core principle in Islam asserted the fact to qualify a person, who is not a prophet, of an attribute apparently higher than those of the prophet does not imply the supremacy of this person. Here, it is only a matter of prerogative which does not involve any prominence.

 

35- QUESTION : We are interested in qassayd el madih. We would appreciate your help on our approach, if you can. We are brothers of the naqshbandi order. This approach is personal. We have visited your website about the tijani order.
35- ANSWER : Poems on the blessing of the prophet Sidna Mohamed (qassayd el madih) are various and multiple. But the best and most popular in the Muslim world are the two poems composed by the great sufi connoisseur Al Bousayri and which are called “AL HAMZIA” and “AL BORDA” which were translated into French. You can find copies in libraries or bookstores specialising in Islamic literature.

 

 

36- QUESTION : Could you tell me if sects which diverted and of which the prophet had talked about beforeHis death does concern theTijania order. Otherwise, can we quote them today ?

36- ANSWER : Before the tijania order is a spiritual path, known since the 19th century. This type of track was not known during the prophet’s era. The only sects diverted you mentioned appeared several decades or centuries ago after the death of the prophet. They are well known as the shittes, qadarites, kharijites etc....

 

37- QUESTION : Are we required to be seated in a cross-legged position or in a position of prayer to practise the WIRD because I often have problems with my legs ?

37- ANSWER : You can do your dikr without having to cross your legs or taking the position of prayer. This eventuality was reported in the Koran which legitimates plausible positions at all levels.

 

 

38- QUESTION : Is it forbidden to wear a “talisman”, which mentions the names of God or a portion of the Koran for protection purposes ?

38-ANSWER : Wearing a “talisman” which mentions names of God or Koranic verses is quite legitimate, because what was prohibited by the prophet is carrying “tamima”, which doesn’t include the name of God but “jadaouils or figures''.

 

39- QUESTION : I would love to consult a bibliography about the Tijani order in French.

39- ANSWER : My book “the Tijania: spiritual and social way” is inserted in my site, you can always consult it.

 

40- QUESTION : I am a brother from Africa. I would like to know the meaning of “Hizb Alsayfi” in French ?

40- ANSWER : The Hizb has 2 meanings: the party (partisan group), or prayer (dikr). Its significance in this case is “prayer of the sword” meaning “sharp prayer”, otherwise efficient or lightning dikr. This hizb was elaborated by the great andalusian Sufi Ibn Arabi. It is a prayer with a dozen pages. Its recitation can be replaced according to the grand sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani by reading “sura alqadr” (sura of destiny) 41 times.

 

41- QUESTION : I allow myself to write to you being a friend of Mr x whom I have known for many years. My friend has offered me your book “the rational of the sacred”. It was a delight for me to share your erudition to the Koran. I was born in Rabat in 1931. Morocco is my homeland and I often visit. The Moroccan and Islamic culture fascinates me and your book so deep, opened up new horizons of knowledge for me. I wanted to express my gratitude to you. These days are full of conflicts leading me to believe that men are wrong. Your book has a point to open the eyes of those who want to understand the prophet’s message concerning the Koranic revelation. In his sublime message, the Koran is open to all men. It closes revelations, as reportedly said professor Gradua who himself converted to Islam in his philosophical testament. I can only thank you Mr Professor for your teaching that goes straight to the heart.

41- ANSWER : I was very touched by the words deeply sincere that went right to heart. As to your confidence and faith to Islam which seals our intimate friendship, thank you for your brotherly tribute. I would like to express my desire to see you soon in Morocco for a direct discussion during a possible passage.

 

 

42- QUESTION : A friend from Rabat just sent me your book “the rational sacred”. I have not yet started reading because it requires a great amount of attention and research for each paragraph. I would like to ask you how to reconcile between the share of the inheritance which goes to a Muslim woman and her new condition being an economic agent, source of income, and participating in the management of domestic affairs. As long as a Muslim woman was taken care of from the day of her birth by her parents and husband, and in case of divorce or widow-hood, again she’s taken care of by various members of her family, it was then conceivable that she is only allowed a half share of the inheritance. But today, a Muslim woman is a source of income and participates in domestic costs. Are we allowed to deprive her from the fruits of her labour while her financial participation can sometimes exceed that of her spouse? What is your opinion on this subject? I have to say that I received with great pleasure your book.

42- ANSWER : Women have always taken part in the management of a household without making use of their own money. In fact, collaboration is doubly justified by her right to exclusively keep her possessions and to inherit just half of her male partner. In modern times, nothing prevents a voluntary compromise between spouses taking into account unprecedented household expenses required. Women have also become an active agent with income from her personal activity. This fact implies the possibility of a double destiny: either to keep what she owns in the double case of inheritance or personal gainful activities, or to agree among themselves on a new Vivendi allowing real equality in accordance with the spirit of the sharia, without being forced to disobey the Islamic law.

 

43- QUESTION : I would like to thank you for answering me. I am a Muslim who lives within a western society who defends “tooth and nail” her religion. Without any critical spirit, I would like to discuss with you the following: a well born woman would not let her husband struggle in economic difficulties and will participate financially to help. Having said that, take the case of a couple married for a decade, aged between 30 and 35 years old and both are paying a loan for a house and a car. The husband suddenly died, as this could happen in the case of an infarction or a tragic outcome of a cancer. They are still young and did not think that death could get rid of one of them. What will happen to the woman? She will receive the 8th that she would get without having brought anything to the household, instead of half that will belong to her from her work and no longer the 8th. Which modus Vivendi does not “transgress Islamic law” and will allow real equality? It is a problem that should be solved for the sake of the great respect of our religion. Men (as human beings) are not wise! Among them, there are those who simply confiscate the salary of their wives. Here, there is an inconsistency, which is not in harmony with our religion. As God preserves women as he wishes, I am sure that in your wisdom you have a solution to this problem. Accept my profound respect.

43- ANSWER : In response to your various motivations included in your question, Islamic law is out of this problem. This should have been prevented for such a couple by strengthening this modest Vivendi with a normal contract between the couple so each one of them maintains his right. Outside of the legal heritage, whatever the contribution rate of the woman who would then be legally kept away from the part of the widow’s inheritance.

 

 

44- QUESTION: I have received your answer and would like to thank you. The situation of Muslim women is a whole.  “The modus Vivendi” governed by a contract is easier said than done. Will it have a legal value and will it be affective against the opposing party? Of what elements would it be formed? In what proportion of participation? You say “not to transgress the sharia” and further more you say “sharia has nothing to do with this” so you leave me puzzled. I have another point to submit which would rather be a request for information: it is a text in Arabic translated by my pupils at lycée Louis-le-Grand Paris (maths-sup, maths-spé). There was a talk of a man who married four women, to the astonishment of the interlocutor, he said: “kama chaa allah”. I was carried forward to sura “annissa” to evaluate the context. It is written “oua in khiftoum alla touqssitou fi lyatal, fankihou ma taba lakoum min annissa, matna oua roubaa oua…” However, this condition is ignored by those who brandish their right to four women. To marry 2, 3 or 4 women is conditioned by the existence of orphans, to whom we fear to be injust, if we had to take care of them. The “oua ine khiftoum alla taadilou, fa ouahida et le ‘oua lane taadilou baina nnissai oua laou harastoum” are only complements. The justification of 2, 3 or 4 wives is conditioned by the burden of orphans for whom an injustice treatment is to be feared. I am not an expert in matters of religion, far from it. I refer to the texts only. No orphans in charge, no 2, 3 or four wives. How could you clear up this particular matter for me? Thank you for answering as early as possible, as you usually do so well.

44- ANSWER: In response to your question, I would like to emphasize that you must always take into consideration the whole answers i.e. their context and add nothing to avoid any misunderstanding of the text. Regarding other requests for information “qama chaa allah”, being true, has nothing to do with responsibility, especially since marriage with four women is not conditioned by the existence of orphans as you mentioned but by the obligation of fairness and equality between co-wives, except for one point: the degree of love which is considered beyond the reach of anyone as had been reported by the prophet himself. When it comes to the fact that the prophet married 11 women “9 of them at the same time”, we have to understand the tribal situation then. The prophet was forced to accept offers made by some tribes in order to understand the perplexing situation of the prophet who had to answer positively. But when the prophet was 55, he married Khadija aged 40 and remained with her all his life, except the last 9 years where the death of Khadija resulted in his marriage to an older woman. Under the impact of tribal requirements, he had to submit by taking widows who were offered to him with the exception of Aisha who was a virgin. I had to analyse all these points before an audience of men and women in Europe at a conference which took place under the theme: the status of the embryo, which you can find in the section “articles” on my website.

 

45- QUESTION: I have received your answers and thank you for the details given to me about the marriages of the prophet. As to the latter, my Israeli doctor told me during a medical check-up that the prophet married 11 women (information coming from Maxim Rodinson?) to whom I replied “King Solomon married 260 women”. I was not sure of the number! He agreed with me and added: “there is worse. King David sent to the front husbands of women that he liked”. The prophet was therefore in an honourable position! I did not think the prophet who in my view did not marry as many times as he should have done, taking into account alliances he needed in order to accomplish his mission. No, my interest is the application of the text to Muslims. I return to my “oua ine khiftoum alla touqsitou filyatama, fankihou ma taba lakoum…” The “fankihou ma taba…” is the answer of the condition “oua ine khiftoum….”.you cannot extract a fragment of text from its context. “Marry 1, 2…” When? “If you are afraid of not being fair to orphans.” We are at the beginning of the prophet’s mission. Wars, deaths, the number of orphans having lost their fathers is large. The prophet couldn’t let them down. They are Muslim’s sons, they have to be rescued but married women having their own children are reluctant to extra work. The Muslim may then take 2, 3… women in order to take care of orphans, according to their number. So, no orphans, no permission to take several women. If we do not take into account the “oua ine khiftoum…” in my opinion, we distort the meaning of the text. Otherwise, I would like you to explain to me the reason of this verse as a condition of the “fankihou ma taba lakoum…”. It was therefore in this context of the orphan’s existence during the prophet’s conquest mission with his companions that the permission to marry several women to look after these orphans was taken. Would you explain to me your interpretation of the “oua ine khiftoum alla touqsitou filyatama…” followed by “fankihou ma taba lakoum…?” I would be happy to know it.

45- ANSWERS: You have raised many questions that remain unclear or disputed since raised only in the content of Jewish interpretations. I already had the opportunity to analyse some in my book “the rational sacred” to demonstrate the immunity of all prophets, including Jewish messengers to whom you refer. As for the integration of the orphan element to justify polygamy, it rarely occurred to the companions of the prophet, who was the only one obliged to take into account a certain number of orphans and marry their mothers.

 

46- QUESTION: I only quote what 2 Jews have said and I have refuted their statements. I do not refer to them at all. I am talking about the sacred text which is the foundation of our religion and asking you about the relation of the verse in the context that contains it. The existence of orphans to justify a possible polygamy. You have not answered this point “ine khiftoum….fankihou ma taba lakoum minannissa”. This verse is here, it has got a meaning, what is it?

46- ANSWER: The verse that includes a possible liaison with girl orphans who are not sisters refer in principle to a problem doubly linked to faith, orphan children whose soul guardian may wish to take these orphans as co-wives during his mandate of a tutor and not because of polygamy of 2, 3 or 4 which remains legitimate. But, to enjoy his status as mandated to assume certain rights which he could not take advantage of. Being only a guardian and not spouse at the same time, in this case, if he fears being unfair, he may find a wife outside that context. This Koranic case is definitely specific. Another case that does not interest us is that of a minor male.

 

47- QUESTION : I have received your response on this matter and thank you. But I told myself, baring in mind that the Koran is a model of eloquence and thoroughness in vocabulary and grammar, which refers to in all circumstances, that the word “yatimate” which would designate the orphans who could get married. “Yatama” refers either to male orphans or orphans from both sexes, but not always only orphans.

47- ANSWER : The modest Vivendi, governed by a contract in good and due form, should not be the source of any legal problems. I made it clear that sharia is not likely to be infringed. It is the meaning that you have to retain of “sharia has nothing to do in here” and it is not subject to perplexity. As to the verse “oua ine khiftoum alla touqsitou filyatama, fankihou ma taaba lakoum…” I quote word for word the hadith of sayidatouna Aicha, in order to clarify the context of my first answer. The hadith of”SAYIDATUNA AICHA” :

ÞÇá ÚÑæÉ ÑÖí Çááå Úäå : ÓÃáÊ ÓíÏÊäÇ ÚÇÆÔÉ Úä Þæáå ÊÚÇáì ’’ æÇä ÎÝÊã ÃáÇ ÊÞÓØæÇ Ýí ÇáíÊÇãì ÝÇäßÍæÇ ãÇ ØÇÈ áßã ãä ÇáäÓÇÁ ...¡¡ ‘’

ÝÞÇáÊ íÇ ÇÈä ÃÎÊí åÏå ÇáíÊíãÉ Êßæä Ýí ÍÌÑ æáíåÇ ÊÔÑßå Ýí ãÇáåÇ æíÚÌÈå ãÇáåÇ æÌãÇáåÇ ÝíÑíÏ Ãä íÊÒæÌåÇ ÈÛíÑ Ãä íÞÓØ Ýí ÕÏÇÞåÇ¡ ÝäåæÇ Úä Ïáß ÅáÇ Ãä íÈáÛæÇ áåä ÃÚáì ÓäÊåä Ýí ÇáÕÏÇÞ æÃãÑæÇ Ãä íäßÍæÇ ãÇ ØÇÈ áåã ãä ÇáäÓÇÁ ÓæÇåä

 

 

Thus, the Koran put an end to this kind of abuse against orphans. When it comes to your remark on “al yatama” and “yatimate”, I draw your attention to the fact that the risk of ambiguity is lifted from the verse 127 of the same sura “an-niçâ” which abounds in the same direction :

“wa yastaftounaka fî an-niçâi qoli allahou youftîkoum fîhinna wa mâ youtlâ alaykoum fî al kitâbi fî yatâmâ an-niçâi al-lâtî lâ toutounahounna mâ koutiba lahounna wa targhabouna an tanki houhounna…”. It is indeed a matter of “yatama an-niçâi” female orphans.

 

In response to your various motivations included in your question, the Islamic law is out of this problem. What should have happened for such a couple is to strengthen this modest Vivendi with a normal contract between the 2 spouses so everybody keeps their rights outside the legal heritage, whatever the contribution rate of the women who would then be legally kept away from the widow’s part of the inheritance.

 

48- QUESTION : A friend from Rabat just sent me your article on “Al Quds: Capital Martyrdom” in which you claim the presence of Palestinians on the land of Palestine for 2000 years. Does this existence go back to an earlier date, the 10th century before Christ at the time of Saul and of David? Are they not the Philistines, former people who established themselves between Syria, the Mediterranean and Joppe (this region corresponds to which current city?) and whose major cities were Gaza, Ascalon, Asdod, Akron and Gad. We will then prove the presence of Palestinians on their land since a long time ago, and it would destroy at the same time the fallacious arguments of the Zionists. What do you think ?

48- ANSWER : You have committed a mistake in referring to an article in my book “peace in Palestine through Al Quds” published in 1998 from the series “Mission of Islam” volume 4, leaving another article which answers your question. In fact, the first article inserted on page 35 of the book “Al Quds: Capital Martyrdom” speaks only of Jerusalem in its current state. It was preceded on page 13 by an important study called “Al Quds: Universal center of the faith”, where you can read at the end of the page the last 4 lines where I say explicitly: “Al Quds is an Arab city. It will remain forever because it was legitimately since thousands of years when Arabs of Canaan, migrating from the Arabian Peninsula, were its original founders".

 

49- QUESTION : What should we do if we doze during the wadifa ?
49- ANSWER : To avoid dozing during the dikr, it is necessary, according to the authentic suna, to take its provisions so the spirit of the mouride remains present. If in a case of act of God, the rosary is detached from your hand whilst drowsing. You just have to intercept it as you can and continue your dikr, regardless of the exact number of dikrs you would have done. But, if whilst drowsing, you drop your rosary without realising, then you will have to wash again. In any case, we must avoid making the dikr when we sense the need to sleep, as the prophet underlined.

 

50- QUESTION : If during the dikr, at the time of hilala or the istighfar, we hear the prophet’s name pronounced (peace upon him), should we or can we say “salla allahou alayhi wa sallam” ?

50- ANSWER : If during any dikr you intend to say the name of the prophet, you are not required to pronounce the words of salvation and blessing. What happens then is similar to the state of mouride in mandatory prayer in which he must concentrate without paying attention to what is said around him.

 

 

51- QUESTION : Would you know any ZAWIYAS, Tijani adepts, or Sheikhs in France? I will be very happy to meet them, in order to rub with people I share with the love of Saint Sheikh Ahmed Tijani (RAA).
51- ANSWER : As to ZAWIYA of the Tijani order existing in France, I have known fifteen when I visited France in 1944. The most important ZAWIYA is the one situated in GENNEVILLIERS, which is still full of Tijani adepts. Today, there are hundreds all over France, particularly in the region of LYON.

 

52- QUESTION : Like every informed Tijani, I start my reading of the fatiha by the bassmala whilst praying. But I would like to have more solid arguments to brandish, in case I would be questioned on the subject.
52- ANSWER : For the reading of the fatiha, an authentic hadith talks about the obligation to start with the bassmallah, that according to this hadith reported the prophet’s wife Aisha, is an integral part of the fatiha. According to the rite shafeite, it’s omission risks to abolish the whole lecture. It seems that the Imam Malik, connecting his disciple shafeite, would have joined this option. An authentic hadith specifies that we must reinforce the opening of every important act by the bassmallah, as an invocation of God’s name.

 

53- QUESTION : How did the Sheikh pray, with the qabd or the sadl ?
53- ANSWER : Concerning the qabd or the sadl, the sheikh tijani opted for the latter, although the these two acts are just as authentic one another.

 

54- QUESTION : I would have loved to write this message to you in Arabic, as it would allow me to better formulate some questions that I hope you will kindly answer. Unfortunately, my computer does not allow it. Firstly, I would like to thank you and congratulate you for the extraordinary efforts you make, in order to diffuse via the internet the Encyclopaedic knowledge given to you by Allah, as well as the pure Islamic cause, as you mentioned in one of your interviews. I would like to let you know about a dream where I saw the prophet Sidna Mohammed, which caused a feeling of euphoria inside of me, which remained one or two days after the evening of the dream. This is the dream: I saw Khairan Wa Salaman in central Houston, USA (I spent some time in this town four years ago). I was with a non identified friend in this dream. We were talking about the authenticity of one hadith Sharif. I said that this hadith is authentic and my friend disagreed, which was said loudly. I noticed a radiant person whom I identified as the prophet Sidna Mohammed. So I said to my friend: “this is the prophet himself. We will ask him if this hadith is his or not.” We approached him but I could not see his face, as he was radiant. I then took his hand and kissed it with enthusiasm and a strong “HAL” took hold of my entire body. This state of mind remained until morning… I had totally forgotten to enquire on the hadith and simply asked my friend to draw the Baraka. I have to tell you that, like a big number of people of my generation, although I am a believer, I did not pray and I went back to the religion considering it as the foundation of my life philosophy at the age of 42, particularly through my reading about “Tassa Wuf”. Since this dream, the quality of my prayers has changed. I concentrate and do my prayers on time. I would like to find out how Sufis interpret dreams. When Sidna Mohammed appears, is there any link with the initiatory trip in the sense of “Soulouk” term? I ask you this because days following this dream, I was profoundly preoocupied by the thought of looking for a Sheikh Aref Bi Allah. Without him, would a person have never truly know Allah ?

54- ANSWER : When it is felt by the dreamer, the vision of the prophet in the dream cannot be a nightmare. A genuine hadith specifies that Satan cannot be part of a dream about the prophet. Another hadith underlines that a vision whilst being asleep will always be reinforced the day before. This prophetic vision is often a reminder to the believer to follow Islam properly, as you have experienced yourself.

 

55- QUESTION : Is there any manuscript written by Sheikh Tijani ?
55- ANSWER : There is no such manuscript written by the Sheikh, with his proper hands, to my knowledge there is a letter, which I have a copy of . In this letter The SHEIKH allows one of his adepts to recite the DIKR. I equally possess a (manuscript of Jawahir al Maani), which was presented by the KhALIF SIDI LARBI BENSSAYAH as being the original one, this document was countersigned at the last page by the SHEIKH, but it was not written by his proper hands.

 

56- QUESTION : Je suis en train de lire votre livre " Le Rationnel du Sacré " qu'un ami m'a ramené du Maroc. Je suis très intéressée par les trois monothéismes et le soufisme et votre livre me passionne. I am reading your book “the rational coronation” that a friend brought me back from Morocco. I am very interested in the three monotheistic religions and Sufism and your book fascinates me. I am currently working on the symbolism of the door, but I have not yet found anything related to this symbol in Islam. Could you help me or tell me where I could get information ?

56-ANSWER : It is always among the Muslim believer to refer to the sublime Door of the divine presence, where the initiated believer sees his initiated archetype stand out. This notion is reflected on the front door of Islam or the Ottoman Empire, which oversaw for a good part of the Middle Ages the entire Islamic world. This door of the Presence is the sublime access of Sufi, when it will rise higher in the hierarchy. Here in this forum, esotericism meets exoterism, meaning the somato-psychic harmoniously combines itself with a certain philosophy where the interior incorporates, with the first, a symbiosis.  A conference of high-ranged technicians, amongst the great physicians, took place in Tokyo in 1966. These studies result in an extraordinary observation where the electron, located in the matter, indubitably refers to another electron, the one of the spirit. In this sublimely human symbiosis, the 2 components, considered contradictory, are only complementary to one another. Refer to my piece of work named “Islam in its sources”, chapter named “The spirituality of the matter”.

 

57- QUESTION : I just arrived to France; I live for the time being in AIX-EN-PROVINCE, what is the nearest ZAOUIA to my place ?
57- ANSWER : ZAOUIAS that I know are situated in Paris, the oldest one is the one in GENNEVILLIERS, their number has reached in 1945 fifteen ZAOUIAS, and it is difficult to differentiate between a ZAOUIAS and a mosque, where the number of oratories exceeds 300. As to the addresses, all you have to do , when you are around areas inhabited  by muslins ask about places of these oratories, without mentioning their nature , because  most of people  see these places as a place for prayer.

 

58- QUESTION : Could you tell me about other sources in French or Arabic at least concerning our dear TARIQA, in order to be more aware ?
58- ANSWER : As to references in Arabic about the TARIQA, I would recommend, what they usually call “the code of the TARIQA”which is “la Boughia” of Sidi Larbi Benssayeh, the first publication goes back to 1304 hegir, it was published in Cairo, other editions have seen the light during the 14th century. Recently, I have published a small encyclopaedia in 3 volumes, about Sufism between the Machreq and the Maghreb, I have included a hundred page about the TARIQA,  including the SHEIKH of the order and his KHALIFS.

 

59- QUESTION : We are looking for documents or books on Sheikh Hamallah, born in the Nioro (Senegal), deported dead in France and buried in Montluçon in 1949.

59- ANSWER : Please refer to the institute IFAN in Dakar for a list of articles and studies on the biography of this character.

 

60- QUESTION : What are the determined schedules for the mandatory prayers ?
60- ANSWER : The indicated prayer hours announce the timetable for prayer. We are not obliged to do it for the first hour. Nevertheless, there remains a certain gap between the mandatory timetable and the optional one, which represents the final part. It is not possible to postpone prayers, for a verse of the Koran insists on the need to respect the timetable. There are even authentic hadith, concerning the ASR prayer (considered as the median prayer) that assimilates this report with no plausible motive to an absolute lack of faith for 60 years, meaning the average age of a believer. Another Hadith assimilates this lack of faith to a recalcitrant believer who had lost his goods and family.

 

61- QUESTION : I am interested in Sufism but I still have not understood the origin of this spirituality and the origin of the word.

61- ANSWER : There is no unanimity as to the origin of the word Sufism. I have kept a whole chapter on this theme in my book in Arabic “Encyclopaedia of Sufism”. We have mentioned a few possible origins, such as the “souf” (wool), which is the clothing of the soufis. We also mentioned the “Ahl Souffa” (the Prophet’s group of single companions accommodated in the big mosque of Medina).A to the notion of spirituality, it is no different in its ultra-human background of Islam itself, such as it is planned in the sounna and that has the temporal, the psychic and the spiritual.

 

62- QUESTION : After numerous researches, I have concluded that the scholar Sunnites have forbidden musical instruments (except the drum in certain occasions). I would like to know what the Sheikh AHMED TIJANI (RA) thought about it ?
62- ANSWER : To my judgement, the drum was not conceived as a usual musical instrument. We would sometimes use it with other instruments, but not in an orchestra. As for the Sheikh SIDI AHMED TIJANI, it has been said (and I have mentioned it in my book “the Tijania: spiritual and social path”) that he had assisted receptions where certain musicians would play three instruments: the flute, the rabab and the violin, with the tarr, another kind of drum. A famous musician named AL JABRI presided over this orchestra, with the presence of the Sheikh and later, in the company of his Calife SIDI LARBI BENSSAYAH. I have elaborated a substantial study on music and the samaa (AL madih or choral) in my book in Arabic named: “encyclopaedia of Sufi thoughts in the Orient and the Occident”.

 

63- QUESTION : In relation to which hadith can you say that you can use modern means of contraception ?

63- ANSWER : The concept of contraception as it is conceived today wasn’t known at the time. Its mechanism is very recent. But, there is contraception that was used by the living of the Prophet, quoted by an authentic hadith and that’s called “AZL” (breach of the coitus). This hadith means that the use of this means of contraception was in fashion and was legitimate koranically by omission. The aim is the same: to prevent any combination between the ovum and the sperm.

 

64- QUESTION : I would like to know the whereabouts of the passage in which IBN ARABI mentions the fact that there were 40 Adams before the Adam we know (the rational of the sacred)? Is there even an apocryphal hadith hinting it ?

64- ANSWER : This reference to IBN ARABI, concerning the question you brought up, and that I have mentioned in my book “The Rational of the Sacred”, exists of course, although I do not remember where I saw the text. This Hatimite subject can seem sort of eccentric; all the more that IBN ARABI is the only one to have asserted it. But the Koranic text itself, quoted in the same text, seems to be the start of proof. If we ascertain the term “Safaka”, it can concern an animal or a human, or be similar, abstraction of all other angelic elements or geniuses. (See our article on Darwinian thoughts).

 

65- QUESTION : After the recital of FATIHA loudly, some reckon that we have to say “AMIN”, loud, other say with a low voice.
65- ANSWER : The word “AMIN” should be pronounced loud, as it is recommended by the malikete rite, it is notoriousness in all mosques and zaouias to recite it, in one and loud voice.

 

66- QUESTION : Last year, during Ramadan, I was sick and I had a few days to compensate for. During my compensation, I one day watched a film that wasn’t porn, but there was an adultery scene and, unconsciously, I concentrated on the scene. I released what may have been sperm, so I broke the fast. I would like to know if I owe the "kaffara" ?
66- ANSWER : This case is similar to the one of vomiting. If it happens spontaneously, and, sometimes in a forced manner, the fast is not broken. It is broken when both are induced and the “kaffare” is compulsory.

