Riyadat an-Nafs

Sayyidi Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari said in his Friday Lesson in the noble Azhar:

The meaning of  al-qadr is:  al-sharaf (honor)

And he said as part of the 9th salaat of his al-Salawaat al-Arba’eeniyya:

“wa sharrafta ummatahu bi-laylati qadrihi”

And You honored his ummah by the night of his qadr / by his night of qadr

And in the tafseer of al-Qashani (mistakingly called Tafseer Ibn Arabi) it says: The Qadr is his great worth and honor, alayhi assalam, as his qadr (greatness/ honor/ worth)  does not appear, neither does he come to know it, except in it.

The Ustadh, al-imam al-Qushayri said:

It is a night in which the worshippers find the qadr (worth) of their selves, and the arifeen witness the qadr (greatness) of the One they worship, and what a great difference between the finding of this worth and the witnessing of that greatness.

And Imam Ruzbihan al-Baqli said:

On that night He reveals His beauty to the arifeen, and to the people of witnessing among the ones who are near, according to their stations in ma’rifa and unveiling, and according to what is apportioned to them of the unseen. And He makes the lights of His Angelic (Malakut) and Lordly (Jabarut) dominions appear to the people of the hearts, and for that reason the angels and the Ruh descend on that night, to give them the glad tidings of their arrival, and the unveiling of the beauty.

اللهم صلّ على النبي الصادق * سيدنا محمد خيرة الله من الخلائق * الرشيد المرشد * المقرّب للجنة ومن النار مبعد * الأول الخاتم * والخليفة الحاكم * الذي اخترت له قبل أن يختار * وسمّيته الحبيب المختار * الذي أخذت على أنبيائك ميثاقا بنصره * وشرّفت أمته بليلة قدره * وعلى آله وسلم

يا آل أحمد أنتم الأمراءُ * والسادة الأمجاد والنقباءُ

وسراجكم طه المنير وأنتمُ * من نوره والكون والأشياء

أسماؤكم بالوحي ليست مثل من * سمّاهم الأجداد والآباء

.

Oh house of Ahmad, you are the leaders,

the glorious masters, the chiefs

Your sun is TaHa the luminous and you,

are from his light, and so is the universe

Your names came by revelation, not like the ones

who were named by their fathers and grandfathers

.

- From a poem by Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari, may Allah please him and be pleased with him

Alhamdulillah I have finally uploaded a scan of the Salaat Azeemiyya of sayyidi Ahmad ibn Idris, may Allah be pleased with him, that includes full diacritical marks, for those who have asked for it:

(Click on thumbnail to enlarge)

I have also, by the grace of Allah, completed a PDF file that includes:

* The scan of the Azeemiyya above
* The translation
* A translation of shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari’s commentary on the Azeemiyya, showing its many benefits
* Shaykh Saleh’s ijaza in the Azeemiyya to all the Muslims who see it
* Its Merits
* Guidance on how to recite it.

Here is the link to the PDF:

The Azeemiyya

Note: The PDF has been re-uploaded with a scan of the Tahlil and the Istighfar Kabir, also with full diacritical marks.

Ever since I first laid eyes on shaykh Muhammad Amin al-Kilani, my soul has been longing to see beautiful smile, humble posture, and luminous face again. My friend Harun, a son of shayk Abdul Jaleel, told me he knew his grandson well, and promised to alert me when the shaykh was going to have a majlis of dhikr, which he said only happened about once a month.

Finally he called me today and told me that there is a majlis taking place after the taraweeh, and if I could come right now. I happened to be 5 minutes away, so I went and picked him up and we set off to the city of Salt.

Shaykh Muhammad Amin al-Kilani was appointed as the Mufti of the Balqaa province in 1971, and I think he might have retired a couple years ago, but it’s possible that he hasn’t. His student, the Mufti of Salt, which is the main city in the Balqaa province, was there with him tonight, as he was the first time I saw them.

Shaykh al-Kilani, as his name suggests, is a descendent of Sultan al-Awliya wa Shaykh al-Islam, sayyidi Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, and is also the current shaykh of the Qadiriyya Tariqa in Jordan. He comes from a line of great scholars and muftis. You can see pictures of him, as well as information about his ancestors and their pictures, by clicking here.

The shaykh had not held a majlis of dhikr for a few months now, but had one today in honor of a Libyan shaykh who had come to visit him and is about to leave back to Libya.

I sat next to the young man who accompanied the Libyan shaykh, and found out from him that the shaykh, Dr. Muftah, is the brother of one of the well-known shuyukh of the ‘Arusiyya tariqa in Libya. In fact the young man took the tariqa from that shaykh, the brother of Dr. Muftah.

I asked him about the mashayekh in Libya and he said: “Alhamdulillah, in Libya we are all Sufis, in every village and town in Libya, from one side of the coast to the other. We don’t know anything else!”

The Shadhiliyya ‘Arusiyya tariqa is probably the biggest, as it is the tariqa of the great shaykh Abdessalam al-Asmar, the most well known of Libya’s great awliya.

The majlis began with the Mufti of Salt reciting in beautiful Egyptian style from the noble Qur’an, and then the munshideen took over. After a few nasheeds, Dr. Muftah requested to speak.

He said that after listening to these nasheeds, he just had to speak, to get out all the feelings that the nasheeds moved within him, otherwise he would have burst if he didn’t let them out. “And that is a sign that they are singing from their heart,” he said, “because if it moves something inside you, then it is coming from the heart. One time al-Hasan al-Basri prayed Jumuah behind an imam, and when the Salaat ended, he said to the imam: ‘Either there is a fault with you, or there is a fault with me, but the fault is with me!’ So the imam said: ‘Explain these words of yours!’ So al-Hasan said: ‘When you recited the Qur’an, it did not move anything in me.. I wasn’t moved. So that meant that there is either a fault with you, or a fault with me!’ ”

And the shaykh proceeded to explain the great merits of these majalis of praise of Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, as a form of dhikr, and as an act of obedience that is in accordance with the will of Allah Most High, who praised His messenger and wanted him to be pleased.

“And Your Lord will give you, so that you are pleased” He says to His beloved in Surat ad-Duha.. “Allah is looking to please the Prophet! And so are we looking to please him, and so we have come together in this majlis to praise him !”

He spoke about those who criticize the poems of praise of the Prophet, and said:

“Those who want to follow the Salaf as-Saaleh, then let them look at these munshideen. They are following Hassan bin Thabit, radi Allahu ‘anhu. And those who say: We want to follow every Sunna, then let them build a minbar in every single mosque in the world, a minbar that is dedicated to poems about the Prophet! The Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, had a minbar placed for Hassan in the mosque. Why? To give a khutba? No! To recite poetry! To praise our master the Prophet! “In the Qur’an he is praised in more than 201 places! And is there praise higher than this: ‘Praise be to Allah who brought down the Book upon His slave.’ Allah is praising Himself! What for? For choosing this Prophet! And is there praise higher than this: ‘Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet!’ ”

And he concluded by saying to us: “Send blessings upon the Prophet!” and by saying to the munshideen: “Come on, move our hearts!”

Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari and Shaykh Abdessalam al-Asmar

Sayyidi shaykh Saleh had a very strong spiritual connection with, and love for, shaykh Abdessalam al-Asmar (d. 1573).  He quoted his sayings and his lines of poetry frequently in his books and in his lessons at the noble Azhar mosque. Among the stories that the shaykh related to us in a lesson:

“Sayyidi Abdessalam al-Asmar is buried in Libya. He came to me in the sleep and said: Why don’t you visit us?

I said: I’m afraid of the great awliya there.

So he put a thawb on me.

I said: What is this?

He said: The thawb of hayba (awe-someness).

And so I felt assured and went to the Libyan embassy, and Allah made the travel easy, and so I went and visited him, may Allah be pleased with him.

And there, a man in the bookstore gave me a book on the life of the shaykh, to publish it, so I said to myself: Perhaps that is why he invited me over here. And indeed I had it printed and distributed.”

Alhamdulillah I was asked to translate the biographies of sayyidi shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari and sayyidi shaykh Abd al-Ghani al-Ja’fari, as well as translate the introduction to the tariqa Ja’fariyya, for the official website of the tariqa.

You will find links to them in the link for the Tariqa Ja’fariyya Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya page at the top of the site, or you can read them below.

The Tariqa

Al-Imam al-Ja’fari, may Allah be pleased with him, followed in his tariqa the path of the shaykh of the Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya tariqa, sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris, and its pillars are: The Book and the Sunna, in speech and in action, in knowledge and in behavior. For his way, may Allah be pleased with him, in spiritual upbringing is that of the Qur’an, for he raises the seekers and directs and guides them to the most noble characteristics and manners that Allah Most High commanded us to live by in the noble Qur’an. He teaches them the stations of tasawwuf and the levels of ascending in perfections, citing to them the ayas of the noble Qur’an that bear witness to them. He teaches them and brings them up on the way of sincerity and struggle, and mindfulness of Allah and bringing oneself into account, and other types of Sufi upbringing according to the way of the noble Qur’an, explaining and clarifying the Qur’anic way with the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, taking him as the ultimate example in manners and beautiful descriptions, following his way in word and deed, as did the sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris, may Allah be pleased with him.

And in what follows we show the reader some of the sayings of al-imam al-Ja’fari that explain and reveal the features of his path. He says, may Allah be pleased with him:

“In this tariqa, we accept Allah as our Lord, Islam as our deen, our master Muhammad, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him and his family, as our Prophet and Messenger, and the Qur’an as our imam, and the Ka’ba as our qibla, and the believers as our brothers. This path of ours is the path of Allah Most High, unadulterated by the blemishes of the world; we have no desire except to turn to al-Haqq (the Real) – transcendent and high is He- cutting off all the attachments and hurdles and distractions of the self; our characters and manners are those of the Qur’an and Sunna in all our states and progressions, our movements and our stillness, content with Him instead of all else, constant in our love of Him in this world, before the next.”

“And know that this path of ours is built upon the Book and the Sunna and the fiqh of the four schools of law, and the creed of al-Ash’ari in tawhid, and Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd in tasawwuf, may Allah be pleased with them all.”

“This path is only the following of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him and his family, in word and deed, outwardly and inwardly.”

“And know oh brother that this path of ours is all about taking ourselves into account, about drawing near to Allah, and being constantly mindful of Him. This path of ours is based on the Sharia, upon a Muhammadan footing. This path of ours, whoever travels it, then Allah will expand for him his sustenance, and bless him in it, because he has come to the door of: ‘Oh dunya, serve him who serves Us.’”

And he who studies the tariqa of al-imam al-Ja’fari and his guidance for his murids (disciples) in his lessons, dhikr, and his books, will notice how closely tied his path is to the path of the sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris in the upbringing of the murid, and in the merits of the two paths. And there is no  wonder about that, for shaykh al-Ja’fari has followed in the footsteps of the sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris, and struggled as he had struggled. And both of them had a special connection to the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him and his family. And al-imam al-Ja’fari’s loyalty and dedication to the Ahmadiyya tariqa and his constant reading of its litanies, the publishing of the works of its founder, and his calling the people to it, all that earned him the love of the shaykh of the tariqa and his confidence in him, so he inherited his state, and drank from his pure Sufi spring.

