Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (Arabic: أبو الحسن الشاذلي) was the founder of the eponymous Shadhili order.
He was born into a Berber Ghomara family of peasant labourers, near Ceuta in the north of Morocco in 1196 . He studied in Fes. He set out across North Africa and into the Levant in the hope of finding the great living saint of his time (see Qutb). In Iraq a Sufi named al-Wasiti told him that he could find this saint in the country Abul Hasan had travelled from, ‘Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish, the great Moroccan spiritual master. Under his guidance, Abul Hasan attained enlightenment and proceeded to spread his knowledge across North Africa, especially from Tunisia and Egypt, where he is buried. He advocated a path of moderation in outward actions, concentrating instead on attaining sincerity through constant invocation, heartfelt petitions to God, and invocation of the Name, Allah. He died in 1258 in Humaithra, Egypt, while he was on his way to the pilgrimage in Mecca in 1258. His shrine is highly venerated.
Shaykh Abu'l-Hassan ash-Shazhili traveled from Morocco to Spain and finally settled down in Alexandria in Egypt. Later on in life, when asked who his spiritual master was, he used to reply, 'I used to be the close follower (murid) of Hazrat Moulay Abus-Salam Ibn Mashish(RA), but I am no more the murid of any human master.'
Hazrat Shaykh Abu'l-Abbas al-Mursi (d. 1288), who succeeded Hazrat Shaykh ash-Shazhili (RA) as the next spiritual master of the Order, was asked about the knowledge of his spiritual master and replied, 'He gave me forty sciences. He was an ocean without a shore.'
Hazrat Shaykh ash-Shazhili (RA) had hundreds of close followers in both Alexandria and Cairo, not only from among the common people but also from among the ruling classes. He taught his close followers to lead a life of contemplation and remembrance of Allah while performing the normal everyday activities of the world. He disliked initiating any would-be follower unless that person already had a profession. His admonition to his close followers was to apply the teachings of Islam in their own lives in the world and to transform their existence.
Among the many writings attributed to Hazrat Shaykh Abu'l-Hassan ash-Shazhili is famous litany "Hizb al-Bahar".
Introducing Coffee to the World : -
During his earlier period Imam Shazuli (Razi Allahu Anhu) had firm meditation at the Saffron hill. 40 days he was fasting and 40 nights he spent on prayers. Floral leaves and salt was the only food both for Sahar & Iftar. Some times Imam felt very tiresome and he was thinking about how to overcome this? At that time Allah (Jalle Shanahu) through some birds, showed coffee to Imam.
Those tiny birds wandering at the day time were praying and begging god at the night. But they were brisk anytime. Making note of this Imam Shazuli (Razi Allahu Anhu) was very much surprised. At the while he saw those birds sitting at a tree and taking some seeds. After eating that those birds were refreshed. Suddenly Imam collected those seeds and put it to the water and drank. What a surprise! All this exhaustness flied off and Imam Shazuli (Razi Allahu Anhu) was fully brisk and refreshed.
Historians write that was the first invention of coffee till today what we are using, and so the pride of introducing coffee a good refresher goes to Imam Shazuli (Razi Allahu Anhu).
Various Preceptors of Imam Shazuli (Razi...)
Imam Shazuli got his spiritual vow from Ash Sheikh Moulana AbdusSalam bin Mishsheesh Shaheed (Razi...).
Sheikh ibn Mishsheesh (Razi...) was the formulator of the Dharoodh "As Salawath n Nariyya Assalawathu Thafrigiyya". This is recited all over the world till today, which caters to the good needs of people.
Once, when Imam Shazuli (Razi...) was asked about his teachers Imam replied "Sheikh AbdusSalam ibn Mishsheesh (Razi...) is my Preceptor in this world and am also gaining knowledge from ten other preceptors five are from the heaven and other five are from this world". They are:
1. Hazrath Jibrayeel (Alai…).
2. Hazrath Meekaaeel (Alai…).
3. Hazrath Israfeel (Alai…).
4. Hazrath Izraaeel (Alai…).
And Rooh.