 

67- QUESTION : I would like for you to explain to me the meaning of the three balls we find at the peak of many minarets. Sometimes, we only see two and sometimes, none at all. These tree balls are sometimes replaced by other symbols.
67- ANSWER : Since Almohades, starting from the Giralda of Seville, edified by the Khalife YOUSSEF, father of Yacoub Al Mansour, order was given to establish, at the peak of the minarets of the mosques of Morocco, three pieces of round golden metal with ascending dimensions. The first one of a large diameter is followed by two globules of which the third is the smallest of all. The idea is purely a religious one, inspired by the verse of “Sura Taha, verse 55” which says: “. From the earth did we create you, and into it shall we return you, and from it shall we bring you out once again".

 

68- QUESTION : I am from Senegal, and a fervent follower of the brotherhood of the Great Sheikh TIJANI, I have read with interest, your texts and contribution that you have inserted on the web. I learned a great deal from Your book “la TIJANIA : spiritual and social way”. Professor, Iam looking for two books, and I need your help. The first one is called "Jawahir Al Maani" of Sheikh TIJANI, the second "Arrimah" (lances) of Sheikh Omar El Fouti. Could you help me to get these books which are of great interest to me? Would you have the French or English version in an electronic medium? These will help me tremendously to carry on my spiritual education.
68- ANSWER : I am informing you that the two texts “ JAWAHIR AL MAANI” and “RIMAH” are inserted in the same publication, available in a library in RABAT, I will be ready to send you a copy if you wish, as to the French translation  of these two books, I do not know any, apart from an Italian lady who is in the process of elaborating  a translation done by an Italian  Moqaddem  Sheikh Abdessamad. As to the first chapters of the “Boughia” of Sidi Larbi Bensayah, which is not translated, have been the  object of a translation adapted and commented in French, in a book that I published entitled “The afro-maghreban Sufism in the 19th and 20th centuries”. It deals with what I call” the seven requests”, which sum up the Sufism thought, as it is conceived by the order, and which constitute the height of the ideal behaviour of the Tijani follower.

 

69- QUESTION : As Muslims, can we accept the divine manifestation on the human level : The man-God of Christians or the avatar of the Hindu tradition ?
69- ANSWER : Here, on the mystical level, Sufis call it “Al Houloul”, which means from the etymological point of view “the integration of man or his spirit in the Being”. Almost all Sufis reject this claim, stating its real significance, consisting of the extinction of being an insider during a theopamic manifestation. The “Houloul” identifies in some of its aspects with what some of the Sufis call “Unification” or “Ittihad”. That is what the great Imam Ibn Arabi rejects, stressing that the Sufi, whatever his level of initiation, remains in his real state, so effectively responsible. Thus, what is claimed to be a manifestation where the sublime moukid seems to eliminate himself is an appearance only.

 

70- QUESTION : I would like to know of Islam’s position on the sacred books of Hinduism. Are they recognized as such? Did the Prophet SIDNA MOHAMED know of this religion ?
70- ANSWER : Islam only recognizes the “Revealed Books”, such as the Koran, the Evangile and the Thora. It also recognizes, as a matter of principal, certain religious rites, like the Zoroastre, whose followers are named “Al Majouss”, and that Islam inserts among the people of the Book, because of the original monotheism of its promoter. All the other sects are mainly polytheist in the Islamic context, though others like the Confucius, in the 5th century before the Christian era, reflect monotheist shades. In fact, they are only allusions to reminiscence coming from certains messengers or previous prophets, such as Noah, in the 7 recommendations, with the other ten of Moises, which had a long impact, during centuries.

 

71- QUESTION : I learnt about your site through Google and its datum about Sufism, in fact I am not sure about an important definition concerning the Tijania order, such as : Achchaïkh al Mourabbi, I will be very happy to read you about this theme.
71- ANSWER : The word “sheikh” is used only to indicate the promoter of the Tijania order: SIDI AHMED TIJANI”, in some African regions, and other regions , it is used in order to appoint a moqaddem, in fact there is an increasing number of moqaddems who, by definition, give to the initiated person the permission to recite the dhikr, ,, that is how he becomes a TIJANI, otherwise, he remains a sympathiser, the Sheikhs morabbis are the moqaddems, who are highly qualified to educate those who recite dhikr, while they are still in he process of initiation. Their number according to the Sheikh does not exceed 600 moqqadems, among human beings, and 300 among Djinns. The moqaddem could reach a higher level in the hierarchy initiatory, without  being able to assume this title.

 

72- QUESTION : Why do we spread the sheet in the middle of the circle of the wadifa, and the  hilalai? And who was the first one to institute it ?
72- ANSWER : The sheet we spread, as you mentioned, during the hilala, as well the wadifa, was done during the sheikh’s era, that was motivated by the fact that the promoter of the order recited the wadifa with his adepts, in the long corridor of his house, the zaouia was not built yet, this “IZAR” or sheet was destined to cover the ground, such as   a carpet for a prayer. It is not a must to spread a sheet during a these dikrs. The zaouias have the habit since then to use the sheet by reminiscence.

 

73- QUESTION : Has an Imam the right to baptize a child out of marriage according to Sharia ? (Aix-en-Provence, France).

73- ANSWER : A child born outside a marriage is considered legitimate as a natural child, who is not recognized by the Sharia. The Imam can hardly act contrary to this principle unless he has a special derogation.

 

74- QUESTION : Would you kindly inform me of the mystic of Salat Al Fatihi and on the initiation of the tariqa Tijania’s midshipmen on the word ?
74- ANSWER : The Salat Al Fatihi is not the Sheikh SIDI AHMAD TIJANI’s own. It had been inspired to another previous Sheikh: AL BAKRI ESSADIKI. His rank in the hierarchy of prayer...

 

75- QUESTION : Can the one who is born Tijani, and who has not taken the wird yet, but deliberately attends the sessions of Friday’s hadra, leave the litany before its end, if he has mandatory homework to do ?
75- ANSWER : Born Tijani means being registered by the divine destiny, as a member of the tijani order. This means that we do not always have the choice, since no one can be registered as a member of other spiritual paths. Whoever is in this case and was has not yet been committed by a special permission can’t even attend the wadifa, and if he does, he would have the entire attitude to commit himself by leaving the litanies before the end. But there is a moral task which is based on prophetic traditions not to undo a moral duty by a break. Within the dikr in such a case, it is a moral obligation not to integrate wadifa if one is sure of not being able to complete the prayer. But, as regards to wird, one is free to break in some cases of act of God, and to resume later on.

 

76- QUESTION : What is the fate of the child of adultery ? Are there verses or/and hadiths in support of this ? (Aix-en-Provence, France).
76- ANSWER : Various hadiths consider children of adultery as a natural damned offspring, except for clemency or grace divine, following on approved spiritual intercession. The great Sufis who probe Sharia’s secrets in scrutinizing some below that are not accessible to everyone. The fact of recognizing a child of adultery irresponsible to exonerate is considered in principle by the providence and sublime grace of Allah, which considers the under-aged unfaithful as a true faithful, whether he comes from a Jewish or Christian family.

 

77- QUESTION : What is halal meat for a Muslim ? (Aix en Provence, France).
77- ANSWER : According to verses or hadiths, there is no evident criterion, only a double motivation referring to wealth and health loss. But in certain cases which are no obvious, ALLAH says:” the way of GOD to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth. Behold (how) all affairs tend towards GOD” (sura: consultatio; verse 53). The progress of science has demonstrated certain factors of illegitimacy that were not categorical. It is the case of non-slaughtered ovine or bovine meat, which preserves its toxins whereas slaughtering allows the intoxicated blood to flow out. As to the case of a pig, it has been shown according to certain researches done in the west that pig germs cause certain pathological manifestations in man’s spinal colon. The legitimate character of any type of meal prepared by people of the book has been authenticated by the Koran itself. That is why the high authorities of the charia did not see any problem in the past, and most of the people of the book had been considered as attached to their dogma and their situation falls into line canonically to ours. I have known many “ALEM” who went on, and stayed attached to this legitimacy. Although, at the present time, this alignment, both evangelical and mosaic (of Moses), is no longer sure. The doubt factor must take the role of one of the principles of rights, a fact which liberates any access for a Muslim pretending to be open –minded. Other Muslims who remain very strict reject this openness.

 

78- QUESTION : Islam imposes on the believers during the hajj or the omra, at the Mecca, seven turns around the Kaaba.  What are this process’s motivations ? (Cairo, Egypt).
78- ANSWER : This question raises three collieries :
1-Why specifically towards the Kaaba to accomplish this dogma ? 2-What are the reasons of this effective activism ? 3-How to motivate these three turns ?.

We can answer these three questions as followed : 1- The Kaaba is the centre of convergence of the world and the Muslim orientates towards it for every cultural process. 2-At the time of the cult, the believer is meant to proceed to a circumambulation, because Islam is an energetic religion and not static. 3-All these worship manifestations are marked with it. Every station, upright or sitting down.

 

79- QUESTION : What is Islam’s position concerning slavery ?
79- ANSWER : Slavery does not exist at all in Islam and by slavery we mean the imprisonment of a person belonging to an enemy after a just war. Any other type of slavery is prohibited. The Islamic world from its beginning had peacefully spread its civilisation and its dogma. Any other related situation can only be conceived through the Jihad (a just war) against a non Muslim enemy. Islam had considered this case as evil that he had always tried to eliminate, through different means of setting free a prisoner. Another type of slavery had submerged after unfortunate manoeuvres of piracies, against which Morocco had constituted under the reign of Almohades. He was a maritime militia that fought against the promoter of this phenomenon, whether he was Christian or Muslim. This incited other Muslim countries such as Tunisia to line up to this concept, and notably under the reign of the Alaouites, where the sultan Mohammed III included in any treaty or convention with the west a clause that prohibited this immoral phenomenon. Another type of slavery had appeared in certain Muslim countries in opposition to the Koranic concept, which establishes as a motivation of redemption to set free one’s slaves for any sin. This new kind of slavery is issued from a pure and simple kidnapping of women born free, thus creating a both black and white slave trade. The Khalif Omar Ibn Khattab had launched this slogan : «why are you subjugating born free human beings?».

 

80- QUESTION : What means of contraception are advised, tolerated or prohibited by Islam (Condom, coil...) ?

80- ANSWER : The only means of condoms or contraception, at the prophet’s time, was what we called at the time the ‘azl (break of the coitus). The prophet’s companions used to practise it. But with the discovery of modern means of contraception, such as the coil or other means like certain specific pills, the same legitimacy is maintained because the means, that have the same aim as the ‘azl, are licit as long they are not followed by other immediate pathological misdeeds or delayed.

 

81- QUESTION : Until what time in the morning can the two Rak’a of Al-fajr ?
81- ANSWER : Two cases are presented. In a collective prayer where the prior is late, and when the dawn prayer has started, the Al-Fajr will be executed around ten minutes after the sun rise, except in the hanafite rite, where the fajr is not considered as a Sunna, but as an obligation. In this obligatory case, Al-fajr may be immediately done. When the prior gets up after the sunrise, he has to do the two rak’aas of Al-Fajr first, followed by the two rak’aa of Al-Sobh. That is according to an authentic hadith, which was evoked to Imam Malik by his disciple Ibn Wahb when the Imam proposed the contrary, which is to say before Al-Fajr.

 

82- QUESTION : In which context is a marriage by contract (or for a determined period) authorized ? These days, can such a marriage be legitimate ? On which Koranic or sunite texts can their thrifier or their critics lean on ?

82- ANSWER : Marriage by contract, or as you say for a determined period of time, is called “nikah al moutaa”(marriage of pleasure). It is prohibited because it doesn’t grant to the future wife all of her rights that she has in a legitimate normal wedding.

 

 

83- QUESTION : I would like to know if, to avoid cheating on a wife, with whom we live separately (because of studies abroad and the impossibility of joining the other), the practise of masturbation is prohibited or not ?

83-ANSWER : Masturbation is a touching of the genitals, done to stimulate sexual pleasure. It is sometimes called “mental coitus”. It can result in, on the long run, a pathological state called “anaxism”, which is why the Charia prohibits it. Any erection of the penis by any incitement is prohibited, except whilst sleeping where it is tolerated, being spontaneous and unintentional. The prophet Sidna Mohammed specifies that fasting will protect him because it allows him to avoid illicit looks and to hold out from the sexual pressure that fasting controls. The American H.M. Shelton confirms this mohammadian prophetic view by underlining that “fasting helps personnal control, especially edire and passion and that explains why big priests resort to it.” The Russian Tolstoi, died in 1945, didn’t miss the relation between gluttony and incontinence, recommending fasting as the way to control strong sexual urges.

 

 

84- QUESTION : Is it permitted to watch a pornographic film with your wife to incite her to sexual relations ?

84- ANSWER : In this case, we have to dissociate two situations: the first being watching a pornographic movie which is completely prohibited, even without the presence of the spouse. Secondly, when the spouse is present, this action will have permissive effect. Even if the spouse describes to her husband certain features of a foreign woman, stirring up his sex-appeal, the fact will remain prohibited.

 

 

85- QUESTION : I would like to enter an order, but my husband will not allow me. What can I do ? How to become a disciple of the order ? Are men and women separated during the meetings ? Do you know where the sisters meet in the region of Paris ?

85- ANSWER : Before you think about integrating any spiritual path, particularly the tijani order, you must follow a personal test for some time. During this period, you can proceed with the recitation of the salat (benediction of the prophet), in order to open yourself and to feel a real willingness to integrate this forum. It is a procedure that you should follow in secret without having anybody’s authorisation. You are also asking me about the possible meetings between male and female within the framework of the order in some zaouias. Some places are separately booked for both men and women. As to the Tijani zaouias that I know better, more than a dozen of Tijani zaouias are located in the region of Paris, including that of Gennevilliers. As to the search for a spiritual guide, you will need him at the end of this test.

 

86- QUESTION : Our prophet Mohammed is dead, but God has compensated him with men of probity and respect. It is said that each era of our time, God entrusted 100 men “Ahl El Dine el Hanif” to safeguard the hadith and the Koran. I am Algerian, married, father of nine children and Doctor in scientific research in molecular physics. This is my question: could a suni Muslim and a descendant of the family of our great Abd-el-Kader El jilani, which my case, be holder of the supreme name “Al Ism Al Aa’Dam”?  Would you be able to let me know more about this “Ism al aa’dam" ?
86- ANSWER : The supreme name is not used much in our world. It’s setting off requires an authorisation of a high-ranking Sufi Sheikh.

 

87- QUESTION : I would like to know if in fact someone must only do the khitba if he is ready for marriage. Has it got a limited duration or not ? If we plan in the far future to get married, can we start frequenting a young girl whilst respecting the religion’s rules ?

87- ANSWER : The khitba (instead of the khitab) is the marriage proposal in Islam. It must be done at all times and can also be immediately consumed by the marriage, if the fiancée is under-aged. Otherwise, all approvals can be consented, even after a few years before puberty, like the case of our Messenger with his spouse Aisha. Concerning the case you talk about, nothing prevents an anticipated frequentation of a future couple. This contact can be risky if the two people are not in agreement and if there is a certain secret mutuality. Islam considers a specific case where the two spouses materialize, after marriage. In this whole context, good faith from the spouses is needed.

88- QUESTION : What are the miracles attributed to Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani ? Is there a work evoking them ? Quel crédit faut-il y apporter ? What did the Sheikh think about miracles (Karama) ?
88- ANSWER : Sheikh Tijani said, as reported by many books elaborated by major scholars of the order, that the rectitude pious is better than a thousand miracles. During the Sheikh’s time, nobody dared to share any miracle coming from the sheikh, and nobody dared to keep any. But after the death of the sheikh, many characters of the order had allowed themselves to elaborate some miracles. Nevertheless, some of the sheikh’s behaviours comprised unwittingly ample miracles, which were appreciated by the order followers without saying a word. As to the koranic value of a miracle, every religious Islamic authority sees nothing but the reflections of the great miracles of the promoter of Islam Sidna Mohammed.

 

89- QUESTION : Is the moqaddem in the tijani order, who gave the “award a lazima” to a disciple, regarded as his Sheikh, or can the disciple take the award from a moqaddem, and have another one as his sheikh ?
89- ANSWER : The word “sheikh” is granted only to Sidi Ahmed Tijani alone, in all the order’s books. But in some African areas, mourides allow themselves to qualify the moqaddems as sheikhs. It is a mere convention over there, which is not opposed by the order. The main thing is to have the conviction that moqaddem is nothing but an approved delegate of the sheikh, who is the only source of “madad”, and that the tijani mourid should be content with one sheikh who is Sidi Ahmed Tijani. Otherwise, an immediate break will follow. By the way, the fact is not peculiar to the Tijani order, as reported by many Sufis. This does not prevent the mourid from getting permission from another moqaddem of the same order. The case of Caliph Omar Ibn Khattab, who referred to the torah of Moses, has aroused the anger of the prophet Mohammed.

 

90- QUESTION : Can a man of the age to get married, without the means and with an increasing sexual appetite, resort to masturbation to avoid falling in the zina ?

90- ANSWER : The prophet one day said: “the one who has the means to get married should get married. Otherwise, he must face fasting which is a brake for him.” The secret of this order is that the fasting prevents any visions leading to arousing his sex-appeal. If the believer is already married, the question asked to the prophet; to this effect by the companion Abou Horeira aggravated him by saying: “castrate yourself if you cannot control yourself!''.

 

91- QUESTION : I am interested in the messianic thinking, its nature and the link establishe between the temporal and spiritual. The “exteritorialisation” involves an event to come, which constantly transforms the present to a sort of reversal of time and being. It is pretty confusing right now, the difference between a healthy messianic, which calls for the transformation of self and the spiritual journey.  There is a messianic thinking, both in sohrawardi than in Ibn’Arabi and in the contemporary world at Mahmud Taha. I am therefore trying to understand what could be the guidelines of messianic thinking in Islam, especially after reading a wonderful book of a philosopher that I greatly appreciate: Levinas. He describes the messianic thinking in the Jewish religion, which is his own religion. So what are the guidelines of a thought of the messianic event in Islam? I have found an early response in your book “the rational of the sacred” in the second chapter of the same book.
91- ANSWER : In addition to what I have already written in my book “le rationnel du sacre” I can explain to you better by saying that the secret lies in the Islamic dogma that: Jesus, son of Mary, is the messiah proclaimed by the Koran and prophetic sentences. His arrival coincides with that of the grand elected Al Mahdi al mountadar (the expected Mehdi). Some other religions believe in the so-called Millennium, i.e. the coming of the messiah at the second or the third millennium. This is an event eagerly awaited by some, and causing a waiting movement, and its current event in the United States. You can therefore have a proper idea on the interference of all these dogmas, to properly design the secrecy of turmoil of some lobbies.

 

92- QUESTION : I have been married for almost 15 years, and my husband does not help, particularly from the financial point of view. I asked advice from an Imam who asked me to talk to my husband about getting a divorce, but my husband refused. Then I asked the Imam if there is another alternative and he answered me to opt for justice. I would like to get a divorce, in order to put an end to this dilemma, and rebuild my life. I have there children and I am not saying that my husband is horrible, quite the contrary. Now he is much calmer than before. There was a time when he used to beat me. The problem now is that he refuses to divorce me, whether amicable or through the court. Can you guide me ?
92- ANSWER : In your case, two solutions are envisaged: 1-either you opt for a lawsuit against your husband, for failure on family responsibilities, knowing that according to the Koran it’s the essential quality for survival and success of a household. If he is unable to meet these conditions, then the divorce must be delivered by the judge himself. 2- if according to what you say, your husband seems to be willing to restructure positively, then it is up to you to think, from the human point of view, of the fate of your kids.

 

93- QUESTION : The prophet said: “the woman is chosen as a wife for her beauty, her money, her senior strain, or her piety. Opt for the pious and you will therefore avoid all risks.” Why such an option ?

93- ANSWER : The woman is the other half of every man. She is his conscience, whereas he constitutes her outside background, like the yin and yang whose negative side is nothing but the introspective element of the common model. Both sides of the equation complement each other, while each of them retains his perennial specificity. The balance which follows is a sign of complementary, motivated by the symbiosis of “dahir” (external) and “batin” (external), stressed in a judgement of the prophet. The context in this case is the genuine feeling of affection and respect, crystallized by an intimate introspection and conscious, which is likely to persist in a pious wife. The other values of esteem can participate to ensure some consistency, if any. But they do not claim to be unquestionably safe components. But here, I can not join Baudelaire in his “Fleurs du Mal" !

 

 

94- QUESTION : Is it compulsory to wear a beard ?
94- ANSWER : The collection of authentic hadiths of Muslim reported an award of the prophet who speaks of the “extension” of the beard. Muslim commentator, Al Oubbi explains this hadith, stating that this increase may not exceed a few bribes as a minimum beard. This extension, whatever its scope is, should not be mandatory, in accordance to certain concepts approved by the exegetes and jurist consults of the sources of the sharia. As for the fairly widespread custom, which calls for the big beard, it is the effect of personal connection attributed to a companion of the prophet Sidna Abdullah Ben Omar, regarded as very strict in his comments. According to the second caliph Sidna Omar Ibn khatab, the initial hadith of the prophet includes the reference to the moustache, which can be also shortened or extended, in one way or another. Yet all words said by Sidna Omar were considered by the messenger of ALLAH, by his living, as authentically enforceable. In this context, Sidna Omar does not recommend the shortening, but some extension of the moustache, which corroborates the same comment that the grand imam al Oubbi proposed, ie: the non-compulsory wearing of a large beard.

 

 

95- QUESTION : Does reciting salat al-fatihi need permission from a Moqaddemm ?
95- ANSWER : Reciting SALAT AL FATIH does not necessarily need any permission from any Moqaddem.

 

 

96- QUESTION : Can we (as this often happens) give permission to recite certain invocations by internet ?
96- ANSWER : This permission could, at a pinch, be granted by internet, but this sometimes requires preliminary explanations.

97- QUESTION : Where does the litany Hizb Sayfi come from? I read somewhere that it was inspired to cheikh rifa’I that God would mercy him ?.
97- ANSWER : The litany Hizb Sayfi was elaborated by Ibn Arabi Al Hatimi. It may have been inspired to other cheikhs who aren’t the authors.

 

98- QUESTION : Are they any expected translations of Muhammad al Hafidh Tijani‘s books ?
98- ANSWER : To my knowledge there is no translation of books written by Cairo’s Moqaddem MUHAMMAD AL HAFIDH TIJANI.

 

 

99- QUESTION : Who is the seal of the Mohammadian saintliness ?
99- ANSWER : There is not a single seal of Mohamedian holiness. Some of the major centres have been in their time, but Sheikh Tijani is the seal of the seals.

 

 

100- QUESTION : Could the SHEIKH’s disciple, who has taken the wird, pray behind an IMAM who does not recite the basmala loudly ? Did the SHEIKH recite the basmala loudly, during  the prayers of soub’h, maghreb, and al-icha ?
100- ANSWER : Reciting the basmala is a must in all 5 prayers, and not only in some of them. But Imam Malik has authorised this narration with a low voice, whereas in the order, it is a must to be recited loudly simply because the SHEIKH used to do so.

 

 

101- QUESTION : I need help concerning the subject of hand shaking of a non mahram woman. Some say that if it’s done without seeking pleasure, then it’s not prohibited. Others advance that it’s a sin and if not forgiven, a nail will be pushed into the head of the sinner during the last judgement day.

101-ANSWER : Touching the hand of a woman or of a very young girl is not at all prohibited. Likewise in a case where the partner is an old man, as temptation or a feeling of disturbance and its consequences are avoided. In any non-interested gesture, prohibition is mitigated. The prophet as reported by Ibn Majja in his “SOUNAN” and Ahmed Ibn Hanbal in his “MOUSNAD”, had once been seen held by the hands of young Medina girl, who had asked him to accompany her to certain areas of Medina to help run errands. The Prophet only removed his hand once all her errands were accomplished. In principal, a non interested male partner may, as a sign of courtesy, not refuse the hand of a non interested girl herself. In case of an allegiance to women, a hadith reported by Oum Attsa legitimizes the female partners touch but this case has not been admitted by Aicha, the Prophet’s spouse.

 

 

102- QUESTION : Objects of decoration such as statues are said to be totally prohibited. Likewise, some people say that even pictures are seen as such. Others say that the Prophet  had forbidden them because the Mecca people adored these statues. Are they still forbidden if used to decorate a room? Would you clarify this subject ?
102- ANSWER : Concerning statues and pictures, only those with height are forbidden because there is a hadith in which Allah will order judgement day to the one who had edified the statue to insufflate, something that no human being could make come true. Concerning a flat picture frame that does not leave a shadow, it is only not recommended because, according to a hadith by Aicha in which the messenger of Allah had ordered to take out a plane in which had been structured images and pictures for the only reason that their sight disturbs the Prophet from his prayer.

 

 

103- QUESTION : I have been told that the one who makes the dikr is surrounded by 70.000 angels ?
103- ANSWER : In their recitations, believers are accompanied by an unlimited amount of angels reciting the same dikr.

 

 

104- QUESTION : What’s the origin of "ism al jalala" ?
104- ANSWER : ISM AL JALALA, which means “name of majesty”, is the term ALLAH which means the greatness, the magnificence and the glory of Allah.

