TIDJANIYA

Created in Morocco in the eighteenth century by Ahmed al-Tijani, the Tijaniya Tariqa is a spiritual  originating from the Kuran and from the Sunna or practice of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). It is based on humility, charity and sincerity. It first advocates following the principles of Islam based on five pillars.In addition to Islam's pillars recommended to all Muslims, the Tijanis must perform three additional litanies: Wazifa, Wird and Friday Hadra.

Wazifa is performed morning and evening and consists of:

  • reciting the formula of penitence, Astaghfiru-lahaal-'Azim al-lazi la ilaha illa huwa al-hayy ul-qayyum, 30 times.
  • reciting Salat al-Fatih 50 times.
    · saying the Hailalah, La ilaha illa lah, 100 times.
  • reciting Jawharatul-kamal 12 times.

Wird is performed morning and evening and fosters moral qualities such as justice, respect and love for the human kind. It clears the moral conscience and reinforces our dependence on Allah. It consists of :

  • reciting the formula of penitence, Astaghfiru-laha, 100 times;
  • praying  for the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) with 100 Salat al-Fatih;
  • reciting the Hailalah, La ilaha illa lahou, 100 times.
  • Participation in the Hadra Jumah,  a seance which is held on Fridays before the maghrib prayer. It consist of repeating in unison La ilaha illalah, or Allah, Allah between 1,000 or 1,600 times. Doing these litanies in group is key.

Born in 1737, Ahmed al-Tijani acquired a solid education in Islam.  At the age of twenty-one, he embarked in the Sufi life and journeyed to Fez to further his education in the Prophetic traditions with numerous Sufi sheikhs. In Morocco, he joined Sufi brotherhoods such as the Qadiriya and the Nasiriyya and was initiated to the Khalwatiya order during his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1772 where he also inherited the occult mystical learning of the Indian Sufi Sheikh, Ahmad b. 'Abdullah.

In 1782, Ahmad al-Tijani announced that the Prophet has authorized him to start his spiritual guidance and assigned to him the wirds (litanies), marking the beginning of the Tijaniya order. In 1789, he moved back to Fez and spread  the movement through Algiers, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania