‫ﷰ‬

Q| Would you be able to teach me how to make ṣalāh in accordance

to what our Master, Shaykhuᵓl-Islām Ibrāhīm Niāsse, may Allāh be
well-pleased with him, taught?

A| Indeed, ṣalāh is the most important pillar of Islām. It is the

foundation of Sharīᶜa, basis of Ṭarīqa, the protection of Ḥaqīqa,
and the sign of Maᶜrifa. There is no faith without prayer.

Ṣāḥibuᵓl-Fayḍa Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him,

says in his poem entitled Manāsik ahluᵓl-widad:

Likewise we pray! For we do not know of any Religion

that has no prayer in it. For the matter is greater!

Our Muḥammadan ṣalāh [Subḥ, Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib and ʿĪshāᵓ] are
the best form of worship ever prescribed for mankind. Shaykh
Ibrāhīm says in his last written Dīwān entitled Sayruᵓl-qalb:

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 And is there any food for the Soul like the prayer?
And is there anything that can match the wuḍūᶜ and the fast in
purifying you?

I advise you to perform that prayer and bow down in humility.

Indeed, you shall achieve the proximity and purity (from Allāh)

There, you shall see Him, or He shall see you, so do not exist!
And keep quiet! Beware! Do not speak! Beware and desist from
speaking!

Ṣalāh is nothing but Muḥammad ‫ ;ﷺ‬the complete gnostic [ᶜārif]

sees the manifestation of Allāh’s realms [Hāhut, Lāhut, Jabarūt,
Malakūt and Nāsūt] in the Secret [sirr], Spirit [rūḥ], Mind
[ᶜaql], Heart [qalb] and Soul [nafs] of Muḥammad ‫ ﷺ‬taking place
in the five daily prayers. And this is reflected in us through the
mirror of Presence of the Hidden Seal [ḥaḍrātuᵓl-khatm al-katm].

Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, says in his

Dīwān called Tibbuᵓl-anfās, counting Allāh's blessings on him,
considering performing the ṣalāh as one of those blessings:

ِAnd from it is my gaining of the Five (realms) and the Five

(stations),
and performing the Five (pillars) and the Five (prayers)!
How blessed is this writer! 

If nothing else, the prayer is the platform in which we recite the

sacred Words of Allāh. Shaykh Ibrāhīm would recite the entire
Qurᵓān just in the night prayers.

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He, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, says in his Dīwān entitled
Taysīruᵓl-wuṣūl:

For I am the Slave of Allāh, reciting His Book

And praising His Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬always.

So I thank my Lord for the Truthful Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬and his love

Indeed, I will serve him with praises, remembered forever.

For the Men of Allāh have submitted to me in obedience

And the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬in my solid shield.

Allāh Almighty orders us to perform ṣalāh in more than 300 places

in the Qurᵓān. This blessed five-time prayer was granted to us
through the blessed Prophet Muḥammad ‫ ﷺ‬on the Night Journey and
the Ascension [laylatuᵓl-isrāᵓ waᵓl-mirᶜāj] from the Divine
Presence. When we pray, we reach those heights as well.

Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, clearly states

in his Dīwān entitled Ṣulwatuᵓs-shujūn:

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 The Chosen One ‫ ﷺ‬travelled in the Night and returned with Five
(Prayers)
Through them we were elevated too, and the credit is for the first
one ‫ﷺ‬.

And he ‫ ﷺ‬emphatically advised us to ascend through them (the

Prayers)
For through them, the slave gains all progress!

So, for Him and by Him, stand and bow down in humility
You will witness the coolness of your eyes from the Best of
Givers;

And when you stand reciting (the Qurᵓān) after making wuḍū,
And when you make sujūd (prostrate) after the noble rukūᶜ (bow),

All distances are openly removed from you (and Allāh).

You have arrived to the Beloved! Make takbīr and honor Him!

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As the beloved Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬is reported to have said:

"The prayer is the Ascension of the believers."

Therefore, it is a non-negotiable condition of the noble Ṭarīqa

Tijāniyya to uphold the five daily prayers, at their prescribed
times and in congregation, whenever possible.

As Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, says in the

Ṣulwatuᵓs-shujūn:

For the habit of great people, during the night time is

bowing (in prayer) and reciting the awrād (litanies) sincerely.

Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, says in his

Kibrītuᵓl-aḥmar:

I prostrate, praying for the effacement of ingratitude

in all lands, so that I may be most grateful.

In the Rūḥuᵓl-adab, Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with

him, advises the seekers:

And (make) two rakᶜat secretly, and walk

to the mosques (to pray); all of that purifies you from your sins.

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In fact, this was one of the things that impressed me greatly and
attracted me to the Tijānī Path: the punctuality of the Tijānī
shuyūkh and muridīn in performing prayer, anywhere and everywhere.
This was important for me. I have seen followers and even leaders
of some Paths not giving importance to the blessed prayer... very
disturbing indeed!

al-Ḥamduliᵓllāh! Our Master, Shaykh Ḥassan Cissé , may Allāh be

well-pleased with him, spent his whole life performing the ṣalāh
in congregation [jamaᶜ], even on his last day, where he led all
five prayers at the Grand Mosque of Medina-Bāye, before going home
where he passed away.

In that act alone, he, may Allāh be well-pleased with him,

followed the footsteps of Rasūluᵓllāh ‫ﷺ‬, Shaykh Aḥmad at-Tijānī,
and his grandfather Shaykhuᵓl-Islām Ibrāhīm Niāsse, may Allāh be
well-pleased with them.

As Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, said in his

Dīwān entitled Nūruᵓl-ḥaqq:

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 I am satisfied with my Rabb (Allāh) and the Ḥanifiyya (Islām) is
my way;
My Imām is Rasūluᵓllāh ‫ﷺ‬, I will never turn away from that.

My guide is Rasūluᵓllāh ‫ﷺ‬, and the Bayt [Kaᶜba] is my Qibla;

We fast and we make ṭawāf (circumambulate) around the Holy House.

We pray, making rukūᶜ (bowing) and sujūd (prostrating);

On this we have always lived and practiced, and will not be tired.

Indeed, the first thing Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased

with him, did in his Medina was establish the Mosque facing Makka,
and appointed its imām, Shaykh Sayyid ᶜAlī Cissé, may Allāh be
well-pleased with him. Besides the Friday congregational prayers
[ṣalātuᵓl-jumuᶜa] and the ᶜĪdayn [Fitr and Aḍḥāᵓ], Shaykh Ibrāhīm
Niāsse, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, would perform all five
prayers behind Shaykh Sayyid ᶜAlī Cissé, may Allāh be well-pleased
with him!

Our ustādh, Shaykh Bāye Ḥayba of Mauritania, told me that his

father told him that on one occasion they were sitting in the
Mosque with Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him,
waiting for Shaykh Sayyid ᶜAlī Cissé to come and lead the prayer.
However, something was delaying him for a long time.

Sitting in the gathering was Shaykh Sayyid ᶜAlī’s son, the young
Shaykh Ḥassan, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, who had just
come from the UK, wearing a suit and a tie. So Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may
Allāh be well-pleased with him, pointed to him to come forward and
lead the prayer.

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When they saw this, some of the other muqaddamūn sitting with
Shaykh Ibrāhīm were noticeably surprised that a man wearing a suit
and tie should lead them in prayer. So Shaykh Ibrāhīm , may Allāh
be well-pleased with him, looked at them and recited the following
couplet by Imām as-Shāfiᶜī, may Allāh be well-pleased with him:

If a person does not tarnish his reputation with foul behaviour

then every dress he wears is beautiful!

Mawlānā as-Shaykh Aḥmad at-Tijānī, may Allāh be well-pleased with

him, would also seldom lead the prayer himself and usually
assigned Sīdī Muḥammad al-Mishrī or Mawlāᵓi Muḥammad bin Abīᵓn-
Nāṣr, may Allāh be well-pleased with them both, to lead the prayer
for him. Sometimes he, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, would
also ask his Khalīfa, al-Quṭb Sīdī ᶜAlī at-Tamāsīnī, may Allāh be
well-pleased with him, to lead the prayer whenever the latter
visited from Algeria.

Shaykh Aḥmad Sukayrij, may Allāh be pleased with him, mentions in

his book Kashfuᵓl-ḥijāb that on another occasion, when some
seekers from Fez complained to Sayyidinā as-Shaykh, may Allāh be
well-pleased with him, that Sīdī ᶜAlī at-Tamāsīnī does not
pronounce certain Words from the Qurᵓān very accurately during his
recitation, as-Shaykh at-Tijānī replied to them:

"(He) is a spiritually-Opened [maftūḥ] man! And prayer behind a

man of fatᵓḥ is always accepted."

Just like Sayyidunā Rasūluᵓllāh ‫ﷺ‬, the last prayer of Sayyidinā

as-Shaykh at-Tijānī, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, was Fajr.
The last prayer of Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with
him, was ᶜAṣr. The last prayer of Shaykh Ḥassan, may Allāh be
well-pleased with him, was ᶜIshāᵓ.

Shaykh Ḥassan informed us that when Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be

well-pleased with him, was bedridden in the St. Thomas hospital in
London during his last days, he still fulfilled his ṣalāt with his
eyes and fingers. When Shaykh Hassan, may Allāh be well-pleased
with him, saw him in this condition, he reminded Shaykh Ibrāhīm
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about the Mālikī opinion that if a person is so sick that he
cannot sit up anymore, then one is excused from prayer and can be
made up later. Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him,
said, "Yes, I am very much aware of that Mālikī opinion. But we
are (also) Tijānī, and that puts extra responsibility on us." So
he, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, made the prayers and
litanies on his hospital bed until his last breath.

Establishing mosques and prayer therein is a consistent Tijānī

practise. In fact, it is a sign of faith [īmān]; as the Master of
Existence ‫ ﷺ‬stated (narrated by Imām at-Tirmidhī):

"If you see a man frequenting the mosques, then testify to his
faith."

The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬also informed us that such a person will be from

the few who will be shaded by Allāh on the Day in which there will
be no other Shade but His Shade.

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We should pray in the mosques regardless of who leads the prayer,
as long as they do not openly slander as-Shaykh at-Tijānī, may
Allāh be well-pleased with him. If they do, then we cannot pray
behind them.

I recall once in the sitting room [majlis] of Shaykh Ḥassan Cissé,

a Mauritanian shaykh was telling him of a personal incident where
it was time for ṣalāh and the people appointed a denier [munkir]
lead the Prayers, so he refused to pray behind him, and prayed on
his own.

Upon hearing the story, Shaykh Ḥassan, may Allāh be well-pleased

with him, told the Mauritanian, "You could have prayed behind him.
Prayer is prayer."

It is also narrated that a scholar from Mauritania was visiting

Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, in Kaolack.
When the time for prayer came, Bāye asked him to lead the prayer.
However,  the Mauritanian talibés became a bit unhappy with this,
saying, "Back in Mauritania, this ᶜālim is an enemy of the
(Tijānī) Fayḍa."

Upon hearing that, Shaykh Sayyid ᶜAlī Cissé, may Allāh be well-
pleased with him, said to them, "For me it is enough that Bāye put
him forward." And then he proceeded to join the prayer, and they
all followed!

THE ṢALĀH of SHAYKH IBRĀHĪM NIĀSSE

So you asked how Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with

him, prayed?

Inwardly, he was the complete Slave of Allāh [ᶜabd], and his whole
being was enslaved by the Being of Allāh. He said in one of his
letters (found in the Jawāhir ar-Rasāᵓil collection):

"And I am the Slave of the Divine Presence, and was never enslaved
by anyone but it."

This complete enslavement is only possible when one's being is

non-existent, and none is witnessed but the Truly Existent and His
Actions. Prayer then is nothing but an implementation of His
Eternal Command. We own nothing of it. It is but His Mercy. Bāye,
may Allāh be well-pleased with him, says in his Dīwān entitled
Nūruᵓl-ḥaqq:

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 I do not rely on my fasting and pilgrimages (though I practice
them);
My Reliance is on the Grace of the Generous One on the Day of
Resurrection.

I pray and praise Him, in obedience of His Command;

And there is really Nothing (but Him), in the eyes of the Knower
who has tasted.

Know that in the outward aspects of the prayer, Shaykh Ibrāhīm

Niāsse , may Allāh be well-pleased with him, was generally Mālikī,
as almost all Senegalese Muslims and most African Muslims follow.

However in certain matters, he exercised scholarly opinion

[ijtihad], and practiced that which was the most preferred
practice of the Rasūl ‫ﷺ‬, even if it seemed contrary to the
generalities of the Mālikī opinion.

