Clarification
The Salat al-Fatih is a type of Salawat which the Prophet (S.A.W.) ordered Sayyidina Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani (R.A.) to recite and informed him of its immense virtue and merit over all other Adhkar. It is recited by many Turuq but the Tijanis give special emphasis on its recital.
However, with regards to the claim that “a single recitation of the blessed Salat al-Fatih equals 6000 recitations of the Qur’an,” which is found in the Jawahir al-Ma’ani, the Ulama of the Tariqah have taken two viewpoints:
A) Some consider the statement as an interpolation in the book or a distorted attribution to al-Qutb al-Maktum Sayyidi Ahmad al-Tijani (R.A). Their reasons for saying this are:
Firstly, the book Jawahir al-Ma’ani was not written by the Shaykh but is a collection of his lectures and sayings by his student Sidi Ali Harazim Baradah, who does not quote the Shaykh verbatim. Shaykh al-Islam Ibrahim al-Rayahi of Tunis, who was closely connected to Sidi Ali Harazim, mentions this fact in his Mibrad al-Sawarim.
Secondly, in the book itself, Sayyidna Shaykh (RA) is quoted as saying that the speech of the entire universe, including all worship and Dhikr, cannot match a word of the holy Qur’an as it is the direct word of the Supreme Being.
In another place in the same book, Sayyidna Shaykh (RA) is quoted as saying that 1 recitation of the unique Ism al-Azam of Allah equals 1 recitation of the full Qur’an and 6000 Salat al-Fatih!!! Therefore, how can the same person claim that the reward of reciting the Salat al-Fatih is more than that of reciting the whole Qur’an?!
Thirdly, the printed versions of the Jawahir al-Ma’ani contain passages that are not there in the original manuscript which was in the possession of Sayyidna Shaykh (RA) himself.
This original manuscript of Jawahir al-Ma’ani came into the possession of Shaykh al-Islam Mawlana al-Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (d.1975) of Senegal, who received it from his father the great saint al-Hajj Abdullahi Niasse (d.1922) who received it from the Muqaddam of the Zawiyah of Fez, during his famed visit to Morocco.
Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse was given the title of Shaykh al-Islam fi Ifriqiya by the Ulama of the Azhar. The grand Muhaddith of Morocco Sidi Abd-al-Hayy al-Kattani mentioned him thus in the Ijazah he gave him, “Hadrat al-Alim al-Fadil, al-Sufi al-Nabil al-Kamil, al-Murshid al-Jalil, al-Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse bin al-Hajj Abd-Allah al-Tijani, Hafizahu Allah wa Ra’ah”).
Now Shaykh al-Islam Ibrahim Niasse mentions in his Al-Bayan wa al-Tabyin fi al-Tijaniyyah wa al-Tijaniyyin that he noticed: “many discrepancies between the original and published versions of the Jawahir when he used to teach it to his students.”
He also mentioned that he had compared this original copy with another handwritten manuscript by the Khalifah of Sayyidna Shaykh (RA) in Mauritania, Arif-Bi’llah Sayyidina Shaykh Muhammad al-Hafiz al-Alawi al-Shinqiti (RA), and found that the two manuscripts were the same, thus confirming that the published versions had unauthorized additions in them.
This also confirms what the Ulama of Syria contended that immoral people working for the French rulers of North and West Africa had interpolated such things in the book to cause division and hatred between Muslims and especially the people of the Turuq. Any student of the history of Islamic scholarship knows that such interpolations have been all too common in our history, especially in Sufi works.
The books of great Sufis like Imams al-Ghazali, al-Jilani, Ibn-Arabi, al-Sha’rani, Rumi have all been known to be tampered with. In the Tijani context, Sidi Ahmad Sukayrij tried to clear some of the mess in his work called Jinayat al-Muntasib fima nusib ila al-Shaykh al-Tijani bi al-Kadhib.
