MY JOURNEY INTO TASAWWUF AND TIJANI TARIQA [PART 1 TO 8] , BY IWALEWA ABDULLAH

MY JOURNEY INTO TASAWWUF/SUFISM [PART 1 TO 8]

By: Iwalewa Abdullah


OUTLINE OF MY JOURNEY INTO TASAWWUF AND TIJANI TARIQA 

- Background – Nigeria society as home for both Salafi and Sufi (esp. Tijanis)

- The growth of Salafi in Nigeria and My journey with Salafi - as a child, in higher institutions

- My relationship with Salafi community/Wahabist and Dawah activities and influencing people around

- Meeting my mentor: His first process of detoxification and enlightenment about knowledge of Islam

- Migration to another country. Meeting Sheikh google and rekindling the zeal to be a Scholar

- New knowledge, new Sheikhs, Seerah of the Prophet

- Meeting Salafi scholar in a foreign land and his effort to help me attain admission into the Medina University. And my journey to Sufism

- The effort of my mentor and Sidi Ibrahim Dimson article

- Effort to know more about Sufism and the Attainment of certainty about the evidence of the science

- The impact of Sh. Yasir Fahmy, Yaya Rhodus and others. Zeal for learning again but now at the feet of a scholar.

- The meeting of Ba Alawis. Effort to joining a Tariqa

- My choice of Tariqa, Pristine Sufism Blog, Imam Fakhruddin Owaisi, Second reading of Sidi Ibrahim Dimson Article

- First vacation to Nigeria and the joining of Tijani Tariqa (2018)

- End of Vacation and returning as a new Murid. My offline status. New insight : Non structured Extensive reading and learning Islam and Sufism and Tijani Tariqa; Seekershub, RIS, DEENSTV, YouTube, Faydabooks, Reading, deep reading, Imam Fakhruddin Owaisi, Prof Zachary Wright, Academia.com, Jonathan Brown, Hamza Yusuf, AbdlHakeem Murad

- Meeting with the sufi blogger

- Second visit to Nigeria and new knowledge from my mentor and new knowledge about him

- The Zeal to be a scholar rekindling once more. The Unanswered Questions about Sufism. Meeting Imam Fakhruddin Owaisi and Prof Zachary Wright via email.

A new relationship and identifying with a new community

What Next: Equipping myself with knowledge and helping others, starting from my immediate families and friends especially those that I have personally indoctrinated into Salafism years back

PART 1 – BRIEF OUTLOOK OF ISLAM IN NIGERIA

The history of Nigeria is not new to many of us, I believe. Nigeria is diverse in many ways. Nigerian citizens speak hundreds of languages and they subscribe to different religions. It has the highest population in Africa and so it is the most populous Black nation in the world.

Nigerian citizens are largely religious and very few of us ever show affinity to the non-existence of God. Since my discussion is related to religion, let's talk about what people practice by region.

The Northern region (Hausa/Fulani) which is the Old Usman dan Fodio's empire (Sokoto Empire) still has the majority of people practicing Islam. The Yoruba in the southwest has a mixture of faiths; Muslim, Christian and Traditional worshippers. The Yoruba are not so committed to religion as the northerners, so you see lots of inter-marriage from the existing faiths and you see them attending each other functions, it is normal in that region. And the third region (largely the Ibos) are mainly Orthodox Christians. Other minority tribes/languages fall in these three regions.

HOW IS ISLAM IN NIGERIA?

In the North, you are either a just a follower or subscribe to a Sufi group/Tariqa (usually Tijaniyya or Qadiriyya) or you are an Izala (a dissent group which is obviously a Salafi group), or you are self-made Salafi or you are not practicing Muslim... anything goes (very few of them).