From this world are:
1. Hazrath Musthafa Rasoolullah (Sal…).
2. Hazrath Abubakkar (Razi…).
3. Hazrath Umar (Razi…).
4. Hazrath Usman (Razi…).
5. Hazrath Ali (Kar…).
Hazrath Shazuli Imam who gained all sorts of knowledge from the above ten preceptors was asked about his knowledge, Imam replied “If the mankind and Jin community write about my familiarity, prosperity and inner knowledge, they wouldn’t complete it till the day of judgement".
Overview of the Shadhili Path
The main emphasis of the tariqa may be characterized as attachment of the heart to Allah Most High. Allah describes the way to this in His command to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace),
“Say: ‘If you all love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. Verily Allah is forgiving and compassionate’” (Koran 3:31).
To follow the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in his lifetime was a simple matter for his Companions, who but said, “We hear and obey.” As for afterwards, the Companions passed on their knowledge to those after them, and so on down to our own times, so that Allah’s remembrance might be preserved, both His word, the Holy Koran, and the other wisdom brought by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). Allah Most High says,
“Surely, We have revealed the Remembrance; and We shall surely preserve it” (Koran 15:9),
which Allah, in His wisdom, has brought about through those who have borne the trust down through the ages, the scholars of this Umma. For the sake of scholarly quality and excellence we rely on the very foremost of them in each discipline, the Imams of the field, whether in Sacred Law, Koranic exegesis, hadith, Koran recital (tajwid), or the other disciplines. In this connection, our sheikh, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri, says,
“What the Imams have recorded is our religion.”
One consequence of this is that all who are in the tariqa follow one of the four Sunni madhhabs (schools) of fiqh: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi‘i, or Hanbali; as well as one of the two schools of tenets of faith, Ash‘ari or Maturidi. Our sheikh is a Shafi‘i, but accepts any other school that the student may wish. He prefers that all follow the Ash‘ari school in ‘aqida (tenets of faith),because he finds it sounder on some questions.
A second consequence is that we do not take our din or religion from those who are not Imams, especially orientalists or authors without a traditional Islamic education at the hands of the tradition’s sheikhs. University degrees, academic acclaim, and works in print all indicate the earnestness and effort of those who possess them, but cannot take the place, for religious purposes, of having an unbroken line of teachers extending back to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who is the source of all religious knowledge (‘ilm). This is perhaps even truer of Sufism than other religious sciences. Ibn ‘Ajiba says:
In the path of Sufism, keeping the company of others (suhba) is of tremendous consequence in the journey to Allah, in accordance with the wont of Allah Most High and His wisdom. Some have even said, “Whoever has no sheikh [but travels the path alone] has the Devil as his sheikh.” Another has said, “A person is like a [fruit] tree growing up in the wild: if not trimmed and pruned, it becomes a scrub.” And Abul ‘Abbas al-Mursi has said, “Whoever has no sheikh in this matter is not to be rejoiced over” (Iqadh al-himam, 95–96).
In this regard, one may note that English literature on Sufism is plagued with efforts by the unqualified to write about the field, among them a group of authors dedicated to spreading the anti-Islamic concept of the universal validity of all religions. Besides being a lie against the high, pure way of Sufism, this idea is kufr that places those who hold it outside of Islam—in hell eternally, if they die on it—by negating the basic tenet of faith that Islam is the final religion that abrogates all previous religions. Their books are often as eloquent as dangerous, and one must know them for what they are, though we may at least infer how rare and precious the way of tariqa is from the number of highwaymen upon it to rob the unwary. The matter also points up the need for genuine Islamic knowledge, and the relevance of the traditional maxim “If the wali [friend of Allah] does not know the entrances the Devil uses, the Devil will enter.”