He mentions that even the sons of Sayyidna Shaykh (RA) had burnt some books containing false attributions to him. The original copy of the Jawahir remains today with the grandson of Shaykh al-Islam Ibrahim Niasse (RA) and the Imam of his Grand Mosque in Kaolack Senegal, his eminence Imam Shaykh Tijani Cisse, who inherited it from his brother and previosu Imam our master Mawlana Shaykh Hassan Cisse (RA).
Imam Shaykh Tijani informed us that he had kept this original copy in a wooden box with some money and other important documents. he told us that when he opened the box after a couple years, he found that rats had eaten up part of the box and the document and money in it, but had not touched the Jawahir al-Ma'ani!
Fourthly, shedding more light on how interpolation might have taken place, Zakariya Wright (Stanford) writes in his On the Path of the Prophet: Shaykh Ahmad Tijani and the Tariqa Muhammadiyya (p.107):
“Later Tijanis have offered a further explanation of how the statement of the worth of the Salat al-Fatih over the Qur’an came to be in the Jawahir al-Ma’ani in the first place.
According to Shaykh Hassan Cisse (RA), Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (RA) had proposed that what was meant was six thousand khatms (seal or completion). The scribe had understood this to mean a completion of the Qur’an, but in reality the statement was to be understood in the context of people of Fes at the time, who used to boast of the number of khatms of prayer on the Prophet, Dala’il al-Khairat, they had finished."
Finally, when Sayyidina Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani (R.A) was asked, “Will there be statements falsely attributed to you?”. He replied by his well known answer:
“Yes. Therefore, if you hear any statement attributed to me, weigh it with the scale of Shari’ah, if it is in line with it, accept it, and if it contradicts it, then leave it.”
This is the first Saying of Sayyidina al-Qutb al-Maktum (RA) that his student al-Sharif al-Tayyib al-Sufyani quotes in his collection of the Shaykh’s sayings called Al-Ifadah al-Ahmadiyyyah li-Murid al-Sa’adah al-Abadiyyah.
Therefore, it follows that if any statement goes against the Shari’ah, it cannot be attributed to Sayyidina Shaykh (RA).
B) Some Shaykhs of the Tariqah have chosen another route here, and that is to explain away the supposedly anti-Shari’ah sayings as from the Shat’hat (ecstatic statements) of the Awliya, or make a Shari’ah compliant Ta’wil (explanation) of them.
Many previous Ulama had done the same with the seemingly unorthodox statements made by famous Sufis, e.g. Sayyidina Bayazid’s statement: “To see me once is better for him (the murid) than seeing Allah a thousand times.”
However, acknowledging the genuine states of absorption in Allah of these pious men and their observance of the Shari'a in normal times, the Ulama excused them for their sayings and didn’t make takfir of them for the fear of calling a genuine believer a Kafir Na’udhu Bi’Llah.
When the famous Algerian Shadhili master Arif-bi’Llah Sidi Ahmad bin Mustafa al-Allawi was asked about some of the more difficult statements made by the Qutb al-Maktum Shaykh Sidi Ahmad al-Tijani (R.A.), he replied by first acknowledging the Shaykh’s sainthood and then stated that people of his caliber sometimes speak on behalf of the essence of the Prophet (S.A.W.) when in a state of absorption in it, therefore their statements may sound strange and far-fetched.
However, one must realize that they are not in a normal state at that time.
Therefore, only narrow-minded people will rush to condemn them. In our own times, we have seen so-called defenders of the Sunni Aqidah making takfir of pious men like Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, Habib Ali al-Jifri, and other Salihin.
Ibn-Khaldun wrote a long time ago in his Muqaddimah (Chapter on Tasawwuf):
“And from justice with regards to the Qawm (Sufis) is that they are people who experience absence from the sensory (world), and transcendental inspirations (waridat) take control of them until they speak what they do not intend; and this is what is known as Shat’h. A person who is absent-minded from the sensory world is not mukallaf (bound by the Shari’ah) and the overcome person is excused.