In the south, it is very difficult to understand Muslims in this region, because their culture plays a big role in the way they practice their religion, they are over tolerant of other religion, everyone can easily subscribe to any group at any time. But the most influential groups are the Islamic societies e.g Ansaru Deen, Anwar ul Islam, Ansarul Islam. And the others are the As-salatu/Dhikr societies like NASFAT and the likes, they have Dhikr session weekly. These groups attracts all Muslims together regardless of what you subscribe to either you are a Sufi or Salafi (although, most core salafis will dissociate themselves from these group) especially because of their communal roles like funeral rites, aqeeqah of new baby, community projects among other things.

I am from the later region, the Yoruba. This is just to give you a background of what my community looks like. Although, I spent my active years in the North Central. My parents are not committed to any Islamic group but my grandparents are committed members of the societies mentioned earlier.

There is another group that we need to talk about, the Muslim Student Society of Nigeria (MSSN). This student group play a big role in the spreading of Salafi teachings.

 
I will explain how they did that in the next part of the story and how I was indoctrinated as a child or young adult.

Shukran🌹

PART 2 - THE GROWTH OF SALAFI IN NIGERIA (NORTH AND SOUTH WEST)

I wish to clarify, first of all that there are different versions of Salafi movement (you can do your findings) the one we are referring to here is the movement that is propagated by the Wahabi scholars and Al Albany ideology/school of thought if you permit me to say that. How the Wahabi movement started in the Northern part of Nigeria is simple. It was through the first Grand Qadhi (Shaykh Abubakar Gumi), and the Tijaniyyas in the north can relate to that story very well. But in the South-west, the story is different, it was a gradual process because unlike in the North, there is no central force for Islamic voice, the North has the Emirs who can, to a large extent, regulate the affairs' of the Muslims. As mentioned in *PART 1*, the most influential Islamic voices in the south west are those of Societies and Dhikr groups (Ansarudeen and NASFAT for instance). Although there are ceremonial Amirs (Aare Musulumi), the title is usually given to rich, public figures but not a title to command per se. None of these bodies or figures gave special attention to Muslim Student Society of Nigeria (MSSN) because it is usually assumed MSSN is a temporary thing that once a member graduates from higher institution, that automatically terminates his/her membership.

My Mentor narrated to me how and when MSSN started gaining relevance. It was in the Cold war (between America and the Soviet Union) period and he happened to be an undergraduate and active MSSN member. At that time, Muslim students of Nigeria being motivated by the idea of Islamic state of the Iranian Revolution of the Shia, they were determined to follow that model and reject the style of governance both USA and the Soviet Union (democracy or communism or socialism) are propagating, MSSN are advocating for an Islamic system of government. And the Iranian government was also looking for a way to spread their wings to rival Saud family and to also spread Shia sect, because of that, they supported the MSSN through their consulate in Nigeria in their advocacy for an Islamic state. They helped publish books, articles and magazines and at a time the consulate were demanding from the student to add Shia contents in the publications and at that point the MSSN stakeholders dissociated themselves from the Iran consulate but some of them like El-Zakzaky continued to receive funding and support from the Iranian government and in fact they eventually and successfully establish a Shia movement in Nigeria through him. This singular effort by the MSSN change the game. They now seek to be independent from the traditional scholars outside the walls of the school. They determine by themselves what pristine Islam is, they could say this at a time when many traditional scholars are already corrupt. To a large extent, the Tableegh Jamah gained prominence in these period and many student started adopting Tableegh Jamah lifestyle especially in dressing by reducing the length of trousers and keeping long beards (Tableegh Jamah are from Pakistan and so they appear in the traditional Pakistan Muslim dress) most of these students do not know the people they copy are Hanafi and in fact Sufi. Up till today, if your trouser is jumping and you have unkept beard (essentially if you are a Salafi and dress in that manner) people in the south-west will say you have join the “Tableegh people”.