Our shaykh and master al-imam al-Ja’fari, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

“And how great was what our shaykh al-Shifaa (“The Healing”), the precious Qutb, our master the sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris, may Allah be pleased with him, did when he asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, to be our guarantor: to take charge of our upbringing, and many of our brothers have witnessed this even until this day. For Allah has singled out those who took his path with the Muhammadan upbringing. And it is as if the sayyid has noticed that when he was given his own special dhikr, and that in it are united the two presences, and that is in the dhikr “There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, in every glance and every breath, as many times as all that is contained in the knowledge of Allah”, and likewise in the du’a “And unite me with him as You united the soul and the nafs.” So it is as if he noticed in this that there is more than the Muhammadan upbringing, because in coming together there is more than just upbringing, and so this path has this unique trait in its litanies, and its shaykh had a most firm footing in the following of the Prophet Muhammad in all of his states, and so the connection between him and between the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, was a very strong and solid connection. And they have said: ‘Every disciple inherits from the rank of his shaykh and his state according to the amount of his struggle and his readiness and the shaykh’s trust in him.’ So you must, oh brother in Allah, think, for thinking is from the perfection of faith, and do not forget that by taking the Ahmadi Muhammadi litany, you have entered the guarantee of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and the evidence of what I say is your seeing him in your sleep, peace and blessings be upon him.

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,  used to guide the people by the lessons of ‛ilm, and by the great Qur’an, and our shaykh sayyidi Ahmad ibn Idris – may Allah be pleased with him – followed him in that, and so he guided the people by the noble Qur’an and by ‛ilm, and continued upon that way until he met his Lord. And I have asked Allah Most High to give me tawfiq to follow the way of our shaykh the great scholar shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris of the most precious knowledge, may Allah be pleased with him.”

Translated from: www.algaafary.com/

The Biography of Shaykh Abd al-Ghani al-Ja’fari

Shaykh Abd al-Ghani was born in Dongola, the capital of the Northern State in the Sudan, and was the only son of shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari. His father left to Egypt and left him and his family in the care of his grandfather Muhammad Saleh al-Ja’fari. Shaykh Abd al-Ghani was still very young then, not having yet entered the Quran school. Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari went to Egypt to study at the Azhar Mosque, and having to leave behind his home, only son, and family did not stop him from pursuing his goal. He combined between the seeking of knowledge and between calling to Allah by way of sermons, lessons, and counsel, as a service for the religion, and continued upon that path, not returning to Sudan except as a visitor until his death.

And the care of Allah surrounded his only son who he had left for the sake of the struggle to spread the Shari’a of Islam and to guide those who needed guidance. And so his son was raised in the house of his grandfather where his mother took care of him.

When he reached the age of learning he entered the Qur’an school near Dongola’s grand mosque where he memorized the noble Qur’an and learned the basics of the Arabic language and grammar. He then moved on to primary school and the scientific institute in the Dongola mosque. While learning in the scientific institute he used to teach in the Qur’an school as an assistant to his shaykh.

In 1943, his father asked him to come to Egypt, so he came with his mother and two sisters and stayed for one year, during which he studied in the third year of the general studies department in the Azhar.

Then he travelled back to Sudan at the end of 1943 at the command of his father, to take care of his family’s affairs and to continue his studies at the scientific institute. He began teaching at the private primary school that was opened by the Egyptian Abbas Maher, and continued teaching at the Qur’an school until the teaching inspector Hassan Abu Dirq appointed him as an official teacher. When the famous shaykh of the school, shaykh Ahmad Najjar, died, he was replaced by shaykh Ahmad al-Bashkateb, and shaykh Abd al-Ghani continued teaching with him. Then the school expanded and became two classes, and shaykh Abd al-Ghani named it “The Dongola’s Children’s School.” Then it became a small private school and he named it “Al-Sa’ada Model School.”

He continued upon that path and was promoted from teacher to head teacher, then to school principal, until he reached the position of Education Supervisor. Then he became the Technical Supervisor for Teaching in the Middle Region. The shaykh then held many important positions, such as Secretary of the Dongola Department, and then the Executive Director of the Department of the Northern State.

When he heard the news of his father’s death, he requested to go into retirement so that he could move to Egypt and continue the work that his father had begun in the raising of the followers of the Ja’fariyya Tariqa that he had established in the noble Azhar Mosque. This tariqa was not one of the official tariqas so the first thing that he did was to get an official recognition of the Tariqa Ja’fariyya Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya from the Supreme Council of the Sufi Tariqas in Egypt.

He then exerted all his effort into spreading the tariqa and the preservation of the tradition and heritage of his father, establishing more than sixty mosques and centers for the tariqa across Egypt from Alexandria to Aswan. These mosques and center have even went beyond the borders of Egypt by the grace of Allah, and include the Islamic Ja’fari Center in Libya and the Islamic Ja’fari Center in Malaysia. The shaykh also edited and published all the works of his father.

The shaykh still continues his struggle for raising and elevating the banner of Islam by spreading the real Sufism that is free from all myths, superstitions, and acts of hypocrisy, ignorance or show. We ask Allah Most High to preserve him and give him a long life so that the sons of Islam may benefit from his vision, counsel and guidance.

Translated from: www.algaafary.com

The Biography of Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari, Founder of the Ja’fariyya Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya Tariqa

His birth – may Allah be pleased with him:

Our shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, was born in the town of Dongola in Sudan, on the 15th of Jumada al-Thani 1328 A.H. (the 24th of June, 1910). There he memorized the noble Qur’an at its ancient mosque and excelled at it. Then he went to Egypt to study at the Azhar and there he contacted his relatives who lived in al-Salmiyya village near Luxor.