Some of these preferred Sunna practices were:

• According to the unpublished biography of Bāye by Jibrīl Gueye,

Bāye would repeat the words qad qāmatiᵓṣ-ṣalāh twice in the
iqāma, as opposed to the Mālikī practice of saying it once. This
change came about when the talibés were once reading from Ṣaḥīḥ
al-Bukhārī to Bāye, and they read that the iqāma was made like
that in front of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. Bāye was laying on his side when
they read this, so he stood up and immediately told his
muᵓaddhin, Seriñ Jallo, to recite the iqāma like that.

• Folding the hands across the chest, right atop left, instead of
leaving them by the sides

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• Putting the hand on the on the chest, just below the sternum (but
not too high like the salafis)

• Reciting the Basmala aloud before al-Fātiḥa

• Joining the Basmala with al-Fātiḥa without any break

• Saying amīn aloud

• Raising the hands [rafᶜ al-yadayn] before going to rukūᶜ.

• Raising the hands [rafᶜ al-yadayn] after rising up from rukūᶜ.

• Bāye would raise his hands like when starting the third and
fourth rakaᶜat in a four-rakaᶜat prayer

• Raising the finger to recite the tashhahūd during the final

sitting, and keeping it raised until the end of the ṣalāh
(without wiggling it senselessly like the salafis)

• Making salamāt to both sides instead of the standard one salām

(to the right) of the Mālikīs.

Most of this is mentioned in Bāye's book on the fiqh of prayer

called Rafᶜ al-malām ᶜan man rafaᶜa wa qabada iqtidāᶜan bi-
Sayyidiᵓl-Anām ‫( ﷺ‬Lifting the blame from the one who raised and
folded his arms in imitation of the Best of People ‫)ﷺ‬. Rafᶜ al-
malām was first published by Bāye in 1940 (1359 ‫ )ھ‬in Morocco,
then again by Emir ᶜAbd al-Mālik of Okene State (Nigeria) in 1969.
The most recent editions were the annotated ones of Shaykh Tijānī
Cissé and that of Shaykh Muḥammad Maᵓmūn Niāsse.

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The ninth point about the tashhahūd was also mentioned by Bāye,
may Allāh be well-pleased with him, to his beloved Mauritanian
khalīfa, Sīdī as-Shaykhānī wuld aṭ-Ṭulba, may Allāh be well-
pleased with him, who had asked him, "How did the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬keep
his finger in the tashahhūd?"

So Bāye, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, answered him with the
aforementioned point and said, "I am so happy that you asked me
this, as everyone else just asks me for money."

Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, mentioned

clearly that he prays the way his beloved Prophet Muḥammad ‫ﷺ‬
prayed. He states in his Dīwān entitled Manāsik ahluᵓl-widād:

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 For it is that Ibrāhīm passionately loves Muḥammad ‫ﷺ‬
from a time when the Universe was not yet in existence.

We pray the way the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬used to pray;

We fast in the same manner following the way of the Master.

And we spend (in Charity) and leave behind nothing, seeking his
Path;
We make the pilgrimage as the Hāshimī ‫ ﷺ‬made it.

And he, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, stated also in the
same Dīwān:

You will see all my actions are per the actions of Muḥammad ‫ﷺ‬,
And my state and awareness point to him, as well.

For my gathering and my authority are for the Love of Muḥammad ‫ﷺ‬
And my dealings are in him only; so will I be at loss?

I see everything but Allāh as false;

And victory is only from Him, and He is the Granter of victory.

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Before Bāye, Mawlānā Shaykh Aḥmad at-Tijānī, may Allāh be well-
pleased with him, had also went against certain Mālikī practices
in preference of the most perfect Muḥammadan Sunna. The great
Nigerian muqaddam, Shaykh Abū Bakr ᶜAtīq, may Allāh be well-
pleased with him, mentioned that as-Shaykh at-Tijānī had even
prayed with folded hands [qabd] in Algeria.

On the whole, Shaykh Aḥmad at-Tijānī and Shaykh Ibrāhīm Niāsse,

may Allāh be well-pleased with them both, were Mālikīs, as all
Sunni Muslims must belong to one of the four jurisprudential
schools [madhāhib]. They did not break this rule.