In the same period, years after the cold war and especially in the 90s, Saudi Arabia began serious campaign for the Wahabi movement through publications and sponsoring of projects, building mosques, schools and dishing out scholarship to youths to study in Medina universities. MSSN students now had access to publications from Saudi, many of them already translated. And now they have new views which sound convincing, the fatawas of scholars from Najd and they started adopting their style of teaching. They teach Fiqh directly from Hadith book since the four schools are no longer relevant to them. They have access to Hadith books which they can now verify hadith on their own. When these new recruited students go home for holidays, they are mostly misunderstood by their parents in their appearances, they have suddenly become un-cultured to a Yoruba parent who expects, for instance, some aerobatics display of respects in form of bowing. Some of the etiquettes been thought, even though are valid, the conditions needed to apply them are not understood by the young MSSN teachers or it was understood in their Salafi way. Because the methodology is just to extract the hadith and apply.

Just as new graduates are arriving, the undergraduate students are also equipping themselves with the resources from Saudi. And shortly before 9/11 and immediately after it, we started seeing lots of Islamic books written in English and most of them written by Medina University graduates like Dr. Bilal Philips, Yasir Qadhi (I use to adore these two people especially – although I still respect them for what they have been able to do with their knowledge, Imagine they are at the other side of the fence) and also students of Al-Albani. And so new graduates from the Medina universities, joined the force, they become teachers in schools or establish their own Madrasah with the help of Saudi government. This is the period when the Sufi group and other traditional scholars started facing serious criticism and opposition from these new crops of Saudi/Wahabi breeds. At this time, the Sufi group is already well known status among people, some of them have become corrupt and they have manipulated their followers, all they need is for a Salafi to show them an evidence in the hadith book and they stop following their Sufi groups and join the Salafi in criticizing the Sufis. Awkward in their understanding is their inability to differentiate between Fiqh and Aqeedah that if you differ with them in even Fiqh matters, you are considered heretics. MSSN will condemn their patrons in the campus and loose their support, just like every Salafi, they don't agree on many things and they find it difficult to reconcile. Infact, few years back, MSSN national body sacks some campuses because of their extreme salafi nature. So in the street, I mean outside campuses, the new Medinah University graduates are gaining ground, many are leaving their traditional madrasah to follow the teachings of the salafi because for the first time, they can now read the hadith by themselves and apply it. Something they are not exposed to with their Sufi Sheikhs. Also the Traditional scholars have relaxed, not until the arrival of the Salafi trend that made them to dust their books and make researches to defend themselves. Islamic schools are now patronizing the Salafi graduates as Islamic Religious Knowledge Teachers. People began to entrust their kids to them for Islamic vacation courses. I think I have said enough MSSN to the point of how I was indoctrinated.

I was indoctrinated in my neighborhood and in school. I attended a staff school located in a College so the MSSN student in that campus coordinates our Islamic weekend classes and Friday prayer. I befriended many of them and they started sharing books with me. The first book I read was that of Fundamentals of Tauheed (someone shared the cover in this group, and Imam Fakhruddin commented “run for your life”. Truly, the book did a lot of damage to me), these MSSN members will take us for weekend camps, we enjoyed it because we can relate to them, they are young and educated (western) and we want to be like them. Asides, we see local scholars as local because we appreciated the English asides, these guys are quoting directly from the Hadith. They also use to emphasize on Shirk and Bidiah a lot and insist all act of worship must be in one manner as they have understood it. Even though we were too young to emulate their dressing, we are hoping that when we get to the higher institution, we will be like them too and read the same books they read. We listen to them first, just as a child listens to its teacher first. Whatever our parent says about religion is not true unless and until our MSSN seniors confirm it.

I began to see the Sufi group the way I never saw them. I see them as people associating partners with Allah, people who exaggerated in their Dhikrs, call on Jinns and many unthinkable things. Although, throughout, not until toward my final years in the higher institution, I was not a serious Salafi but I was very definite that Sufi is not the way and I have the conviction that correct knowledge comes from Saudi. I look at people who associates themselves with Sufi as unintelligent and ignorant. What broke my heart most (funny though), the first time I witnessed *Nationwide Tijaniyya Mawlud Nabiyy* in one of the states in the North, we could not move around because these Ahlu Tariqa have blocked important routes in the city, they are so many, the city was shut down. I was so pissed and sorry for them. I never knew Allah was replying me in the Quran 2:13 “Unquestionably, it is they who are foolish, but they know (it) not”. Alhamdulillah I was saved.

