The tariqa muhammadiyya otherwise known as the tariqa tijanniyah derives its name from its founder, sheikh Ahmad Tijanni(rta).
SHEIKH AHMAD TIJJANI (RTA)
“He had a whitish face with reddish tones and his white hair gained over his black one.
Such state has genuinely pleased him as he always wished to meet his Lord on this
state… His close companions were competing in getting his hair remnants during
haircuts, and warmly greeting the barber who had the honour to be so close to him… He
used to wear a camel hair-made dress in some occasions while in other occasions he
wore a cotton-gown arranged through his neck and not lied upon his shoulders, putting
the other end of the gown upon his head when he does not want to see people’s faces
especially during the passage of women attending preaching sessions. The colour of
his mantle (barnus) was a white one. He also possessed another camel-hair woven one.
His turban was according to trustworthy sources from the well-known lamtayyeb type.
The clothing is a rarity now. It is made of 10 yard hard clothing rolled on red cap
underneath another white cap which end is held through a pin. Such way of turban
setting is an old tradition and habit of the Prophet’s descendents… He used to wear the
Fasite high-quality masshita-shoes. Since the companions were constantly requesting
his shoes for baraka, he was usually wearing new ones. Seldom had he wore old shoes
in his ingoings and outgoings… He had a rosary for his daily litanies of the kind called
al-yusr; made of a tree that had dark seeds and a very beautiful scent. He has only used
this kind of rosary and nothing else, and this, Allah Knows best, for two reasons: First,
because it has a pleasant odour and since the dhikr is also a pleasant deed, therefore
he joined pleasant over pleasant. Second, the al-yusr-rosay brings glad tidings (al-faal
al-hassan) and his grandfather (peace and blessing be upon him) did always like glad
tidings. The number of rosary’s beads was of one hundred, and since then all Tijani
rosaries are to have one hundred beads.” (Kitab Shamail Tijaniya)
In the history of Islam, there are numerous Sufi types. The universality of Sufi tradition
balks at any attempt to reduce it to a signal, controllable pattern. Over the last
centuries of the time, however, there has emerged a unique type of Sufi Shaykh who
embodies in his person all the ranks of saints, all the secrets of saints, all the meanings
of saints; for he is himself their seal whose feet are above their necks, for he is himself
the cosmos that supplies them over the whole span of the history of the world. As the
Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) knew that he was a prophet when Adam was between water and clay, this Sufi knew he was a saint when Adam was
between water and clay. This Sufi is characterised by spiritual sobriety that excludes all
splendour and singularity. While his mind is fixed on the Mohammedian Essence, he
affirms the obsolete validity of the shari’a and the four madhabs of Islam. It is this
Sufism that gathers all the good traits of other Sufi paths. It is this Sufism that does
stand alone with what is specially endowed to its adherents. That is the kind of Sufism
that characterises the founder of the Tijaniya, who exercised a tremendous influence
on the world around him and, through his order, on the history of Islam.
He is the Hidden Pole (al-Qutb al-Maktum), the Seal of Mohammedian Sainthood,
(Khatim al-Awliya al-Mohammediya), the Sealed Isthmus (al-Barzakh al-Makhtum), the
Archetype of Salvation, the Hope of Every Seeker, the Bridegroom of the Universe, the
Possessor of Solicitude and Power, the Viceregent of God on Earth, the One Who Has
Arisen, the Disposer of Affairs, the Exemplar of All Times, the Supreme Paradigm, the
Symbol of the Light, the Autonomous Succour, the Mirror of God, the Mohammedian
Seal, the Lord Imam, the Glory of Knowers, the Chieftain of the Sages, the Imam of the
Champions of Truth, the Supporter of the Poles and the Helpers, the Doctor of Rapture,
the Renewer of the Sufi Path after its Occultation, the Initiator of the Reality Sciences
after its Light’s Decline, the Unique in His Time in Esoteric and Rhetoric Sciences, the
Unique Being with Two Sublime Spiritual and Bodily Lineages: the Two Upper Angelic
and Royal Sainthood, the Patron Saint of Fez, the Phoenix of Maghreb, the Descendent
of the Noble Sharifian Saints, the Hassanid Sharif, Mawlana Abul Abbas Ahmed ibn
Mhammed ibn al-Mokhtar Tijani al-Maghribi, may Allah sanctify his soul and benefit us
from his sciences and secrets.
The greater part of the life and teaching of Shaykh al-Tijani is drawn from two primary
hagiographical works: “Kitab Jawahir al-ma’ani wa-bulugh al-amani fi fayd Sidi Abil
al-Abbas at-Tijani” (Gems of Indications and Attainment of Aspirations in the
Overflowings of Sidi Abil Abbas Tijani) by Sidi Ali Harazem Berrada (d. 1212/1797), and
“Kitab al-Jami’a li-ma f-taraqa min ‘Ulum al-Qutb al-Maktum” (The Absolute in What Has
Separated from the Sciences of the Concealed Pole) by Sidi Mohammed ibn al-Mishri
Sibai Hassani (d. 1224/1809). Recent hagiographies tend to be works of compilation
drawn from these two primary sources: Kitab Rima’h al-Hizb al Rahim ala Nuhur Hizb ar-Rajim (The Spears of the League of the Merciful thrown at the Necks of the League
of the Accursed) by Sidi Omar ibn Said al-Futi (d. 1279/1864), Kitab Bughyat
al-mustafid li-shar’h minyat al-murid (Aspiration of the Beneficiary in the Commentary
of the Desire of the Seeker) of Sidi Mohammed ibn al-Arbi Sayeh Sharqi al-‘Umari (d.
1309/1894), last but not least, Kitab Kashf al-Hijab ‘amman talaaqa bi-Shaykh Tijani
mina-l As’hab (Rising the Veil on the Tijani Companions) by Allama Shaykh Sidi Ahmed
ibn al-‘Iyyashi Skirej al-Fasi (d. 1366/1944). Although most of what we know about
Shaykh al-Tijani comes from these books much of his life and career rely either on
direct testimony from the Shaykh himself to Ali Harazem and Ibn al-Mishri or authentic
oral tradition.
Shaykh al-Tijani was born in 1150/1735 in the blessed village of Ain Madhi, Algeria into
a sharifian family. According to the book of Shamail Shaykh al-Tijani’s lineage is raised
to his grandfather the Chosen (peace and blessing be upon him) through his father
Mawlana Mohammed, the son of Mawlana al-Mokhtar, the son of Mawlana Ahmed, the
son of Mawlana Mohammed, the son of Mawlana Salim, the son of Mawlana Abil Eid,
the son of Mawlana Ahmed, the son of Mawlana Ahmed, the son of Mawlana Ali, the
son of Mawlana Abdellah, the son of Mawlana Abbas, the son of Mawlana Abdeljabbar,
the son of Mawlana Idriss, the son of Mawlana Idriss, the son of Mawlana Ishaq, the
son of Mawlana Zayn al-Abidin, the son of Mawlana Ahmed, the son of Mawlana
Mohammed Nafs- Zakiya, the son of Mawlana Abdellah al-Kamil, the son of Mawlana
al-Hassan al-Muthanna, the son of Mawlana al-Hassan as-Sibt, the son of Mawlana
Emir al-Muminine Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Lady of the Universe Fatima Zahra, the
Daughter of the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him). The scholar Sidi
Mohammed ibn al-Mishri said in Rawdh al-Muhib al-Fani (The Bliss of the Annihilated
Lover),
His noble lineage goes to Mawlana al-Hassan ibn Ali (may Allah be satisfied with both
of them) and a certainty about his sharifian decency is wholly proved from all corners,
as Shaykh al-Tijani once asked the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) about the
reality of his lineage and that of the people of his village. The Prophet (peace and
blessing be upon him) answered him: “You are my son, you are my son, you are my son”.
As for the people of his village, the Prophet was just silent about their lineage. Since that daylight encounter with the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him), Shaykh
al-Tijani went on to spread his sharifian claim.
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