His noble descent:

He is the imam, shaykh Saleh bin as-sayyid Muhammad, bin as-sayyid Saleh, bin as-sayyid Muhammad, bin as-sayyid Rifa’i, bin as-sayyid Salheen, bin as-sayyid Ahmad, bin as-sayyid Omar, bin as-sayyid Omran, bin as-sayyid Muhammad, bin as-sayyid Murjan, bin as-sayyid Hammouda, bin as-sayyid Abd al-Karim, bin as-sayyid Husayn, bin as-sayyid Nasir, bin as-sayyid Muhammad who was known as “Shaklab,” bin as-sayyid Hamri, bin as-sayyid Muhammad, bin as-sayyid Ahmad, bin as-sayyid Abdullah who was known as -al-Mubarak,” bin as-sayyid Muhammad, bin as-sayyid Ali al-Alawi, bin al-amir (Prince) Hamad, bin as-sayyid Muhammad, bin as-sayyid Muhammad abu Ja’afer, bin as-sayyid Yousef, bin as-sayyid Ibrahim al-Maghrebi, bin as-sayyid Abdul Mohsin, bin as-sayyid Husayn al-Fasi, bin as-sayyid Muhammad Abu Nama, bin as-sayyid Musa al-Jouni, bin as-sayyid Yahya, bin as-sayyid ‘Isa, bin as-sayyid Ali at-Taqi, bin as-sayyid Muhammad who was given the title of “al-Mahdi”, bin as-sayyid al-Hassan al-Khalis who was known as “Al-‘Askary,” bin as-sayyid Ali al-Hadi, bin as-sayyid Muhammad al-Jawad, bin as-sayyid Ali ar-Rida, bin as-sayyid Musa al-Kadhim, bin as-sayyid Ja’far as-Sadiq, bin as-sayyid Muhammad al-Baqir, bin as-sayyid al-imam Ali Zayn al-Abidin, bin mawlana al-imam al-Husayn, bin al-imam Ali the husband of the pure lady sayyida Fatima al-Zahraa, the daughter of our Prophet sayyidna Muhammad, the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

His early life- may Allah be pleased with him:

He was brought up in the city of Dongola and raised a religious upbringing filled with the obedience of Allah Most High and the following and love of the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam. His noble family was famous for its learning, piety, righteousness, generosity and the study of the noble Qur’an and the noble sciences of the religion. There he learned how to read and write, and memorized the noble Qur’an and excelled at it, at the hand of shaykh Sayyid Hassan Effendi, who was a student of his grandfather.  For his grandfather, sayyid Saleh Rifa’i, may Allah be pleased with him, had a Qur’an school (Kuttaab), where he produced a great number of Dongola’s Qur’an memorizers and teachers. And there the shaykh learned some of the different recitations of the Qur’an and the fiqh of Imam Malik, may Allah be pleased with him.

What he said- may Allah be pleased with him – about his Ja’fari ancestors:

The shaykh may Allah be pleased with him tells us about his relatives and ancestors in al-Salmiyya, saying: “They are from the town of Luxor in Upper Egypt, from the tribe known as the ‘Alawiyya, which comes from the Ja’afira tribe, and they are scattered between Luxor, al-Hilla, al-Hulayla, and ad-Dir, and their numbers have diminished. In al-Salmiyya there is the grave of my great-grandfather Rifa’i in the cemetery of the father of the Ja’afira, the noble sayyid, Prince Hamad, as he used to live there. And the Ja’afira have many ancient records of their lineage that have been preserved, and among the most famous of them who have shown these lines of descent recently are the sharif sayyid Ismail an-Naqshabandi and his student shaykh Musa al-Mir’ayabi, and their descendants still keep these records of the lineage with its many blessed branches.

His taking the path and its chain:

Our shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, took the tariqa of sayyidi Ahmad ibn Idris, may Allah be pleased with him, from sayyidi Muhammad ash-Sharif, may Allah be pleased with him. And our imam al-Ja’fari tells us about that:

“I was given an ijaza in this tariq (path) by my shaykh and teacher, the murabbi (he who takes care of the spiritual upbringing) of the seekers, the noble sayyid Muhammad (ash-Sharif) from his father sayyidi Abd al-‘Aali, from his shaykh the great scholar Muhammad ibn Ali as-Sanusi, from his shaykh, sayyid Ahmad ibn  Idris, may Allah be pleased with him.”

His Journey for Knowledge:

His coming to Egypt to join the Azhar was by a sign from shaykh Abd al-‘Aali, may Allah be pleased with him. And he tells us about that, saying: “Before I came to the Azhar, someone from town brought a volume of al-Nawawi’s commentary on Sahih Muslim, so I borrowed it from him and began to study it. So I saw (in a vision) sayyidi Abd al-‘Aali al-Idrisi, may Allah be pleased with him, sitting on a chair, and with him his sustenance for travel, and I heard someone saying: ‘The sayyid wants to travel to Egypt, to the Azhar,’ so I came and greeted him, and kissed his hand, so he said to me sharply: ‘Knowledge is taken from the chests of men, not from books!’ and he repeated it, so I woke up from my sleep and was inspired by my Lord to travel to the Azhar. And when I reached it I found the hadith scholar shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim as-Samaluti, teaching al-Nawawi’s commentary on Sahih Muslim, so I sat down to listen to him, and heard him teaching the hadith: “There is no hijra after the Opening of Mecca, but only Jihad and intention. When you are called upon to go, then go forth!”