 

 

105- QUESTION : I have two questions to ask. 1. Koran and Sunna: this is my point of view on which I would be honoured if you’d enlighten me. It is clear that the Koran is the common reference for all Muslims. A believer strongly believes in the veracity of the Koran and of his Prophet Mohamed (SS). It is then obvious that the sayings of the Prophet (SS) are valid, a fact that is explicitly confirmed by the Koran (without going into the subject of the veracity of such and such Sahih). The validity of the Koran and sayings of the Prophet (SS) imply that they are coherent one another. However, many practices suggested by hadiths are not mentioned in the Koran without being contradictory with the latter. My point of view upon which I’d like to be enlightened is the following: The Koran is the only reference of our religion, in a perfect world where man is supported by faith, objectivity and intelligence. Hadiths of the Prophet (SS) appear to me as being a whole lot of examples illustrating and explaining the Koran, in the same way a teacher is explaining a lesson to a student who has not come to read between the lines of his book. 2. Fatalism and responsibility of the self. This is a subject that fascinates me and that appears to be confluent with many themes. It is obvious that if a man is judged by his deeds and by the content of his heart, he is responsible and his own judge. However, it is stipulated many times in our sacred book that Allah guides whom he likes. Without wanting to appear blasphemous, this sentence may easily lead to fatal behaviours, usually witnessed in our cultures. I have asked this particular question because I was myself, sometimes, surprised that in some situations I am led to fatalist explanations rather than following my own efforts. I have come to the following conclusion on which I would like to be enlightened. Man has, at anytime, not to doubt God’s guidance, act in the best of his capacities in the path of good, and finally go back to God. Even though this conclusion may seem coherent, certain inherent questions linger: 1. for men who are not in the right path, why are they not guided by God? In this case, if God decides to push them towards the bad path, it appears that we can speak of destiny since their actions directed to good would be in vain. 2. What to say to people who, facing atrocities and injustice in this world, retort. Why may God leave them to this? I apologize for the impudent character these questions seem to have but in no case do they have a blasphemous vocation. On the contrary, it is a questioning so as to better understand the objective and constructing doubt which is encouraged in our religion.
105- ANSWER : In fact, as we have said, the Koran is a great reference in our religion. The second is the Sunna crystallized by the authentic hadiths of the Prophet. A hadith precises it well: it sates that the sayings of the Prophet complement the Koran whilst explaining it. On the other hand, the Koran does only generalize the sublime principal of Allah whilst leaving to the Prophet any latitude to complete it, precisely the norm of charia in its specific cases. I’ll take as an example your second question related to fatalism and self-responsibility. The conclusion that you’ve made is adequate, as the verse in the Koran put it: “when you’ve made any decision, refer back to the guidance of God” which implies: “plan first and then have faith in God” which is explained by a hadith of the Prophet that incites a camel driver to hold its mount whilst having faith in God. Concerning the innovating questions in that subject matter and which are still left a stake, Allah has endowed Man with a reason able to make a clear departure between the good and the evil. So, he is free to make a choice out of determined assets. But in a case where any individual being void of reason, he is no longer responsible and in this case, a child born atheist of unfaithful family is considered as innocent by the charia after puberty, if he remains unconscious. Thus, it does not refer to destiny which consists of a unique determined option, which is not the case. In fact, according to a hadith of Omar, in any case the human being remains by all his behaviours, between the hands of God within a trial. It depends only on him to make an agreed upon choice, at last by Allah. Allah does not react thoughtlessly, leaving his servant torn between two opposed situations because it depends only on him to follow the right path.

 

106- QUESTION : Would you clarify the term of «HIJAMA» ?
106- ANSWER : The hijama exists in the nomenclature of the authentic aims of the Prophet as well as in the Boukhari and Muslim collections and in the four soumans. The place of the hijama or saignée is well specified in these hadiths according to the dose, the timing and the kind of illness happening. At the time of the Prophet, we didn’t usually do it on the neck of the patient, but sometimes where the illness is occurring. The hijama with its medical specifics reminds us of the acupuncture mechanism in China. In Morocco, the hija is equally in vogue in some male hairdressers, specialized in this matter. Actually, these specialized shops were doomed to disappear. The hijama had known great achievements at the time which had marked the Moroccan families’ customs (refer to my book “millennium of Moroccan medicine” edited in 2005).

 

107- QUESTION : I’ve read with great interest questions and answers on your website. I looked in vain on the internet about the meaning of dalil al Khirat, which we recite in certain ceremonies. Would you clarify this for me ?
107- ANSWER : Dalil Al Khayrat is a collection of homages of the Prophet Sidna Mohammed (SS) elaborated by Ibn Slimane AL JAZOULI, originated from the region of Marrakech, comprising authentic orations on the benediction of Allah on his Messenger. It is a collection of prayers well expanded around the Muslim world. During one of my trips to the Islamic Republics in USSR, I had seen that this book was the daily book of millions of Soufis in this part of the world. His majesty Amir Al Mouminine HASSAN II insisted on having it recited by great oulemas of the kingdom at the mosque of the Prophet in Medina. A fact that was symbolic for the wahhabites who didn’t assimilate at all such kind of orations. This is to particularly show the impact of the great Moroccan Soufi in the world.

 

 

108- QUESTION : Professor, I followed with great interest your participation in the round table of Saturday 28th of December 2003 at the great mosque of Dakar. Would you clarify the following subject for me? It is forbidden to do prayers of sonna after that of Sobh as well as between the afternoon and sunset prayer. Some people say that we can do the prayer of salutation of the mosque within these hours because the latter is not of the same range as those prayers of Sounna. What is the answer exactly ?
108- ANSWER : In fact, for the common believers, it’s forbidden to do, as you said, prayers of sounna after the Sobh but for the Prophet himself, these prayers are considered to be obligatory, more than (surerogatoire). Certain rites as that of Abou Hanifa, have followed the Mohammadian concept as it happens. As an outcome, if the prior has missed his fajr behind the Imam, he is allowed to do the prayer of fajr immediately without waiting for the sunrise. A great number of soufis have a tendancy to conceive that which is obligatory for the Messenger of Allah, is peremptorily for them. As to the (sureragatoire) prayer, after the “Asr”, it’s cancelled by all rites. Regarding the prayer of salutation of the mosque, it is cancelled in two cases: between the “Asr” and the sunset, and when the Imam is preaching before the Friday prayer.

 

 

109- QUESTION : First, I would like to thank you for the effort you make as to enlighten us. I witnessed that you often us the word “sect” in certain questions and answers (for example, Tijani sect and qadiriya sect). I’m French converted to Islam and in France the word “sect” has a negative connotation. Does it have the same meaning when you use it? I would also like to know about the presence of Tariqa naqshbandiya in Morocco and in Senegal.
109- ANSWER : Your remark is relevant. I should have used the term “way” instead of sect. but, I always rely on the context whilst using this term, so as not to a difference between the theological sects and the soufi sects and thus not to raise controversy on the subject. As to Tariqa Naqshbandiya, it is particularly represented by Annassiria of the region of Draa, which constitutes a great way, whose promoter Sidi Mohammed BENNASSER had tight relations with the Orient particularly during his pilgrimage of Hadj and others. Besides, the “rihlats” or itinerary trips made by the Nasserists, members of the same family, are well known. The Senegalese may have received its impact quota due to its geographical proximity between the far South of Morocco and the rest of Western Africa.

 

 

110- QUESTION : Two years ago I saw the waking state the prophet Mohammed, with whom I met briefly, following this meetng. I started doing my 5 canonical prayers, therearfter; I read a book by Amadou Hmapata Ba: “life and teaching of Tierno Bpkar”. What made me  discover a little  sufism and particularly the Tijani order, with all its wirds and litanies, but some wirds can not be recited without the authorization of a Moqaddem, I asked God in my prayers to introduce me top the order, some time later , in the waking state, I received a formula( in arabic, while iam not an arab), with a number of different times to recite, either in a melodious recitation, or in simple words ; Finally, I had another dream where I saw  the face of the person who gave region, or in Liyon, iam planing to return to the order, I need to know whether to go to Algeria, , in the mother house or fez .  Should we recite the Jouhara 11 or 12 times, and what is the difference me this formula, who is nothing but Hussein IBN Ali Ibn Abu Talib (son – in –law of the prophet). I would like to know if one can talk about dreams he had to his wife or members of his family. How would I know the significance of this formula, which was given to me, knowing that such thing should not be disclosed to know the address of a Zawiya Tijania in the Paris between these two figures ?
110- ANSWER : There are two   types of dreams taking    place in the waking are just a vision. The pious dream is called by the prophet in an authentic hadith “true deam”. This dream is considered by the prophet in the same hadith, as good news, sent directly to the person concerned or through a third person. A dream can not be interpreted by anyone, a degree of piety is necessary. In another hadith, any dream, which is not interpreted, remainsspatially unresolved between heaven and earth. The first interpretation of this dream would be recognized as appropriate, even if it is misinterpreted, so we must be carefull not to tell the dream to anybody, to avoid any risk of confusion. In a third hadith, the believer has to interpret the dream favourably, in this case, you can tell a dream to members of your family (your wife or somebody else), if it fulfills this condition. As to the second question concerning Zaouias in France, already in 1945, they were in Paris and the suberbs 14 Zaouyas, all led by one moqaddem. Other zaouyas have since emerged . Regarding your integration within the order, you can receive authrization anywhere, provided that the moqaddem concerned is up to standards . As to the difference between two options concerning the jouhara (11 or 12), it is just a very simple question, in which we saw a real problem . The option on the recitation of the jouhara with 11 grains goes back to the beginning  of the order, before the death of Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani,  It appeared  particvularly in the “jawahir al maani” , but the other option, of 12 grains, is the most recent, ie: is the one wich abolished the first one, such as the case of the prophet’s hadiths, where the recent ones abolished the previous ones.

 

111- QUESTION :I know that you receive a lot of emails and I hope that you will help me inch’Allah, or at least show me the right path. I am in search of information on the origin of Beni Mester, near Tlemcen, and I would point out that the information on this region (tribe) is much reduced or not available. Beni Mester is an old village which is seven centuries old, situated 10km from Tlemcen. I know that there was a village in Morocco of the same name, sometimes called Beni Mestara. Surely there should be a link between the two, but this remains to be proved. I’ve recently discovered that Ahmed Ben Gannoun’s (late grandson of Ahmed Ben Idris) sons are much known in Beni Mestara (see Al Dourar Al Bahia). A friend of mine has told me that according to Al Achmaoui, the Beni Mester is a fraction of Idrisside. I have never succeeded in confirming this information, but I am not that far. If by any chance you have information on this subject, I would be very grateful if you would communicate them to me. Besides, the Cheikh Tijani was a contemporary of the great scholar of tlemcen, the Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Abderrahman Al Yabderi. This latter died at the end of the 18th century (1780-1800). Do you know if they had met ?

111- ANSWER : In my book, “encyclopaedia Maghrebine” (T4 p274) on Beni Messara or Mestara, a tribe containing towns, one of which is Wazzan, on the mountain of the “Rayhane”. Among its localities, I have cited two: Beni Mestar and Tlemcoun. According to a study which I have intergrated into my book on the Souss, it appears that various localities or tibes have the same name in North Africa, especially Atlas (High, middle and Anti-Atlas which means Souss). As for the person named Kanoun, it may refer to Guennoun, a family of Mestara (see my book on Wazzan p57, edition Dar Dmama, Wazzan). For the last question regarding the contemporary of Cheikh Tijani, Mohamed Ibn Abderrahman El Yabderi, it does exist Ibn Yabderi of Tlemcen under the same name of El Fakhkhar by A. skirej in his book “Raf’ Anniqab” (T3 p212) citing an epistle expressing to Cheikh Tijani with ardour and vehemence his indelible intimacy and affection.

 

112- QUESTION : It is impossible for me to go to the Friday afternoon séance to do the hilala because of professional reasons. It is prohibited to make the 1000 “la ilaha illa Allah” at the office, so what to do in this case? Do some in silence? Knowing that in this case, it is impossible to take off shoes, sit on the ground and face the qibla. I was told that the ziyara of Moulay Driss Zerhoum in Fez in not allowed. Yet, and to my modest point of view, this great saint is not a Cheikh with a Tariqa, but he is, for sure, among “ahl al bayt”, to whom have referred all the forms of salawat of the Prophet, including the fatihi anf the jawharat el kamala: (…wa’alaa allihi...).
112- ANSWER : All the obstacles you have mentioned are not obstacles at all. You can do your dikr entirely in your office without taking your shoes off, because according to an authentic hadith, the believer may do his prayer whilst wearing shoes. Only the “jawharat al kamal” cannot be recited whilst on board a ship, plane or car. As to the Ziara, all iniciated or mourid, in whatever tariqa, and not only in the tariqa Tijani, cannot proceed to the Ziara of another Cheikh, whoever he may be and whatever his degree of descendance to the Prophet, in a context of allegiance. Otherwise, it is allowed.

 

113- QUESTION : I’ve come to buy a piece of furniture during a public auction sale. We don’t know the seller, he was an auditor who held a customers’ assembly. I wanted to know if these sales at auctions were lawful in Islam. Are they forbidden or, on the contrary, allowed in our beautiful religion ?
113- ANSWER : In principal, any auction sale is licit, if they gather the necessary conditions of a normal sale. In a case where the price is going down as it usually does in sales at auctions, then the sale is said to be forbidden, according to an authentic hadith. This is called “annajch”, which means where we lower or higher up the real price for aware buyers.

 

114- QUESTION : At what time of the day is the dikr valid? And what kind of dikr do we have to practise ?
114- ANSWER : The dikr is valid at anytime, but it is more efficient and worthy during the night, an hour and a half after the al ashaa prayer until dawn. In this case, the reward is multiplied times 500. as to the type of dikr to be done, at first you have to read the sacred Koran. One has to choose verses of value such as Sourate “Al Ikhlass” which is worth a third of the Koran, Sourat “La destinee” which is worth half of the Koran, or better yet the “La Fatiha” which is worth the whole Koran. This does not prevent one from reading at least two hizbs per day. As oration/dikr, the salat of benediction of Prophet is worth more like any other litanie, except the hailala, qualified to be the best dikr by the Prophet.

 

115- QUESTION : I am a Muslim homosexual and I am strongly attracted to the religion. Furthermore, I have the intention to follow the Tijani wird and whatever I do I cannot. I am attracted to boys and I feel lost bearing such a big secret that I cannot tell anyone. Plus, I want to die but I believe in God too much to be able to kill myself. I am suffering the martyr. I need your help to see clearly.
115- ANSWER : To be homosexual and Muslim at the same time seem to be two opposite factors, but the intention of this contrast is not to be neglected. It means that a biological may not constitute a legitimate factor but at least a mitigating circumstance. In any case, one of the factors cannot ban the other. Here, a mitigated remedy, but a temporary one relying on faith, incites you to address Allah to help you out of this dilemma. This means that you have to go on accomplishing your obligations whilst trying to reduce the defects. Such a situation had been reported in a hadith where an Arab non-believer had come to see the Prophet to ask him about the necessary and essential conditions to become Muslim. The Messenger of Allah had naturally cited those concerning certain offences that the future converted asserts not to get rid of it and the Prophet had assured him to be content at first, not to lie and the man ended up putting off , bit by bit, these defects by becoming normal. Here, faith and belief is God are more peremptory than ardent and nearer to the highest divine will.

 

116- QUESTION : The cheikh who has initiated me has informed me on only two affiliation conditions : Commitment to practise the wird and the wadifa throughout my life and the prohibition to practise any other wird or litany, of other tariqas or of living or dead saints. Later, I was told that there were other conditions. I am now asking if my initiation is valid or if I have to renew it by recalling all the other conditions ?
116- ANSWER : Your initiation remains valid but you’re in the obligation of trying to assimilate the other conditions, which are in principal common to all the initiated people. Thus, they are not peremptorily essential to an initiation. But, for the two conditions cited above, certain khalifs of Cheikh add a third one which remains in turn obligatory for any Muslim. This means believe that the Cheikh, whoever he is, is merely a conscience director and a servant of God.

 

117- QUESTION : The spiritual commitment to a Cheikh who has initiated you implies that he is the only one who has the power to guide us in the Tariqa and answer our questions. Are we allowed to address any cultivated person to ask questions on a precise point of the tariqa ?
117- ANSWER : Nothing prevents an initiated tijani to address another Tijani moqaddem to insure the veracity of an idea or the existence of other options. But here, you have to stay aware of the value of one at the expense of the other. Here it only refers to a praiseworthy effort in one or another that are both praiseworthy.

 

118- QUESTION : Does the prohibition to practise other wirds or recite other litanies apply to the invocations of protection or of adoration of Allah, taught by the sounna and reported by hadiths? (Examples among hundreds: hasbiyallahou, la ilaha illa houwa, aleyhi tawakkaltou, wa houwa rabboul archil azime-7 times), the invocation of Abou Darda (Allahoumma anta rabbi… 7 times the verse of the throne etc). Or does it only apply to litanies composed of foreign people to the tariqa ?
118- ANSWER : To be a really good initiated Tijani, one has to apply to the spirit and to stick to authentic hadiths of the Prophet. We may recite all the mohammadian da’awats as well as those of the tariqa, as they are themselves necessarily mohammadian.

 

119- QUESTION : Referring to the Koran verse 37 of sura “taweba” (penitence), it became apparent that the word “youwateo” means the indication of times, allowing the hadith, reported by Imam Ahmed abi daoud and Tirmydi on the characteristic and physiognomy of the last Imam such as : 1- bald parallel to front  , 2- aquiline , 3-his name goes with mine, and his father to my father. The pure and simple astrological portrait of Prophet Mohammed: a ram of third decan, since Sidna Mohammed was born on20/04/571, the investigations on this genetic prediction, as well as other approaches, revealed the existence of the person concerned. in fact the person  was just 35 years old in 2004, and even his house in Meknes is numbered 24, in addition to his hidden erudition, and being descendant of the Prophet. This person is called Reziki Khalid, what do you think ?
119- ANSWER : The situation to which you refer, is not the only one in the history of the so-called “Moroccan Mehdi”, there are dozens in our history, every one of them refer to events or acts, which have nothing to do with Mehdisme. Five genuine hadiths reported by Essayouti define the real attributes of a genuine Mehdi. As to references to astrology, which is not far from the astronomy sphere, they have been distorted by a heathen mythology.

 

120- QUESTION : What is the position of Islam on the existence of extraterrestrials ?
120- ANSWER : In Islam there are no aliens, there are only two elements: the Djinns and Angels, they are not recognized by some atheists, who confused them with pseudo extraterrestrials.

 

121- QUESTION : Does Islam recognize astrology ?
121- ANSWER : Astrology is the so-called “attanjim”, i.e. the science of stars. It differs from astronomy, real science of space cosmology. Astrology, which initially was permitted by Islam, was detached once it incorporated mythological elements. It does believe that the sun is in the forth sky. Besides this intruding belief, black magic has found fertile ground and in this respect there are two verses of the Koran which annihilate all these anti-astrological beliefs. The verses in question say “we have embellished the sky of the world, down here by planets”. Another verse says “all planets move in space”. This is an allusion to the solar system, denied by the anti-astrologers who encouraged the belief of a terrestrial world.

 

122- QUESTION : I read in your site that wadifa can be granted to everybody, without authorisation, could I be allowed to recite it ?
122- ANSWER : The wadifa could be granted to anybody whether it is a male or a female, a girl or pubescent boy, but with authorisation of a moqaddem.

 

123- QUESTION : Hizb Sayfi replaces 41 times sourate Al kadr, could I recite it, and how many times a day ?
123- ANSWER : In order to recite Hizb Sayfi, a specific authorisation given by a confirmed moqaddem is necessary.

 

124- QUESTION : In turkey, mussels are either prohibited by hanafites, or regarded as “makrouh” by Chafeites. We are confused. What is the truth on this point ?
124- ANSWER : In response to your question concerning the prohibition of mussels, according to hanafites and Shafeits in Turkey, we must refer to the same texts attributed to these two rites, in order to find out about the degree of this prohibition and try to find out at the same time if there is any packaging that justifies at least the “makrouh”. By doing so we avoid falling into real confusion based on misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the texts.

 

125- QUESTION : I drink and I smoke, but I am very committed to my religion and I have a lot of faith. May I recite the Koran and other dikrs ?
125- ANSWER : The case to which you refer is known in some Hadiths, as a “moumin assi”, meaning a believer who does not exactly respect Islam nor apply it. He remains, therefore, Muslim and non-believer, while marred by mischief. As to the situation of such moumin, who wants to recite the Koran and other dikrs, an authentic Hadith of the Prophet says: “some of those who recite the Koran are sometimes cursed by the Koran, as they knowingly go against the Koranic commandments”. In such a case, the recalcitrant must recite the verses of the Koran that he applies (such as the oneness of Allah, the existence of angels ….), not linked with “ibadates or Mouamalates”, meaning the prophetic prayers and social relationships.

 

126- QUESTION : Who is the “Kafir” ?
126- ANSWER : The kafir, according to many hadiths of the Prophet, is one who does not believe in the oneness of Allah. So all those who had followed Moses and Jesus, according to the authentic texts of the Bible and the gospel, are regarded as believers. Nevertheless, Jesus would, according to Islam, strengthen the creed of the messenger Moses. Whoever denies the Islamic creed is  considered by Islam as an unbeliever, except in cases where a secular space separates the promulgation of the creed because  the Mohamadian message came six centuries after Jesus To conclude, this kind of creed adopted by Islam,is based on the three Abrahamic religions.

 

127- QUESTION : Is Al-Khidr still alive? And who was he? Was Moussa’s companion (Yuchah Ibn Noun buried in Istanbul) a saint? How do you qualify his relationship with Sidna Moussa ?
127- ANSWER : According to many Hadiths, Al Khadir (or Alkhidr) is still alive. He is a simple wali, and not a prophet. Yoush Ibn Noun is cited among the prophets of Beni Israel (Israel or Jacob the son of Abraham). He is a prophet, who had continued the message of Moses after his death.

 

128- QUESTION : I have live in Turkey for three years and according to the law in this country, the rent should be increased by 30% every two years. For financial reasons, we are forced to move every two years. Is the housing credit halal in our case ?
128- ANSWER : In principle, any credit even for housing ownership remains illegitimate; nevertheless there are still exceptional cases for utmost necessity, there is a principle in Islam which says: “needs legitimate prohibitions”. It remains to be seen if your case is genuine one In Morocco in particular, credits granted for economic reasons, seem to be legitimised, particularly, when it comes to credit for rent ending with the ownership of the beneficiary. If we take into account, in some cases, the effect of inflation, any credit leading to appropriation would be legitimised, if the interest is very limited. If the interest exceeds a rate considered legitimate by Islam since it represents compensation for the general cost of the credit. But it appears increasingly in Europe, that the rate of 2;5% is actually considered superior to these indemnities . The notion of exceptional cases should be conceived in this context.

 

129- QUESTION : What are the reasons for reciting the Koran sometimes aloud, sometimes in a hushed tones during the five prayers of the day ?
129- ANSWER : During the prayers of the day, the Koran is recited in a low voice, while the two evening prayers, in particular Al-Maghreb and Al –Isha the recitation is aloud. There has been no real motive. It appears that for the evening, reciting aloud is motivated by the possibility of dozing or sleeping; as to prayer practiced in the Fajr, it is made loudly, and so the believer stays awake until sunrise, as to the other evening prayers, they can be performed with a low voice, here again the low voice is motivated by the need to take into consideration those who sleep around.

 

130- QUESTION : It is with great interest that I discovered the articles you inserted online, after reading the article “how to organize the economy in Muslim societies” I am not sure if I have understood all the practical consequences of your analysis, and its perspective in terms of Islamic jurisprudence. Are the modern financial techniques entirely justifiable, from the Islamic point of view, taking into account that the technical revolution have transformed the economysince three centuries ago? Without doubt I would like to admit a historical reading of the condemnation of Riba in the Koran, however, we are facing the excessiveness of capitalism, even if we must renew our understanding of Riba and economic activity in the modern world, divine warning is certainly not repealed by the advent of capitalism. Thedestruction of society and the environment by an industrial production with no other goal than the maximum profitabiklity on caqpital is a logical consequence of riba? The indebteness of households and governments for uncontrolled spending, are they an aberration under the fitrah? The individual and social balance that the shari’a aims to promote is it not better protected when people cooperate, without excessive debt, and moderate their needs as the prophetic wisdom has mentioned? An examination of this issue is certainly complex, but it seems that the path taken by western company’s judeo-chirstian culture, the legalization of usury is a stalemate which the world suffers today. Thinking about the future of the modern world, globalization, and capitalism, the Koranic revelation and prophetic wisdom have a major role to play. It is the Muslim community to meet this challenge. Can you clarify your analysis on this grave and complex matter ?
130- ANSWER :
I would firstly like to congratulate you on how you conceptualized Islamic economic thought in its socio-economic role; the jurisprudence analysis of these data demonstrates the availability of land in Islam, to adapt to any modern form, based on general interest. Sidna Omar ibn Al Khattab was conceptualized and analyzed the idea saying “Islam is where the general interest lies “it is true that western thinking has not always been stable in all moving world economic periods, nevertheless, what we usually call today a bank, is none other than sponsorship in the Malekite rite, where the foundation of credit is based on the principle of loss and profit, but among major powers of the modern world, there is a promoter role of some of these organizations in countries such as Japan, and Germany. In some banks, it is even able to reduce the interest rate to 2.5%, and japan is willing to eliminate it entirely, aiming at better promoting the economic movement of the country, so there is a large gap between the two ancient and modern thinking on regards to certain data on the economy, butwhose intrinsic field not far from the Islamic thought about Riba.

 

131- QUESTION : First, I would like to express my gratitude for your work that is very useful for my personal development. May ALLAH reward you abundantly. I have a few questions concerning Dalail al Khayrat and the spiritual education in the Tariqa :

1- Is it necessary to have an authorization to recite the shaykh al Jazouli’s book ?

2- If so, do the muqaddems of the tariqa have this permission ?

3- What is the spiritual education by the himma ?

4- Is spiritual education only filled with the wird, the attachment to the Koran and the sounna in this Tariqa ?

5- Must you be an affiliated member to recite the Jawharat Al Kamal ?

Once again, thank you for your work.

131- ANSWER : 1- DALAIL AL KHAYRAT is a specific recitation given to insiders, but as a congratulatory recitation of the prophet, it may be a recitation for any insider, whatever his direction may be. As to tijani insiders, no permission can be given for reciting wirds which are not included in the Tijani catalogue. Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani carefully kept one copy in his private library. It was one of the rare manuscripts that were included in this library.

2- Moqaddem of the Tijani order does not permit the recitation, being of specific exclusiveness.

3- as regards to the spiritual education of the “HIMMA”, it is first to specify HIMMA’s maximum scale, whose creating role is not to be demonstrated. The optimal role of this HIMMA is of creativity without peer. But, is this HIMMA not an insider’s irreversible commitment to Allah’s will? Is it not the transcendent conducting line towards the sublime order of God?.

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132- QUESTION : Following a visit to the following site www.alsanusiya.com, I have a few questions to ask. I learned that Sheikh Al Sanusi had studied with Sheikh Tijani. I understand that he has subsequently left Fez to join the person who would become his teacher, Sheikh Ahmed Ibn Idriss. I would like to know if leaving the Tijania order is permitted in the exceptional case of great saints, whose destiny is particular. In such, Sheikh Al Sanussi became the organiser and educator of an order which played a major role in the history of Muslims and the world. I will also mention Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba, the founder of the Tariqa Muridiyya, who, after practising the Qadiri, Shadhili and Tijani wirds, founded his own brotherhood by order of the Prophet. I would like to correct the words of Shiekh Tijani. He warned against the act of leaving his order. I have the impression that these words concern his disciples in general, but not the individuals cited in particular. I do not know why. Could you enlighten me on this subject ?
132- ANSWER : In response to your questions, I would like to emphasize that the principle which you mentioned on the warning to any insider to leave the Tijani order as you say. There are two possible cases in this matter. The first when the Sheikh Tijani would have granted an authorization of “Tabarouk”, leaving the new initiated a full opportunity to leave the order to another one. The second case seems to be that the Sheikh had given exceptional permission to recite another dikr, in addition to the Tijani dikr. This is the case of Moulay Abdessalam Addarir in Fez, who remained committed to the Tijani word while assuming the right to grant his own dikr to any insider, even Tijani. Had he received permission from the Sheikh? Only he knows. Nevertheless, his rank within the Tijani hierarchy encourages us to give him credibility. In another similar case, Tijani Moqaddem Skirej Ahmed mentioned in “Kachf Al Hijab”, Maa Al Ainayn, Changuiti, as a Tijani Moqaddem, whilst aligned to other orders, such as the Qadiria and naqchbandia orders. But the moqaddem had to assume full responsibility, as the main promoter of the order Sidi Larbi Benssayeh in his book “The boghiat” does not accept more of these cases except that of Moulay Abdessalam Addarir, who did not criticize him as he is not used to doing so.

