From the Jawahir al Ma'ani

Our beloved master Ahmed al Tijani said: Allah almighty sorrounded man when created him with weakness and incapability in movements, tranquility and in all the rest of his states for when man is seated for a long time he will tire from being seated and when he is standing he will tire from long time standing and if he was to sleep for a long time will be fed up from sleeping and if he was to stay awake will then have to sleep and if he was leaning for a long time he will be exhausted from leaning and when he eats he is burdened by being full with food and if he were to quit eating he would go hungry and so on you may compare the rest of his states to this, this is so - so that man is always in a state of need to his lord and so that he knows and confesses that the lord is powerful and is absolutely independent, this way man will not rely on anyone or anything just like one dusting off his hand and turn to his lord alone, this is the lord’s way so that man may know him and turn to him, Praise to Allah the all wise and all knowing the one whose knowledge has encircled every thing and the one whose decree and desire is above all and everything. The sheikh may Allah be pleased with him would point out to people how to know one’s lord by learning from these states that man continuously experiences hardship and comfort, happy life to trouble and unrest, fear and safety, sickness and health, the hearts changing states such as constriction to openness, determination to despair, the sheikh would recite: ((We shall show them Our portents on the horizons and within themselves until it will be manifest unto them that it is the Truth)) and then the sheikh would say: If people knew better they would have appreciated that to be in hardship is better than being in comfort because it is the nature of man when in beneficence and grace to forget the lord, turn aside and withdraw but when distress and trouble hits, it forces man to turn back towards his lord seeking help and safety, when man is in need and in fear there is no room or time to be forgetful and negligent as he was when in good health and happiness - therefore People/Man in that situation is better because at that stage he/she is at the door of their lord begging his help to relief them of hardship, the sheikh would then mention Allah Almighty’s saying: ((When We show favour unto man, he withdraweth and turneth aside, but when ill toucheth him then he aboundeth in prayer)) and he would teach people Yaqeen (certainty) and show them the way to know and reach the almighty he would say: Will not Allah suffice His slave? Is not Allah the most merciful? Was he not kind to us through out our lives? So how can we doubt him? If you were to swear by the greatest most great name of Allah to not give you what has been destined for you to have he will still give it to you and if you were to ask for that which he has not destined for you to have, you shall never attain it [The pen has dried up you will face what has been written for you] (1) He would say: Allah almighty puts his servant through a poverty test then he makes it a bit easy on him with something which is not purely halal, if one is a little bit patient the almighty opens for that servant a kind of opening after which he will never again experience any poverty. Jawahiru al Ma'ani Part One Page 95/96 (1) - Rufi'at al aqlamu wa jafati al Suhufu - 'Pens have dried up and papers has been lifted' a proverb used by Arabs and used by the prophet peace and blessings upon him in many traditions - This proverb is used when the speaker wishes to inform the listener that the matter has been decreed and ordained

Tariqa Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya Ibrahimiyya Tijaniyya

Tariqa Ahmadiyya Muhammadiyya Ibrahimiyya Hanifiyya Tijaniyya He also said (Shaykh Ahmad Tijani)
"We have a degree in the sight of Allah, which reaches such a height in the presence of Allah, that I am forbidden to divulge its definition to you. If I were to express it, the masters of truth and gnostic wisdom would be unanimous in declaring me guilty of unbelief (kufr), to say nothing of other people. It is not the degree that I have mentioned to you. No indeed, it is beyond that!"

He also said(may Allah be pleased with him), when speaking to his companions: "You should know that Allah's bountiful grace has no limit, and that bountiful grace is in the hand of Allah, who gives it to whom He will. Let me also tell you that my station in the presence of Allah in the Hereafter will not be attained by any of the saints, and not one of them will come close to it, whether his importance be great or small. Of all the saints, from the time of the Companions until the blowing of the trumpet there is not one who will attain to our station, and not one of them will come close to it. I did not tell you that until I heard it for certain from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