The true literature of the tariqa is copious, though mostly in Arabic, and consists, first and foremost, of the Hikam al-‘Ata'iyya of the second successor to Imam Abul Hasan al-Shadhili, Ibn ‘Ata' Illah (may Allah be well-pleased with them both), together with its many commentaries, among the best of which is the Sharh Ibn ‘Abbad [commentary of Ibn ‘Abbad (al-Rundi)], which Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman recommends for those who have not yet entered the khalwa or ‘solitary dhikr (invocation of Allah) under the sheikh’s supervision’; as well as the Iqadh al-himam fi sharh al-Hikam [The awakening of spiritual ambitions: a commentary on the Wisdoms], by Ibn ‘Ajiba, which he recommends after the khalwa, though it contains much valuable material, as he says, “for the person at the beginning, the middle, or the end of the spiritual way.”
From its inception, the Shadhili tariqa has been one of scholars and scholarship, and many excellent books exist in print by its sheikhs. Few books in Sufism are of benefit in the path besides those of authorized sheikhs, and it is more beneficial when they are from the spiritual line of one's own tariqa, preferably the more recent of them, among the best being the spoken lessons of one’s sheikh that have been taped. But the best way to take knowledge of Sufism is still the traditional way of sitting with the sheikh, listening, asking questions, and then applying the knowledge one has taken.
Spiritual Works
Masters have always emphasized that the tariqa, while grounded at every step in Islamic knowledge, is not concerned with words or books as such, but with spiritual sincerity, illuminating the heart with the love and knowledge of Allah that He bestows on those who follow the way of the prophets and purified ones in spiritual effort and dhikr. Now, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said,
“Works are only according to intentions” (Muslim, 3.1515–16: 1907. S),
so Sufis engaged in spiritual works have always taken care to devote their intention, their whole mind, heart, and being—to Allah Himself, the limitless immensity of His greatness, His majestic exaltedness (kibriya' literally, “haughtiness”), and the thanks that is due to Him—not to the divine reward for such acts, or other ends of the self. Allah Most High says,
“So whoever longs to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and not associate with his Lord’s worship anyone” (Koran 18:110).
The rewards for acts mentioned in Koran and hadith, according to the masters of the way, are bestowed by Allah to manifest His limitless generosity to His servants if and only if these acts are for Him alone; not when reward as such is the reason for performing them. It is not suitable for spiritual works in the path of sincerity to be primarily for self interests, in this world or the next. Some scholars, such as Imam Ghazali in his Minhaj al-‘abidin, have even held that to seek nothing beyond an act’s reward nullifies its entire value with Allah. But the sounder position is that Allah in His mercy and kindness may inspire such a servant to eliminate the defective intention by disclosing to him the reality of his own self; that Allah alone created it and its worship, and that He has a better right to be what is intended therein. Superior still is that the sole devotion to Allah, as an “intention,” accompany only the beginning of the act, to be then superseded by one’s “absence” from the work, solely beholding Allah in the heart, for Allah loves those who behold Him.
If these are the states of those at the end of the path, beginners, for their part, reach them by successive approximations, as a person after a long illness strengthens unused muscles by practicing walking a little farther each day, to be eventually able to walk as far as he wants.
There is little need to dwell on those who perform acts of worship out of habit, automatically, without having any particular intention in their hearts: they are neither worshipping Allah nor other than Him, and can expect nothing from their acts except to pass time.
Mujahada (Spiritual Struggle)
The main work of the tariqa is to steadfastly perform all acts that are obligatory (fard) and the confirmed sunna (mu’akkada), to eat and live from a lawful income, and to eliminate every blameworthy trait and acquire every praiseworthy one, with the Sacred Law as one’s guiding light.
The sphere of outward mujahada or ‘spiritual struggle’ in our tariqa is that one first strive to eliminate all that is unlawful (haram) from one’s life according to the standards of one’s own school of fiqh, and after this, to eliminate all that is offensive (makruh) in it. This is the foundation for all higher reaches of the path. If one succeeds at this, and the time and inclination to learn exist, one may go on to do the same with the other schools.