 

133- QUESTION : On day, with friends, we wanted to read the Koran in a group, as we usually do in Morocco. But some were against the idea saying that it is a bid’a. So there was an unpleasant discussion leading to nowhere. Could you enlighten me on this matter ? Is there any proof in the Koran or Hadiths which forbid or allow the recitation of the Koran in a group ?
133- ANSWER : According to a verse which says “if the Koran is recited while you are present, listen to the recitation and concentrate on the interpretation”, concentration whilst listening is encouraged. That is why in the prophetic tradition; the reading of the Koran in a group was cancelled. During the prophet’s era, only one person recited the verses and the rest listened to him. From this tradition, Imam Malik, the rite Maliki’s promoter, countermanded the reading of the Koran in a group. But, starting from the 6th century of the Hegire, the Almohads, taking into account the regression of reciting, had ordered people to recite one hizb on a daily basis. Having said that, we may ask ourselves why the recitation in a group is put off. The answer is that there are several reasons, which all come from the interpretation of verses. First of all, to do so, we have to concentrate and to repeat the same verse several times, which is not the case of recitation in a group. Also, any interruption of recital is countermanded, yet those who recite in a group need to breathe, which provokes interruption.

 

134- QUESTION : I am a student from Senegal living in Lyon in France. The content of your website is so rich and your open spirit as to answering questions concerning different subjects incites me to ask you several questions about Sufism. So if you allow me, here are some questions: how would we know if a person is a “wali” or not? There are so many Sheikhs around us and I do not know to whom I may go and talk to. Is there any practical way to find out about the order which suits us better, or to meet the best Sheikh in order to help us find the right path ? I have heard a hadith that upsets me, saying that every 100 years, a man will appear and renew this religion. Is this hadith genuine ? If so, then who is the present person ?
134- ANSWER : In answer to your first question on the knowledge of the possible recognition of a wali, it was reported in the “boghiat” Sidi Larbi Bensayeh, one the Tijani order khalifes, that even the wali could not find out that he is in fact a wali himself. Other walis claim the contrary, but there is the existence of some symptoms that could be detected in an elected, some clues capable of detecting some characteristics that remain somewhat ambiguous because of the esoteric side of a wali, which is not categorically verified. Concerning your second question, the same author Sidi Larbi Bensayeh replied in his “baghiat” to those who wondered if Sheikh Tijani had reached this “maqam” or degree. He replied that this level has nothing to do with the “maqam” and as long as there was no word from the Sheikh Tijani, or his Califes. I do not currently know any genuine reference of this hadith which widespread among some great imams. As to the identity of the person to whom this mission should be or can be assigned in each of the historical periods mentioned, it is difficult to know exactly because the person who feels he is up to standard is the only one to mention it. In fact, several eminent people in the Islamic world have thought to reach such a degree.

 

135- QUESTION : I am looking for scientific evidence demonstrating the validity of the hadith in which our Prophet Mohammed describes neutralising the effects of the two wings of a fly, which fell in a liquid. You have spoken about it in one of your articles inserted on your website and that is why I am asking you this. Several people made fun of Islam because of the hadith in question. I am looking for every kind of information: title of the medical congress which talks of this hadith, name of the bacterium.
135- ANSWER : You have raised in your question the case of the hadith of the Prophet which you refer to. The hadith says “if a fly falls in a container, dip it entirely because the content of one of the wings neutralizes the other”. It was indeed a conference which took place in 1930 in London. If I remember correctly, this event was reported by a magazine called “ATTAQWA” published in Cairo. It is true that several people made fun of Islam as a result of this hadith as you have mentioned. Nevertheless, a good number of Western doctors who attended this conference took this hadith seriously, particularly that the Prophet had spoken of bacterium or therapeutic elements that exist in either wings of a fly and off set. These experts have even mentioned the names of these elements in their scientific names in Latin, after analysing a fly organically dissected.

 

136- QUESTION : Does the sun rotate around the earth? And what is the reality of the solar system according to the Koran ?
136- ANSWER : Astrology distorted by mythical prospects had glimpsed the existence of a pub lunar world. The moon’s headquarter is the first sky and the sun governs the fourth where the Prophet Idriss (so called Hermes, God of the sun). However, the Koran straightens this wrong in a verse speaking of planets. The sun is in perpetual motion. That is what the latest discoveries of modern astronomy have shown, indicating that our solar system ran through our galaxy following a spiral.

 

137- QUESTION : I have a comment on the statistics that you displayed on your site indicating that 90% of Senegalese are Tijanis. As a Senegalese, I think it is very exaggerated. I’ll take the example of the Toba region, where almost the entire population is made up of Mourides of Sheikh Amadou Bamba, not counting other orders such as the Qadiryia. In addition to that, in the capital, half of the population belongs to any order at all. Unfortunately, I have no figures in my hands but those are my own views.
137- ANSWER : You’re right. My indications were based on an old census of the time when the parliament had already 4/5 of Tijani deputies.

 

138- QUESTION : Do Ttijani adepts practice the samaa or the religious singing ?
138- ANSWER : As far as Tijani adepts are concerned their religious singing includes the “Borda” and the “hamzia” of Imam Al Boussairy, as well as poems composed by Tijanis in honour of the prophet (ssl), or of the sheikh SIDI AHMED  TIJANI, or his caliphs.

 

139- QUESTION : Where is Lalla Fatima Zahra, daughter of the Prophet, buried ?

139- ANSWER : Lalla Fatima Zahra died at the age of twenty nine years old in the year eleven of the Hegire. She was buried at night in the main cemetery El Baqiy of El Medina. The place is the mosque, place of the funeral prayer. But, another version is more accurate: this tomb is located in the Zaouia, so called “Dar E’diyl” in the same Baqiy. This fact is confirmed by Abdellah Ibn Jaefar, Ali’s nephew (refer to TABAQAT Ibn Saad, p.27).

 

140- QUESTION : Has the husband the right to beat his wife ?

140- ANSWER : The Koran  says : “men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because GOD has given them one more (strengh) than the other, and because they support them from their means, therefore therighteous woman are devouted obedient, and guard in (the husband’s) absence what god would have them guard, as to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance” (Sura “the women” verse 34) explains it so there is a gradation in the means of discussion. First, the reasoning then placed in quarantine and finally punching (translation of Ker Chid). But in an authentic hadith, the messenger of Allah has mixed this eventuality according to his wife Aicha who asserts that the prophet (SS) gave a good example. Never had he hit a woman throughout his life.

 

 

141- QUESTION : Who, according to you, is entitled to interpret a dream ?
141- ANSWER : According to tradition, only a “Siddiq” or a holy pious are allowed to issue an authoritarian interpretation of a dream. The prophet Joseph was cited as such by the Koran, as well as the companion of the Prophet Abu Bakr (nicknamed “As Siddiq”) by the messenger of Allah. Ibn Syrine, one of the elected inspired, was also an interpreter. The interpretation depends, sometimes, of the individual characteristics, particularly psychic dreamer, which reduces the margins of a proper interpretation.

 

 

142- QUESTION : I am a Senegalese tijani who works in Benin at Porto Novo. Over here, there is no Tijani Zawiya, and therefore I do not have the opportunity to perform the Wadifa, nor the Friday’s Hailala with a group of tijanis. In addition to that, I am a bit lazy and I do not seem to be able to do my homework related to the Tariqa properly. I have to add that I took the wird from a master, but I did not follow his path, i.e. the path of Seikh Ibrahim Niass, but that of El Haj Malik Sy. Should I renew my wird ?
142- ANSWER : If there is no zawiya in your community, you can perform the wadifa as well as the Friday Hailala on your own. As to the source where you got the wird, it does not matter which moqaddem initiated you to the order whether it is Sheikh Ibrahim Niass or haj malik Sy . As to your laziness, try to do both your prayers and dikrs the best you can. It is important to do both of them within the appropriate timing.

 

 

143- QUESTION : I would like to know during which periodicity Islam says that there is marriage between a couple which remains for a long time without any sexual relationship, particularly as a result of quarrels ?
143- ANSWER : In Islam, the separation of bodies for one reason or another has no impact on the legality and continuity of marriage.

 

 

144- QUESTION : I have been a tijani since the age of ten (now I am 23 years old), and I was initiated to the order at the age of 13. My father is a khalife of Sheikh al Islam Ibrahim Niass, and for the time being, I am a khalif. On the other hand, I am an engineer in operational research (training at Houari Boumediane University in Algiers). I have tremendously appreciated your work but I have not seen any trace nor the role played by Ibrahim Niass, yet you certainly know that he has got at least 100 million followers throughout the world (1990 estimate). Most of them are based in Mauritania, Nigeria, and also in West Africa. I therefore feel a kind of injustice towards him. On the other hand, I have found in the section devoted to zawaiyas mistakes concerning populations and percentage, so I am reporting all this to you with complete objectivity ?
144- ANSWER : In response to your letter, I would like to stress that Sheikh Al Islam Ibrahim Niass is a great friend of mine, with whom I have spent a good number of years. I am aware of his masterful work and the magnificent message by which millions of Africans have known Islam and the Tijani order. I always tried to go to Kaoulakh to visit him, whenever I am in Dakar. He loved me so much and made sure to send me some of his books, before they are published. I am convinced that he did not need my views, but he consulted me thanks to the intimate affection that binds us. The relationship continues even after his death with his son the great scholar and moqaddem Abdellah Niass. My link with the Niass family is close. I am in the process of developing a well documented synthesis in French to insert in my site. As to mistakes concerning the populations and the percentages, particularly in Africa, I am doing nothing but putting together all information concerning this topic, thinking to put them together and compare them, once a sufficient quantity is available. I would like to thank you in advance for our fraternal gesture, asking you to keep me informed of everything that you know about this issue.

 

 

145- QUESTION : Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala – ordered by his community not to perform Da’wa without science. I advise you to read surat al’asr, whose salaf assalih have got a great blessing. We discovered the three stages of a Muslim in his sermon: science (illa ladhina amanou): knowing Allah, his prophet, and his religion, the application (wa’amilou assaalihaat), preaches (wa tawasaw bilhaqq), patience (wa tawasaw bissabr). Moreover, Allah (Azza wa jal) gave another order in the Koran : “qoul atou bourhanakoum in kountoum saadiqin” meaning “ give your evidence if you are truthful”, but I do not see in your  answers any hadith , nor any sura. Also, remember that the prophet never authorised an order, since none existed at that time, but he said “Muslims of my community will be divided into 73 factions, one out of it will go to paradise”. Those who were listening to him asked “which faction will go to paradise ?” He answered back: “those of my community, who follow my suna and the teaching of my companions”. Finally, the basis of Islam, the most important source is located in the tawhid. All prophets were sent with tawhid “la illh illa allah”, and the prophet Mohammed has taught it for 13 years to his companions ?
145- ANSWER : A good part of what you said is well founded but an Islamic authority worthy of this name must be able to make a net departure between what seems a contradiction between the hadiths that are authentic or apocryphal. I had the opportunity to discuss these problems with serenity and at ease in a book that has just been published in Arabic in three volumes, under the title of “Encyclopaedia of Islamic Sufism between the Maghreb and the Mashreq”. You will find everything that confirms your faith, and your conviction as a true Muslim, because sometimes some misunderstandings are only the effect of a lack of documentation. If you do not find what meets your concern, do not hesitate to write to me.

 

146- QUESTION : What do you think of cloning, and what is the position of Islam ?
146- ANSWER : It is a new research initiative in the field of genetics. The outcome remains more or less vague. The scientific, economic and political world is divided and searchers are torn. Some are for and others are against. We raised within our academy this issue, called in Arabic “Al istinssakh”. We tried to weigh the opposed elements, but nothing emerged so far in the absence of concrete evidence. That is why I reserved to develop any option in this case for the time being, waiting for more evidence, which will strengthen my position on one side or another. What seems obvious under circumstances is my refusal to this initiative, but it is possible that I change my mind, if it is proved that such new genetic conception would have a beneficial impact on humanity and is useful. During a symposium organized by the Moroccan association of cardiology, at El Mansour hospital in Casablanca, (july 4th 2005) I presented a paper on the history of medicine in Morocco, and the outlook towards the future. A professor in cardiology asked me about the Islamic view on cloning. I replied that cloning in its current options is not clearly defined and it still seems unclear, torn between the plausible and the implausible. With regard to its implications and amplifications on human beings, it would seem little lawful in its context, also unclear. But the day this process is better defined, and will include certain safe therapies to some disease regarded as chronic and incurable, I will be very happy because it would thus benefit the humanity, and legitimized as such. Islam, according to the second caliph of the prophet (peace be upon him), Omar Ibn Khattab has a vital foundation, which is the general interest, of course, is the criteria of any legitimacy. The cloning is nothing but a perspective of the future for medicine, similar to others such as the system of transplantation, euthanasia, test-tube babies, surgery aesthetics etc….

 

147- QUESTION : I would like to know when the name “Islam “has been chosen to describe our religion. Is this the advent of religion in the time of the prophet (peace be upon him), or after that? I ask you this question because some verses, including 3.19 and 3.85 verses (sura al imran) says that religion accepted by GOD is Islam, and that anyone wishing to a religion other than Islam will not be approved.  I think that this understanding is inconsistent with the message, announcing that anyone will be well approved by GOD, without distinction; a clear example of this message is in the ayate 262 (sura al baqarah)) “those who spend their substance in the cause of god, and follow not up their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with injury,_for them their reward is with their lord:on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”“ I therefore think that the word “Islam” in the Koran means “submission” in general, rather than the religion itself, which it would be assigned by following the name . Broadly speaking, when the Koran is addressed to believers (ayouha aladina amanou), is it right to think that the message is addressed to every believer, without distinction of religion  rather than muslim only ?
147- ANSWER : Although the word “Islam” means submission, but canonically speaking, Islam is considered by the Koran as the religion of Abraham, which includes in addition to the three revealed religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammadism. These monotheistics are approved by ALLAH, both in the Koran and hadith. The messenger of ALLAH Sidna Mohammed (peace be upon him) has not ceased to proclaim on all occasions that the profession of faith, witness of the belief in the oneness of ALLAH, is the sole criterion of Abrahamic monotheism. So in answer to your second question, every believer approved by ALLAH is part of monotheism.

 

148- QUESTION : Following your last answer, I understand, therefore, that Islam encompasses other monotheistic religions, which you mentioned. So when the Koran says: “and anyone who wants a religion other than Islam will not be approved, and it will in the beyond, among the losers “(3:85) it integrates other monotheistic religions. This verse is still easily interpretable in the following manner: only Muslims will go to paradise. What can we respond to a person who is in good faith, cites this verse, and understands it this way ?
148- ANSWER : In answer to your question about sura 3.85 of the Koran, I would like to point out that the Koran, speaking of Islam that we often define as submission, not only integrates the three revealed religions, but also the monotheistic movements : the  magus of zarathushtra, and the sapiens of Noah. True Islam according to the Koran is the Islam of Abraham, the second father of mankind. Indeed, a verse from the Koran says: “Abraham was neither Jewish nor Christian, but pure Muslim”.

 

149- QUESTION : I would like to ask you how to understand the following verse: “if we abrogate any verse, or if we forget it, we bring a better one, or a similar one. Do you not know that Allah is omnipotent?” (2:106).
149- ANSWER : In the verse 2:106 of the Koran , it concerns a sign of the essential characteristic that has to print all legislation, needing to be supple and evolutionary, like the verses concerning the illicit wine and of the banking interest. It is here only one of the assets of this concept having to manage the believer’s behaviour. The attribute omnipotence divine, or rather Omni-knowledge, has nothing to do in this context because the Prophet, who is a human liable of being a victim of any omission, specifies in a hadith: “I do not forget but I am made to forget to be able to legislate".

 

150- QUESTION : Is it pious to fast with irritability and bad mood ?
150- ANSWER : Fasting, mainly during the sacred month of Ramadan, does not limit itself to a food and drink deprivation. Much more, it requires healthy behaviour, a moral quality elevation, and must in principal exacerbate the inclination towards spirituality. Let’s underline that the contrary, such as an immoral behaviour and gratuitous aggressiveness, are banished all year round, not only during Ramadan, so why would it be tolerated during the sacred month? “The fast is a shelter (against evil)”. “The one who fasts must abstain himself from any misdemeanour, even if he’s insulted or attacked” (hadith reported by Bokhari). The fast must never be an excuse for bad mood outbursts. Thus, to this subject, Bokhari, Moslim and Sonan refer to this hadith: “when one of you is in his fasting day, he must abstain from swearing and raising his voice to anyone. When he insults provokes it, he should say: I am in a state of fast”. As one of the five pillars of Islam, it is proven that fasting reveals a particular importance that, surpassing the cultual (meaning the act of the cult), marks an indelible impact on the social, meaning the human, whatever the confessional side of the human is. We asked the Prophet the following question: which quality for Muslims is judged the best? (Note here that, in referring to the “muslim”, the great moral qualities, sincerity, honesty, cleanliness, are already justified in this term). The prophet said that the best quality in the muslim is to “calm the hunger of a poor , and to salute any person (as a sign to peace) whether the person is known or not “ The salvation  is considered in this hadith (reported by Boukhari), as agesture inspiring security, a double security is required,  to which the muslim should participate: food security, and physical security. Fasting is designed as in this case, the deeper meaning of fasting is not , hardly a simple individual deprivation, as a peremptory way, to feel during the month, the  extent of deprivation, that some people experienced all year long. Any merit in the religious act, is a function of social effeciency of the act done by the faithful. The deep sense of religion is not confined to the purely practical worship of Islam. The religious spirit is the one which accompanies the heart and goodness of the soul. The individualim of the faithful must not blunt his humanism, or degenerate into selfishness.

 

151- QUESTION : I would like to know, concerning the isha prayer, (because I have contradictory opinions) if we can do it after midnight ?
151- ANSWER : In a hadith, the optimal time to accomplish the isha prayer can be prolonged to the end of the night, meaning before the fajr, except in the case where the prayer prefers to sleep before the advent of the fajr. He must do his prayer before sleeping, because he may not wake up in time.

 

152- QUESTION : Baraka Allahu Fikoum for taking into account the mail that I sent you.  I have carefully read your answer, but what bothers me lies in the title of the book you mentioned “Encyclopaedia of Islamic Sufism between the Maghreb and Mashreq”. You follow the Sufi path and the question I am asking you now is what is Sufism?  Of course I expect from you an answer fed by evidence from the Koran and/or the prophetic tradition (suna). I hope that my mail will not give the impression of criticism from my part, but a search of clarification. Could you give me details of the university where you studied? I would also like to know your religious journey that allows you to issue a fatwa ?
152- ANSWER : In response to your pertinent question, I would like to emphasize that the response would require a substantial statement that the mail can not allow. In this case, I am asking you to refer to my French book on Sufism inserted in my site, and my last book in Arabic you cited, which is published in 3 volumes, where you have answers to all questions that you may raise.  As to the second question, I wish to inform you that I never issued any fatwa, but simply an opinion on issues that are raised to me, supported by evidence from the Koran, hadiths, or by general consensus. When it comes to the process that I had to accomplish in order to become a professor at the Al Qaraouine University, and at Dar Al Hadith in Rabat, and also at Mohamed V University in Rabat, you can refer to my CV, inserted in my Website.

 

153- QUESTION : The atheist and the naturalists deny the existence of God and see nature as the only existing reality, or only source of value that makes moral life the extending of biological life. What does Islam think of naturalism in general ?
153- ANSWER : For Islam, it is God who created nature, with the perfection that characterizes it, making it subject to strict laws. Perennial and adequate, they are sound laws, which every believer must submit. Here it is a perfect order whose proper functioning is a sine qua none condition of the cosmic sustainability. Man, who ever he is, whatever his greed and ability, must remain himself, far from any mutation that disrupts and deteriorates his ecological balance, his behaviour, marked by the natural in its original purity, remains the only leitmotif that directs him, under the aegis of spontaneous sound. But in our earthly life, spontaneity may be distorted and disfigured, as the spontaneous, an expensive option for those who essentially trust the spontaneous revolution of the mass. The only conviction that symbolizes the act of worship for a good believer is that in this cosmic context, he feels governed by the Providence and the divine Omnipresence.

 

154- QUESTION : The Koran states that poverty is from Allah, and evil perpetrated by the offender comes from himself. How do you explain this contrast ?
154- ANSWER : Indeed, in the sura (woman, verse 79), Allah says: “whatever good, (o man) happens to thee, is from god; but whatever evil happens to thee, is from thy (own) soul, and we have sent thee as an apostle to (instruct) mankind, and enough is god for a witness”. Here, Allah determines the responsibility of man, as well as the source of emanation of good or evil. Islam is being the abandonment of self; every divine order is beneficial, for a good Muslim. The believer is convinced that Allah has created only good, evil being the misuse of the good, without respect for the laws of nature, which govern the world. This good, which comes from Allah, is the positive aspect of things, while the transgression of this beneficial factor is its negative side.  In any human process, whether in social or economic, exceeding the appropriate dosage is evil.

 

155- QUESTION : Did the Koran govern democracy? If so, then how ?
155- ANSWER : The consultation between the community citizens is a Koranic concept. On the other hand, in verse59 sura of women) Allah says: “   O ye who beieve! Obey GOD, and obey the  Apostle and those charged with authority among you, if ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to god and his apostle, if ye do believe in god and the last day: that is best, and most suitable for final determination”. Here, the criterion of power is clear, the obedience to Allah and his messenger is repeated, while the word “obey” was not repeated for the regulators of authority, it means they are exercising this power in the context of koranic law and the prophetic tradition, i.e. applying the Koran and the tradition, any disobedience rejects the offender outside the Islamic community (umma). That is why the only criterion that democratises the power is submission to the Islamic legislation. In the previous verse (58), Allah orders the return of deposits to their beneficiaries, the exercise of power is a deposit entrusted by the community to those who hold it.

 

156- QUESTION : I come back to you because you have already been kind enough to answer my questions. Today I have two questions. The first is personal, as I want to know if I have to redo the complete ablution or not, if I kiss my wife.  My second question is to find out the difference between Sunite Muslims and Shiite Muslisms ?
156- ANSWER : If the act to which you refer is followed by ejecting a simple liquid called “medhy”, in this case a simple ablution is necessary. In the case of the ejection of sperm called “many”, the total ablution is required. In a case where there is no ejection, the small ablution would hardly be necessary, except for prayer. To differentiate the two types of liquid, canonical Muslim authorities gave specific qualifications of each. Regarding the second question, myself as a Sunni, who had the opportunity to compare the two on the basis of the degree of authenticity of prophetic traditions, I have already opted for the sunnism, however without having minimised the Shiite contribution in this regard.

 

157- QUESTION : I do not belong to any order, and I would like to get a permission to recite the istikhara, basmala, al istighfar, (sura 33, verse 55) allahumma salli ala sayyidina Mohamed wa salem, tahlil, ( sura 37 , verse 181-182).
157- ANSWER : The messenger of Allah Sidna Mohamed (peace be upon him) has authorised every believer to read the Koran, incorporating all that there is for everyone to recite. That is a general authorisation for the entire community, which can be coupled with special permission, where there would be ambiguity.

 

158- QUESTION : The Koran speaks of science that leads to the truth ? Which science is it?
158- ANSWER : Allah says in the Koran (sura, the star, verse 28) “and tell them that the water is to be divided between them, each one’s right to drink being brought forward (by suitable turns “, in fact thinkers particularly greeks  were based on their conjectures to build their understanding of the nature and conduct of cosmos. They are only spirit abstract speculations, yet the concrete science leans on its conceptual elaboration on effective and direct experimentation and observation. Only rational factor structures the scientific reality, which was called by some as “exact science”. Thus, physics, chemistry and natural sciences are the real sciences because they are mainly based on observation, coupled with another element: calculation. Claude Bernard (813ad.j) laid the foundations of the experimental method, which built experimental science (as opposed to exact sciences). This new methodology is the departure point to physiology, as the formula of speech being part of Claude Bernard methodology, particularly concerning biology based on the assumption and research. The empiricism is based on experience alone, without resort to reasoning, or to theory, and is opposed to classical rationalism. It relies on ontological proof, the idea of perfection, to prove the existence of God. Bacon (Roger) (1214), an English scholar and a precursor of experimental science, another Bacon (v Francis) English scientist and philosopher (1561) was an advocate of the experimental method and promoter of a new classification of science.

 

159- QUESTION : How do you explain scientifically the phenomenon found between two marine and waterside waters that are salty and sweet which touch each other without any mixture between them ?
159- ANSWER : The Koran says (el forqane sura, verse 53) “it is he who has let free the two bodies of flowing water: one polatable and sweet, and the other salt and bitter, yet has he made a barrier between them, a partition that is forbidden to be passed”.  Indeed, this phenomenon is easily visible among others in Basra, Iraq, where fresh water is discharged from Tigre in the Indian Ocean. In the high tide, we see green salty water alongside the soft reddish hue. One remains independent of each other, with no mixing. Allah has certainly created between the two an interface, a common boundary, which prevents osmosis, i.e. any intermingling or mutual influence. The fact is explained by the natural phenomenon where each molecule retains its individuality without losing any of its peculiarities.

 

160- QUESTION : What is the meaning of the following expression: “wind fertilizing” in the Koran? Allah says in the Koran (sura al hijr, verse 22) “and we send the fecundating winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water (in abundance), though you are not the guardians of its stores''.
160- ANSWER : This verse can mean the female flowers pollinated by the wind that carries pollen, but according to the context of the verse, it’s to fertilize the clouds, which are a cluster of water droplets or small ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. The clouds are associated with large groups called cloud systems. The droplets know a little movement of falling so that any upward trend of air is enough to keep them aloft. Here intervenes the fertilizing wind. Droplets of opposite electrical charges (positive and negative) repel each other, being too small to be activated under the effect of the gravity. The wind mixes them, forming raindrops.

 

161- QUESTION : A propos du Coran et de l’énergie cosmique, Concerning the Koran and cosmic energy, can you mention an example of this transcendent reality of the cosmos.
161- ANSWER : Koran is not a “pharmacopoeia of science” it is a compendium of human realities where scientific evidence intervenes accidentally, such as the solar system, astral evolution in space, the route of the sun etc … We can name on in particualr. Allah says in the Koran , which seems consistent with some recent phases of the evolution of science (the livestock sura, verse 125 ); speaking of the soul , which tightens in  receipt of  certain concepts of Islam “                               “ the science quotes, in this case what it  calls “ the evil of the altitude ”or“ the evil of astronauts” felt when oxygen rarefies,  gravity which decreases, causing  a choking, which only corrects a mask oxygen and and pressurization, which is the maintenance of normal atmosphere  pressure.