His shaykhs in the noble Azhar:

The shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, received the knowledge at the noble Azhar at the hand of a group of the greatest scholars, those who acted upon their knowledge and combined between Shari’a and Haqiqa, among them shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim as-Samaluti, (the Grand Mufti of Egypt) shaykh Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti’i, and the great muhaddith shaykh Habib Allah ash-Shanqiti, author of Zad al-Muslim and other greatly beneficial works, and with whom the shaykh had many blessed moments and karamas. Our shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him tells us:

“I went to the house of shaykh Habib Allah ash-Shanqiti near the Citadel, intending in my heart to ask his permission to be his reciter of the texts of al-Bukhari and Muslim. So when I arrived at his house and sat in the reception room, and that was the first time I ever visited him, he came to me smiling. So when I greeted him and kissed his hand he said to me: ‘You are the one who, inshaAllah, will be my reciter this year.’ And alhamdulillah I stayed with him until his death, and went into his grave, and buried him with my own hands.

And I used to give a lesson to the brothers who were present before his arrival at the Ḥusaynid Mosque, and if anyone objected to me or gave me a hard time, he would whisper in my ear after coming and sitting on his chair: ‘They give you a hard time but you are better than them’ as if he was with me! And then in his lesson he would correct everything that I had erred in or missed in my lesson, as if he had been sitting with me listening to what I was saying, and this happened from him many times.

And if he had any reason that he could not come, he would send me a student telling me to read the lesson in the place of the shaykh. But one day, he sent me a letter written in his own handwriting, saying: ‘I have assigned to you the reading of the lesson.’ And this surprised me: why did the shaykh change his custom from verbal to written? And then the supervisor of the mosques came while I was giving the lesson and said: ‘Did the shaykh charge you to give the lesson?’ So I said: ‘Yes.’ So he said: ‘And where is the assignment?’ So I gave him the paper that was sent by the shaykh, which made him happy, and he prayed for goodness for me. So that was a karama from him, may Allah Most High have mercy on him and forgive him and give him residence in His most spacious Gardens. For he used to love me very much and say to me: ‘You are the baraka of the lesson! I give you ijaza in all my ijazas and writings.’

And I stayed with him for fifteen years.. And he used to say to me: ‘Study well my commentary Zad al-Muslim (on the hadiths that are in both Bukhari and Muslim), for I did not leave anything out of it, big or small!’”

And among his shaykhs was shaykh Yousef ad-Dijwi, may Allah have mercy on him, about whom our shaykh says: “And he was also one of the scholars who were knowers of Allah, and I regularly attended his lesson after the Fajr prayer at the noble Azhar Mosque in the Abbasid Hall for seven years. And whenever sayyid Hasan al-Idrisi would come from Sudan, he would meet me at his lesson, and after the lesson would greet the shaykh, which would make the shaykh most happy and he would say: ‘The sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris is a Qutb unlike other Qutbs!’

And shaykh ad-Dijwi had taken the Idrisi tariqa from my shaykh sayyid Muhammad ash-Sharif, may Allah be pleased with him, and shaykh ad-Dijwi was from the Council of the (great) Scholars of the Azhar, and he had many greatly beneficial writings, and most valuable articles in the al-Azhar magazine, and I attended his lessons of Quranic commentary from the Sura of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) until the end of Surat an-Nas, after which he began commenting on Sahih al-Bukhari. And he used to memorize the Qur’an with the proper tajweed and all its recitations, and mention the sayings of the Quranic commentators, and explain the grammar of each aya of the Qur’an very precisely and clarify its terminology, and would, while doing so, present the different jurisprudential rulings of the four schools of Law, and would recite the hadith with its complete chain, and give a short biography for each of the men in the chain. And he would mention many great and valuable proofs of tawassul by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, most of which he mentioned in the Azhar magazine, which was then known as Nur al-Islam.”

And our shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, used to attend the lessons of such scholars  with great presence of mind and understanding, as a lover of learning and its people, and many times he would discuss things with his shaykhs, and they would be impressed by his intelligence, the strength of his memory, and the strength of his proofs, and would praise him and ask Allah to bless him and give him tawfiq.

And our shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, tells us one example of that with his shaykh ad-Dijwi, saying:

“He was once, may Allah have mercy on him, reading the hadith of the questioning of the grave in Sahih al-Bukhari. And I had studied the commentary of al-Kirmani on al-Bukhari, and saw in it that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, appears to the one being questioned when the angel says to him: ‘What do you say about this man?’ And after the lesson I kissed his hand and said to him: Shaykh al-Kirmani says that, he peace and blessings be upon him, appears to the one being questioned. So he poked me in my chest and said to me: I studied the commentary of al-Kirmani and read that matter in it, so why did you not remind me of it in the lesson so that the people would hear it from me?

And he was once speaking about the vision of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, in the sleep. He said: ‘The Shaytan does not take his form, peace and blessings be upon him, if he came in his original form. And the correct opinion is that he also does not take his form in other than his original form.’ So I said to him: ‘Our shaykh the sayyid Ahmad ibn Idris may Allah be pleased with him narrated in his book Ruh as-Sunna that he, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: “He who has seen me has truly seen me, for I appear in every form.”’ So he rejoiced greatly at this and said to me: ‘This hadith is the evidence that the Shaytan does not take his form, even if he were to come in other than his original form! You are blessed oh shaykh Saleh! May Allah benefit the Muslims by you!’”