The sphere of inward mujahada consists in training the heart—by love, dhikr, and gratitude—as ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Dabbagh says,
to be attached to the Real (al-Haqq) Most Glorious and Exalted; keeping ever at His door; taking refuge in Him with every motion and rest; fleeing from the moments of inattention that intersperse those of presence, and in short, disciplining oneself to hold ever fast to Allah Mighty and Majestic, and persisting therein—even though one is not engaged in a great deal of outward worship (al-Ibriz, 2.60),
Ours is thus not a way of hunger, thirst, and spiritual austerities, but of thankfulness to Allah and presence of heart. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said,
“Verily, Allah is well pleased that the servant should eat a meal and praise Him for it, or take a drink and praise Him for it” (Muslim, 4.2095: 2734. S).
In accordance with the teachings of Islam, those of our tariqa do not smoke, watch television, or countenance the mixing of men and women other than for business, education, or necessity: whenever and wherever possible, men sit with the men, out of view of women with the women. Sheikh al-Hashimi has said,
“This path has nothing to do with those who sit with women.”
A cardinal principle of the tariqa is zuhd or ‘nonattachment to other than Allah.’ One should always leave what does not concern one, meaning one’s needs in this life or the next. Our sheikh often repeats two verses of poetry that mean:
The meeting of people will never enrich you,
save with the gibberish of useless gossip.
So diminish your meeting of people,
except for knowledge or to improve your condition.
This applies with special force to media such as advertising, entertainment, and the internet. Masters say, “Increase in the physical, and you will decrease in the spiritual,” and this pertains to everything but what benefits one, now or in the hereafter. This is why the salik or ‘traveller’ shuns the din of hucksters, prefers clothing devoid of writing or trademarks, unplugs from the internet except to buy, sell, or benefit the Muslims, and in a word, finds in the Absolute that which suffices him from the limitary.
WHEN one first takes the tariqa, the sheikh asks about one’s prescribed prayers during the previous forty days. If one has missed or delayed any past their lawful time, one’s first spiritual effort is to get forty days in a row without a single missed prayer.
After this, one begins a series of lessons in muraqaba or ‘spiritual vigilance’ that incorporate the “prayer of repentance” (salat al-tawba), from the rigorously authenticated hadith conveyed by Abu Bakr and ‘Ali (Allah be well pleased with them) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
“No man commits a sin, then makes ablution (wudu) and makes it well, then prays two rak‘as and asks forgiveness of Allah Mighty and Majestic, save that he is forgiven” (Ahmad, 1.2. S).
This sunna is practiced always, whether for each wrong committed, as is superior, or at least for the last wrong committed on that day, conjoined with a “general repentance” from all wrongs entirely, which is “valid without specifying them individually, even when one knows them” (al-Laqqani: It-haf al-murid, 255). It seems particularly useful to travellers in the spiritual way, which is one of continual repentance (tawba). Repentance is, the sheikh notes, “the soul of all spiritual stations,” and in this connection, it is noteworthy that one of the greatest benefits of taking the tariqa is that disciples take care to fulfill the rights that are obligatory upon them: giving Allah His due by making up any prescribed prayers missed since entering Islam; and giving others their due by paying off any debts and restoring anything wrongfully taken from them, whether before or after entering Islam. These are necessary to succeed in the path—and to meet Allah on the Last Day.
One should not entirely neglect any kind of spiritual work recommended by Sacred Law, for as Ibn ‘Ata' Illah says, each type of work has a spiritual light proper to it, and whoever leaves it unperformed will lack that light. One may fast days that are sunna to fast, such as Mondays and Thursdays, the Day of ‘Arafa, and so on, but the main emphasis of our way is not fasting, but rather dhikr, and learning Sacred Law and living it.
Because learning Arabic is necessary to gain sound Islamic knowledge, it too enters into the mujahada of our Shadhili path. Sheikhs often test disciples with something that represents a challenge, and in our tariqa it is learning Arabic. The benefits are many. First, the path of a Sufi is not a path at all, but the work of a lifetime, in which knowledge plays a key role. Because of the baraka or ‘spiritual blessing’ of knowledge, at the end of the path one finds a world of difference between, say, a good-hearted soul who knows only the Fatiha and a few suras, and another who is conversant in Arabic and has cultivated himself and benefited from the recorded experience of centuries of previous masters. Moreover, the Arabic Koran is the Islamic revelation, and therefore the book par excellence of the Sufis. Great as the reward may be for reciting it without understanding, it is not like that of someone who recites it as it has been revealed and is changed by it to the very core of his being. As Allah says in Surat al-Zumar,
“Are they equal, those who know and those who do not know?” (Koran 39:9).