Therefore, whoever of such people is known to be honorable and observant (of the Din), then his words are assumed in good intention…from this is what happened to Bayazid al-Bistami and his like”.
(End of quote from Ibn-Khaldun)
One of the more honest scholars of the Zahir wrote:
Kalam al-Awliya lastu Afhamu
Li-Annani Ana Ana wa Humu Humu
The Words of the Awliya, I don’t understand!
Because I am me and they are they!
The Aqidah of the Sayyidina Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani (R.A.) is clear. In the Jawahir al-Ma’ani itself, he is quoted to have said that he considers no speech in the universe to be holier and more exalted than the holy Qur’an. All Tijanis agree on this Aqidah without exception.
As for the statement quoted in the Jawahir al-Ma’ani that, “the reward for reciting the Salat al-Fatih is equal to 6000 recitals of the Qur’an,” those Shaykhs of the Tariqah who didn’t deliberate over its authenticity, have considered it as a restricted statement and have given the following explanations for it:
- That the intended meaning here is that, one recital of the Salat al-Fatih by someone who does it properly (i.e. visualizing the blessed Prophet (S.A.W.) in front of him and fully understanding its deepest meaning which explain the essence of Allah, Rasul and all existence) is far more rewarding that 6000 customary/routine recitations of the holy Qur’an, in which people normally don’t ponder over meanings nor feel any presence of God. This explanation was offered by Shaykh al-Tasfawi of the Azhar in Al-Fat’h al-Rabbani.
- That the implication here is for the general masses of the time who are consistently engaged in various major sins. For people like that, reciting the Qur’an is hypocritical and the Qur’an will be cursing them as they read it and violate it.
However, the Salawat on the Prophet (S.A.W.), especially an auspicious one like the Salat al-Fatih, will guarantee forgiveness of sins and call Allah’s Mercy on them.
Shaykh al-Islam al-Hajj Ibrahim Niasse, grand-Shaykh of the Tijaniyyah, wrote in his Al-Rihlah al-Hijaziyyah al-Ula (the translation is summarized):
“The detractors argue that Tijanis claim that ‘the Salat al-Fatih is superior to the Qur’an.’
This is a lie forged against Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani, may Allah be pleased with him. For he states in the Jawahir al-Ma’ani that the Qur’an is superior to all Azkar and all prayers; this is brighter than the light of the Sun… But! If the person who recites the Qur’an - regardless of whether he knows the meaning or not -continuously disobeys the commandments of Allah, then the recitation of the Qur’an is not the best thing for him to do. On the contrary, the more he reads, the more he sins and the curse on him becomes greater…
Therefore, for such a sinner, praying for the Prophet (S.A.W) is much better than reading the Qur’an, because whoever prays for the Prophet once, Allah blesses him ten times and the entire universe also prays for him ten times. Thus, he obtains everlasting bliss. The promises made by Allah here (i.e. regarding the rewards of making the Salawat), are fulfilled whether in favor of the obedient or the disobedient…Thus, major sinners such as these are doomed to damnation and affliction when reciting the Qur’an, and to bliss when praying for the Prophet (S.A.W.).”
(End of quote from Shaykh-al-Islam Ibrahim Niasse)
The Muhaddith of the Holy Lands al-Sayyid Muhammad bin Alawi al-Maliki also supports this viewpoint when discussing the issue of preference between reciting the Qur’an and reciting the Salawat, in his Manhaj al-Salaf fi Fahm al-Nusus. In fact, in another work of his on polemical issues, Huwa Allah, he explicitly quotes Shaykh Sidi Ahmad Tijani to this effect, thus vindicating Sayydina Shaykh (RA) from the allegations against him.
C) That the great reward in the recitation of the Salat al-Fatih does not mean it’s superiority over the Qur’an, for many lesser acts of worship have been promised rewards which seem greater than the ones promised for superior acts of worship.
