Section 36 of the Rimah of Shaykh Umar Futi


This blessed chapter deals with the statements of the Shaykh and other Walis, and the reason behind such statements. It also explains the difference in when statements of one's self are praiseworthy and when they are blameworthy....



Concerning the excellence of our master, with the explanation that he is:

*The Seal of the Walis

* The Chieftain of the Sages

* The Imam of the Champions of Truth

* The Supporter of the Qutbs and the Aghwath,
-and that he is :

* The Hidden Qutb and the Sealed Link, meaning the one who is the intermediary between the Prophets and the saints, so that not one of the saints, whether his importance is great or small, can receive a bounty from the presence of a Prophet except through his mediation, since that saint is not conscious of what is involved.

Since this is the fact of the matter, you must beware, O my brother, of refusing to acknowledge the like of this superb master and noble supreme Imam. The leaders of Islam are unanimously agreed, and so are all the wise saints, that firm conviction is a profit and denial is a loss.

You must know that we have presented you with the sections provided at the beginning of this blessed book, in which we have spoken about the deniers. We have been somewhat long winded, but only in order to give you sound advice and to free you from being with the followers of convention, if you are not with those who profit from firm conviction. Let my say, therefore: "Success is achieved with the help of Allah, for He is the Guide by His grace to the straight path."

You should know that it behooves us to present a statement at this point, before embarking on this section, for the sake of someone who has no share in knowledge, nor in the gifts of Allah's people. That person may present us with two assertions:
(1) He may say "The Shaykh Tijani has praised and commended himself, and that is blameworthy"
(2) He may say "The Shaykh Tijani has said: 'The bounties that flow from the Prophet Muhammad(Allah bless him and give him peace) are received by the natures of the Prophets, and everything that flows and emerges from the natures of the Prophets is received by my own nature, and from me it is distributed to all creatures from the origin of the world until the blowing on the trumpet.' All the Companions are included, so he is superior to all the Companions, but that is false! The same applies to Shaykh Tijani's saying: 'No wali drinks or provides water to drink, except from our ocean, from the origin of the world until the blowing on the trumpet.' It also applies to his saying: 'When Allah assembles His creatures at the place of standing , a herald will proclaim at the top of his voice, so that everyone at the place of standing will hear him: "O people of the final congregation, this is your Imam, from whom you obtained your support!" It also applies to his saying: ' The spirit of the Prophet and my spirit are like this'--pointing with his two fingers, the index finger and the middle finger. 'His spirit supports the Messengers and the Prophets and my spirit supports the Qutbs, the sages, the saints, from azal ila abad (pre-existance to eternity)'. It also applies to his saying: 'These two feet of mine are upon the neck of every saint of Allah, from the time of Adam until the blowing of the trumpet.' It also applies to his saying: 'Our station in the presence of Allah in the Hereafter will not be attained by any of the saints, and it will not be approached by anyone, whether his importance is great or small. Of all the saints after the Companions, until the blowing on the trumpet, there is not one who will attain to my station.' It also applies to his saying: 'The lives of all the people have been spent in futility, except the lives of the practisers of Salat al Fatihi, for they have gained both worldly and Otherworldly profit."

According to the antagonist, these sayings demand acknowledgment of our master's superiority, his own and that of the people of his Tariqa, over all the Companions.

Success is achieved with the help of Allah, for He is the Guide by His grace to the straight path, so the response is as follows:

The first assertion ((1) "The Shaykh Tijani has praised and commended himself, and that is blameworthy") is irrelevant, because this---as explained by al Hafiz Jalal ad Din Abd ar Rahman as Suyuti in as Sawa'iq ala Nawa'iq----"is not about boastfulness or self commendation."
The experts actually have two opinions on this, one of them being that this has to do with the definition of his spiritual state, since he was ignorant of his station. In al Adhkar, Imam Nawawi has this to say on the subject of a person's praising himself and mentioning his virtues:

"You should know that someone who mentions his virtues is two separate individuals, one blameworthy and one praiseworthy, What is blameworthy is that he mentions something for the purpose of boasting, displaying superiority and suchlike. What is praiseworthy is that it contains some religious benefit, because he is commanding what is right and fair, or forbidding what is wrong and unfair, or giving good advice, or pointing to some benefit, or teaching, or educating, or admonishing, or reminding, or reconciling two people, or protecting himself, or something like that. When mentioning his virtues he intends by this to make his speech more likely to be accepted and received with trust. He is implying the message: "You will not find what I am saying in the company of anyone else, so that it to heart!' Many of the religious texts convey a message similar to this, like the saying of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):

I am the Prophet, that is no lie, I am the master of the children of Adam, and that is no boast. I am the first of those from whom the earth will split, and who will enter the Garden of Paradise. I am the one of you who knows Allah best, and the one of you who is most truly devout. I dwell in the presence of my Lord......


There are many traditions similar to this. Nabi Yusef (blessings and peace be upon him) said: "Put me in charge of the treasures of the earth. I am a erudite custodian"

Shu'aib (Allah peace be upon him) said: "You will find me, if Allah wills, among the righteous." As reported in the Sahih of al Bukhari and Muslim, Uthman (may Allah be well pleased with him) said, when he was besieged: "You must surely know that Allah's Messenger once said: 'If someone digs the well of Rome, he is entitled to the Garden of Paradise.' I have dug it". They believed him to be telling the truth.

We are told in both the Sahih's that the people of Kufa complained to Umar ibn al Khattab (may Allah be well pleased with him) about Sa'ad ibn Abu Waqqas (may Allah be well pleased with him), and they said "He does not perform the ritual prayer very well." Sa'ad responded by saying: "I was the first to shoot an arrow in the cause of Allah. and we used to campaign with Allah's Messenger....."

As reported in the Sahih of Muslim, Ali said (may Allah be well pleased with him): "By the One who created the living soul. Allah's Messenger vowed that no one shall love me except a believer, and no one shall hate me except a hypocrite."

We are told in the Sahih of Muslim that Abu Wa'il said: "Abdullah ibn Masud (may Allah be well pleased with him) addressed us saying: 'By Allah, I have received from Allah's Messenger seventy odd suras, and the Companions of Allah's Messenger have understood that I will surely acquaint them with the book of Allah even though I am not the best of them. If I knew of anyone more knowlegable that me, I would surely travel to him"

As reported in the Sahih of Muslim, ibn Abbas (may Allah be well pleased with him and his father) was asked about the blood money (diya) so he said: "You have stumbled upon the expert," meaning himself.... Reports of this kind are too many to be counted, all of them relevant to what we have mentioned at the end of the quotation from Imam Nawawi.


The author of al Kashshaf said, concerning the saying of Allah on the subject of Prophet Joseph (peach be upon him):
He (Joseph) said: "The food which you are given shall not come to you without my telling you the interpretation before it comes to you. This is part of that which my Lord has taught me." (12:37)

--"This implies that if the knowledgeable person's degree in knowledge is unknown, so he describes himself in a manner corresponding to it, that does not amount to self commendation." .............

Further evidence of that is provided by the saying of Abu Sa'id al Khudri (may Allah be well pleased with him) reported by at Tirmidhi and Ibn Habban in his Sahih: "Abu Bakr (may Allah be well pleased with him) said: 'Am I not the first of those who accepted Islam?" There is also the report of Ibn Abi Shaiba, according to which Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be well pleased with him) was told, when he was beseiged: "So and so has mentioned that so and so said such and such about you" Uthman said: 'Where does it come from, when I have hidden myself for a decade in the presence of Allah? I am the fourth of those who accepted Islam, and Allah's Messenger has married me to his daughter (Ruqayya) then to this daughter (Umm Kulthum). I have pledged allegiance to Allah's Messenger with this hand, so I have not touched my private part with it. I have not flattered, nor have I vilified. I have drunk no alcoholic liquor neither in the Age of Ignorance nor in Islam. Allah's Messenger said: 'If someone buys this piece of ground and annexes it to the mosque, he is entitled to a house in the Garden of Paradise." so I bought it and annexed it to the mosque"...................

the second point is that this had to do with speaking about the blessings of Allah, as an expression of thankfulness and in compliance with his saying

And as for the blessing of your Lord, tell of it! (93:11)

..........As reported by Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Allah's Messenger said: "Speaking about the blessing of Allah is a form of thankfulness, and leaving it unmentioned is a form of ingratitude."


The erudite scholar Shaykh Shams Din ibn al Qayyim had this to say on the subject: "The single thing has a single form, but it is divisable into what is praiseworthy and what is blameworthy. For instance, speaking about the blessing is a sign of thankfulness, while boasting is a sign of ingratitude for it.
He also quoted the saying of Aisha (may Allah be well pleased with her) as reported by Ibn Sa'd: "I have exceeded the wives of the Prophet in ten respects." She was asked "What are they, O Mother of the Faithful"
She replied "He never married a virgin other than me, and he did not marry any woman whose parents were Muhajirin (from Mecca to Medina), other than me. Allah sent down from heaven the revelation of my innocence (when I was falsely accused of infedility). Gabriel (peace be upon him) brought m form from heaven in a piece of silk cloth and he said to the Prophet : Marry her, for she is your wife!' He and I used to bathe in a single basin, and he never did that with any of his wives, other than me. He used to perform the ritual prayer while I was lying in front of him, and he never did that with any of his other wives, other than me. The inspired revelation would sometimes come down while he was with me, and it never came down to him while he was with any of his wives, other than me. Allah took his soul away while he was between my breast and neck. He died in the night which he used to spend with me, and he was buried in my house.".........

more to follow Inshallah

As for the second assertion (how antagonist may say, the statements of Shaykh Ahmad Tijani have included all the saints and also the companions, which is not true). By making statements in generalization but with an implicit specification.

As Jalal ad Din as Suyuti also said in the book referred to above: "The scholars fall into two different groups with regard to this kind of question. Some of them consider it a matter of customary convention, while some of them say: 'It is entrusted to the analytic process of the logical mind.' The gist is that it is an instance of generalization with implicit specification, for which there is no explanation in the science of the principles of jurisprudence. He mentioned several examples and proofs of that, to the point where he said: 'They include this saying of Allah:

It will destroy everything by commandment of its Lord (46:25)

"The scholars are agreed that this is an instance of generalization with implicit specification, because it (the tempest of chastisement) did not destroy the angels, nor the Throne (Arsh), nor the Pedestal (al Kursi), nor the heavens and the earth and the mountains, nor the rest of humankind apart from the tribe of Ad.

"They also include His saying:

Say: Allah is the Creator of everything' (13:16)

"In this case, the scholars are unanimously agreed that 'everything' must be understood in a particular sense, for the Sanctified Essence and the Noble Attributes of our Lord are not included in this (since they are eternal, and not created)

Everything will perish except His countenance. (28:8


"The scholars are unanimously agreed that Allah has implicitly specified the exception of the Throne, and the Pedestal, the Garden and the Fire and what they both contain, and the spirits."

"There is also the saying of the Prophet reported by Ibn Abi Shaiba on the authority of Abu Haraira and Abu Darda"

The sky has not sheltered and the ground has not carried anyone more truthful in speech than Abu Dharr!

"This is definitely an example of generalization with implicit specification because this generality cannot possibly include him the Prophet, and the other Prophets, nor al Khidr, if his existence is established

"Further evidence is provided by the report of Ibn Shaiba, who said in al Musannaf: ' A collegue told us, on the authority of Ishaq, that Asim ibn Damra said: "Al Hassan the son of Ali (may Allah be well pleased with them both) delivered a public address when Ali was killed, and he said: 'O people of Kufa, a man who had been amongst you was killed tonight, a man unsurpassed by the ancients and unmatchable by the later generations. Whenever the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) sent him on an expedition. Gabriel would be on his right side and Michael on his left, so he would not return until Allah granted him victory.'" Ibn Abi Shaiba also said: 'Abdullah ibn Numar told us, on the authority of Ismail ibn Abi Khalid, that Hubaira ibn Maryam said: "I heard al Hasan ibn Ali say after Ali's death: ' A man departed from you yesterday, a unsurpassed by the ancients and unmatchable by the later generations."

'This statement by al Hasan, the son of the daughter of Allah's Messenger is definitely an example of generalization with implicit specification, for the logical mind excludes from the expression 'the ancients' the Beloved Prophet and the other Prophets, as well as Gabriel and the other angels. Al Hasan did not intend to declare his father superior, or equal to any one of these. Let us take refuge with Allah! Nor did he intend to declare him superior to Abu Bakr (may Allah be well pleased with him). He only meant others apart from these, as no intelligent person will doubt.


If you know and understand what has been presented above, you will realize that the speech of Shaykh Ahmad Tijani relating to his maqam and him being the mediator between the Prophet and the saints, and his feet being on the shoulders of all the saints from Adam to the trumpet is absolutely unrelated to the Companions (may Allah be well pleased with them). This is corroborated by the fact the Shaykh declared explicitly that the Companion would still be more excellent than another person, even if that other person attained to his degree of attainment of the intuitive knowledge of Allah.