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Although the South African delegation did not have any slot for speaking at the conference, Shaykh Hassan Cisse insisted that I say a few words on behalf of the South African Tijanis. On the final day of the Forum, he wrote a personal note to the Moroccan Minister, requesting him to “allow Imam Fakhruddin to address the forum on behalf of the 20-strong South African delegation”. I had not prepared any speech, as I had no expectation of speaking. Therefore I addressed the audience with whatever Allah inspired at that moment, with the spiritual assistance of Shaykh Hassan. Al-Humduli’Llah, the few words that Allah inspired through our Shaykh, were extremely well received by the forum, with a lot of applause throughout the address. I asked Shaykh Hassan about the speech afterwards. He said, “Ma-Sha-Allah, it was very good. You said everything!”
On Behalf Of The South African Delegation
{At the International Forum of the Followers of the Tijaniyya Order, held in Fez, Morocco, 14th Jamadi al-Thaniyya 1428/30th June 2007}
The Lecture was delivered in Arabic. What follows is the English translation:
All praise is due to Allah!
May the blessing and salutations of Allah be upon the best of His creation, our Master Muhammad and his Family, Companions and all beloved ones.
O Allah! Send Your Divine Blessings on our master Muhammad.
The Opener of that which is 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 Status and Value.
And may Allah be pleased with our Imam and Door of approach to Him,
the Hidden Qutb, the Muhammadan Seal of Sainthood,
Sayyidi Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Tijani,
may we continue drinking from his ocean.
And may Allah be pleased with his most honorable Khalifah,
the Bringer of his Faydah that he predicted about to his companions,
Mawlana Shaykh-al-Islam wa Ghawth al-Anam al-Hajj Ibrahim Niass al-Kawlakhi.
And may Allah be pleased with all the Khalifahs of the Shaykh,
and Allah is a witness that we love them all!
Thereafter, I greet you all on behalf of the South African delegation.
Indeed, we have come from the southern most tip of this African continent to the city of Fez, only to Ziyarah Mawlana al-Shaykh al-Tijani (R.A.).
We have not come here as Shaykhs and Muqaddams, but as servants of the Door of Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani. Our Shaykh has taught us that Adab is a must. Shaykh Ibrahim Niass had said in his poem Ruh-ul-Adab:
Show Adab, Show Adab O seeker (of Allah)
For it is the key (of success) for every seeker
Before anything, we would like to express the sincerest of gratitude to his Majesty, the Sultan and son of Sultan, Amir-ul-Mu’minin, Mawlay Muhammad the 6th, son of the late Mawlay al-Hassan the 2nd, may Allah preserve him and protect him, and give him victory through the spiritual assistance of Shaykh Ahmad Tijani (R.A.).
We express our gratitude to him and his government, especially the minister of Islamic affairs, Sidi Tawfiq, for fulfilling our long lost desire of visiting Fez.
And may Allah reward them abundantly for gathering together these shining faces, these Pious men, Saints and Qutbs. Surely, we will pray for you now and always.
Thereafter I wish to thank Allah Most High, for blessing us with entering the Tariqah of Shaykh Ahmad Tijani (R.A.); and we in South Africa consider that Allah’s greatest blessing upon us, after the blessing of Islam.
Indeed, the Tariqah of Shaykh al-Tijani, is heavenly before being earthly. It does not know colors or nations or races. It is Muhammadan Tariqah, emanating from the Universal Spiritual Reality of Muhammad (SAW).
Yes, it is an Algerian Tariqah, as the Shaykh was born in Algeria, grew up there and experienced his spiritual Opening there.
But it is also a Moroccan Tariqah as the Shaykh migrated to Morocco and settled there. He built his Zawiyah there and his final resting place is there.
It is also a Senegalese Tariqah, as the Faydah of the Shaykh appeared in Senegal.
And it is also a Nigerian Tariqah as Nigeria has the largest number of Tijanis in the world.
It is an African Tariqah, and a non-African Tariqah; for here are our brothers from Indonesia, America and Europe…they have come here to ziyarah the Shaykh and they are not Africans.
It is a North African Tariqah, and it is a South African Tariqah!!!
The truth is that it is a Tariqah that does not recognize any borders or geographies…because it has emerged from the Universal Reality of Muhammad (SAW).
We request everyone to pray for the further spread and strengthening of this Tariqah in our land. The Tariqah entered our country about ten years ago and spread to all its provinces.
Al-Hamduli’Llah, the number of disciples and Zawiyahs is on an increase in our country.
The Shaykh who brought this Tariqah to our land and who is our door to Shaykh al-Tijani (RA); is our Master, the Knower of Allah, Imam Hassan Cisse, the Chief-Imam of the Mosque and Medina of Shaykh-al-Islam Ibrahima Niyass (RA).
Here, we especially want to thank him for connecting us to the Way of Shaykh al-Tijani.
We have nothing more to say other than this. We thank you all, and request you all to pray for us!
Allahumma salli ala sayyidina Muhammadin
il-fatihi lima ughliqa wa ’l-khatimi lima sabaqa
nasir il-haqqi bi ’l-haqqi
wa ’l-hadi ila siratika ’l-mustaqim
wa ala alihi haqqa qadrihi wa miqdarihi ’l-azim
Servant of the Tijani Door,
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