In the next part, I will explain how I became a committed Salafi, and the kind of personality it gave me, and what it cost me in life.

PART 3 - HOW I BECAME A COMMITTED SALAFI, AND THE KIND OF PERSONALITY IT GAVE ME

I wish to state that, what I am revealing about Salafism is purely based on my personal experience. Scholars have carried out extensive research on the Salafi movement and have shown us the conspiracy theories behind it. And to be honest, checking their facts, you can’t argue it. In fact, *Dr. Yasir Qadhi* who was once a diehard Salafi scholar and expert recently released more facts proofing the works of Muhammad Abdulwahab encourages the activities of Salafi/Wahabi. The recent interview can be found in “mad mamluk’s” podcast series. A number of Authors and speakers have also analysed, based on facts the conspiracies behind the Salafi movement. Alexander Thurston also presented his case in his book, how Salafism motivated terrorist groups like Boko Haram. I respect all their effort but my narrations will be based on what I have witnessed and practiced as a Salafi.

One of the names distasteful to a Salafi is to call them Wahabi even though they enjoy the support and agree with the Najd scholars. But they don’t mind to be called Salafi as they see no offense in that base on their methodology that they are following the first generation of Muslims. However, they prefer to be addressed as Muslims. In fact, the extreme ones do not even like to be associated with group mentality (they call them “La Jamah” – meaning “no group” because that is their common slogan) even though they hold their weekly gatherings and have a leader and a secretary and other executives. They would prefer to call it “Halaqa” to make it Halal and they still think they have not given the group a name and also that they don’t have a society. What a crazy dogma! Doing the same thing in a different way and damning others. That’s their way, though. The Salafis are full of contradiction and this is because there is no central voice. Even though they have their most trusted scholars, they enjoy the freedom of choosing how they practice base on their inclinations.

The type of Salafism a person practice is dependent on how he or she is sourcing information either from the community or individual effort. *Base on my understanding, the Salafis has some ideologies in common;*

1. They have canonized works of certain scholars whose opinion shall ONLY be considered

2. They encouraged themselves not to listen to, interact with or use the works of any person or scholars they did not agree with or whom they consider innovator or damned as heretics for fear of destroying their faith.

3. They over emphasize the fact that the pious predecessors represent the standard Islam, although most of those they considered Salaf are not even among the generation of Salaf.

4. They gave preference to external/physical appearance and they use it to judge the soundness of a scholar or a person’s Islam/Eeman.

5. Hold bad opinion of sinners and hate dissenting opinions.

6. Low tolerance for difference of opinion especially if the opinion is not in line with their methodology and can easily declare such as innovation. And since all innovation is damned to hell, it is easy for them to declare a person or group of people as heretics.

7. Very quick to point out the mistake of others

8. Salafis are by standard Athari by aqeedah, but most of them practice anthropomorphism indirectly and ignorantly.

9. Too sensitive about opposite sex. So mixing of Male and female in any form is disallowed.

10. They condemn adherent to Madhabs although most of their rulings favours Hanbali Madhabs.

11. They have special hatred for Sufi community

We have the other extreme groups which are even condemned by other Salafis. I really don’t want to talk about them because there is nothing intellectual in their ideology but stubbornness in adhering to what they hold to be true and damning others to hell. I see it like a disease, the kharijite spirit is 100% apparent. By the way, the general Salafi methodology makes it easy for ISIS and Boko Haram to recruit them because, they only need to turn the key that opens their heart, which is to quote a hadith to justify what they are doing and make them feel guilty for not been part of the cause.