As for the relationship of the degrees of the people of this Spiritual Path with the degree of the people of the other Spiritual Paths, it is like that, to the point where it reaches a limit that I am forbidden to mention and divulge." He also said (may Allah be pleased with him): If the greatest Qutbs came to know what Allah has prepared for the people of this Spiritual path, they would weep and they would cry: 'Our Lord! You have given us nothing!' " "If this is the case of the Qutbs in relation to them, what do you think of those below them, including the champions of truth, the gnostic sages, and the saints? If this is the condition of those just mentioned, what do you think of the people of their Spiritual Paths, who have not attained to their degree?" He referred to what we have mentioned in his saying: "We have a degree in the sight of Allah....," to the point where he said "The peculiarity of that degree is this: If someone is not on his guard against changing the heart of our companions, with no respect for our companions, Allah will banish him from his nearness, and He will deprive him of what He has bestowed upon him." He also referred to it in his saying(May Allah be pleased with him) :

" Not one of the men of distinction will have all of his companions enter the Garden without reckoning and without chastisement, whatever sins and acts of disobedience they may have committed, not one of them except me alone." Beyond that, it is not permissible to mention what he told me about them, and which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) guaranteed. It will not be seen and known except in the Hereafter........ As for why this Spiritual Path of ours is called "Muhammadiyya" despite the fact that all the Spiritual Paths of Allah's people are alike in that respect, there are many reasons for it : 1.All the bountiful favors bestowed upon all the saints flow from one source, that being his (the Prophet Muhammad's) essential nature (Allah bless him and give him peace), just as all the bountiful favors bestowed upon all the Prophets flow from only one source, that being his essential nature.

Our Spiritual Path is called "Muhammadiyya" because of this complete connection. Our Shaykh said: "The bountiful favors that flow from the essential nature of the Chieftan of Existence, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), are received by the essential nature of the Prophets (peace be upon them) and everything that flows and emanates from the essential natures of the Prophets is received by my essential nature, from which it is distributed to all creatures, from the origin of the world until the blowing of the Trumpet. Once you have understood this, the reason for calling it "Muhammadiyya" will not be concealed from you. 2.(Because of his position of Khatm Awliya) Our Shaykh receives his peculiar support from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and not one of the Prophets is aware of the bounty that is peculiar to him, because he has received a special temperament (mashrab) from him (Allah bless him and give him peace). 3. It is his (the Prophet Muhammad's) Spiritual Path for a special reason, because he (Allah bless him and give him peace) stated that explicitly to our Shaykh(may Allah be well pleased with him), dispelling all doubts by telling him: "Your fuqara are my fuqara, and your disciples are my disciples," and by telling him: "Whenever you authorize someone (the wird), and he gives it to others, it is as if they have received directly from you, by word of mouth, and I am a guarantor for them."...... The Prophet also said to one the Shaykhs companions (Sayid Muhammad Ghali who is buried right across from Umm Mumineen Khadija in Mecca) : "You are the son of the beloved friend, and you have entered the Spiritual Path of the greatest deputy (khalifa) and the most renowned inheritor, the most virtuous Tijani!" This is sufficient good news for the people of his Spiritual Path, for it is more important that this world and all of its goods, and than the Garden of Paradise, its palaces and the rest of its delights, and there is no goal beyond it beyond it except beholding the countenance of our Noble Master. 4. The fact that its people have a special characteristic by which they are distinguished from others, and by which they make it known that he (the Prophet) is their guarantor and in charge of their affairs. Imprinted between the eyes of each of them is the stamp: "The Prophet Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (an Nabiyyu Muhammadun Rasulu'llah)". Imprinted over his heart, close to his back is : "Muhammad, the son of Abdullah (Muhammad ibnu Abdullah) On his head there is a crown of light, bearing the inscription: "The Tijani Spiritual Path, the origin of which is the Muhammadan Reality (at Tariqatu Tijaniyya manshu u ha'l Haqiqatu'l Muhammadiyya)" This is how they will be distinguished on the Day of Reckoning

Tariqa al Ahmadiyya al Muhammadiya al Ibrahimmiya al Hanifiyya at Tijaniyya

From the Rimah of Shaykh Umar Futi

Why this Spiritual Path of ours is called: al Tariqa al Ahmadiyya al Muhammadiya al Ibrahimiya al Hanifiya at Tijaniya

Succes is achieved with the help of Allah, for He is the Guide by His grace to the straight path! You should know that the full name of this Spiritual Path of ours comprises several (adjectival) names, arranged in this order al Ahmadiyya-al Muhammadiyya-al Ibrahimiyya- al Hanifiyya- at Tijaniyya. I If you wish, you may call it: al Tariqa al Ahmadiyya (the Ahmadi Spiritual Path) or: at Tariqa al Muhammadiyya (the Muhammadan Spiritual Path) or: at Tariqa al Ibrahimiyya al Hanifiyya (the Ibrahimi-Hanifi Spiritual Path) or: at Tariqa at Tijaniyya (the Tijani Spiritual Path)

Suppose you raise the question: "Why have you given it several names, while other Spiritual Paths have benn give a single name?" My answer will be: "It has been given many names because it is endowed with excellent merits and special qualities, with which others are not endowed, and the multipicity of names is indicative of the superiority of the object named.