 

162- QUESTION : Is there “hal” (hadra) in the tijania order? And did it exist during Sheikh’s Sidi Ahmed Tijani era ?
162- ANSWER : The “hal” is a state of ecstasy whose luminance and theophanic falls affect the heart and shake the body. It is not in principle linked to a dikr. As to the hadra, it’s a state where the tijanis feel attracted to a certain act that inspires them to stand in a rhythmic movement while doing the dikr including the hilala. This event does not go as far as the Sheikh’s era, who was always following the prophet’s behaviour, and his companions for that matter. God’s messenger said “the best dikrs that I was able to recite is nothing other than hilala”. In such a performance, the prophet (peace be upon him) was sitting down, in order to concentrate better.

 

 

163- QUESTION : I wanted to know if it was better to say “a’oudhou billahi samii el-alim mina shaytani rajim”, or “a’oudhou billahi mina shaytani rajim” ? Which of these versions is more Sunna.
163- ANSWER : The second version is quoted in several talks of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It is therefore recommended, especially as it is repeated in a verse of the Koran.

 

 

164- QUESTION : I am an American Muslim and I am interested in the Tijania order. I have three questions for you and thank you in advance for your answers. 1- How can we develop or advance the spirituality in the order, while getting rid of spiritual discomfort ?. 2- Is there a mouride/sheikh relationship in the tijania order ? 3- Why don’t some sheikhs of the order bear the beard, as it is clearly described in the Sunna, and that most of schools in Islam confirm that it is compulsory ?
164- ANSWER : 1- The only way to grow in the order is to follow the sunni behaviour indicated by the sheikh and fill all the spare time by blessing on the prophet, including salat al faith, which is an equivalent to 600.000 other salats. This vaporization is general for all mourides in every single order, before the advent of sheikh tijani, as the “salat al faith” was already known and recited by other sheikhs. 2- The relationship between mouride and sheikh in the order is the foundation of any initiation based on love of Allah and the commitment to suna. 3- The wearing of beards is initially a sign of distinction between the two sexes. It is only a matter of certain bits to show this sign, that is why a hadith of the prophet (peace be upon him) (the only hadith that exists) in this matter, reported by Muslin in his digest, and  commented on by the imam Oubi , referred to this  reductive state of the beard ; but there is another one  about the companion of the prophet Ben Abdellah Omar , who advocates the need for  the lengthening of the beard , but here it is a matter of a “maoukouf” hadith  . It is therefore not recommended in the sunna, to eliminate entirely the virile mark.

 

 

165- QUESTION : I wanted to know whether it was possible to complete a dikr by sura 37 verses 180-182, preceded by the Tahlil.
165- ANSWER : Yes, you can because this dikr finishes this sura itself.

 

166- QUESTION : What is the French translation of “fa’lam annahu la illaha illa llah”? I wanted to know if it comes from the Koran.
166- ANSWER : This phrase comes from the Koran. It is in the Sura “Mohamed” verse 19. Its translation is as follows: “...know, therefore, that there is no god but God, and ask forgiveness for thy fault, and for the men and women who believe; for God knows how you move about and how you dwell in your homes''.

 

167- QUESTION : I had a dream which incited me to pray more about Sidna Mohamed (peace be upon him). How many times do I have to do this prayer and how ?
167- ANSWER : The blessing or praise of the prophet is the best dikr after hilala because, in a verse of the Koran, Allah himself does bless the person who recites the blessing of the prophet.

 

 

168- QUESTION : I wanted to know why the fatiha is recited at the beginning of Lazim and the Wadifa ?
168- ANSWER : Concerning the recitation of wird lazim, Fatiha is not mandatory but it is recommended. Only the basmala is because there is a hadith which states that anything important is to be reinforced by “bismillah".

 

169- QUESTION : I would like to know if this wird complies with the Koran and sunna and if it is possible to recite it: aoudou billahi mina samii al alim mina shaytani rajim (once), al-fatiha (once), azstaghfirou allah (100 times), surat 33- verse 56 ( once), allahoumma salli ala sayidina mohammed wa sallim (100 times), la ilaha illa allah ( 100 times), sourate 37- verse 180-182 (once) ?
169- ANSWER : Indeed, the wird of the Tariqa Tijania is based on the precepts of the Koran and the sunna. It was composed in a manner that is impossible to change. It first includes the fatiha, the first sura of the Koran, preceded by “taaoud and the basmala” which you mentioned, then istighfar, and fatihi, (i.e. the blessing of the prophet). You mentioned in your question a summarized blessing which can be recited only in an exceptional cases of coercion because the recitation of al fatiha is absolutely necessary. The third dikr of this wird is the hilala, which was integrated just after four years after the first two dikrs in the year 1196 (higeriya), because the hilala, according to suna, is one of the best dikrs of which the recitation requires an early treatment by the first two dikrs . As to the koranic references , in this case are istighfar “ verse 180, sura 37)”assafate”, and sura 33, verse 58 “alahzab”, concerning the blessing of the prophet ( peace be upon him) . As far as the wadifa is concerned, which  is the third dikr, after the two wirds ( morning and evening), its recitation is based on a hadith reported by the companion of the prophet ( peace be upon him), Abi said Al Khondri : “’ he who recites the prayer :” Astaghfirou ALLAH alladi Lailaha  ILLa Houwa  Hayou Al Qayoum” sees absolve all sins committed , whatever their size.

 

170- QUESTION : What is the woman’s role in the formation of embryo ?

170- ANSWER : The Koran has responded to these questions in the Sura “the livestock (verse 98). Spot –fixing in a male is the strain of this lineage which includes the sperm in the “germ” whose content is transformed, hereditary from father to son, as a constant element of the race. For women, this corresponds to the uterus and the ovaries. The shaped egg receives the sperm which fertilizes it. The uterus is a receptacle, instead of a deposit where the germ is constituted, then the embryo and the foetus. In a hadith of the prophet (peace be upon him), this exhorts the believer to choose his wife, outside this specific plot, where the congenital element would initially be the same, because in such a case, serious genetic insinuations were bound to appear.

 

 

171- QUESTION : I would like to know which of these two Salats is the closest to the suna: “ALLHUMMA SALLI ALLA SAYYIDINA MUHAMMAD ANABBIY AL OUMMIYI WA ALA ALIHI WA BARIK WA SALLIM” and “ALLAHUMMA SALLI ALA SAYYIDINA MUHAMMADIN WA ALA ALIHI WA SAHBIHI WA SALLIM".
171- ANSWER : The two versions do not deviate from the suna because they include both the main features of the salat and the Salam.

 

 

172- QUESTION : I am an Italian converted to Islam and I’ve been practising the rites of the Tariqa tijania for ten years. I live in Morocco but unfortunately I don’t speak Arabic. Since my entrance in the Tariqa, an anomaly disconcerted me: I have been taught the jawarat al kamal with: “bi mouzouni er-riahi” but everyone recites: “Bi el mouzouni al arrbahi”. The book “Jawahir El Maani” in my possession says “Riahi” and the comments refer to this word. When I ask questions about this, the answers are confusing and without references. Would it be possible that the word was changed, left by our sheikh? If this is the case, why did we do that? Thank you for willing to answer this question.
172- ANSWER : The two versions concerning this part of the Jouharat Al Kamal exist in certain works of the tariqa. Some opt for the first one and others like Sidi Larbi Benssayeh in his “Boghiat” choose the second one. In the manuscript text of the “Boghiat”, I personally raised the rectification made by the mighty moqaddem Sidi M’hamed Nadifi, referring without doubt to the initial text of Jawahir al Maani. However, to my sens, there are two reasons that provoked this differentiation. One is commonplace concerning the punctuation, where it is naturally easy to change the “ba” into “ya”. But, the other reason consists in the revisions made after the inscription of the first manuscript on Jawahir Al Maani in the year 1213 of the hegira, meaning 17 years before the death of sheikh Tijani, and dead in 1230. Other changes were made concerning the Jawhara Al Kamal itself, where the initial text of Jawahir Al Maani talks of eleven Jouhara in the wadifa instead of twelve, which provoked controversy in certain African countries where some have opted for the version of eleven like the Hamaouiyines. But, for the “Boghiat”, it does not concern a punctuation error because all the zones referring to the Boghiat opt for the “ba” and for the twelve grains of the Jouhara.

 

173- QUESTION : I have allowed myself to contact you in order to obtain help. I am a young Moroccan living in France. My grandfather from Taza was the great fqih of this town. I am interested in my grandfather’s writings. Amongst his books, one is called: “kitab el kanz el madfoun oua sir el maknoun sa’ir ‘an mahd koun fayakoun, min imla’ sayidouna oua shaykhouna oua mawlana ahmad tijani radial ah ‘anhou…”. Its author is therefore the sheikh Ahmad Tijani, but it’s my grandfather’s writing. In my opinion, he must have copied it from another book. Do you know of this book from the cheikh Tijani ?
173- ANSWER : All of Cheikh Tijani’s work is known. The one you have cited isn’t. There is even what we call “le kounnach al maknoun”, attributed to the Cheikh and that is found in Ain Madi in Algeria. It is said to be the only copy of “Jawahir Al Maani”.

 

174- QUESTION : Thank you a thousand times for the answer to my question about the recitation of “Kalmal Al Jawahir”, with the word “r’bahi” or “riahi”. Finally, I was able to clarify this point with your accurate answer, and references. Your availability encourages me to ask your opinion about the attendance of women in the zaouia and reciting Jouharat el kamal. In the region of Souss, there are a lot of zaouyas, and I had the privilege to visit almost all of them. But rare are those who keep a room for women. In general, women are discouraged to come to the meeting on Fridays, on the pretext that it is not required to perform prayer in group. I was even advised not to recite jouharat el kamal in the wadifa and to replace it with 20 of salats al fatihi. When I asked about the references of such assertions, nothing precise was given to me. To my knowledge, nothing as such is quoted in “jawahir el maani”. Would you clarify this position of a large number of tijanis, and also give me your personal opinion on this matter? Thank you in advance for your answer, and your patience. Be sure professor of my great esteem to your person.
174- ANSWER : As far as a woman is concerned, she can recite “jawharat el kamal” like any man, except when the two sexes among tijanies must replace the jouhara by the fatihi20 times. Concerning your second question, in principle, tijanis whom I have known for the last five decades, deny their wives to go to the zawiya because, according to an authentic hadith of the prophet, the private room of each woman in her house is her real mosque.

 

175- QUESTION : What can you tell me about the “suffering of astronauts” in Islam ?
175- ANSWER : ALLAH says in the Koran “those whom GOD in   his plan willeth to guide,-he openeth their breast to Islam; those whom he willeth to leave straying,-he maketh their breast close and constricted, as if the had to climb up to the skies; thus doth God (heap) the penalty on those who refuse to believe” “(the livestock sura, verse 125). This is an allusion to the suffering of astronauts, also called “the suffering of altitude”, felt when they transcend towards the sky. During this transcendence, the astronaut losses his breath, because the more he goes up, the more oxygen decreases. It is known that oxygen constitutes approximately the fifth of the entire volume of the earth’s atmosphere. The breathing of human beings involves very important oxygen consumption by the function of chlorophyll, making contribution, if needed, by the astronaut to get more oxygen.

 

 

176- QUESTION : I am Senegalese and I belong to the Tijany brotherhood. I read a passage in the book of Sheikh Ahmadou Tall called “niche of secrets”, and I would like you to help me. He talks about a mystical method to discover the divine names to be used. It seems that this method is also taught by Imam al Bouni in his book “Chamsoul my arifil koubra” . But since my written Arabic is poor, and that I do not know how to evaluate my mystic weight, I am wondering if you could help me to find out about it.
176- ANSWER : Here, there is a certain deep specificity that only great initiated can conceive. In the “Boghiat”, its author, the great caliph sidi larbi benssayeh, advices to avoid any contact with the “djinns”, whatever their spiritual level, and not to have recourse to books, such as the one you referred to. But to have access to authentic books of the sharia and suna, you could ask yourself how you can possibly ensure the grand opening: the Sheikh had answered by stating that it is sufficient to follow the suna, the sharia, and their interpretation by the Sheikh in his “Jawahir El Maani”, and others. The depuration resulting from any authorized recitation of authentic prayers and dikrs, such as the wird and wadifa, in addition to the Koran, is regarded as the real catalyst that opens the path of success and security.

 

 

177- QUESTION : Firstly, I would like to thank you for creating this website, to allow everyone to learn. I would like you to explain to me in what consists the Hizb Sayfi and its content, using the Latin transliteration if possible. In any case, I would like the Arab transliteration if you could give it to me.
177- ANSWER : Hizb Sayfi is a very confidential dikr that only an authorized Cheikh can permit its recital. However, I will mention a substitute reported by the Cheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani, the reading of the sura said to be from Mérite “sourate Al Qadr” 41 times. As to the exceptional prerogatives and advantages of hizb sayfi, their number goes up to 12.000 according to the indications of the great Sufi Sheikhs. Half concerns our world, the other deals with the other world.

 

178- QUESTION : I would like to know how it would be possible to get married without parental consent. The mother is aware but refuses for a matter of tribal affiliation, and the father will also refuse for the same reason. Another reason for the refusal is that the man is younger than the woman (20 and 23 years old). Everybody is a practicing Muslim, apart from the mother who is European. Please give me all women’s rights in Islam in this case. Thank you for your help.
178- ANSWER : In principle, any act of marriage should not be consumed without the consent of the father or guardian. But according to an authentic hadith, the bride must also agree to this sacred bond regardless the age.In another hadith, a young minor has come to complain to he prophet (peace be upon him), because her  father married her to an old man without her consent. The Prophet (peace be upon him) offered her the termination of this marriage if she wanted to. As to the reasons given to her parents to refuse this linkage, they must act according to the sharia, i.e. the Islamic law, and not based on illicit mobiles.

 

179- QUESTION : This is in response to your reply to question n° 119. A date of birth of the real Mehdi, bounded between April 11 and April 20, is not mythological. Astrology here can not be translated as “tanjime”. Here, it’s only the meaning of the psychological aspect of a personified astronomy. Otherwise, from the relationship between 5 prayers and the movement of the sun, it looks like astrology, as does the dream of the 11 stars of sura youssef. As to the genetic prediction, quoted by the end of the announcement, it was only complementary and has nothing to do with our research, since it emanates from the hadith itself. Another ad: Aren’t all the gestures of prayers an imitation of the crawling scolopendra? Proof of this is its architecture to the facades of public administration and baptises of habous, aswell as the style of the mosques’ mihrabs. By endowing the string of two pairs of legs, Sidi Ahmed Tijani was much more circumspect than a respectful Essayouty.
179- ANSWER : In response to your reaction, any presumed date of Mehdism has no basis, because 75 Hadiths quoted by the great Essayouty were considered, by himself and others, as apocryphal. As to the translation of astrology “tanjime”, it is motivated by the mythological character of astrology, contradicting the true astronomical science. I will only cite one case of confusion from a misinterpretation of the hadith on the ascension night of the prophet (peace be upon him) to heaven. It’s the fact that astrologers dare to claim that the prophet Idriss, also nicknamed “Enoch” and “Hermes”, is regarded as the God of sun, because astrology dares to pretend that the forth sky is the headquarter of the sun and the prophet Idriss. From there, a third claim is to confuse the 7 skies with the 7 planets, which led to the claim contradicted by the astronomical science, which defined the solar system as a real astrological whole, sailing in spatial orbit. But the Koran had defined reality, long before the discovery of this system in a verse that says: “we have embellished the lower sky by the planets”. Thus, any psychological or genetic or other claim related to Mehdism has no canonical basis. You mentioned in your commentary the “string of 2 pairs of legs.” If I understand your reference, it seems to me that they are grains, pending from the rosary, each containing 10 grains to count the hundreds and thousands. This process does not go back to Sidi Ahmed Tijanis’ time, it is much earlier.

 

180- QUESTION : I am a 26 year old young girl. I would like to get married with a good man in the eyes of Islam. Only, my divorced mother is against it because he is black. Can I therefore get married? Does Islam allow it because the religion orders us to obey our mothers and the hadiths say that parents cannot impose their choices on us, concerning the one we marry. I am confused. Plus, I cannot make anyone intervene to help me in dialogue. I have tried hard.
180- ANSWER : Parents are not allowed to impose a different choice to the one of their child. A woman to whom her dad had imposed a husband of a certain age came to complain to the Prophet (psl), who asked her if she agreed with this link. She answered that her dad had been influenced by the wealth of the suitor, although he’s very old. The young girl was not pubescent and despite that, her choice is peremptory in the eyes of Islam. The Prophet (psl) explained to the young girl that if she disagreed, he would be ready to cancel the marriage contract imposed by the father, which is what sworn judges can do nowadays in the name of Islam, according to the adequate concept of the Charia (Muslim right). In your case, the suitor’s skin colour must not intervene.

 

181- QUESTION : I have found a solution to get married with the man that my mum refuses (because of his skin colour!). My dad gave me his approval, but my parents are divorced. Is this legal in the religion? Is my mum allowed, despite all the respect I owe her, to stay mad at me about my decision to marry (I’m 27 to be precise)? Those will be my last questions. Thank you for all the precious answers that have helped me! Barakalahou fik !

181- ANSWER :In principal, the moral consent of the parents is necessary. But, in this case, where racism intervenes, the mother’s disapproval is illegal.

 

 

182- QUESTION : During a lesson that took place in a Zawiya, I heard the moqaddem explain that:” …each descendant of Sidi Ahmed Tijani is worth 40 ghaout”. Is there any confusion between “ghaout” and “qotb”? It seemed to us, from the description of “diwan essalihin”, that there is only one ghaout, and that he can take the Prophets’ place (peace be upon him). Are there several ghaouts ?
182- ANSWER : With regard to spiritual grades of Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani’s descendants, Sidi Larbi Bensayeh stresses in his “boghiat” that, is to his knowledge, no reference confirms this. As to the sublime situation of ghaout, it is indeed unique in each period of time. His grade is the most sublime. Concerning the succession of ghaout to the prophet (peace be upon him), it seems that it is not always adequate, because in principle, and according to the Sufis, each ghaout has two deputies: one is always to his right, and the other to his left. It is the latter who replaces him after his death. Nobody can be a ghaout without passing by the grade of pole, ie qotb. There may be several qotbs at the same time. But, there may be, according to Sufis, one among them who has attained the rank of so-called “stamp-stage” (khatim al maqamate). And that is why some of the major qotbs were believed to have reached the higher grade “khatm al maqamate”, or even better, the stamp of saints reserved to “qotb al maktoum”.

 

 

183- QUESTION : The sufi teaching distinguishes seven degrees of the soul: the soul (naves) is first enclined to evil (ammaratu bi-su-i) then (lawwamatu), then based on good and evil (mulhamatu), then calmed down (mutmayinnatu), then approving ( radiyyatu) and approved ( mardiyyatu), then finally completely and fully accomplished ( kamila). In this last stage, there is no more separation between God and his servant. I searched in the Koran to find suras that speak of seven degrees of the soul, below the result. My question is: As much as possible, dear professor, do you know the verse (ayat) which speaks of “nafs kamila” ?
183- ANSWER : You are talking about 7 degrees of the soul of which 6 are mentioned in the Koran. As to the seventh degree, which is the complete soul as you have called it, it is not mentioned in the Koran, but in several Sufi texts. As for the non-existence in the latter stage of any separation between God and his servant, it is not quite correct, because the fact still exists, it is its sublime state which differs.

184- QUESTION : A woman from North Africa has been married for several years and, having had children with a man from the North Africa, he does not apply any cultural practise apart from not eating pork. Is this marriage licit or illicit? And the kids from such a marriage are they consequently cursed ?

184- ANSWER :The fundamentals for a Muslim couple are to stay attached to the dogma of Islam. If one or the other of the married, whilst assuming the dogma, meaning the belief in divine unicity and the Mohammadian prophecy, the non practising person out of them, all whilst remaining a believer according to the Islamic concept, is considered as “assi”, meaning a believer but recalcitrant and sinner. In such a case, the marriage is legitimate as well as the kids.

 

 

185- QUESTION : I’m finding it hard to explain my problem but I will try to go straight to the point. I am 28 years old and I often used to go to the zaouia of Sida Ahmed and Larbi Benssayeh in Rabat. Not so long ago, I took the road of the Tariqa of Sidi Ahmed and I’m trying to be as assiduous as possible. My only problem is that I often masturbate to not commit adultery, but also because I have no choice at the moment. Only this is a real problem for my prayers, wirds and wadifa. Is there a tijani prayer to avoid having nocturnal pollutions “janaba” at night, or that would keep me from masturbating at night? To be honest, before taking the tariqa tijania, I would masturbate every night because I have not got the means to get married and I can’t fast, as the Prophet (psl) advised me to, for health reasons. Plus, I cannot take a bath when I want to seeing as I still live with my parents and me and my father often fight about that. I believe in the tariqa but I’m more and more scared. Help me solve this problem. Is there a “douaa” tijani to get married or to hurry marriage ?
185- ANSWER : In Islam’s view, nocturnal pollutions or “janaba at night” forms a kind of legitimate escape that reduces or at least limits the problem’s impact that incites you to commit an illegitimate act that is not only prohibited in Islam but that may cause serious misdeed in the end. The believer must then address the Divine Providence to save him from this practise. All dikrs remain executory in this state, and nothing stops you from going to the zaouia to do your dikrs. In such a case, good intention is both necessary and sufficient, as long as an effort is made to get away from it, even partially.

 

 

186- QUESTION : Concerning the prayers where the Imam reads aloud, I have once heard an Imam saying that when he reads the Fatiha and leaves time before reading a sura, we can afford to read the fatiha, but if he reads a sura immediately, we have to be quiet and listen. Another time, I have heard one saying that if during a prayer we do not read the Fatiha, the prayer is not valid. I would like to know your opinion on this question ?
186- ANSWER : An  answer to your question concerning the prior who can benefit from the pause given by the Imam to read the fatiha, a fact which is useless according to Islam, because the Imam’s recitation  is enough. In a “rekraa” where the imam does not read the fatiha aloud, the prior can read it, knowing that this reading is not obligatory.

 

187- QUESTION : I am asking for advice on the behaviour to have, because I have had dreams and these are the most striking : 1- I dreamt that the Koran was engraved in my heart. 2- I dreamt that I had to preside over the prayer of a group. 3- I am having premonitory dreams.
187- ANSWER : In your dreams, you had the (heur) to feel the Koran engraved in your heart and I congratulate you. Concerning the prayer presidency, the fact that you preside over a prayer group can be interpreted as proof that you are up to it. All these dreams, sometimes nightmares, cannot be premonitory, says authentic hadiths.

 

188- QUESTION : After having visited your website, I would like for you to talk about the tijani concept: is “the fayda” said by our master to be descending amongst his disciples at a conjonctural period ?
188- ANSWER : The fayda, meaning a (theophanique) manifestation to which certain soufis and tijanis allude to, is sometimes confused with the “hal”, felt in the center of the dikr. But, there are other exclusive dikrs because reserved for certain great elected, such as the khalife Omar Ibn Khattab, one of the Prophets’ companions (psl). The eminent Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani is one of these elected. Some of his companions may undergo the fortunate effect. As a complement to my answer, I certify to this situation of “Jawahir Al Maani”, but its meaning remains ambiguous concerning the people worthy of receiving the effect. This is what incited a few great masters of the tariqa to consider themselves as worth this gift, such as the Sheikh Ibrahim Niass from Kaoulakh in Senegal, who asserted that his brother Abdallah was a khalife, in a parallel direction the receptacle of the fayda.

 

189- QUESTION : Do you not think that this receptacle should be known by all tijani disciples, in order to get benefit of this emanation that Sidna Cheikh tijani has not only promised us but also described to us ?
189- ANSWER : All the theophanical manifestations should not be known in advance because they are meant to intervene when we least expect it. In any case, the one who is the receptacle must not make a statement to the others.

 

190- QUESTION : I have noticed that our worshipped master gives us indications concerning this emanation. Why would he give these indications if it had to intervene when we least expect it? I think that the kindness of this emanation (fayda) should be made the most of by all tijani disciples. I therefore find it hard to see that his depositary cannot state it. Is the prophetic seal not announced in advance ? And has he not proclaimed his depository out loud, so that we could recognize it and follow it ?
190- ANSWER : During the first four decades of their lives, the Prophets themselves wouldn’t know that one day they would be prophets. They always wait for that transcendent flow, which is the revelation by the means of Gabriel. Moreover, the saint elects, whatever their grade. As for the Cheikh Tijani, he only realised his real grade after a certain age. This sublime situation can be detected by certain symptoms, to allow the case of need to the future depositary to spread a certain effort and to be up to a possible ancestry. Sometimes, the future depositary faces on the contrary some unlucky situations, like the Prophet Joseph’s case. To one day become the receptacle of a certain grade does not imply an anticipated knowledge. The reciprocal is real.

 

191- QUESTION : I am more scared of my mother than of God himself. Is this normal ?

191- ANSWER :In principal, the believer must fear God more than anything in the world. But, this fear must always be enveloped by the feeling of the big pardon of the Providence. From there comes this difference between human wrath of the mother, of which the unconditional respect is put forth by the Prophet (psl) is many authentic hadiths, where one of them qualifies all the mother’s wishes as irreversible. Allah’s love for his creature is considered by Allah himself, in his Sacred Book the Koran, as subject to divine reversibility.

 

 

192- QUESTION : I often pray in trousers when I am home alone. Is this permitted for a woman?

192- ANSWER : Prayer in trousers is allowed as long as it isn’t too tight, allowing emergence of the woman’s body’s curves.

 

 

193- QUESTION : I would like to know why the basmala of the prayer is said aloud as far as Tijanis are concerned, unlike other Malikites who speak in hushed tones ?
193- ANSWER : The Basmala, according to an authentic hadith, is part of the fatiha, which incites Imam Shaiiy to consider as null and void any prayer where the fatiha is cited without basmala. According to a principle of his own, it is true that Imam Malik gives priority to the behaviour of the inhabitants of medina, even if this behaviour is not in accordance with the authentic hadith. In a controversy between the two imams, imam shafii asked why imam malik does not comply with the directives of the messenger of ALLAH, preferring the Midinois act. His answer had an impact on his distinguished partner because for the imam, the subsequent act of the prophet surpasses his earlier acts defined even by an authentic hadith. But they both agreed that al fatiha should be recited with a lower voice by the prior because it was probably also done by medinois companions.