Finally, the purpose of a true sheikh is not to gather an army of followers around himself, but to produce Sufis who can ultimately walk on their own two feet in the path, able themselves to distinguish truth from falsehood, whose din does not disappear when the sheikh does—all of which requires that they be close to the primary texts of the Koran and sunna.
To summarize the whole matter of mujahada in our path,the wali or ‘friend of Allah’ is someone whom Allah has made victorious over his four enemies: the ego, this world, caprice, and the Devil. Because this victory generally entails spiritual struggle, the difference between the Shadhili path and others is not that it lacks all mujahada, which all paths must have; but rather in its attitude towards it. In other tariqas, spiritual struggle and its resultant change are regarded as a means to reach Allah. In the Shadhili path, reaching Him itself is regarded as the greatest means to this change.
Change
The touchstone of the spiritual way is a heart occupied with nothing besides Allah, and its sign, in the words of al-Junayd, is “that Allah (al-Haqq) slay you from yourself and give you life through Him”; that Allah, in the fullness of one’s destiny, free one of all low traits and adorn one with high ones. The tariqa is not concerned with the possibility of this happening as a miraculous gift, all at once, but rather with the means that normally bring it about. Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman emphasizes that the two strongest ones are dhikr, making remembrance of Allah, and mudhakara, learning traditional spiritual knowledge of the din in its three pillars: Islam (shari‘a), Iman (‘aqida), and Ihsan (tariqa).
Operationally, one strives to attain the states of the Koran—explained in the famous hadith of ‘A'isha (Allah be well pleased with her) as the character traits of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) (Ahmad, 6.91. H)—first by hearing about, then living, and finally internalizing each trait as a permanent station (maqam). One needs high aspiration (himma) for this, though our sheikh cautions that blind haste can deprive the path of spiritual blessing (baraka), and ultimately success, since love and knowledge of Allah reach their perfection only in a balance between the faculties of the soul, without blameworthy extremes.
The Shadhili tariqa has never had any distinctive dress or apparel; initiation into the tariqa rather meant to change, much in the way described by the Sheikh al-Akbar (Muhyiddin Ibn al-‘Arabi) in his explanation of the conditions for donning the patched garment (khirqa) of the Sufis:
The conditions for this well known garment resemble the form manifested by Allah for covering one’s shameful parts: One clothes the shame of lies in the garment of truthfulness, the shame of faithlessness in the garment of keeping one’s word, the shame of treachery in the garment of loyalty, the shame of showing-off in the garment of sincerity to Allah, the shame of base character in the garment of noble character, the shame of blameworthy traits in the garment of praiseworthy ones; clothing every low attribute in the garment of every high one, exchanging attachment to worldly means for the unity (tawhid) of relinquishing them, exchanging reliance upon things for reliance on Allah, and exchanging thanklessness of blessings for gratitude to the Bestower (al-Ghumari: ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, 127).
In short, taking the tariqa means to transform the soul, the means for this being somewhat different in the Shadhili path from others. For there are perhaps two basic approaches to Sufism—considered as the knowledge of the divine entity, which it grasps through direct vision. The first, the way of many tariqas, consists of uprooting bad characteristics from the heart, one by one, and so eventually to become pure enough to behold the divine presence.
The second is the way of our masters, and consists of the sheikh initiating the disciple into the divine presence through the invocation of the Supreme Name, a means through which Allah may grant ma‘rifa or direct knowledge of the Divine to the disciple, who in virtue of this knowledge then frees himself of low traits, one after another, but less by way of spiritual struggle than out of gratitude before the majesty of God. Attaining ma‘rifa in our tariqa is thus not a diploma certifying one is “finished,” but rather one perfection of the way that is a key to others, in a sense, the beginning of the Shadhili path. And its centrality to the din is emphasized by the well known hadith about spiritual excellence (ihsan)
“It is to worship Allah as though you see Him” (Muslim, 1.37–38: 8. S).