As we are told in the as Siraj al Munir: 'It-meaning the Sura of Sincere Devotion (al Ihklas) has many names and the multiplicity of names is indicative of the honor of the object named..." According to Ibn Abi Jamra, in Bahjat an Nufus: "The probable reason why it-- meaning the Opening Sura of the Book (Fatiha al Kitab)- has been called by namy names, is the fact that it is endowed with excellent merits and special qualities, with which others are not endowed and the multiplitiy of names is indicative of the superiority of the object named, either absolutely or generically. That is why the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was called by five names.

According to one of the religous scholars: "The total number of his names is approximately one hundred, whereas the other Prophets (blessings and pleace be upon them) have only one name each. That is because he (Allah bless him and give him peace) is the Holder of the Furled Standard and the Praiseworthy Station (Sahib al Liwa al Ma qud wa l Maqam al Mahmud). The mulitiplicity of names is due to the magnitude of his worth. The same applies to the multiplicity of Allah's Names, for there is nothing Like Him, so nothing resembles His Names, because of their multiplicity and their magnitude..." In the case of our Spiritual Path, once you have understood the reason why its full name comprises several (adjectival) names, arranged in a particular sequence, you must realize that the significance of its being "Ahmadi" is still unclear to you. We must therefore describe and explain the Ahmadi reality (al Haqiqa al Ahmadiyya), to make it clear to you as quickly as possible. Every intelligent observer views its being called "Ahmadi" from a paricular standpoint, so let us quote what our Shaykh Tijani (may Allah be well pleased with him) had to say on the subject, in his commentary on the Invocation of Blessing (as Salat al Ghaibiyya): "

As for the Ahmadi Reality (al Haqiqa al Ahmadiyya), it is the subject previously discussed in connection with the statement 'Every giver of praise in the universe has praised Allah, but no one in the universe has praised Allah to the same extent as the Prophet has praised Him', Furthermore, the Ahmadi Reality is one of Allah's mysteries, so no one has discovered what it contains in the form of intuitions, knowledge, secrets, bountiful favors, manifestations, exalted spritual states and pure virtues, and no one has had any experience of it, not even any of the other Messengers and Prophets. Its station is peculiar to him alone (the Prophet Muhammad) who is also called Ahmad (Allah bless him and give him peace)

"As for all the attainments of the Prophets and the Envoys, all of the angels and those drawn near, all of the Qutbs and the Siddiqeen, and all of the saints and the gnostic sages, whatever they have achieved, as a whole and in detail, it has come from the gracious bounty of the Muhammadan Reality (Haqiqa al Muhammadiyya). As for the Ahmad Reality (Haqiqa al Ahmadiyya) no one has obtained anything from it, for it is peculiar to him alone, because of the perfection of its glory and the extreme degree of its sublimity."

Once you have come to know the meaning of the Ahmadi Reality (al Haqiqa al Ahmadiyya) and the understanding of it has been grasped by your mind, you should know that our Spiritual Path is called "Ahmadi" for several reasons: 1. it is called "Ahmadi" because of its having originated from the Chieftan of Existance and the Sign of Witnessing, whom Allah has named Ahmad in His Book: Jesus said: "Iam also bringing good tidings of a Messenger who will come after me, whose name will be Ahmad." (61:6) -so the adjective "Ahmadi" has been applied to that which emanates from him 2. It is called "Ahmadi" because of its stemming from the gracious favor bestowed by our patron Allah's Messenger upon Ahmad ibn Muhammad at Tijani. 3. it is called "Ahmadi" in order to draw attention to the fact that he (May Allah be pleased with him) is the first of the saints and their supporter, even though his physical existance came later, for he already existed in reality.