 

 

194- QUESTION : I am faqir ila ALLAH, mourid of the Tariqa Derqawiia/harraqiia in Morocco. I am interested in the history of Sufism in general, and Morocco in particular. I have a question concerning the Tijani order. I read that only one recitation of the salat al fatihi equals 6000 recitations of the whole Koran, and that the recitation of jawharat al kamal is worth 20 salat al fatihi. I do not want to criticize, but my logic can not understand this. I would be very grateful if you could help me clarify this matter. I can not believe that a brotherhood (the tijani in this case), which participated in the islamisation of Africa, can be classified as do the “antitijanis”.
194- ANSWER : Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani mentioned this issue in “jawahir al maani”. The recitation of the Koran by a believer, who understands the meaning and applies the high directives of the Koran, is the best dikrs. In the same category, we have those who read and do not understand, but apply the concept. The third type is those who recite the Koran to knowingly act against its principles and, according to a hadith, is cursed by his sublime author ALLAH. As to Sheikh Tijani and other Muslim authorities, it would be better for this sinner to read any dikr instead of the Koran to avoid being cursed by Allah. Among these great authorities, there is the grand Ibn hajar Al haytami. Here of course, it is not a matter of 6000, which is a symbolic figure, because the serious sin suffered by such heretical figure is out numbered. But, for a true tijani, the eminent sheikh Sidi AhmedTtijani, at least two hizbs must be read per day, i.e. 1/30 of the Koran. It is regarded as an essential element in the wird and the wadifa. As to the replacement of the jouhara by the salat al fatihi 20 times, according to a statement by sheikh Sidi Amed Tijani, which is based on  spiritual data, that we can hardly analyse in our answer.

 

195- QUESTION : I would like to know if there is a French translation of “Jawahir Al Maani” and if so, where could I get it. If it doesn’t exist where could I get this book in Arabic? Even though I do not master the language, I will make an effort.
195- ANSWER : “Jawahir Al Maani” (perls of the ideas) has never been translated into French apart from a few extracts, and an Italian translation by the Moqqadem Abdessamad. As for the Arabic text with in marge “Arrimah” (the lances) from the Senegalese Sidi Omar Al Fouty, it has been published by “Dar Al Fikr” in two volumes with no date indicated.

 

196- QUESTION : I would like to know the masters of Sidi Ahmed Tijani “bi assanadi al mouttassil ila hadrati rassouli Allah salla Allahou alaihi wa sallam” ?
196- ANSWER : The essential transmission channel (sanad) belongs to Sidi Mahmoud Al Kourdy, one of the sufi cheikhs from Cairo that Cheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani had known during his pass by in Egypt for the pilgrimage in the Mecca. Sidi Ahmed Tijani had contacted many cheikhs and sufi masters in Morocco and elsewhere, cited by Sidi Larbi Benssayeh, in his “Boghiat” published in Cairo for the first time in 1304 of the hegira. But they were only temporary masters because the real cheikh of Sidi Ahmed Tijani, like many great Sufism cheikhs, is ALLAH’s messenger, Sidna Mohammed (SS).

 

197- QUESTION : Whilst I was doing a prayer about the Prophet (psl) 300 times, I felt attracted by a state that scared me because I was attracted to an unknown state. This is the second time it has happened to me. The first was so strong that I had to pray to God that the intensity would calm down. How could you explain this and what to do ?
197- ANSWER : What’s happening to you whilst you do your prayer is normal. It’s a state that could even transcend to become rapturous. In this case, Satan can always intervene to fake the process. You must listen carefully to your prayer under this bad effect. You must get used to facing such troubles, often satanic. It’s the only way to eliminate the depressing effect.

 

198- QUESTION : Whilst dreaming, I saw Foudayl Ibn Ayad. I would like to know why me, what relationship links us and what did he want from me? In fact, I would like to know the consistence of the process of a call to a saint ?
198- ANSWER : Foudayl Ibn Iyad is a great sufi authority of Islam’s first centuries. I cannot know why a spiritual link could be built between you and him. Ask yourself if at any point you have read something about him or have thought about him, to detect the source of this link. Otherwise, the initial source of such a spiritual relationship remains unknown, like those we sometimes feel and that are explained by a déjà-vu.

 

199- QUESTION : Is a woman allowed to wash during her period ? I tend to do it but I try not to until the end of the period. Everyone around me says it’s illicit.

199- ANSWER : Washing the body during periods is completely legitimate for hygienic or medical reasons, except in the case where only a qualified doctor can specify.

 

 

200- QUESTION : Is it true or not that black people are damned ?
200- ANSWER : According to the classical sources of Islam: ie : the Koran and Suna, there is no difference whatsoever between various social classes in the community, according to koran :

’’ Åä ÃßÑãßã ÚäÏ Çááå ÃÊÞÇßã ’’

(sura al –houjourat verse 13), “the better side of you with ALLAH is the one who fears him the most”. And according to the hadith :

þ  
"íÇ ÃíåÇ ÇáäÇÓ Åä ÑÈßã æÇÍÏ æÅä ÃÈÇßã æÇÍÏ ¡ÃáÇ áÇ ÝÖá áÚÑÈí Úáì ÚÌãí æáÇ áÃÓæÏ Úáì ÃÍãÑ ÅáÇ ÈÇáÊÞæì ¡ ÎíÑßã ÚäÏ Çááå ÃÊÞÇßã "( ÝÊÍ ÇáÈÇÑí ÔÑÍ ÕÍíÍ ÇáÈÎÇÑí)

“Men, your god is unique and your father is one. I want to emphasize that an Arab has no supremacy, over a non-Arab, nor a black or a cross breed, but through piety, and the best of you with Allah is the one who fears him the most”.

 

 

201- QUESTION : How can you explain, if not justify, the Prophet Sidna Mohammed’s polygamy qualified of being excessive ?

201- ANSWER : I had been asked the same question during a lecture at the royal Mansour hotel at Casablanca under the aegis of the Moroccan society of anthology and sexology (SMAS) in 1996 under the particular theme “the ethic of embryo statute in Islam”. To tackle the process and consequences of the so- called sexology (or sexual nature) of the prophet Mohammed, we have to objectively analyse the real factors which had motivated this nuptial succession in the prophet. They are of three orders:  a normal order, as a human, had marked this nuptial, qualified of sexuality; the prophet, aged 25 years old, had married a widow of forty years, having already had kids with another man. He had four girls and two sons with her. This wife named Khadija was dead when the prophet was fifty three years old. The family foyer has remained under the monogamy sign for twenty eight years. The messenger of ALLAH refused to marry again, but due to the insistence of his family, he had to accept a new wife, aged sixty. The tribal particularism of anti Islam had partially blunt, but nevertheless leaving few fingerprints, which tend to disappear as a result of mohammadian proselytizing. Some emotional ties among the new converts continued to aspire to a confrontation by an effective alliance. This kind of alliance thus constituted an asset of Gods act, among primitive tribes and families, where the double marriage of the prophet (peace be upon him) with Aisha. She is the daughter of his dearest friend and future caliph Abu Bakr Siddik, who belongs to the Taim and Hafsa tribe, daughter of his second calif Omar ibn Khattab, a native of Beni Adiy. Another link was to impregnate the emotions with the third calif Othman, native of the Umayyad tribe. Two other marriages, contracted by the prophet (peace be on him) are the same mobile because they are two tribes: one of Beni-Mostaliq and the Jewish Arab tribe of Khaibar. On the other hand, the alliance marked the land community between people of Islam and Jewish religions. Two more wives, Jouweyria and Safia, therefore joined the family home that was already full, thing that the prophet had to bear, for reasons beyond his options. A third order had yet to induce the prophet (peace be upon him) to assume another responsibility, another physical, social, and moral character. He had therefore gone through the effects of a new union, a marriage with girls who immigrated from Habasha (Ethiopia), fleeing the torture of koraichites pegans. In her new place of residence, she contracted marriage with another immigrant who later died, leaving three children. After her return to Medina, the prophet (peace be on him), aware of his duty as head of the new Islamic state, agreed to legitimately take charge. During the last nine years of his life (he died at the age of sixty three), he led a train of life far from comfort of sexuality.

 

 

202- QUESTION : What can you tell me about the Koran and the agricultural genie?
202- ANSWER : The Koran says: “Quote to them in parable two men for whom we made for one of them two orchards of vine that we surrounded with palm trees and in between which we placed a field.”(Sourate La Caverne, verse 32, Dr. Salah Eddine Kechrid’s translation and notes, edition Dar El Gharb Al Islami). This great plan for an agricultural exploitation in a desertic tropical country, the circle of palm trees squeezed together making a brease against the drying others of the scorching heat and giving shade and coolness. Insinde this shaded circle, on the left and on the right, there are two vineyards and between the two, a cereal field.

 

203- QUESTION : Is Sidi Larbi Benssayeh contemporain of Cheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani? If so, then for how long did they live together ?
203- ANSWER : Sidi Larbi Benssayeh is born in Meknes in 1229 of the hegira, meaning a year before the death of Cheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani in 1230.

 

204- QUESTION : Could you prove that the tariqa tijania is a sunnite way ?
204- ANSWER : The tijani way is a spiritual path whose concepts and behaviours are based on the two initial sources of the charia (the Koran and the Sounna). The main proof is that the wird and the wadifa, recited twice a day, only include the dikrs (prayers) extracted from the Koran or the Prophet’s (psl) hadiths. Other dikrs are founded on the same bases. To be sure of this, you can refer to a doctrinal work of the tariqa: Sidi Larbi Benssayeh’s “Boghiat Al Moustafid”, meaning: someone who wishes to understand.

 

205- QUESTION : This is my request: I want to know everything that Sheikh Sidi Amed Tijani said about the Prophet ISSA, in his book “Jawahir Al Maani” . It is an issue close to my heart, and I would like to learn more. Could you translate these concerned passages if you have time?
205- ANSWER : The following is an extract of the text itself, followed by an interpretation adapted in French :

 

ÈÚÖ ãÇ æÑÏ Ýí ÌæÇåÑ ÇáãÚÇäí Úä ÓíÏäÇ ÚíÓì Úáíå ÇáÓáÇã æÚä ÓíÏÊäÇ ãÑíã

 

These is what was written in the book : “Jawahir Al Maani” about “Sidna ISSA , and   Saidatuna  Miriam” (this is what was mentioned in the book “JAWAHER AL MAANI” about Jesus and Miriam) :

...ÇáäÈæÉ æÇáÑÓÇáÉ áÇ Êßæä ÅáÇ Úä ÊÌá ÅáÇåí áæ æÖÚ ÃÞá Þáíá ãäå Úáì ÌãíÚ ãÇ Ýí ßæÑÉ ÇáÚÇáã ßáå áÐÇÈÊ ßáåÇ áËÞá ÃÚÈÇÆå æÓØæÉ ÓáØÇäå ¡ ÝáÇ ÊÞÏÑ ÇáÃäÈíÇÁ Úáì ÊÍãá ÃÚÈÇÆå æÇáËÈæÊ áÓØæÉ ÓáØÇäå ÅáÇ ÈÚÏ ÈáæÛåã ÃÑÈÚíä ÓäÉ ....æÃãÇ ÓíÏäÇ ÚíÓì Úáíå ÇáÕáÇÉ æÇáÓáÇã ßæäå äÈíÇ ÞÈá ÇáÃÑÈÚíä  ÝÇáÌæÇÈ : áã íßä ÈÔÑíÇ ãÍÖÇ ÅäãÇ ßÇä äÕÝíä äÕÝ ÈÔÑí æäÕÝ ÑæÍÇäí ÅÐ äÔà ãä äÝÎÉ ÇáÑæÍ ÇáÃãíä Ýí ÝÑÌ Ããå ¡ ÝÞæí ÖÚÝ ÇáÈÔÑíÉ æÒÇÏ ÈÐáß ÞæÉ Úáì ÇáäÈííä ¡ ÝáÐáß ÈÚË ÞÈá ÇáÃÑÈÚíä ááÞæÉ ÇáÊí ÃÚØíåÇ ãä äÝÎ ÇáÑæÍ ÇáÃãíä Ýí ÝÑÌ Ããå ¡ ÝÅä ÞáÊ : íáÒã ãä åÐÇ Ãä íßæä ÃÞæí ãäå Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã ¿ ÝÇáÌæÇÈ Ãäå áã íßä ÃÞæí ãäå Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã¡ æáßä áãÇ ßÇä Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã ßÇãá ÇáÈÔÑíÉ ãä ÌåÉ ÃÈíå æÃãå ßÇä Ýíå ÖÚÝ ÇáÈÔÑ¡ æÃÚØí Ýíå ÇáÞæÉ ÇáÃáåíÉ ÇáãæÏÚÉ Ýíå ÇáÊí ÊÒíÏ Úáì ÞæÉ ÚíÓì æÛíÑå æÇáÓáÇã. ( Ì.ã. 123)
...áÇÍÙ ááäÓÇÁ Ýí ÇáäÈæÉ æÇáÎáÇÝÉ ¡ áÖÚÝåä Úä Íãá ÃÚÈÇÁ ÇáÍÖÑÉ ÇáÅáåíÉ ¡ áÃä ÌÓÏ ÇáÃäËì Êßæä ãä ÖáÚ ÂÏã ÝÞØ ¡ æÝíåÇ ÇÚæÌÇÌ æáã íßä ãä ÇáÃÕá ÇáÐí åæ ÇáãÇÁ æÇáÊÑÇÈ ¡ áÃäåÇ ãä ÇáãÇÁ æÇáÊÑÇÈ ÈÇáæÇÓØÉ áÇ ÈÇáÃÕá ¡ ÝÞÏÊ ÇáÞæÉ ¡ æÑæÍåÇ ÅäãÇ ÎáÞÊ áÃÌá ÂÏã áÇ ÛíÑ ááÊÃäíÓ æÇáÅÚÇäÉ ¡ æãÇ ãäÍåÇ ÞæÉ ÊÍãá ÃÚÈÇÁ ÇáÍÖÑÉ ÇáÇáåíÉ ¡ æÈåÇ ÊÚÑÝ ÅÈØÇá Þæá ãä ÞÇá ÈäÈæÉ ãÑíã æÃã ãæÓì ...ÝÇä ÞáÊ : ÅÐÇ ßÇä åßÐÇ ÝßíÝ äÈÆ ÚíÓì Úáíå ÇáÕáÇÉ æÇáÓáÇã ¡ æåæ ÅäãÇ ÎáÞ ãä ãÇÁ ÇáÃäËì ÝÞØ ...ÞáäÇ : Çäå ÇßÊãáÊ Ýíå ÞæÉ ÇáÐßæÑíÉ ÈäÝÎ ÇáÑæÍ ÇáÃãíä Ýí ÝÑÌ Ããå ¡ æÐáß ÇáäÝÎ äíÇÈÉ Úä Çááå ÊÚÇáì ÍíË ßÇä ÈÃãÑ ÅáÇåí áã íßä Ýíå ÇÎÊíÇÑ ááÑæÍ¡ ÝÝí Ðáß ÇáäÝÎ ÓÑÊ áå ßãÇáÇÊ ÇáÞæÉ ÇáÇáåíÉ ¡ ßãÇ ÓÑÊ áÂÏã Úáíå ÇáÕáÇÉ æÇáÓáÇã ¡ æáåÐÇ ÇáÃãÑ æÞÚ ÇáÊãËíá ÈíäåãÇ Ýí ÇáÂíÉ ÈÞæáå ÓÈÍÇäå æÊÚÇáì "Åä ãËá ÚíÓì ÚäÏ Çááå ßãËá ÂÏã" (Ì.ã. 146)
..ÇÚáã Ãä äÈæÉ ÇáÓíÏÉ ãÑíã æÇÍÊÌÇÌ ÇáÞÇÆá ÈåÇ ÈÞæáå ÊÚÇáì "æÅÐ ÞÇáÊ ÇáãáÇÆßÉ (Âá ÚãÑÇä 42) ..áÇ íÚæá ãäåÇ Úáì ÔíÁ æÇáÞæá ÇáÍÞ ÇáÐí íÌÈ ÇáãÕíÑ Åáíå Ãä ÇáäÈæÉ ãÓÊÍíáÉ Úáì ÇáäÓÇÁ áÇ ÓÈíá áåä ÅáíåÇ ¡ Ëã Åä ãÑíã æÂÓíÉ ÞÇá ÝíåãÇ Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã :" ßãá ãä ÇáÑÌÇá ßËíÑ æáã íßãá ãä ÇáäÓÇÁ ÛíÑ ÂÓíÉ ÇÈäÉ ãÒÇÍã æãÑíã ÇÈäÉ ÚãÑÇä " æÇáãÑÇÏ ÈÐáß ÇäåãÇ ÃÏÑßÊÇ ãÑÊÈÉ ÇáÕÏíÞíÉ ÇáÊí áíÓ ÝæÞåÇ Ýí ÇáãÚÑÝÉ ÈÇááå æÇáÚáã Èå æÇáÑÓæÎ Ýí ÇáÚáã ÅáÇ ÇáÞØÈÇäíÉ æÇáäÈæÉ ..( Ì.ã. 153)

Words of sidna –Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani on the eminent messenger of ALLAH Jesus, son of Mary, inserted in his book “Jawahir Al Maani” (pages 123 and 146),  can be summarized as follows : the profecy and rissalah (as a devine message) are a result of sublime theophanic divine event, that the cosmos in its fullness, can not bear, that is why any prophet or messenger of ALLAH, would not  be worthy to assume the high mission before reaching  the age of  wise maturity, that is to say the forties, but Jesus was elected as a prominent promotor in this sublime mission, much earlier, at the age of thirty years old. In this option ALLAH found his  rationale in the dual nature of human and angelic Jesus, born of the breath of the holy spirit( Gabriel), in the matrix of Miriam. Some might be tempted to imagine that the prophet Sidana Mohammed, a natural offpring, would be taxed in a certain  weakness, driven by the belonging to thehuman biology. The secret of this explanatory statement is ALLAH, thinks to his omnipotence, had replacedthe apparent fact by his supremely blow generator.

 

206- QUESTION : First of all, let me give tribute to your piece of work and the precious information. I am a descendant of Hadj Omar Tall and I am impressed by the life of this great man. I am researching his life and his work. I would like to know if there are authentic pictures of him, how many children he had (many as I know), who is the last of his children to have lived and is the book of the late Thierno Mountaga Tall: “the rare pearls of the life of Hadj Omar” translated into French ?
206- ANSWER :
I know two elaborated works on the life of Hadj Omar Tall, such as :

  • a study entitled: El hadj Omar of Founta (Sultan of the Tijani state in western Africa), printed by Zouia Tijania of Cairo (Hussein el- Ghrabline-n9)
  • a story about the miracles of El hadj Omar, entitled “aqd el joman wa ed –dourar” by Ahmed el Adnani (manuscript at the national library of Paris n 5559 and 5734).

As to Sheikh Montaga Tall, recently deceased, I have visited him in Dakar. He was kind enough to read to me some extracts of his work (still manuscript) about his grand father. One of his children was also with him. The eminent Montaga Tall had confided in me his desire to publish his work under the auspices of the Moroccan ministry of Habous and Islamic affairs. As to his father, Said en –Nour Tall, I also came to know him. It is him who had granted, among others, the permission  to integrate the Tijani order through his own channel of transmission, written  especially by my friend Si Abdelaziz Sy, general caliph of Tijanis at Dakar, and signed by the eminent sheikh Tall himself. Si abdelaziz Sy then took me for this to the caliph during one of the tijani journeys, commemorated at the end of December each year. For years, I had participated in these journeys which allowed the gathering of hundreds of millions of Tijanis, coming from all parts of Senegal and neighbouring countries. For these occasions, I had done communications and lectures about nature, the objective, the impact and scope of this social and sunite way.

207- QUESTION : ALLAH says in the Koran: “Sura les bestiaux, verse 98). Would you explain this verse ?
207- ANSWER : The verse 98 of the sura 6, les bastiaux ( Al –an’am) says : 

’’æóåõæó ÇáøóÐöíó ÃóäÔóÃóßõã ãøöä äøóÝúÓò æóÇÍöÏóÉò ÝóãõÓúÊóÞóÑøñ æóãõÓúÊóæúÏóÚñ ’’

”it is he who haly produced you from a single person; here is a place of sojourn and a place of departure: we detail our signs for people who understand”.

Adam and Eve are created of a vital breath (divine insufflations,). The woman is created from the ribs of Adam. Each one of them are formed with a body or “soma” that develops and dies, and of a “germen” or hereditary lineage, a strain of spermatozoids for men, which is transmitted from father to son as a fixed element of the race, that is to say a place of fixation of the lineage or of hereditary gene. A woman has a womb and the ovaries that make the ovum of germ, then of the embryo, and at last of the foetus in the womb. Impregnation creates a “movement” which changes into a vital germ during the first days, according to an authentic (prophet topics) hadith reported by Tabarany and El-bezzar, in their traditional collections. From then on, any abortion provoked from this peremptory deadline would mean a true genocide. Modern science confirms this Koranic status of the human embryo.

208- QUESTION : Is it normal for someone to convert to another religion to end his pain and to then continue to live his faith in peace and pray God in a chapel or a Church?
208- ANSWER : In principal, ones life is a continuation of the pain that the believer must bear with serenity and peace. A verse from the Koran says: “we have created man in the crucible of pain and anguish”. Man is responsible for himself and must patiently and easily test all the misdeeds of which carries the burden. If someone goes against the duties and rights of the believer, no matter its extent, the fact wouldn’t break this ideal concept because the pure and serene state of soul is only the reflection of the Providence.

 

209- QUESTION : I sometimes fall asleep a few seconds into my recitation of the wird. In the mean time, negative images come to my mind that disturbs me in my dikr. I see dogs, a chopped head, someone slamming a door. What should I do ?
209- ANSWER : The best way to concentrate during the dikr is to be in a state where the soul must be well purified and the heart well saturated by normally balanced sleep. Here, the authentic hadith of the Prophet (psl) intervenes who incites us to undertake a dikr only after having slept the full amount of normal time and to start the dikr when the spirit is well restored. In case despite the spread effort in wakefulness, the believer’s responsibility wouldn’t be taken into account. Quite the contrary, a sacred hadith specifies that Allah glorifies himself, addressing his angels when he sees one of his servants struggling with sleep.

 

210- QUESTION : Is it mandatory to wear a veil in Islam? Many thanks.
210- ANSWER : O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters and the believer’s wives to bring with them their big veils. They will be recognized faster and will avoid offense” (Sura of the Allies xxxiii, verse 59). In another verse (XXIV, 31): “tell the believers to look down and to contain their sexe, to not show their charm, except what emerges from it, to put their veil back in the opening of their clothes at the noose…”. The veil named “khimar” is clothing that covers the head without reaching the face which would be called “niqab”. The prophet (psl) specified that women must not wear the “niqab”, nor wear gloves (authentic hadith reported by Al Boukhrari in his Collection of the Sahihs). The Koranic expression “except what emerges from it” refers to the face and the hands to the fists, according to the Prophets (psl) companions, especially Abdallah Ibn Abbas and Aicha, mother of believers. However, Allah’s messenger, Sidna Mohammed (psl), underlined in two authentic hadiths the sublime rank of these two characters.

 

211- QUESTION : It is with great pleasure that I discover your website, and I recommended it to many of my mourid friends. The site is superb, the references and orientations are correct. I seize this opportunity to find out if you have any data concerning Sidi Brahim Ryahi (works, encyclopaedia, life …).
211- ANSWER : Sidi Ahmed Ryahi of Tunisian nationality, a great caliph of Sidi Ahmed Tijani and at the same time Sheikh of Islam of North Africa. Many works had reported the sublime events of his career as a great mufti, a venerable professor at the University of Zaitouna at Tunis, and great Sufi figure. Among references of his biography are the “Boghiat” of Sidi Larbi Benssayeh, “Kachf Al Hijab” of Sidi ahmed Skirej, and plenty of information cited in the work of one of his descendants.

 

212- QUESTION : I would like to ask you certain questions related to masters and spiritual orders. No one ignores the fact that Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani was a great spiritual and authentic teacher, but a big number of people pretend that other contemporary Sheikhs are also great in terms of spiritual realisations. Nowadays in Morocco, there is an order which I am not going to cite and is becoming more and more influential. What is your opinion ?
212- ANSWER : Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani has never pretended that his state of “pole of poles” or “stamp of saints” would mean that there would never be spiritual and imminent personalities after him, whose state would reach the most sublime of states. But the meaning of “pole of poles” is there will never be a Sheikh of similar eminence, thus, the door remains open for all the potentially elected of ALLAH.

 

213- QUESTION : What can you say about the understanding levels (les niveaux d'entendements) ? What are their own characteristics ? Which books can you advice me to look at ?
213- ANSWER : You are asking questions of great scale and the answer will require long speeches on the potential events of such process. It is the answer to this issue which had incited me to ask myself questions whose precepts of analysis are reflected in my book “the rational of the sacred” (see link of this work in my site : www.abdelazizbenabdallah.org). Here all the elements forming the principal or secondary components of the rational have been detected. You will undoubtedly find through dozens of answers in this work a certain light to which I can possibly explain certain beams, in case you come across any ambiguity.

 

214- QUESTION : I have learnt the Tijani wird of a moqadem but I have come to realize that this moqadem was making the takfir of great walis among who are Ibrahim Niass and Ahmadou Bamba. Following advice of a wise man, I have stopped to practice the wird because how can a moqadem transmit something by transgressing a condition of an order, which is to respect dead and living saints. I have a doubt because Sidi Ahmed Tijani said that the one who would give up the wird would be apostasied. I am scared, and I would like to know what you think about this matter.
214- ANSWER : I am convinced that that Shiekh Ibrahim Niass, whom I had known very well and with whom I had a relationship for decades, could not be qualified of such a thing. You should never trust gossiping of some or others without concrete and adequate proofs. What you should do is to renew the authorisation of the dikr without any prejudice against some and others.

 

215- QUESTION : It is with sadness that I and my wife come to know the hard conditions in which live some members of Sidna Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani. These families should be the subject of regular visits to make up for this deplorable situation. All houses of the order will be incited to these “megas zyaras”. The Senegalese example is edifying in the matter as it is rich in education, and perfect in mobilisation. Our couple is to be included in this action of solidarity. Therefore, we propose to initiate even camps so that the travellers of all horizons converge with their presents at the occasion of receiving and of resourcing at our highly blessed places. Thank you for drawing our attention to such ordeal of our great sheikh‘s family. At last allow me to make by writing the informational relay (of 2000 visitors, whereas we are dozens of millions). It will be, in cha’allah, largely spread and retransmitted (zawiya, dahiras, medresa, sites, blog, mails, etc). We should all join in. In the meantime, would you communicate a number of bank accounts or an address for a western union transfer or any other similar structure? Compassion and support to disadvantageous families. Thank you and compliments to your fadila.
215- ANSWER : Thank you for your touching attention and good intention, to have thought as we have done for the family of the great Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani, notably needy people that require a constant and generous care. For practical reasons, we have tried for some years to tackle the problems in order to achieve adequate and efficient solutions. First of all, we have classified the needy members who live among us in Morocco. We have set a complete list with the needs. We have made a very limited call within our own Tijani family who fortunately include dozens of initiated and sympathizers to take parting the process of supplying this fund which reached 40.000 dhs during the first years, to 350.000 dhs this year. Since 4 years ago, a number of the sheikh descendants receive sums of money which go up according to their needs. We have since the beginning of the year 2007 extended the level of this generosity by making appeal to all Tijanis in the world, and indicating to benevolent donators’ references of bank accounts of these Tijani families. This gesture has given some results although they were slow. These are the first practical steps which will be strengthened in the future by new processes. May you be warmly thanked.