Here, the means of seeing is not the eye, which can only behold physical things like itself; nor yet the mind, which cannot transcend its own impressions to reach the Divine; but rather the ruh or spirit of a human being, the subtle faculty in each of us which is not bound by the limitations of the created universe. The food of this ruh is the remembrance of Allah.
Sayings:
"A muslim who wishes to get pride and dignity in this world and Aaqira may enroll her / himself in this Tariqa Shadhiliya of mine, for a day or two. Surely he / she will feel nothing to be doubted in this" said Hazrath Shazuli Imam….
It is only in Tariqa Shadhiliya where true A'amals to Unite with Allah (jal…) are taught. That is why thousands of great Scholars of Islam enrolled themselves in this Tariqa Shazuliya.
Shadhili Imam says "I will never consider myself a Muslim, If my ancestral grandfather Hazrat Rasulullah (Sal…) is hidden from my vision even for a fraction of a second".
Khalifas who succeeded Imam Shazuli (Rali…) have also repeated their sheikh's utterance.
Getting Married: Shadhili Tariqa Notes
I found this article online and thought it was very useful. Though it is catered to the Shaykhs students, many of the points can be applied to all muslims and to students of other tariqa’s. Good read.
Some advice my own Shaykh recently imparted upon us in regards to interactions we have with people involved with us in marriage (i.e. wife, children, in-laws etc.), especially for those of us who are born and raised in the west, was that due to the fact that we live in an environment which promotes unbalanced individuality focusing on our own selves’ rather than others and disseminating a lack of adab (social etiquettes) and khidmah (the serving of others), young couples should make it a habit of reading as much as possible on issues dealing with marriage, social etiquettes and the lives of our pious predecessors. As one of my friends recently pointed out, relating from Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya’qoubi, that we should read about the lives of modern day scholars so that we may see many noble qualities being exhibited in modern times, making it even more real and achievable for all of us. Insha-Allah. Not only reading however, but actually trying to implement those teachings is imperative. Something i’d add would be to read those texts and ask pious and learned scholars the best manner in which to implement those advices.
The article:
Getting Married
Choosing a companion to spend one’s life with is a decision of the greatest consequence in the path. Perhaps the best response to the many questions that are asked about marital suitability and the tariqa is that disciples may marry anyone they want, as long as the following conditions are met:
(1) That the prospective spouse share one’s own vision of Islam and be religious, meaning that they follow one of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence (madhhabs), pray the five prayers, and if female, cover correctly. They do all of this before ever hearing of marriage. Someone who doesn’t pray but “comes from a good family” is absolutely unacceptable, and one must not be pressured by family members into marrying someone of this description. One’s children could end up in hell by following their example.
(2) That the prospective spouse agree that the household will be run according one of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence (madhhabs) in all matters; if Hanafi, for example, that there be nothing unlawful according to the school in any of the family’s dealings.
(3) That the prospective spouse know that one has a tariqa and sheikh and what this entails, knows that one goes to the weekly majalis and yearly suhbas, and that one’s main interest is Allah. If the person also has a tariqa, it must be an authentic one, meaning at minimum that the sheikh and disciple know that the Sacred Law is above the sheikh, the disciple, and everyone else.
(4) That the husband be the man of the family, and the big decisions return to his istikhara or ‘prayer of guidance.’
(5) That the husband have a lawful income by which he can support a wife and free her from the need to work, providing for her a bayt shar‘i or ‘house guaranteed by Sacred Law,’ meaning her own house which she runs, and has complete security in and everything else she needs, according to the standard enjoyed by women of similar social standing in the same town; and that none of her husband’s family can come into her house, meddle, give advice about her children, count her spoons, or anything else, unless she wants them to. If she doesn’t get along with in-laws, the husband can visit them himself in their home. If a man in the tariqa wants to get married, he has to be able to provide all this. Otherwise, he must make plans for the future, with Allah’s help. One need not obey parents’ demands to marry if one is unable to provide a wife with these basic rights guaranteed by Sacred Law.