And among his shaykhs was shaykh Ali ash-Shayeb, may Allah have mercy on him, with whom our shaykh studied the commentary on the composition Jawharat at-Tawhid (on Creed) of shaykh al-Laqqani.  Our shaykh says of him:

“He used to teach it in my first year in the noble Azhar, and he used to teach it out of memory, both the original text and its commentary, and he was one of the righteous scholars, and whenever he entered the dome of sayyidna al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with him, a great state of khushoo’ (fear and awe) would happen to him, as if he was witnessing him, and he would sweat profusely.

And I studied with him the commentary of Ibn ‘Aqil on the Alfiyya of Ibn Malik (on grammar) and one night I saw the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, in the sleep, telling me of a matter of ‛ilm that I had gotten wrong. So he got angry, peace and blessings be upon him, and called me ‘boy!’ and that was part of a long talk. So when I woke up in the morning, and went to the lesson, I said within myself, while seated: ‘The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, calls my “boy.” Am I a boy?’ So the shaykh turned to me while teaching and said: ‘We only called you ‘boy’ because it is the custom of the Arabs, not because you are young!’ And the likes of this shaykh are known to the Sufis as the People of the Hearts, and perhaps he was one of the Muhaddatheen (those who are spoken to), who are mentioned in the hadith in al-Bukhari, and among whom is sayyidna Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him.”

And among his teachers also are Shaykh Hassan Madkour, Shaykh Abd ar-Rahman ‘Illish, shaykh Muhammad Abul Qasim al-Hijazi, shaykh Abd al-Hayy al-Kittani, shaykh Abul Khayr al-Midani the shaykh of the scholars of Syria, and shaykh Ahmad al-Sharif al-Ghomari and his brother shaykh Abdallah al-Ghomari, and shaykh Ali Adham al-Maliki as-Sudani, and shaykh Hasan al-Mashshat  one of the scholars of Mecca, and shaykh Mustafa Safwat, and shaykh Abd al-Haleem Ibrahim, and shaykh Abu Yousef, and shaykh Muhammad al-Halabi, and shaykh Abd al-Khaliq al-Shabrawi, and shaykh Muhammad Atiyya al-Buqali, and shaykh Muhammad Hasanayn Makhlouf al-‘Adawi al-Maliki, and shaykh Muhammad al-‘Anani the shaykh of the Malikis of his time, Shaykh al-Delishni, shaykh Salama al-‘Azzami, shaykh Sadeq al-‘Adawi, Shaykh Ahmad Wadidi from Sudan, shaykh Ali Muhammad the imam and orator of the mosque of Dongola in Sudan and the three teachers at that mosque: shaykh Sayyid Hasan Effendi, shaykh Ali bin Awf, and shaykh Ahmad Najjar, as well as other teachers and scholars of the Azhar Mosque.

These great scholars all had a great impact on the wide learning and knowledge of the shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, combined with what Allah gave him of a powerful intelligence and a great memory. So the shaykh studied hard and struggled until he received the ‘Aliya and ‘Alimiyya degrees from the Azhar, and then he became a teacher at the noble Azhar mosque.

His appointment – may Allah be pleased with him – as imam and teacher at the noble Azhar Mosque:

As for the story of his appointment, may Allah be pleased with him, as a teacher at the Azhar mosque, it is a story that is worth recounting because of what it shows of the shaykh’s gifts in ilm  and of his great love for ilm and its teachers. Dr. Muhammad Rajab al-Bayyoumi relates:

“And from among the shaykh’s most wonderfully touching actions was his eulogy of his great teacher shaykh Yousef ad-Dijwi, may Allah be pleased with him. I was a student at the Arabic language faculty, and someone called out announcing the death of the old shaykh, and announcing the time of his funeral. So I hurried there to say my goodbyes to the shaykh, and the scene was touching, led by a group of the greatest scholars, headed by shaykh Mustafa Abd al-Razeq (the Grand Shaykh of the Azhar at the time). And when they reached the grave, shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari stood up as an orator, eulogizing his teacher, and began his eulogy by quoting the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him: ‘Allah does not take away the ilm by pulling it away from the people, but He takes it away by the death of the scholars, until when there are no scholars left, the people will take ignorant leaders who, when asked, will give answers without knowledge, and so will go astray and lead others astray.’ Then he spoke about the great rank of the scholar that was lost, and of his brave stands against the innovators and the atheists. The majesty of that event, and the awe of it, and the gathering of the great crowds, made the breath of the shaykh expand and flow, and his voice shook in a way that moved the souls and captured the minds. And as soon as he ended his eulogy, the Grand Shaykh asked about him, most impressed, and then assigned him as a teacher at the Azhar mosque.” (From an article by Dr. Muhammad Rajab al-Bayoumi in Al-Ahzar Magazine, Shawwal 1309 A.H. / September 1979  A.D.)

After that he, may Allah be pleased with him, began giving his lessons at the noble Azhar mosque, his soul having been filled with the love of ilm, following in the steps of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Our shaykh said:

“And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,  used to guide the people by the lessons of ‛ilm, and by the great Qur’an, and our shaykh sayyidi Ahmad ibn Idris – may Allah be pleased with him – followed him in that, and so he guided the people by the noble Qur’an and by ‛ilm, and continued upon that way until he met his Lord. And I have asked Allah Most High to give me tawfiq to follow the way of our shaykh the great scholar shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris of the most precious knowledge, may Allah be pleased with him.

So all my brothers must help me in attending the lessons of ‛ilm, and to memorize something from the noble Qur’an, and inshaAllah we will create a special place for the brothers to memorize the noble Qur’an. For what we have is only the lessons and the memorization of the Qur’an. So assist me with high spirits and aspirations, for I have not brought you together over anything but this lesson, in which is the explanation of the Qur’an and its recitation, for worship is for Allah alone, and the scholars are the inheritors (of the Prophet) and the guides (of the people).”