As for us talibés; we are not all required to become Mālikīs in

order to be good Tijāniyyīn. Our shuyūkh have stated the opposite
of that. There are hundreds of thousands of Tijāniyyīn in
Indonesia and Singapore who are Shāfiᶜī. I myself am a Ḥanafī in
most matters. Yet I must stress that we Tijāniyyīn should indeed
follow our masters in their unique choices, even if it goes
against our selected madhāhib.

For example, Shaykh at-Tijānī, may Allāh be well-pleased with him,

strongly recommended us to recite the Basmala loudly before and
connected to Sūratuᵓl-Fātiḥa. This is against the Mālikī and
Ḥanafī norm, but we have to follow it. Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh
be well-pleased with him, ordered his (mostly Mālikī) talibés to
pray with folded hands; so we have to do it, even if it goes
against the Mālikī or any other madhhab.
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Indeed, when he was ordered by Allāh, the Rasūl ‫ ﷺ‬and Shaykh at-
Tijānī, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, to order the people to
pray with folded hands, many people in West Africa fought him.

They said to him: "But your father, may Allāh be well-pleased with
him, prayed with open arms?" He replied, "al-Ḥamduliᵓllāh! Allāh
has not ordered us to follow anyone absolutely but the Prophet
‫ﷺ‬.”

When someone retorted, "But Shaykh at-Tijānī, may Allāh be well-

pleased with him, is noted to have prayed with open arms, too?"
Bāye, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, replied, "We take the
Ṭarīqa from as-Shaykh (at-Tijānī) and we do not go an inch against
him. But we take the Sharīᶜa from Rasūluᵓllāh ‫ﷺ‬."

As Shaykh Māḥy Cissé told me, Shaykh at-Tijānī, may Allāh be well-
pleased with him, also wished to pray qabd, but was not given the
permission then as he had other affairs to see to, as well as the
fact that his following in Fez and the rest Morocco was not big
enough to bring about such a major change. Everything has a time,
and as-Shaykh at-Tijānī ordered Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-
pleased with them, to revive this Sunna among the Mālikiyya.

Other Mālikī saints and scholars who also folded their hands (in
opposition to the madhhab) include Imām Ibn ᶜAbd al-Barr, Sīdī
Aḥmad bin Idrīs, Sīdī Muḥammad bin ᶜAlī al-Sanūsī, the Kattānī
ᶜUlamāᵓ, the Ghumārī ᶜUlamāᵓ, and many others.

Know here that Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him,
was an accomplished and consummate scholar of Qurᵓān and Sunna
with all their derived sciences [mujtahid]. He himself stated:

"And know that I have two shuyūkh: My Shaykh in the ẓāhir (outward
sciences of the Dīn) is the Qurᵓān and Sunna, and there is none
who understands them better than me (today).
And my Shaykh in the bāṭin (inward sciences of the Dīn) is as-
Shaykh at-Tijānī, and he is not absent from me for a moment."

The ᶜUlamāᵓ of the esteemed al-Azhar University of Cairo granted

Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, the title
"Shaykhuᵓl-Islām", and made him the first black African scholar to
lead the prayers at the esteemed al-Azhar University.

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Without doubt, Shaykh Ibrāhīm had reached the highest level of
Quṭbaniyya; he was the Succor of his Era [ghawthuᵓz-zamān]. And
the Ghawth is not obligated to stick to any madhhab in all its
details. As Sīdī ᶜAbd al-ᶜAzīz ad-Dabbāgh, may Allāh be well-
pleased with him, cleared stated in the Ibrīz. He states:

“And know -– may Allāh guide you to goodness -- that the saint who
has achieved Complete Opening knows what is the truth and correct,
and (therefore) does not stick to one [jurisprudential] School
only. In fact, if all the madhāhib were finished, he would (still)
be able to revive the Sharīᶜa. And how [is this] not [the case]
when the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬is not absent from him, even for the blink of
an eye, and he is not absent from witnessing Allāh, even for a
moment? Therefore, he would know the intent of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬and
the intent of Allāh in the prescribed duties (of the Sharīᶜa) and
other matters. Subsequently, if he is like that, then he has
authority over others, and not vice-versa; as he is much closer to
the truth than the one with no [spiritual] Opening. Consequently,
how can it be correct to criticize such a (saintly) person saying:
‘He went against the School in this issue or that?’”       