The Prophet (SAW) said about the reward of reciting the Qur'an: "For the recitation of every letter of the Qur'an, you will receive 10 rewards and 10 of your sins will be forgiven".
But he (SAW) said about the reward of reciting Salawat upon him: "For every Salawat you recite, Allah will recite 10 Salawat on you"!!!
Furthermore, recitation of the Qu'ran is done by Creation. Recitation of Salawat is done by Allah. The Qur'an descends from Allah to His creation. The Salawat ascends from Creation to Allah.
Salawat is an ACT OF ALLAH. We say: "Allahumma Salli ala...".
It is also narrated that the Shaytan flees from hearing the Azan but not from the Salah or the recital of the Qur’an although the latter are greater acts of worship.
Also, many Prophets displayed certain miracles which our Prophet (S.A.W.) didn’t display; however this cannot be implied to mean that they are greater than him! The Ulama also mention that it is afdal to recite Tasbih and Azkar on certain occasions than reciting the Qur’an. Nevertheless, the Qur’an remains the greatest of all speech.
The Usuli Shihab-al-Din ibn Idris states in his famous al-Furuq the principle, “Tajwiz Ikhtisas al-Mafdul bima laisa li’l-Fadil i.e. the possibility of an inferior to possess a quality that is not present in the superior.” He mentions many examples of this from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
The Allamah al-Muhaddith al-Faqih al-Arif-bi’Llah Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Fal bin Bab al-Alawi al-Shinqiti also states this point when discussing this issue in his poetic refutation of Khadir and his predecessor in condemning the Tijanis, Adayaj al-Kamlili (all 3 Mauritanians!):
Wa man Yaqul Inna al-Salata Aksaru...
Ajran min al-Qur’ani La Yukfaru
Idh Kasrat al-Ujuri La Tastalzimu...
al-Afdaliyyata Kama Yu’lamu
Mimma Hakahu al-Nawawi wa Ibn-Hajar…
fi al-Fat’hi Aydan Nassa Dhalika Zakar
Wa Adayaja Dha Jahilahu wa al-Khidru…
Fa Ja’a Minhuma Kalamun Nukru
Bihi Yulabbisu ala Dhi’l-Jahli…
Wa Kullu man Kana Da’if al-Aqli
fa-Kaffara Imam al-Awliya’i…
Wa al-Jahlu wa al-Hasadu Asl al-Da’i
In conclusion, I would like to re-iterate that notwithstanding these commendable attempts by great Ulama to explain the misunderstood (supposed) words of a great saint of Allah, all Tijanis agree that the holy Qur’an is the greatest of all Speech and consider reciting it as one of the most compulsory and most blessed acts of worship.
Sayyiduna Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani (RA) and many of his successors till today are known to make Khatms of the holy Qur’an on a continuous basis. Sahib al-Faydah Shaykh Ibrahim Naisse (RA) used to complete 1 Khatm of the Qur'an every 3 days. He did this even in his last days. All numerous his sons and daughters also memorized the Holy Qur'an and teach it.
Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) also taught Tafsir of the entire Qur'an to his disciples numerous times, in Arabic and Wolof. His Tafsir has now been published in 6 volumes.
Tijanis are well-known in West Africa as the "People of the Qur'an.
We conclude with the Salat al-Fatih:
اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد الفاتح لما اغلق والخاتم لما سبق ناصر الحق بالحق والهادى إلى صراطك المستقيم وعلى آله حق قدره ومقداره العظيم
“O Allah! Send Your Divine Blessings on our master Muhammad, the Opener of that which was closed and the Seal of all that was before him, The Supporter of the Truth by the Truth, and the Guide to Your Straight Path. And on his Family, according to his exalted Rank and Capacity”
Was-Salam,
Servant of the Awliya-Allah
Fakhruddin bin Ahmad al-Tijani