“And the Sharia revolves around the ilm,  and the Prophecy and the Message are ilm, and the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family, was only honored by the ilm, the Prophecy, and the Messenger-ship. And he said, peace and blessings be upon him: ‘The scholars are the inheritors of the Prophet, and the Prophets did not bequeath neither dinar nor dirham; they bequeathed knowledge. Whoever takes it has taken an ample portion.’

So it is incumbent upon every man of knowledge to teach what he could, and to teach the people the radiant Shari’a, and if the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was here now, he would teach the people the  ilm, because that is his job.

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, entered a mosque and found two circles: he found a group reading and studying the ilm amongst each other, and a group doing dhikr of Allah Most High, so he praised the people of both circles, then he sat with those who are studying the ilm and said: ‘I was only sent as a teacher.’

And his Lord spoke to him saying: “And so that you explain to the people what was revealed for them.” (16:44)

And he who learns becomes close to acting upon what he learned, as for the ignorant, action is far from him, so you must, oh people, listen to the ilm and study it, for it is the light by which humans are guided. Sayyidna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him and ennoble his face, said: ‘The people are dead, and the people of ilm are alive.’”

His circles of learning and his famous Friday lesson at the Azhar:

As for our shaykh al-imam al-Ja’fari’s lesson after the Friday prayer in the noble Azhar, it was an Islamic Sufi school: its ilm was the Qur’an, the Sunna, and the law, and it was infused with the spirituality of Sufism and its spiritual upbringing, so that it revealed the Sufi truths. And his method and path was (as the hadith): “Allah is the one who took care of my upbringing and He taught me the most beautiful manners,” with what he inherited of great Prophetic guidance. He infused his lessons with iman from his soul, so that the purity of zuhd, piety, and righteousness appeared, and the lights of guidance shined, and the purity of the fitra showed.

He became, may Allah be pleased with him, a tongue for guidance to the truth, and in this world he made the springs of wisdom and the treasures of ilm, ma’rifa, and the secrets of the Qur’an all burst to the people. He brought to the people new understandings of the Qur’an that no one had brought before, and that is because his mind was a gifted and inspired mind. So he gave from the treasures of his intellect, and the gifts of his thought, and the overflowings of his heart, and the spirituality of his soul, and the humanity of his self, and he would address the inner thoughts of the listeners, and answer what their minds were wondering. Thus his lessons were an Islamic university, upon the way of learning, and the spirit of Sufism, connecting the Shari’a with the Haqiqa, the Outer with the Inner, the nafs with the soul, the intellect with what occurred to the hearts.

And an example of this is given by one of the righteous scholars who loved the shaykh, may Allah be pleased wit him, and attended his lessons, and that is shaykh Ahmad Abdul Jawad ad-Doumi, who used to be the supervisor over the preachers and teachers in Cairo. He said in the speech that he gave in the mawlid celebration of the shaykh in the year 1403 A.H.:

“One day I entered the Azhar mosque in the morning and read Surat al-Kahf, and when I reached His saying Most High: ‘And their dog was stretching out its forelegs in the  waseed’ I wanted to know the meaning of the word ‘waseed.’ But when I wanted to get my copy of the Qur’an which contains an explanation of its words, I remembered that my house was far away, so I said to myself: ‘I will give my lesson first, and then when I go home I will get that book and find out what it means.’ And our shaykh, shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari, had a lesson from Dhuhr until ‘Asr, as he usually did, so I went and sat in the circle to listen to him. And in his lesson he was explaining an aya from the Qur’an that was not from Surat al-Kahf, but he suddenly went quiet.

So I thought to myself: Why did the shaykh interrupt his lesson?

Then he began to recite some ayas from Surat al-Kahf until he reached ‘And their dog was extending his legs in the waseed,’  and then he stopped and said: ‘The dog extends his legs in such-and-such a manner, and the waseed is the dooryard. Now back to our lesson, oh beloveds!’

So I said within myself: ‘May Allah Most High reward you…’ And that is from the light of Allah.”

At the Maghrebi Hall in the noble Azhar mosque:

Our shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, made the noble Azhar mosque a home that he would never leave except for the most important of duties, like the Hajj, for Allah Most High helped him go to Hajj 27 times, or for visiting the Ahlul Bayt of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. And he made for himself a khalwa (place of seclusion) inside the Maghrebi Hall, in which he would do dhikr of Allah Most High by the noble Qur’an and by istighfar, and tasbih, and tahlil and takbir, and the sending of blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and by the studying and spreading of ilm, and by meditating upon the signs of Allah, those in the Qur’an, those in the universe, and those in the people.

His passing – may Allah be pleased with him – to the Highest Companion:

He lived, may Allah be pleased with him, 71 years, in constant dhikr of Allah Most High, and calling to Him, and following the Sunna of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and in service to Islam and the Muslims, until he met his Lord, well-pleased and well-pleasing, on the evening of Monday the 18th of Jumada al-Awwal 1399 AH (the 16th of April, 1979), and was buried in his light-filled tomb next to his mosque in the heart of Cairo, on top of the al-Darraasa  hill, the minarets of his blessed mosque rising into the skies next to those of the mosque of his grandfather sayyidna al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with him, and the minarets of the noble Azhar mosque, the lighthouse of knowledge.

Translated from: www.algaafary.com

Should you fast if traveling in Ramadan?

Shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris al-Fasi, radi Allahu ‘anhu, was asked about this, and he replied:

As for the matter which you found to be problematic in the hadith, in that the Companions were traveling with him, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam in Ramadan, and they said: “Among us are the fasting, and among us are those who are not,” and neither those fasting reproached those who were not, nor did the ones who broke their fast reproach those who were fasting (1), that was in the beginning. Then later on, it was imposed on the people to break the fast. And that is what is shown in the other example when the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, was traveling in Ramadan, and he broke his fast, and so did some of the people, but others remained fasting. So he said about those fasting: “They are the disobedient ones! They are the disobedient ones!” (2) And he said, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam: “It is not from piety to fast on a journey.” (3) So if it is not piety, then it is not obedience. And he, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, said in another hadith: “The one who is fasting in travel is like he who is breaking his fast while not traveling.” (4) Therefore there is no contradiction or obscurity.

1) Muwatta and Sahih Muslim

2) Muslim

3) Bukhari and Muslim

4) Nasa’i and Ibn Majah

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And Shaykh Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, radi Allahu ‘anhu, said:

1) Should a traveler break his fast for a travel of a certain distance or for any distance?

He breaks his fast for everything that is called “travel.”

2) What is the illness that allows one to break their fast?

The least thing that is called “illness”, and that is the madhhab of Rab’ia bin Abi Abd ar-Rahman

3) What about the fasting of the traveler and the sick in the month of Ramadan?

My madhhab is that if they fast, then that does not fulfill what is required of them (laa yujzeehimaa) and that what is obligatory upon them is to fast on other days. Except that I differentiate between the sick and the traveler if they fast in the month of Ramadan.

As for the sick, his fasting in Ramadan is considered a nafl (extra worship), and it is an act of piety that is not obligatory upon him, even if he made it obligatory upon himself, it is not obligatory upon him.

As for the traveler, his fasting, whether in Ramadan or outside of it, is not an act of piety, and if it is not an act of piety, then the least that it could be is that it is like not doing anything at all. Or it could be the opposite of piety, which is fujoor (impiety), and I do not say that, but I do deny it being an act of piety. It has been established in the two Sahihs, Muslim and al-Bukhari, from Ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “It is not from piety that you fast in travel.” And the word “from” is in the narration of Bukhari, while the narration in Muslim says, “It is not piety” without the “from.”

I say:

The position of these two great ‘arifin and independent mujtahids on this matter is in accord with the Hanbali madhhab. The Hanbali madhhab holds that it is a Sunna for the traveler to break his fast, and  makruh (disliked) for him to fast  even if the fasting causes no hardship, because of the hadith of  ”It is not from piety to fast in travel.”

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The Explanation of  ”And to fast is better for you” (2:184)

But what about the aya that says: “To fast is better for you” ?

It is part of an aya that, according to Ibn Kathir, discusses the fasting that was ordained upon the Muslims before the fasting of Ramadan was ordained. It was, as the aya says, “for a specific number of days“.

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, as well as Abu Dawud and al-Hakim narrated from sayyidna Muadh ibn Jabal, radi Allahu ‘anhu, that this aya came down to ordain the fasting that the Muslims did before the aya of Ramadan was revealed, and the “specific number of days” were three days of each month as well as the day of ‘Ashura. And the aya said: “For those who are able to fast (but do not): the feeding of a needy person.”

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud said: “For those who are able to fast” means: with great difficulty (and therefore do not).

He said: So he who wanted to, fasted, and he who did not want to, broke the fast and fed a needy person.

Muadh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “In the beginning, he who wanted to, fasted, and he who did not want to, broke his fast and fed a poor person for each day of not fasting.”

And it is about those people who broke their fast because they found it to be too difficult and chose instead to feed the needy that it said: “And to fast is better for you, if only you knew.”

Then this aya is directly followed by the aya of the fasting of Ramadan: “It was in the month of Ramadan that the Qur’an was revealed as a guidance for mankind….So those among you who witness it, let him fast therein. Whoever is sick or on a journey, then a number of other days.” (2:185)

Ibn Kathir narrates that Muadh ibn Jabal, Salama ibn al-Akwa’, Abdullah Ibn Umar and Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with them,  all  said that the first aya was abrogated by the the following one.

But Ibn Abbas said that it is not completely abrogated because “For those who are able to fast (but do not): the feeding of a needy person” applies to those who are very old and weak, who may choose not to fast in Ramadan.

I say: And in “Whoever is sick or on a journey, then a number of other days” is evidence for the position of ash-Shaykh al-Akbar Ibn Arabi that what is written for them is to fast other days outside of Ramadan, and so if they they fast those days when they are sick or traveling in Ramadan, they have not fulfilled what is obligatory upon them and must still fast outside of Ramadan.

wAllahu subhanahu wa ta’ala a’lam.

My aunt in Cairo works in an organization that helps support poor Palestinian women who are refugees in Cairo, by giving them simple jobs like knitting and making traditional Palestinian clothes and pillow covers, etc. When I was staying with my aunt on my recent trip, one of these women came to the house, and they sat down to catch up and talk about their lives, etc. I went to the kitchen to get some lemonade and my aunt shouted to me: If someone sees the Prophet (salla Allahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam) in a dream, then it’s true right? I replied in the affirmative.

After the woman left I asked my aunt to tell me of the vision that the guest had recounted to her. She said that it was the guest’s sister who had seen the vision recently. She saw in her dream that she was walking in the Azhar mosque, and there were different rooms, and there was a scholar teaching in each room. In one of the rooms she saw a beautiful shaykh teaching, with great light shining out of his face, so she asked: Who is that shaykh with all this light coming from him?

They said: It is Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam!

So after seeing that vision, she decided that she must go and visit the noble Azhar Mosque, which she had not seen in all those years she had lived in Cairo. And when she entered it, she was shocked to see the very same rooms that she had seen in her dream!