 

216- QUESTION : I would like to take this opportunity to ask you more about your relations with Cheikh Al Islam, El Hadj Ibrahim Niass. Your note in Arabic on the subject on the website talks very little of it. We have been told that you have worked together and also with Sheikh Mohammed Al Hafid Al Misry on Jawahir Al Maânî’s authentication. Do you confirm this? If so, how is it going with this essential tahqiq. It seems that there are still errors in an edition on the Senegalese market. We beg for you to save this tourâth in memory of your two famous brothers and friends.
216- ANSWER : I have known the eminent Sheikh El Islam Ibrahim Niass for four decades. I used to go once a month every year to assist the Tidjanes days at the end of the year. The Imam Niasshas always sent me his own car from Kaolack to spend a few days in a pavilion contiguous to his. We used to share happy times, full of theophanic bursts and cultural/spiritual exchanges. I have always considered him as a great emeritus chief who took grace in his wide knowledge, his tact with no peer and his luminescent taste in shaking and purifying the hearts of the initiated and sympathizers, whose number goes up to over fifteen million (without taking into account the new neophytes). On the scientific and soufi plan, his transmission channels detect the authenticity and the touch-up of the blossoming sources of our Imam. I had the pleasure of detecting a true symbiosis in the chains that link Ibrahim Niass, Abdelaziz Sy (the general khalif in Dakar) and myself. All three of us have a great master in common, the great Sheikh Abdelaziz Belcadi from Casablanca, contacted by our Imam whilst spending nights with him each time he was in Morocco. A second chain leads us to the great khalif Sidi Omar El Fouty and through him, to the Sheikh Tijani, through eminent moqaddams such as Saïd En-Nour and Mohammed-Tal, Sidi Omar’s son. The Imam Niass used to refer to me as he did to reread his manuscript on the Zemzmi and to help print it out. Concerning Jawahir El Ma’ani (perls of the ideas) of Sidi Ali Harazem, the Imam sent me an epistle, which I am sending a copy of to you, about the problem raised about the origin of certain passages. It turns out we have this manuscript, the original he got from Aïn Madi, and I have the certified manuscript in accordance with the original by Sidi Larbi Ben Sayyeh. I couldn’t explain everything on other exchanges between, being more private, and mainly on the lighting effect of our intimate contact, where the strong interior remains the only catalyst.

 

217- QUESTION : What is the purpose of the Koranic message ,  from  a temporal ,  profane, spiritual, and eternat points of view ?
217- ANSWER : In his sublime message, the Koran  speaks to a man, depicting its purpose on earth, which derives its outcome in the afterlife. This aim is to ensure that human beings, piously, without selfishness, marked by an inate potential, which allows him to fill the legetimately requirements of life here on earth, (fleeting and transitory) to deservesublime and supreme happiness, in ther future life, it s in this ideal context that the search of  the social balance must evolve.  Muslim community, that the koran qualifies as “mediane”, is the best community, because the term “median” has been interpreted by El Boukhari as “a fair, which means that this balance is an immanent justice.  Islam presents itself as an evolutionary religion, while being revolutionary. The prophet (SS) is cited as a magnanimous symbol of “the greatest revolutionary”. This aim is therefore active in its prospects of a highly human balance, governed by rational concepts of Islam.  For some, the goal would be a criterion where “the end justifies the means”, others they materialize the aim , in order to see that part of human symphony,and  a sonata, but the rational and scientific definition of the final state, is the state of balance that physicists foresee, at the end of a thermodynamic transformation.  Nevertheless, it must not go to a certain “finalisme”, which explains the phenomena and the system of the universe by the finality. This doctrine risks of failing into a pragmatism that sees only the practical reality of things. However, Islam orders every action, to ensure the best, ie: everything that is good, beneficial and profitable for men, regardless of a degenerated fatalism, which thinks that it is futile to try to change the course of events set by destiny. Nothing is doomed, according to Islam, an inexorable fate, fate leads to evil, as it may lead to better things, and nothing is less true than the fatalist attitude of those who advocate the opposite. The Caliph Omar  spoke of the  double possibility for a believer, with an irreversible  sense, power possessed by man, assisted by GOD, to choose an operational field where it can avoid what is inevitably fatidical. And Omar noted : “if two animals are one in a fertile field, and the other in a sterile field, both are doomed to have the salme destiny, ‘benificial or evil). The man has a potential which allows him to make a choice and do whatever is suitable for an appropriate reproduction. We must therefore, act with GOD’s help, without worriying about factors of unknown nature “. The criterion of the sacred book proclaims : ” when you make up your mind, then  trust your God”.  That is the purpose of the koranic message.

 

218- QUESTION : Who are the Malâmitiya? Whats is their grade in the Sufis concert ?

218- ANSWER :The real Malâmitiya are those who are depicted by the author of the elaborated work in the IV century of the first era of the hegira, called “el Foutouwwa wa el Malâmitiya”. Abou Bekr, the Prophet's first Khalife, was the ideal model, of which Sidi Larbi Ben Sayeh, author of the “Boghia”, cites the privileges characteristics. Salmân el Fârissi (Persan), the Prophet's famous companion, is listed as one of the best of these initiated of which the decent exoterism covers the interior’s luminescence. The Prophet valued him a lot and considered him as a member of his own family. Ibn ‘Arabi intergrated them into a category that no act (surerogatoire) distinguishes the outbuildings of the believers. Even better, they try to act normal to not attract attention because they isolate themselves inwardly in the contemplation of God without marking themselves down by excentric behaviour. Each of them go about their work without pretentious exclusism. They don’t have any privileges or specific rights. Apparently, craftsmen are absorbed by their work, artists in their workshop, and labourers in their work, where as some of them master the Cosmos by their sublime hierarchy grade. With time, this category, attached to the Sounna in its deferent humility, knowingly changes tactics whilst exhibiting excentricities to be underestimates by the world. Also, not knowing the mobile initiators of the behaviour of their master, the disciples, in their ostentation, let themselves get carried away by schemes that are far from the usual ways, sometimes denoting obvious strangeness.

 

219- QUESTION : What is the difference between Nabiy (prophet) and rassoul (messenger of God) ?
219- ANSWER : The prophet is a man to whom ALLAH inspired legislation without ordering him the promulgation. The rassoul on the contrary, is a messenger of God, in charge of popularizing the concepts revealed to him. The number of prophets would have been of a hundred and twenty four thousands (in another hadith 120.000), and that of messengers three hundred and thirteen, according to a hadith cited by the Mousnad of Ibn Hanbel and the collection of Ibn Hibban, reported by abu Dharr El Ghifary and Abu Oumama. The Koran cites names of twenty five rassouls who are: Adam, Noah, Abraham  Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, David, Salomon,  Joe,  Joseph,  Moses,  Aaron,  Idriss,  Jonas,  Houd , Chouaib , Saleh , Loth , Llia, EL Yasaa, Jesus, Mohammed and Dhou el Kifl. This one will be, according to historians, the son of Job, whom ALLAH would have sent after his father. He lived in Syria. A tomb bearing his name is located on the hill of “Qacioum” in Damascus. The coming of certain Rousouls like Mohammed, “the illiterate messenger” (sura 7, verse 157) says: “people, I am the messenger of God to all of you.”(Sura 71, verse 158) “We have sent before you just men among the inhabitants of the cities” (sura3, verse109). The imam Ibn hanbal mentions in his Mousnad, the words of a companion of the prophet: Abdellah Ibn Amr Ibn EL’Ass, who while reading the Thorah, discovered the characteristics of Mohammed as they are. Announcing the messianis, the rassoul Issaie proclaims that  “ When the   judge Messie ‘s era comes , peace will be universal, it will reign among humans and animalsé (issaie , chap, xi, verse 4 to 9). Ezechiel recalls the names of three non-jewish fair people: NOE, Daniel and Yob , sent before the Israeli era , and proclaim that” any violation of moral law is a crime against GOD” (Issaie chp. Xiv of Psaume); Adam has received, long before Noe precepts, preceding all sacred writings.  Was Zoroastre the messenger of God to Persians, to annonce to them the pure monotheism of Abraham? His treligion would have been distorted, advocating the love of fire “a symbol of divine luminescence”, dualistic religion of good represented by “Ahuramazda”, abd of evil and darkness. The Sabeens have practised the religion of Noe, but they have deied it in later stages, to fall in love with stars. The phytagorians put forward, since the sixth century before Christ, the theory confirmed by GOD of the rotation of earth around itself, and the movement of planets around the sun.  To us it is not one of the aspects of intellectual production of philosophical reasoning of those geniuos, as our friend Maurice Bucaille thinks. Here it is a matter of inspiration wortyhy of a prophet, or an adept of the prophet. This phytagorian inspiration joins another one, which is disclosed by the Koran.

220- QUESTION : Have the Sacred Texts not been warped ?
220- ANSWER : The Three Revealed Religions, each based on a Sacred Scripts book, form a compendium of faith for the Jewish, the Christians and the Muslims. The three revealed books are the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Koran. The Hebraic Bible is the Judaism Book, revealed to Moses. A few books were added to form the Old Testament, cut up itself by the Catholic Church to elaborate the New Testament, including a few works such as the four Gospels relating to Jesus’s life. The Koran, renounced by christianism, prescribes Muslims to believe in the Thorah and the Gospel (Sourat 4, verse 136).  The Church disallows any revelation later to Jesus, notably Islam. Judaism rejects both the Koran and the Gospel, considering the Bible as the exclusive Seal of the Revelation, eliminating all Scriptures later to his. According to Islam, the Gospel, including authentic elements, was accepted in one lot by the Koran. Yet, these negations of the Church form the bait of indirect criticism. The fundamentals for Islam is the “unicity of the belief in God”, on which the Vatican himself insisted in a document called “orientations for a dialogue between Christians and Muslims”, published in 1970. The Vatican II’s council, author of this work, recognizes the injustice of the past, including the west of the Christian education, has surrendered towards Muslims. This attitude of benevolent objectivity inscribes itself to the assets of the Pope Paul VI, animated, as he knows, by a deep faith in the unification of the Islamic and Christian worlds who love only one God. We must go further while analysing the original background of this unicity, while raising an appropriate criticism parallelism. “It appears very legitimate, when we study all the revealed aspects of a monotheist religion, to address it compared with what the two others offer from this same point of vue”. Our collegue and friend, Maurice Bucaille, who expresses this wish, asks himself “a prior fundamental question: How authentic are the (evangelical) texts that we have in our days?”… This question implies- he underlines- an exam of the circumstances that have presided over the writing of the texts and of their transmission to us. Two differences have marked Islam and Christianity: firstly, “the absence of a revealed and fixed text for Christianity, whereas the Koran responds to this definition”; secondly, “Islam has in its hadiths- says Mr. Bucaille- the equivalent of the Gospels: the hadiths are collections of the talks and the narrations of the acts of Mohammed”, messenger of Islam and the Gospels, who “are nothing more than that, concerning Jesus.” Indeed, the hadiths and the Gospels were both written decades after Mohammed and Jesus. But, from a million hadiths checked off by the Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal, chief of the rite bearing his name, he could only retain a small part that he integrated into his “Musnad”, meaning twenty four thousand, whereas the two famous traditionists Boukhari and Mouslim had only retained a few thousand from the three hundred thousand that they had gathered, using an objective and rigorous methodology called “Sanad” (transmission channel). The rest of the hadiths have been thrown out as apocryphal. This authentication procedure had lasted for centuries, whereas the Church had cut, from the beginning and definitively, between multiple Gospels, proclaiming only four of them as official or canonical, in spite of the numerous contradictions between them and ordering that all the others be hidden, where came the name given to them: apocryphal. The criticism of the Prophets’ traditions is based on the analysis of the tansmission chains, including all the elements that could authenticate the “hadith” or apocryphalize it. The historical element eminently played in the admission of all traditional relation. Ibn El Qayyim cites as an example the mistake made by Tirmidhy in his Collection of hadiths, claiming that at the time of the Prophet’s glorious entry into the Mecca, he was accompanied by the poet Ibn Rawâha who then sang a few verses against the polytheist qoreïchites. Ibn El Qayyim refuted this anecdote, demonstrating that this famous poet was already dead at the time of the battle of “Mouta”, in the year eight of the hegira. (The month of Joumadâ II meaning a few months before the Meccas’ victory, the 10th Ramadan of the same year). Saint Augustin (354-430 after JC), African bishop, and father of the Church, has noticed that the concordance between Collections and science is a necessary element to the authenticity of the sacred text. Only in knowledge, St Augustin has seen a participation in the divine knowledge and has made platonic ideas, the very same ideas of Gods’ wisdom. Islam, which recognizes the apostolate of all the Prophets, whose number he made go up to a hundred and twenty four thousand (the number of  sent messengers- Roussoul- does not surpass three hundred and thirteen), wouldn’t exclude from this prophecy any being full of genius, such as Confucius, Pythagore, Aristote, Plato and others. Some of them used to have a sacred book such as the Avesta of Zoroastre (VIII or VII before JC), of which Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher, who had been the spokesman of his ideas concerning the superman and the being, as an absolute and immutable fact. Confucius (VIth century before JC) has founded a social moral centred on human virtue, equity and respect of the worship rites. In long chapters, Mr. Bucaille shows, through specific cases, the incompatibility between the biblic text and science, pointing up the errors of a historical order and the diverse contradictions and inlikelihoods. The reverend father of Vaux, in his introduction of the Genesis, admet le bien fondé de ces critiques, due to the preparation of the writings, “of which we claim to be sacred and contain God’s word” and to “the human interference in the divine”, materialized by “the human manipulations of the biblical texts”. Saint Augustin, talking about Books of the Writing in his letter n° 82, says: “when in these books I come across an assertion that seems to contradict the truth, I then do not doubt that either the text (of my exemplary) is faulty, or the translator had not translated to original text properly, or even that my intelligence is deficient.” This uneasiness reigning in the Christian environment, concerning the revelation, has emphasized itself, at the time of the council of the Vatican II (1962-1965) where only five writings were needed to be in agreement with the final text after three years of discussion, and that ended with this painful situation that threatened to sink the council. But, in an entirety declaration, the council admits that its books are nevertheless witnesses of a true divine education. We have the conviction that the sacred Books, which are the Bible, the Gospel and the Koran, could not contradict themselves, or each other, or the immutable background of human wisdom. But new elements that have been integrated into the Old and New Testament have made it “a plurality of texts and not a unique text”. Many versions were elaborated, each different from the other. Some texts were made as a compromise between the diverse Hebraic versions, Greek, Latin, Syriac, Aramaic and Arab. “Thus appears the considerable human part in the text of the Old Testament. We realise, with no trouble, how, from version to version, from translation to translation, with all the corrections inevitably resulting from them, the original text had been transformed in over two millenniums”. Indeed, althought trustworthy, the Bible itself is is no longer a “collection of books”, but “a popular tradition”. It is true that at the end of the 8th century before before Christ, writing was used to transmit and to preserve the tradition, but with no entire rigour, even when it comes to the law. Literary genres are combined in each book among the first five of the Thorah or the Bible. The Old Testament has become a whole disparate. But despite this parallelism marked with discordance between the Bible and the secular literature of the songs of which the gesture mixes reality to the legend, us Muslims continue in believing in the veracity of Moses’s commands, that a rigorous synthesis could be reintegrated into their sacred original context. Mainly concerning the Gospels, the reverend father Roguet published, in 1973, a book in which he mentioned the discordances, the unlikeliness and the obvious mistakes in the many evangelical versions. In their “synoptic table of the Gospels”, the reverend fathers Benoît and Boismard, professors at the biblical school of Jerusalem, quote “the contradiction, with Luc, between his Gospel and the Apostels acts”, explain it with a “literary trick”. Objective and realist, Rouguet did not forget to mention the presence, in the Gospels, “dark, incomprehensible, contradictory, unlikely and even absurd passages”. More and more, reality becomes clear. The Gospels were not written as we thought by the direct witnesses of Jesus’s life. “After Jesus, le little group of apostles formed a Jewish sect, faithful to the observances and the cult of the Temple”.The Pauline Christianism got shook. According to Judeo-christians, Paul is a traitor. It was in this “atmosphere of struggle between communities” that the Gospels were written. From 70 (after Christ) to a period we locate before (110), will be produced to Gospels by Marc, Matthew, Luc and Jean… Having appeared during the period of intense struggle between the two communities (Pauline and Judeo-christian), these “combat writings”, as the reverend father Kannengiesser refers to them, have emerged from the multitude of writings appeared about Jesus, when Christianism made it’s collection of official texts: the “Canon”, as opposed to orthodoxy, excludes all the other documents that do not follow the path of the Church. Amongst these documents is Barnabe’s Gospel. Father Kannengiesser’s affirmation. Yet, the council Vatican II specifies “that, in the Gospels, we must find a faithful passing on of the acts and words of Jesus! We have the conviction that Matthew’s Gospel was actually, on many points, the extension of the Old Testament, according to which Jesus acts like the Messia awaited by the Jewish. This meets the standards of the Koranic conception, mainly concerning the universal apostolate of Jesus’s message and of the continuity of the judeo-christian tradition. But, according to the scholar Tricot (in his commentary of the translation of the New Testament, of 1960), it appears that Matthew has used Marc’s Gospel that was not, like himself, a disciple of Jesus. Matthew “took serious liberties with the texts by inserting incredible stories”. The political factor played its part in Matthew’s excentric “insertions”, worried- as it appears- about remaining in the line of the Old Testament, adapting to the judeo-christian community, whilst breaking off with Judaism. Concerning Luc, author of another version of the Gospel, he was accused of being a “chronicler” by the erudite Culmann and being a “true novelist” by the reverend father Kannengiesser. Païen, converted to Christianity, omits to (as Culmann notices) “take back some of Marc’s most Judaic verses, underlining the words of Jesus against the Jew’s incredulity”. But for some episodes, he is at variance with the other Gospels. As to Jean’s Gospel, clearly different to the other three, it is qualified as “another world” by the reverend father Roguet (Initiation to the Gorspel). For Culmann, there is a difference in everything, even in the theological perspectives. Jean’s proper identity is contested; it would be a different Jean (according to Tricot and Roguet); Jean, son of Zébédée and brother of Jacques the apostle. Nevertheless, these ulterior additions are manifest in this Gospel, such as chapter 21 (according to Culmann), which marks many differences with the other evangelists. “The general idea given of the Evangelists, following the critical exam of the texts, makes a lack of continuity stand out and also “the reflection of what the christian primitive communities used to know about life and Jesus’s ministry and of their beliefs and of their theological conceptions”. Speaking of Luc’s Gospel, Bucailles refuses to accept a text having been “decalred authentic and inspired by God” (chapter 3, verses 23-28), specifying that “that only twenty generations existed between the first man and Abraham”. This is mainly the “product of human imagination”, all the more that all male genealogy will make no sense for Jesus, son of Mary, with no biological father. In the same perspective of ideas, the Prophet Mohammed did not deign to admit his own genealogy, on top of- he specifies- Adnân the ancestor. In such an objective domaine, an effective “Revelation” is the only trustworthy attestation. The Prophet Mohammed did not dare proclaim what was not revealed to him. It’s the imaginative inspiration that incites Luc into placing 42 names into Jesus’s genealogy, between him and David the Prophet, whereas Matthew only mentions 27 names. Otherwise, what is shocking in Jean’s Gospel is the absence of the tale of the institution of Eucharistie, though important in the catholic conception of the “consubstantiality”, meaning the unity and identity of substances between the three people of the Trinity. Nevertheless, only Jean’s Gospel speaks of the Paraclete. Such a spiritual testament of Jesus is missing for Matthew, Marc Luc. The oecumenical translation of the Bible, New Testament, cites passages on the Parakletos:” he (the father) will give you another Paraclete” (sourate 14, verses 15-16), “the Paraclete is the Saint Spirit that the Father will send on my behalf.” (Verse 26), “if I do not leave, the Paraclete will not come to you, if on the other hand I do leave, I will send it to you”(Gospel according to Jean). Yet, Barnabas has revealed in his version of the Bible the name of this Paraclete. Born in Cyprus, of his real name Joses, Barnabas wrote: What is the name of the Messiah that you mentionned and how will we know that he has come?” Jesus responded: “ The Messiah’s name is admirable. When Allah created his soul, he gave him this name and put him in heavenly splendour.” He then said: “I created paradise, the Universe and and many creatures in your image. I give them to you as a present. The one who will sanctify you will find my benefit. The one who will blaspheme you will be cursed by me. I will send him to the world, like My Messenger. Your words will be the truth. The ground and the sky can be destroyed. But your faith remains eternal.” His sacred name is Mohammed. The people, then reunited around Jesus, scream: “O Mohammed! Come quick to save the world”. Barnabas wrote a Bible like the other four Apostles. He registered in this Bible, without changing anything, what he heard or learnt from Jesus. During the first 300 years of the Christian religion, this Bible was read with the other Bibles. When the oecumenical council of Nicée decided, in the year 325 after Christ, to abolish all Bibles written in the Hebraic language, Barnabas’s Bible was also burnt. The other Bibles were translated into to Latin, but Barnabas’s translation suddenly disappeard. Meanwhile, in 383 after JC, the Pope Damasus kept a copy of Barnabas’s Bible that he had randomly obtained in the papacy library. Fra Marino, friend of the Pope Sixtus (Fra means the brother and the monk in Italian), found Barnabas’s Bible in the Library where it was kept until the year 993 of the hegira (1585 after JC). Saint Irénée (130-200), one of the Christian scholars, had declared, in the year 160, “that there was only one Allah and that Jesus was not his son.” Saint Paul wanted to introduce the Tirinity, inspired by the Romans who love many gods. And, whilst criticising Saint Paul, Saint Irénée used Barnabas’s Bible as a witness, which specifies that there is only one unique Allah. Fra Marino, who knew this assertion, read this Bible attentively and translated it into Italian, in the years 1585-1590. This Italian manuscript, after having changed hands many times, was bought by Cramer, one of the Prussian King’s advisors. And, in the year 1125 of the hegira (1713 after JC), Cramer offered this precious present to the Prince Eugene de Savoie (1663-1736), who loved his good reputation throughout Europe. After his death, Barnabas’s Bible was moved, with his Royal Library in Vienna (Hofbibliothek), in 1738. Two English people, Mr and Mrs Ragg, had found the Italian version of Barnabas’s Bible in this Library and translated it into English. This English translation was printed out in Oxford in the year 1325 of the hegira (1907 after JC). But, this translation mysteriously disappeared. One of these translations exists in the British Museum and a second one in the American Congress Library in Washington. The “Koranic Council of Pakistan” managed to again print out the English copy in 1973. These following passages are cited from this book: in the chapter 7 of Barnabas’s Bible, it is said: “Jesus is very angry with Petrus who told him: “you are the son of Allah”. He told him off. He told him: “Get away from me! Because you are thinking of bad things and you want to hurt me”. Then, turning towards his Apostles, he says: “Damn those who tell me that! Because Allah told me to curse them”. In the same chapter, it is written: “I have come to this world to prepare the voice of the Resûl (Messager) of Allah, who will bring salvation, security of the world. But, you all pay attention! Many fake Prophets may appear until his arrival. My Bible may be corrupted.” Concerning the question on the Apostles: “Could you show us a few signs of this Resûl, that you say will come?”, he said: “this Resûl will come wfter your time. When he will come, my Bible will be corrupted and the true Christians will not go over 30 people. Then, Allah, feeling sorry for humans, will send the real Messiah. There will always be a white cloud over his head. He will be very powerful, will break the idols and will punish those who adore the idols. Thanks to him, man will know Allah and will praise him. He will get revenge from those who say that I am divine…” (In the chapter 136, after having presented the explanation of Hell, it is told how Mohammed will save his people from Hell). From the chapter 163: “concerning the question on the Apostles, what are the signs of this person that you said will come?” Jesus, with all the joy in his heart, said: “his name is Mohammed. When he will come, the trees will come out of the earth, even if it hasn’t rained for a long time. With God’s grace that he will bring to them, men will be able to do good things. Allah’s grace will fall upon men like rain”. Concerning Jesus’s last days, Barnabas’s Bible gives us this following information (chapter 215-222): when the Roman soldiers went into the house to capture Jesus, the cherubs (the four great angels): Djebraïl (Gavriel), Israphil (Seraphin), Mikaïl (Michel) and Azraïl (Azrael), while kissing him and going out the window, had brought him to the sky under Allah’s demand. The Roman soldiers caught Judas, instead of Jesus, who was guiding them, saying: “You are Jesus!” Despite his refusal, and his screams, they dragged him all the way to the cross and crucified him. Then, Jesus appeared to his mother and his Apostles. He said to Mary: “Oh mother! You see, I am not crucified. Instead of me, Judas the traitor was crucified and died.” In European encyclopeadias, there is this information on Barnabas’s Bible: a manuscript defined under the name of Barnabas’s Bible is an invented book, written by an Italian converted to Islam in the 15th century. Barnabas’s Bible was deleted ba excommunication, in the 3rd century (before Christ), meaning 300 years before Mohammed’s appearance. It’s impossible for it to have been by someone that is not Muslim, before the advent of Islam. As to Fra Marino, who translated it into Italian, he was a catholic monk and we have no document suggesting that he might have become Muslim. For this, there is no reason for him to have modified the translation. Let’s not forget that, between the years 300 and 335 after JC, many important people of the Christian religion did not accept that Jesus was Allah’s son, and they had supported Barnabas’s Bible, to show that Jesus was a man like us. The most important one of all is Lucien, bishop of Antioche. But, more popualr than Lucien is Arius (250-336) who is his disciple. Although Arius had been excommunicated by the bishop of Alexandrie, he had gathered many supporters around him, so it was impossible to catch him and put him in prison. Even Constantin’s sister, emperor of Byzance, had enroled herslef into the “Ariane” sect, which he had founded. After him, Honorius, who was the pope at Mohammed’s time, had declared that Jesus was only a man and that it isn’t allowed to believe in three Allahs. The pope Honorius, deceased in the year 630, underwent the anathema of the spiritual council, gathered in Istanbul in 638, eight years after his death. Sozzini, influenced by Camillo who was a Sicilian mystic scholar, addressing, in 1547, to Calvin (1509-1564), one of the biggest French scholars of Christianity, challenged him by saying: “I do not believe in the Trinity”. And he said he preferred Arius’s order and refused the following theory, which is an important Christian dogma: “Adam’s original sin was created by man to atone for their first sin”. F.P. Sozzini, the latter’s nephew, denied for good Jesus’s divinity, by publishing a book in 1562. Sozzini had gone to the town of Klosterneuburg in 1578, in Transylvania, because Sigismond, the lord of this region, was against the Trinity. He founded a sect which refused to acknowledge the Trinity. His followers were called “Racoviants” because this sect was founded in Racov, in Poland.