Shaykh ᶜUmar al-Fūtī, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, also

discusses this issue in detail in his celebrated Rimah.

As for the status of Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased

with him, in Sainthood, it is clear from his statement:

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For even the (saintly) Poles have fallen short of comprehending my
status.

Therefore, both on the Sharīᶜa and Ḥaqīqa levels, Shaykh Ibrāhīm

Niāsse, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, was not obligated to
stick to the Mālikī or any other madhhab in every detail. As he,
may Allāh be well-pleased with him, said:

"We are Mālikiyya but we are not slaves [mamālīk] of (Imām)

Mālik."

A person of his stature had to choose from between the madhāhib

that which was the closest practice to the quintessential Sunna of
the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬.

As he, may Allāh be well-pleased with him, stated in the poem

Manāsik ahluᵓl-widād:

And if they ask me about my preferred beloved and my madhhab

My answer will be ‘Rasūluᵓllāh ‫’!ﷺ‬

Nevertheless, Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him,

never formally left the Mālikī madhhab, and most of his Islamic
practices remained according to the Mālikī interpretation. He
believed in fixing the system from within, rather than destroy the
whole system (like the misguided wahhabi-salafis who do not follow
any madhhab).

In his Dīwān, Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be well-pleased with him,

showers high praise on the four Imāms of the Sunni madhāhib. He,
may Allāh be well-pleased with him, states in the Shifāᵓ al-asqam:

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 So how can we love anyone but Muḥammad ‫?ﷺ‬
For loving other than him ‫ ﷺ‬is blindness and corruption.

Except for loving the Family of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬and his Companions,
And whoever is their friend, for the sake of the Truth.

And (loving) people who followed their way always;

For their matters are True, and their love is True.

So (Imām) Mālik, al-Nuᵓmān (Imām Abū Ḥanīfa) and (Imām) Aḥmad (bin
Hanbal)
As well as (Imām) as-Shāfiᶜī; without them the horizons would be
dark.

As well as Abūᵓl-ᶜAbbās Aḥmad (at-Tijānī) my Master!

And Junayd the Wayfarer (in the Ṣūfī Way), the noble one.

O my Lord! Grant me to love and follow them,

And remove me from my slavery (to other than You).

And grant me complete inheritance of all of them

By actions and character the same as theirs.

The goal of Shaykhuᵓl-Islām, may Allāh be well-pleased with him,

was to practice Islām to the fullest and give victory to this Dīn.
He states in his Manāsik addressing the Christians:

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 We were blessed with this (Islāmic) Faith while you were cursed
with your Trinity! My Faith will inherit (this earth) despite you!

(My Faith is) prayer and fasting, and the obligation of alms-
giving,
and the Pilgrimage and marriage, for this Dīn will survive
forever.

This Dīn was established by Ṭaha the Hāshimī, Muḥammad ‫ﷺ‬,

And I will forever remain devoted to this Dīn.

Finally, let us listen to this warning of Shaykh Ibrāhīm Niāsse,

may Allāh be well-pleased with him, from one of his letter in
Jawāhir ar-rasāᵓil:

“And the most emphasized of duties is to perform the five prayers,

in congregation, on their appropriate times, with proper
purification with water.  And I am most shocked at the person who
attributes himself to Allāh and as-Shaykh at-Tijānī, may Allāh be
well-pleased with him, and then neglects his prayers or its
purification! So turn back to your Lord (in repentance) and kill
yourselves, that is better for you!”

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We conclude with the supplication of Shaykh Ibrāhīm, may Allāh be
well-pleased with him, in his Dīwān named Miftāḥuᵓl-ᶜaṭiyya:

O my Lord! Make me from those

who stand up for You and bow down thereafter.

And with the supplication of Prophet Ibrāhīm, may Allāh grant his
peace:

O my Lord and Sustainer!

Make me and my progeny from those who establish the Prayer!
O our Lord! Accept my plea!

(Qurᵓān 14:40)

Amīn! Amīn! Amīn!

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 Waᵓllāhu Aᶜlam.

_________________________________________

Imām Fakhruddīn Owaisī al-Madanī al-Fayḍawī

Senior Correspondent [Cape Town, RSA]
©2011

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