It is often preferable wait to marry until one has achieved a sound footing in the tariqa. New converts to Islam in particular should practice and adjust to their religion for a year or two before taking on the additional challenge of marriage. If one suffers from temptation, one may request the “Settling One’s Grounds” program from the sheikh.
ANYONE who marries someone with the above stipulations marries with the sheikh’s complete blessing and best wishes, although there is baraka in seeking his permission. Other rules for disciples who are married or considering marriage are found in the booklet “Marriage,” which is available on request.
(Selection from The Shadhili Tariqa) MCMXCIX © N. Keller
Al-Khidr and the early Shadhili Masters.
Abul Abbas al-Mursi (d. 685 A.H) said, “Al-Khadir, peace be upon him, came to me once and introduced himself to me, and I acquired from him the knowledge of the souls of the believers, are they tortured or in bliss, so now even if a thousand scholars argue with me about that, and say that he is dead, I would not go back to believing what they say.”
He also said, “As for Al-Khadir, peace be upon him, he is alive. And I have shaken his hand with this palm, and he told me that everyone who says the following every morning, will become one of the Abdaal”:
اللهم اغفر لأمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، اللهم أصلح أمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، اللهم تجاوز عن أمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، اللهم اجعلنا من أمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم
Some students asked al-Mursi’s master Al-Shadhili about this and he said, “Abul Abbas has said the truth.” (7)
Al-Khidr and Al-Dabbagh
When sayyidi Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh became determined to reach pure servanthood to Allah, he began looking for everyone that people pointed to and referred to as a shaykh, and considered him to be a wali of Allah, and would make that person his shaykh and recite his litanies (awrad), but eventually he would feel his chest became constricted and that he was not progressing, so he would leave it and look for another one, and the same thing would happen again., and this went on for 22 years. During that time, he would stay every Friday night at the tomb of sidi Ali bin Hirzihim to read the Burda of al-Busiri with others. One night, after finishing it, he found a man sitting under the lote-tree near the tomb’s door, and that man spoke to him, revealing to him that he knew what Al-Dabbagh was thinking about, so he knew that he was one of the awliya aarifeen. So Al-Dabbagh asked him to give him a wird, but that man would keep ignoring him until he heard al-Dabbagh ask for it with such determination that he knew he would not ignore what he told him. Then he said to al-Dabbagh: I will not give you the wird until you give me an oath by Allah that you do not leave it, and al-Dabbagh did so. So that man said, Repeat every day seven thousand times:
اللهم يا رب بجاه سيدنا محمد بن عبد الله صلى الله عليه وسلم اجمع بيني وبين سيدنا محمد بن عبد الله في الدنيا قبل الآخرة
Then the man who takes care of the tomb came, and the man said to him: take care of this man for me, so the caretaker said, “I will consider him my master, master.” On the day that caretaker died, right before his soul left his body, he said to al-Dabbagh: “Do you know who that man who taught you the dhikr at the lote-tree is? He is sayyidna al-Khidr, peace be upon him.” So for four years, Al-Dabbagh repeated that du’a seven thousand times a day, until he received the spiritual opening (fath) (8).
When al-Dabbagh became a great shaykh, and the Qutb of his time, his student the scholar Al-Lamati asked him questions about al-Khidr. The Qur’an tells us that Al-Khidr knew some things from the world of the unseen (like the future, etc), that the Prophet Moses, alayhi assalam, did not know. Because of this, many scholars argued that Al-Khidr must be a prophet, for if he were just a righteous servant and wali of Allah, he could not have known more than a prophet about these things. Sayyidi Al-Dabbagh replied,
Generally, the (spiritually) great are strong in witnessing Al-Haqq, Most Transcendent, and weak in witnessing the creation, whereas the (spiritually) small are strong in witnessing the creation and weak in witnessing al-Haqq, Most Transcendent. And this is what happened in the story between sayyidna al-Khidr and sayyidna Musa- upon our Prophet and upon them be peace and blessings- in what was related to us by Allah Most High in his great Book, from the story of the ship, the young man, and the wall. For knowledge of these things was hidden from sayyidna Musa alayhi assalam because he was (absorbed) in the witnessing of that which is stronger than that, and that is Al-Haqq, Most Transcendent, and therefore Moses’s ignorance of these matters is utmost (spiritual) perfection.