221- QUESTION : Buddhism is a contemplative doctrine. What is Islam’s position ?
221- ANSWER : Buddhism, which isn’t a true religion, is in fact a doctrine advocated by Buddha (560-480 before J.C). It’s a philosophy based on the ethic that holds out a sort of contemplative bliss where the initiated reaches, in an ultimate stage, the extinction of the illusions that form the essence of the individuals existence. Many schools were made from an order that had become monastic (the sangha), spread in all Asia, mainly in Tibet, in China and in Japan, counting 200 million followers. It seams that Sanskrit, one of the Buddhism languages, has become the literary and sacred vehicle of Brahmanism, also based on beatitude contemplative illumination. It would have, in our sense, drawn during his peregrination throughout the Sufism of the Muslim India, certain motivations relating to the extinction principle in his passive aspect. Two current terms used in Buddhism incite us to believe in this interference: the word “nirvana” where the notion of illumination becomes of the extinctions motivations. It is only the transposition of two Arabic terms nour (light) and fana (extinction), to express the idea of the light of extinction. The other term is “Mahayana (from the Arabic word mo’ayana, meaning contemplative vision). Even in sufism, this contemplative attitude is only a stage in the extinction phase. The believer, Muslim or other, is a man of action. His cultural acts, his behaviour are marked by action. Having a job is proper to an ideal initiated. “Say (says the Koran): react and God will see your action, as well as his Messenger and the believers”. (sura 9, verse 105). Islam is therefore an energetic religion where all static elements are eliminated.

222- QUESTION : Could you give us a religious example which crystallizes this dynamism of Islam ?
222- ANSWER : The “circumambulation” which consists in turning seven times around the Kaaba at Mecca. In this religious act, we come to find the motivations of the revealed trio which we have learnt to be a basis of the sacred, notably the two rational and scientific mobiles. It refers to the movement of rotation around one centre of convergence of the universal Islam, marked by a double stamp: the energy, residing among others in the musical diatonic scale, and that of the rainbow with its seven colours.

223- QUESTION : In Islam, is there any secret knowledge unreleased by the prophet (peace be upon him) ?
223- ANSWER : The companion Ali, the Prophet’s son-in-law, said: “deep down I am submerged with knowledge, I cannot find anybody able to assume the burden”. This great scholar, qualified by the messenger of ALLAH as the guard of the “city of prophetic science”, had not stopped repeating: “only tell people things they can understand”. Thus, Ali, trustee of the secrets of the big gnosis of our venerated apostle claimed of immeasurable knowledge of which he did not find a dignified holder. Abu Horeira the intimate companion of the prophet asserts to have drawn, in the source of Apostolic science, two kinds of knowledge, he is allowed to reveal only one, the other one remains without access; the rationalized philosophy constantly asserts that extrems touch each each other, closely attached to each other, only an initiated person is able to discursively seize this reality. It is in this sublime context, that the great Imam Al-Joneid, the promoter of the sunni Sufism, based on double koranic and traditional sources, made it clear that “none can reach the sublime level of reality confined to the absolute, answering the requirements of a psychomatic conformation where the ground to ground of the human norm. Every divine insufflation can create a state, either of bliss or of ease and hope, or fear.

224- QUESTION : Are angels immunized against satanic temptations ?
224- REPONSE : Men, whatever their confessions are, do not resist diabolical temptation at all. As to angels contact with human’s perversity, will they be weakened? ALLAH wanted to test them once again, after the first test where they have received the divine order to bow down in front of Adam, Satan having refused to do it out of vanity. ALLAH has thus sent to earth harout and marout, to feel and demonstrate their immunity, a kind of divine protection against the sin. Allah is infallible, but he puts his elected humans or angelic out of any offence or violation of his prescriptions. “And when a messenger is sent to them by God” asserted the Koran, confirming who was with, here a group of those who have received the book reject the book of god, behind their backs, as if they knew nothing about it. (sura 2 verse 102).

225- QUESTION : Is there any particular reason for which God reveals his religion in the Arabic language and especially in the Qoraichite dialect ?
225- ANSWER : The Koran had been, thus, revealed in the Arabic language, particularly the Quraychite. The big federation of Quraychite itself accused the prophet of having received from a young Greek roman armourer, the teaching of the bible. For this matter, the Koran said: (sura abeilles verse 3). The sacred book specifies in another sura (sura Abraham, verse 4). The bible, Old Testament inspired by god to Jewish people, is written in Hebrew, a name given by the bible to Arameans of Harran who crossed the Euphrates and settled in Canaan. Some claim that the means of Moses’ revelation was the hieroglyph. This was a scriptural sign of ancient Egypt where lived the Israeli population at the time of Moses. As to gospel books of St Mathieu, St mark, St luck and St jean, who related Jesus’ life –son of Mary- and put forward his doctrine. They are written in Greek except for a primitive version where gospels of St Mathieu’s had been written in Aramaic. The Arameans are Semitic nomads of the north mesopotamy, whom, in the 13th century b.c formed, in Syria and Lebanon, small states, the Hebrew’s enemies. The Arazmeans were then enslaved by the Assyria (earth of Prophet Jonas) and the Achaeans. The language remains that of the entire near east at the time of Christ. The Durians of minor Asia gave ancient Greece its dialect, the characteristics of which are proper to literature. The Dorian dialect is known under the name of “dorism” and is said to be written from right to left, and having the same nomenclature canaanean alphabet: Alfa, beta (alif, ba, ta). That is to say it always refers to the same Semitic language, including Aramean, cananeen, Phoenician, Hebrew and Arabic dialects called oriental Semitic group or north occidental. The Semitic was thus the only vehicle of the revealed books. It is here another sign of the sacred link between scriptures.

226- QUESTION : What about the travel of souls (verse 42, sura 39) ?
226- ANSWER : The journey of the souls is described in the Koran (Sourate 39, verse 42) as follows: “God takes humans souls away when they die, as well as those who do not die, during their sleep. He keeps the souls of those for whom he stopped death, and he releases the other for an announced delay.” When death comes, the soul leaves the body to join an intermediate world, the Barzakh (or isthme) that nobody falsely identifies at the purgatory of the Christians. The encounter of the sleeper’s spirits with the dead spirits is a source of a dream (particularly premonitory dreams during which nightmares are eliminated). This miraculous journey of the souls in the soufi spirit, linked to the narration of the Prophet’s Nocturnal Ascension, allows us to envisage a similar trip where the sleeper, by his high spiritual level, can meet with not only the dead, but also with the angels in the heavenly spheres. The Prophets’ (psl) ascension is also depicted in the Koran (Sourate 17, Verse 3). His events are described in hadiths, cited by the Sahihs of Boukhari, Mouslim and by others, reported by the Sonans, more or less authentic, where certain details of the biblical origin lays. Abou Yazid Bistâmy (Iind century of the hegira era) declares having had, in a dream, a mystic surnatural voyage. The divine comedy, elaborated by Dante in between 1307 and 1321 of the Christian hegira, is a sacred poem, an epic narration of the trip Dante made through three regions: Hell, the Purgatory and Heaven. We think that the poet Florentin (1265-1321) knew about the narrations concerning the Prophet’s Nocturnal Ascension through the translations made in 1264 in French and Latin of a Spanish version of an Arabic text (the Latin version is kept in the National Library of Paris n°6064). The Muslim (eschatologie) was already known at the time of the great andalous soufis, such as Ibn Irabi from Murcia (1165-1240) of which we compare the elaborated paradisiac narrations in some of these works, with those of the Divine Comedy.

227- QUESTION : Resident in France and of French origin, I am regularly confronted by scientific offences and convictions motivated by pure materialism. The principal one being that on which is frequently opposed faith and “pure science”, namely that regarding human origins. Indeed since it is difficult to speak about Adam and Eve while disregarding theology, how can one argue about evolution, or at least, of the signs of (possibly) human life found in Spain and France barely 20000 years ago, which is not that long ago, given that the traces of the Telamones dates back to 10,000 BC and that the Nubian pre-Egyptian and Indian civilizations are around 7,000 BC?  Of course some prophets are mentioned long before this such as Noah, but this is based on religion and therefore inadmissible for someone rejecting religion.  I have doubts that the cavemen were possibly not human for two reasons: the first because it seems unlikely to me that two civilizations could live side by side with such differences of intelligence and behavior in a world with its symbolic representations. The second because in 2007 I heard completely by chance on the television news that an anthropologist had mentioned that in Indonesia until a short while ago there existed “kinds of human monkeys” which came down from the mountain for a short period of time and then went up back without ever interacting or communicating with the human population. This species disappeared, if my memory is correct, in the 18th century.  These are my queries: I have confidence that your knowledge will assist me reach a higher intellectual level and understand our origins.  Thank you and May God reward you by the grace of the Prophet and Sidna Shaykh (Peace to them both).
227- ANSWER : This question about human origins which has been raised constantly over the centuries, does not have a clearcut answer in Islamic tradition. Neither in the Koran, nor in the hadiths of the Prophet (psl?) can one find a serious allusion to these problems which remain ambiguous from both a material and spiritual viewpoint. It is a problem which certain part philosophical and part psychic soufis, such as Ibn Arabi Al Hatimi who suggested an answer to this problem with no argumentation worthy of the scale of the question, had confronted. Ibn Arabi answered the question by suggesting the possibility that before Adam, the father of the human race, there were forty Adams who each lived 4,000 years, without counting the temporal spaces which separated them. This is a possibility which we are obliged to reject because of lack of evidence.  However, Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani provided a response to the suggestions of Ibn Arabi by referring to passages of the Koran which confirmed that Allah had chosen to make Adam his Khalife on earth (sourate The Cow, verse 30). Allah therefore created Adam to put an end, as a Khalife, to his perturbations (Jawahir Al Maani, P.134). Concerning Darwin’s solution on evolutionism, it had raised much interest in its time, but remained restricted. It ended up being rejected because, firstly, it lacks authenticity and secondly, its plausible reasons turned out to be outrageous. The carbon 14 is, scientifically speaking, far from consituting the reference Darwin and his sympathizer’s gave to it. Besides, Darwin was not the only one to express such options. Before him, the famous Razès had told us about a series of inhumane elements, meaning other animals apart from monkeys. Hanon, in his journey, had talked about gorillas living in certain parts of Africa, such as Gabon, where we were able to detect specimens in 1847. Yet, instead of gorillas, some have talked about chimps or orangoutans as intelligent and sociable animals.Using Morocco as a searching field for the first man, we have noticed that most of the discoveries start in the beginning of the 20th century and finish at its end, like those of the first man of Tafoughalt (in eastern Morocco), and before them, those of Harhoura and of Sidi Abderrahmane in Anfa. By comparing these facts with discoveries made in Africa, we notice that they make these mens age go up to 300000 years for the equatorial region, up to 1 million years for those in Tchad and 5million years for those in Kenya, without mentioning the Pacific Islands, where the gae has not passed 7000 years. We have even compared certain specificities of the discovered skulls from Harhoura to those from the region of Palestine, in order to reinforce opinions issued by certain historians concerning eastern origins of the first African man.

 

228- QUESTION : When you find faithful people doing the wadifa, for example on the salatoul fatihi, how do we get into the wadifa ?
228- ANSWER : According to Sidi Larbi Benssayeh in his “Boghiat”, there are many ways to start the wadifa or the wird. It must be started after the bassmala, adding the sourat of the Koran “Al Fatiha”. Otherwise we can start with the verse of the Koran: “wa ma toukaddimou li anfousikoum min khayrin tajidouhou inda Allahi khayran wa aadam ajra, inna Allaha ghafouroum rajim''.

 

229- QUESTION : I am a tijani disciple (alhamdulilah) and I would like to have an answer to avoid my waswas scattering. I’ve had waswas about the tariqa of Sidi Ahmed Tijani and his sincerity. Without accepting his thoughts sometimes doubtful and strongly reject them  without exposing them out loud while praying to God to save me from these doubts, to make me love Sidna Cheikh and to believe in him and his words. Has this not come out of the tariqa? So I am basically asking if the waswas, who is sometimes abject towards the Sheikh and the voice, gets me out of the tariqa. Could you renew my pact and thus give me your silsila ?
229- ANSWER : One day, the Prophet Sidna Mohammed’s companions came to see him to speak about some doubts which made them perplexed. The prophet asked them what they felt about these doubts, they answered that they felt an inner bitterness and a cruel fear, which is crystallized by a psychic excitement. The prophet reassured them, specifying that this is a sign of conviction and faith. Concerning the order, I can not renew the pact by e-mail, but if you come to Morocco, we will talk about this.

 

230- QUESTION : What is Latif Al Akbar ?
230- ANSWER : Latif Al Akbar is the latif resulting from the multiplication of 129, which constitutes the first term of latif multiplied by itself and the rest equally by itself to reach the latif Akbar. But there is a reduced latif where all the multiplications are concentrated, but this needs a special authorization to be recited.

 

231- QUESTION : While doing the wird, is it possible to recite 50 of Salatu alanaby and 50 of Salatoul fatihi?  He had the intention to do the wird with 100 Salatoul Fatihi, but he made a mistake about two of Salatoul fatihi.  He recited two salatu alanaby instead. Does he have to rectify, if yes how ?
231- ANSWER : According to the modality mentioned by the Sheikh, the disciple should choose between the fatihi and shorter salat. In case he does it on purpose, he has to redo the wird, otherwise he has to compensate by adding a redemption which is 100 times of Istighfar.

 

232- QUESTION : I have read a translation of  a passage of the noble book  Jawahir al- Ma’ani concerning the pole  (degree of pole of our noble Fatima Az- Zouhra ( may God accept her) about  the pole , our master  Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tidjani ( may God accept him)  said : “ he is the most excellent of all the Muslims in every era , apart from any keys of the treasures( maftuh kunuz) that my exist , for he is superior to them in some respects , and they are superior ton him in some respects “ source :http://www.dar-sirr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=1743 .  I have read somewhere else: “the knowledgeable of God are part of the universe of authority, each one of them has the strength of 1000 men, the strength of the pole of poles is 1500 men, the strength of four poles of the singularity is of 700 men, and the strength of  keys of treasuries, each one of them possesses2000 men” http://www.tidjani.com/en-forces_dim_spirit.php. Could you inform me about the possible precisions brought by our master Ahmed at Tijani (may god accept him) and his representatives (may God accept them) or send me information in relation with this issue ?
232- ANSWER : Concerning the exactness that you have asked  about the pole ,  ‘ mafatih el kounouz” and forces  given by God to some and others , references are of two kinds : the first one is of a theological order and canonically doctrinal , is specified in the books of the well known scholars of Islam , among them  Ibn Hajar the commentator of  Sahih el Boukhary who  quotes some  hadiths in these circumstances , as to the Sufi scholars , they are unamumous  about this issue ;  particularly some such as the writer of rissala al qouchairiya , Abdelkrim ibn Hawazine , sheikh Zerrouq  the mouhtassib of Sufis and imam Ac- chaarany in his tabaqates : their essential sources are not authenticated in the ordinary chains of transmission ; the case of lalla Fatima Zahra is a special one , because she has never known menses which constitute  for the other women one of the reasons which stop them to reach the stage of  qoutbanya ;  there are two kinds of citations , those which are the foundation of the behaviour of the initiated sufi, for which the authentication of the reference is a must ,and  for those concerning some  data where both  the authentic source and the  disruptive mobile are missed , the only reference in the circumstances , is the reception of the Sufi sheikhs by some and others, from the mouth even of the prophet, which is seen  as a secret information;  these are some hadiths which are not apocryphal according to the norms of the traditionalists , but which  join the chains of specific transmission , between the prophet and sheikhs , in a manner that if  Sheikh  Sidi Ahmed Tijani , pole of the poles and the prophet’s caliph, reports to us information by this bias , the sheikh ‘s reference is undoubted ; he was  always considered by his contemporaries in Morocco and around the  Islamic world, as a  dignified reference, without being supported by other references  , I quote here the case of the great imam Badre Eddine Al Hammoumy a scholar at the Qaraouine  and a contemporary of the sheikh , although  he was not a Tijani ,  he had the opportunity to present one of his books to the great scholar Ali el- Mily a lecturer at al Azhar University , the latter , astonished to see el Hammoumy referring only  to  Sheikh Tijani’s statements, about a citation he  added in his comment of al mourchid al mou’ine , Al Hammoumy made it clear that the sheikh is seen as  being the authentic reference , ; another case is about the meeting of the most imminent scholars in Morocco , during studies of the hadith under the aegis of sultan Moulay  Slimane where  sheikh Tayeb Benkirane , chairman of this royal council came up with some words that the sheikh refuses to admit , the sultan intervenes in order to arbitrate, asking Sheikh Tijani to answer back ; here the sheikh   refuted, what was said in this issue by one of the greatest exegete of the coran, Azzamakhchary , and the sheikh added  that a manuscript of this exegete can be found in the Zarhoun’s library ;  they have thus brought the manuscript which  authenticates the Sheikh’s statements;  It is  to confirm if needed , that the sheikh Tijani is considered on his own , in all cases as the reference . For more information, the translation into French of large extracts of Jawahir Al Maany was included in our site.

 

233- QUESTION : First of all, I would like to thank you for a well done site, and which is a rich source of information. In the column questions/ Answers and precisely question 131 about the Dalail AL Khairat, you have named the ‘Tijani catalogue’ which is a group of authorised Adhkars, in the Tijani order by Prophet Sidna Mohammed (Sallallahou Alayhi WA Salam) to Sheikh Ahmed Tijani. I think that it contains the Adhkars such as Hizb Bahr, Hizb as sayfi and others, for which an authorization from an authentic Moqadem is needed … I would like to know the adhkars included Tijani catalogue if possible ?
233- ANSWER : Your question about the Tijani catalogue, i.e.: the whole of the horizons includes the authorized Dikhrs to the Sheikh given by the Prophet Sidna Mohamed. This catalogue does include specific horizons related to the order, as to those which are not included such as hisb Bahr or Hisb as- sayfi they require a special authorisation.

 

234- QUESTION : I mix with a practising person of the Tijani order, a good Muslim; this has incited me to do some researches about this order. I will not talk about the way Dikrs are done, which is deeply criticized by Salafists, and the latter indicate that these practises have nothing to do with Suna and the prophet way of life. What actually has staggered me is the following: A salafist says that the Tijani order has played a major role, and helped the French colonisation to settle in Algeria, towards the end of the 18th century. he says that a woman, whom he mentioned her name was able to infiltrate the Zaouia, and became the wife of his founder Sidi Ahmed tijani, and then the wife of his brother Sidi Ali, after the death of Sidi Ahmed, this woman became adored by the Tijani followers to the point that the latter got the earth in which she walks on, in order to use it for the Tayamoum. This salafist equally reported that Sidi Ali would have said in a speech “to help France the friend of our hearts to settle among us “! And he equally reported that this woman was given a medal by the French colonial authorities for the services she rendered to them. Thank you for enlighten these statements, Will God guide us to the right path ?
234- ANSWER : The real Sufism is not only conceived through the permanent attachment of the believer to he charia throwing out everything that any the Mohammadian thinking. it is in this  luminescent atmosphere of the prophet and his companions , that hearts  have been revitalized, this has lasted three centuries; through the spontaneous lighting stages,  believers who are looking for the transcendence and  consent of God , muttered with litanies, taken from the Koran and hadith where the appearance of inveterate scholars , such as El – jounaid and his colleagues who endeavoured to proclaim that mohamadian Sufism  is nothing but a double source of the charia ( Koran and hadith) . some apocryphal eccentricities   started to mispresent the salafist thinking , all the way through the medieval period , but Sufism , despite of its fissure remains  a catalyst , which incites the westerners and others to react against the confraternities, , in addition to that the tijani follower , among others , receives from his moqadem from the xviiith century , the rosary , symbol of double struggle against the bad propensity of the corrupted soul , on one hand , and against the western occupation on the other hand . the great leader Emir  Chakib Arsalan , after having tested the beneficial contribution of the Sufi groups ,  he referred to the books of some great  western historians , such as G. Maury , in order to confirm that “ Africa would have been entirely an Islamic region , without the influence of France against the tijani order;  this , he added , could be compared o the islamization momentum of Europe stopped in Poitiers by Charles martel” . A. Lechatelier, mentioned it also in his book “Islam in the western Africa” ( p 189) . The outstanding scholar Mohammed Jabir sheikh of al-azhazr University in Cairo, underlined in his comment of Al-ghazali’s book a al-mouqid mina ad –dalal” (edition. Beyrouth P 52), that without the tijani order in north Africa ,  French colonialism  would have shred the dogma of Islam in these countries . Sheikh tijani , born in Ain Madi , who was part of Moroccan province, during year 1150h, started , since his young age , to fight against the Turkish occupation, from 1171 – 1757 , he was forced to  leave his hometown , under the repeated acts of violence  of the bey of Oran Mohammed ben Otman , at the age of 54 sheikh continues to be chased by the Turkish authorities ,  he settled in fes in 1213 h-1798 . His influence became bigger at Ain Madi and at eastern Sahara, and worried the Turkish government, which went to the point to impose a tribute at Ain Madi in 1185h – 1785. After the death of Sheikh Tijani in 1230h-1814, his eldest son Sidi Mohammed El- Kebir carried on his fight against the Turks. The Turkish administrator in Algeria Mohammed Bey strived to tear off Ain Madi from the Alawite dynasty. The fighter Sidi Mohammed El habib comforted by hid father’s followers went to AL-Ouarss (Mascara) in the Moroccan Sahara to fight against the Turkish invaders, a hounded fight, which was mortal for him and for his 300 companions. His brother Mohammed El- Habib , who was in the pilgrimage , went back to Ain Madi where another Turkish administrator , the prefect of Oran , has already  controlled some 400 inhabitants of the region of laghouat and he incarcerated them ; the famous fighter Emir Abd-el-Kader Al- Jazaiiri , while fighting against the French wanted then  to make Ain Madi a centre of gathering his troops , Mohammed el –Habib as a Moroccan citizen provided the emir with arms and  subvention , supporting his war against the French, coming from Ain Madi , in order to take part in the struggle , but on the 28th of rabi’e of year 1238h-1822, the emir making use of the martyr Sidi Mohammed el- kebir besieged Ain Madi instead of defending the cherif and the whole population ; the two parties came to an agreement  for a retreat of 8 miles ( 12.5 km) below the small fortress ;  the tijani family remains then as  in the past in their fief ancestral . France , which occupied then the capital with the region of Oran , recognized the authority of the emir over two third of the country( in conformity with treaties of 1834 and 1837) Sidi Mohammed el- Habib felt engaged by the act of allegiance vis a vis the emir of el Mouminine , sultan of morocco,, and betrayed by the emir , refused to help him out ( a correspondence is held in the archives of Ain Madi certifies these facts according to ‘touhfat azz-ir” of Mohammed ben Abd-el-Kader al-jaza’iri, edition , Beirut 1964); the khamlichiya zaouiya in the Rif region did also stop all kind of help, isolated , the emir started again the fight in 1839 , thinks to the support of the sultan of Morocco and both the tijanyia and khamlichiya zaouias , in 1843 , defeated  beaten   by the duke of aumale , went to Morocco , the Moroccan sovereign also defeated  one year later in the battle of isly , the emir ended up surrendering in 1847 ,  while these events were taking place cherif sidi Mohammed el- Habib died in 1269h- 1852 , the son of the emir , Mohammed ben Abd-el-Kader , paid a tribute to him, for his brotherly behaviour , toward the emir , and continued his challenge against the invaders  . Sidi Mohammed El- Habib left two sons : Sidi Ahmed Ammar and Sidi Mohammed El – Bachir whom the occupiers did not stop provoking them , and pushed them back to France , before , sidi Ahmed Ammar , aged 16 was taken for a whole year in a forced residence  in Algiers , in France he married the young Aurelie according to the Islamic norms before a Tunisian judge( see ‘ la tijaniya’ of professor Benabdallh p121), which summarises everything  related to this young girl , who became a fervent believer, and detached of all unstitched jumble  she was accused of ).the vice tightened up , then around the young Tijani sidi Ahmed Ammar , who is the nephew of our great Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Tijani , and not himself . France was then threatened in western Africa by the intervention of a tijani brother, Sultan Si Omar EL- Fouti, who attacked the French occupier Faidherbe (1854-1865).   The whole African continent (north and west) is then against France. As to your second question which deals with the words of praise pronounced in tribute to France by Sherif Sidi Mohammed El- Kabir the son of Sidi El – Bachir and the nephew of the great Sheikh. the Arabic magazine AL- Fath, run by El – Khatib in Cairo has published the text of the speech extracted by fahmi Safouane from a French magazine, the speech in question was pronounced during a ceremony organised under the aegis of the French colonel , in charge of the occupied party of Algeria, during the era of Emir Abd-el-Kader Al- Jazairi, it is during this ceremony that the pseudo- speech was delivered by Sidi Mohammed El- Kabir, but the latter is the son of Sidi El – Bachir , who fought against France, which incarcerated him, for seven years,  Sidi Mohamed El- kabir , during this time was not born yet,, as it was noticed by the Egyptian scholar sidi  Mohammed El- Hafid ,  Sheikh of the Tijani order in Egypt,; who had a moral obligation to get in touch  of  Sidi Mohammed El- Kebir , in order to find out about the reality of this event , the Sherif was categorical in his answer , and made it clear that he  despatched to the Arabic magazine through Sidi Mohammed El – hafid a message which denied the existence of any speech and even any participation in this ceremony which he became aware of it by means of the article published in his magazine; this magazine published the letter of disavowal sent by Sidi Mohammed El – Kebir himself, but through another person in French , pretending doing it using the name of the sherif , who reiterated his denunciation ,and asserting to have delegated nobody to represent him.  in the same context ,the Egyptian scholar denounced in his book “ al-intissaf”v ( edition Cairo 1352h- 1932) all the events mentioned above and denounced equally by the sherif ; the Egyptian scholar  mentioned in his book the untruthful  information which is clearly which made sidi Ahmed Ammar the real great sheikh tijani of fes , and which mixed up sidi El – bachir with sidi Mohammed el- kabir , to whom he gave the wrong name of Ali.

 

235- QUESTION : I am in the process of reading the Wadifa (pearl of perfection), and I am lucky to have bought a year ago a book entitled “« Íáø ÃÞÝÇá ÌæåÑÉ ÇáßãÇá ówhich explains it perfectly. As to me I do find it strong, so I have a headache when I read it. I have felt it has the meaning of a book full of light, that I had the vision of it long before you have authorised me to get hold of, am I authorised equally to advice it to my fiends who already recite the Tijani wird ?
235- ANSWER : The recitation of  Jawhara has a great effect, which you have  to assume the burden , by two means : on one hand  try hard with perseverance to purify yourself, and on the other hand , to  make use of the simulated presence of the sheikh with the company of the person who  supervises the prayer , in order to be based on the flux, and to assume perfectly the effects , concerning the second question : you should advice your tijani friends to follow suit the same behaviour.

 

236- QUESTION : I would like to know if thee is a genuine picture of Mawlana Sheikh Ahmed Tijani, and if yes I would like to have one ?
236- ANSWER : There is no such picture of Sheikh Sidi ahmed Tijani , he died  year 1230 h , whereas he first pictures were taken in 1840 which corresponds with year 1255 h .; but there is a picture of Sidi Ahmed Ammar Tijani , the sheikh’s nephew available in some sites of the order.