As previously mentioned, (Ibn Arabi al Hatimi) said (May Allah be pleased with him): "the meaning of the Prophet's saying: I was a Prophet while Adam was between the water and the clay --is 'I was a Prophet in actual fact, aware of my Prophethood, while Adam was between the water and the clay." He then went on to say "None of the other Prophets was a Prophet, nor aware of his Prophethood, except when he was sent (on his mission) after his coming into existence with his material body and his complete fulfillment of the preconditions of Prophethood." Then he added: " the Seal of the Saints (Khatim al Awliya) was likewise actually a saint, aware of his sainthood, while was between the water and the clay, and none of the other saints was a saint in actual fact, nor aware of his sainthood, except after his acquisition of the Divine characteristics that are stipulated in the definition of sainthood..." Once this has been thoroughly understood, you will not be mystified by the previously mentioned statement: "Every giver of praise in the universe has praised Allah, but no one in the universe has praised Allah to the same extent as the Prophet has praised Him."

Once you have grasped this, you should know that the Seal of the Saints has surpassed ever other giver of praise in the giving of praise to Allah, for none of the saints has prasied Allah to the same extent as the Seal of the Saints has praised Him, because he is the heir who inherits from the source, and who recognizes the degrees. Ibn Arabi al Hatimi said: "The Seal of the Saints is the inheriting saint, who receives from the source, who recognizes the degrees and ascertains the entitlement of their holders, in order to give each creditor his rightful due, for that is one of the virtues of the Chieftan of the Envoys, the Captain of the Community..." My master said about the elite, just as ash Sha'rani said in Durar al Ghawwas "This comminty has two comprehensive Seals, and every degree and station has an inheritor... Every saint there has ever been, or will ever be, can only receive from these two Seals, one of whom is the Seal of the sainthood of th elite, while the other is the one by whom the common sainthood is sealed, for there will be no saint after him until the advent of the Final Hour..."

It is obvious, plain and clear, from the speech of these two masters, that the Seal of the Saints has surpassed every giver of praise in the giving of praise to Allah, for none of the saints has praised Allah to the same extent as the Seal of the Saints has praised Him. The one from whom something is received takes precedence ahead of the recipient, since it can never be correct to rand the provider of support behind the recipient of support.

That is why his Spiritual Path became the Spiritual Path of love and thankfulness, as previously explained in the Seventeenth Section of this blessed book, because of its having originated from the bountiful sphere, from which Allah removed the beneficence of anyone other that his ancester (The Prophet) who said to him (Shaykh Tijani) " No creature among the Shaykhs of the Spiritual Paths has any benefit to bestow upon you, for I am your intermediary and your supporter in actual fact. You must therefore abandon whatever you have received from the all the Spiritual Paths. " He also told him: "You must adhere to this Spiritual Path without secluded retreat or isolation from the people, so that you may reach your station which you have been promised. You will thus proceed without constraint and restriction, and without a great deal of strenuous exertion. You must also abandon all the saints, for Allah has mustered the people of the Spiritual Path by sheer grace, generosity, and munificence, and their Noble Lord does not put their business without constraint and restriction, and without a great deal of strenous exertion. They were appealing by giving praise for the tremendous favor that Allah had specially conferred upon them, and by giving thanks for the superabundance that He had generally bestowed upon them." Because of what has been mentioned, it came to be called the Ahmadi Spiritual path (tariqa al Ahmadiyya)

4. It is called "Ahmadi" because the spiritual station of its master, in relation to the spiritual stations of all the saints, is like the spiritual station of Ahmad in relation to the spiritual stations of all the Prophets, because the Shaykh said (may Allah be pleased with him): " I am the Chieftain of the Saints, just as Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) was the Chieftain of the Prophets". He also said (may Allah be pleased with him): " A saint neither drinks nor quenches his thirst (spiritual gnosis), except from our ocean, from the origin of the universe until the blowing of the trumpet" He also said (may Allah be pleased with him), while pointing with his two fingers, the index finger and the middle finger. "His spirit (Allah bless him and give him peace) and my spirit are like this: His spirit (Allah bless him and give him peace) supports the Messengers and the Prophets(peace be upon them), and my spirit supports the Qutbs, the gnostic sages and the saints, from sempiternity to eterntiy (beginning to ending) everlasting. He also said (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had informed him that his spiritual station was higher than all the spiritual stations.(except prophethood and the companions) He also said (may Allah be pleased with him): "The relationship of the Qutbs with me is like the relationship of the common folk with the Qutbs"