His analogy, in relation to al-Khidr, is like two servants for a king. As for one of them, the king has chosen him for himself, and made him sit with him, having nothing to do but standing in front of the king, looking at his face, and if the king left he left with him, and if the king entered he entered with him, and if he ate he ate with him and if he drank he drank with him, and if he spoke he spoke with him. While the other servant has been appointed by the king to run the affairs of his subjects, so he goes out to them and does with them as the king commands, and speaks to them about their affairs and how to improve their state, and he might be away from the king for a long time in order to do these things. There is no doubt, then, that the first servant is closer to the king and more knowledgeable of his secrets from the second, even though, if he were asked about any of the affairs of the king’s subjects, he would not know about them as much as the second servant, especially if the subjects lived far away from the city of the king. And thus was the state of Moses with Allah Most High, for he is like the first servant, and sayyidna Al-Khidr is like the second servant, for sayyidna Musa is greater than him, without question, because he is the Messenger of Allah, and his kaleem (the one with whom he spoke) and his chosen one….
[Al-Khidr] is not a prophet, but a servant that Allah has ennobled by giving him knowledge of Himself…and there is nothing in his knowledge of the preceding matters that Moses did not know about, which necessitates that a non-prophet be more knowledgeable than a prophet, for what we have said earlier, that Moses- peace be upon him- was pre-occupied from these things with witnessing of Al-Haqq, which is something unparalleled, and therefore there is nothing that necessitates belief in (al-Khidr’s) prophethood.
Hizbs-Most valuable Gift from Imam Shadhili:-
Shazuli Imam (Rali…) rendered some 18 lofty Hizbs for the sake of his disciples and followers who are to follow his thareequa, "shazuliya" till Qiyamah. No other Quthb (or) Ghouse has did so.
The name of these follows.
1. Hizbul Bahr
2. Hizbun Nasr
3. Hizbul Barru
4. Hizbul Kabeer
5. Hizbul Anwar
6. Hizbun Noor
7. Hizbul Luthf
8. Hizbul Ikhfaa
9. Hizbut Tamsu
10. Hizbul Hafeeza
11. Hizbul Kifaayaa
12. Hizbush Shikwaa
13. Hizbul Falaah
14. Hizbul Makhfee
15. Hizbul Khaira
16. Hizbut Tawassal
17. Hizbul Aaayaath
18. Hizbush Shadhili
“HIZBUL BAHR” is the most important Hizb among these. Reciting these Hizbs regularly, No doubt, will yield a fruitful life in this world and the next.
Sheikh Shazuli explained the goodness and benefits of the Above Hizbs. When his turn come for the Hizbul Bahr (The First Hizb) He told “I have given as such my Grand Father Hazrath prophet Muhammadh (Sal…) taught and given me, not even a single letter has been changed. It’s like the Ship of the prophet Noah (Alai….). Those who stand by this will never loose”.
Seventy houses surrounding the house in which Hizbul Bahr is recited will never be attacked by Thunder. Enemies and Robbers will get away. (When the Mangolies attacked all the Islamic Country including Baghdadh Hazrath Imam Noorudheen Abul Hasan Ali Shazuli (Razi…) said if any one person known of Hizbul Bahr and he Recite for protection No Mongolie may attack Baghdhad). If any one recites Hizbul Bahr for a good wish that will immediately answered. (People who require the free copy of this Hizb may contact us Via-Email with the persons personal Address).
Source :
http://www.shazuli.com/
http://occidentalexile.wordpress.com/the-shadhili-way/
http://izikr.wordpress.com/2007/02/24/getting-married-shadhili-tariqa-notes/
http://occidentalexile.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/al-khidr-and-the-early-shadhili-masters/
http://zomobo.net/Shadhili
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