Okay, so I mentioned how I was indoctrinated by the MSSN brothers back in my High school/secondary school. Upon getting admission to the university, I lost contact with most of these brothers, some of them have also disappeared in to the labour market. I also found new friends and tow another path. I joined social groups and made new friends. Even though I was not carrying the placard of Salafism, I still maintain the code anywhere I find myself. I don’t freely interact with ladies, I comport myself and ensure to the minimum extent that decorum is observe to respect Islamic life. And I keep my five daily salawat intact. *I was enjoying this way of life, until one faithful day, one of the MSSN editorial member approached me, persuading me patronize the MSSN new publication. The publication caught my attention and express my intention to join the editorial board. The lady introduced me to the chief editor and after his assessment of me, and found me resourceful for the board. So I was welcomed to work on the next publication. I was saddled with the task of typing and doing the first editing of articles written with pen. This exercise brings back the memory of MSSN activities while in High school.*

It’s been a while I read something about Islam, it’s been a while I attended Vacation Course that are annually organized by the MSSN. So I determined to attend the next *Vacation Course (Islamic Vacation Course)*. I fulfilled the promise and upon getting to the camp, I met old friends, juniors in high school, and also some of the brothers that initiated us. I discovered that they are disputing the membership status that limited it to undergraduates or high school students. Every Muslim is a student forever in the deen, that is what they mean. What I fathomed from this is an attempt for them to remain relevant in the society as they are not willing to join any of the old Societies and Dhikr groups. I also get to know different factions that exist within the MSSN as a result of different Salafi methodology or approach.

Anyway, meeting these old faces rekindled the zeal to be more committed. All those juniors that we use to attend weekend classes are now more serious in the "Salafi methodology". They keep beard, raise their trousers and they are up to date about Salafi teaching (don’t be surprised, they are always changing their opinion or looking for a stronger opinion). We interacted and discussed for almost 2 weeks, waking and sleeping in the same tent. It was time for me to be serious, too and so I began to connect with all of them after the program, read the books they read and listen to the kind of lectures they listen to. I became committed to MSSN in my campus especially with the Editorial board. I stopped attending my social groups, I now befriend the MSSN guys. I started scouting for Salafi lectures and lecturers to better understand the so called “pristine Islam” as we thought. I continued in this manner even after graduation. But one thing that changed is that I switched from MSSN to the self-learning mode; reading on my own, keeping up with news and fatawas, and using the internet and social media. And now, I have gathered enough resources for myself, I have spotted some personalities to follow. I did all the things I have mentioned above about the Salafis. But I have strong passion for Islam and in fact, I wish to be a scholar. I pray with sincerity to Allah to use me for his course and to endow me with knowledge to properly worship him well. I was into serious Dawah activities. I organized, coordinated, gave talks, attended and involved myself. I am everywhere the salafis and the Muslims in between are. The thing is, Salafis won't segregate as long as you let them take charge of events. But I don’t go near anything Sufi. I hate them with passion. The obsession of the Tijaniyyas about Sh. Ibrahim Niyass was incomprehensible to me. You see his picture hanged everywhere.

I was enjoying my Islam, I was reading more Salafi books, listened to their lecturers and speakers, I don't just read any how book if it is not Salafi related or will not damage my Salafi understanding and I don't even like reading non-religious text as I see it as waste of time except when it is needed for educational or work purpose. I was very passionate. I naturally indoctrinated my siblings, and every people around me that I can influence. Islam was black and white to me, it is either the Salafi opinion or nothing else. You have to be with us. Later on, I decided to enrol in the Islamic Online University (IOU) of Dr. Bilal phillips. And something is about to change.

In the next part I will narrate my meeting with my mentor and his first process of detoxification.

Shukran!

PART 4 - MY MEETING WITH MY MENTOR AND HIS FIRST PROCESS OF DETOXIFICATION.

A lot has been said about Salafi in the previous part, I will like to sum it up by calling our attention to a fact that despite all the negativity, they seems to be more confident in Nigeria than the Sufi. Reason being that the Muslims in-between (I mean those who do not really subscribe to any of the two groups (Salafi and Sufi) find it easy to associate with the Salafi because the Salafi rhetoric are easy for a modern fellow to understand just as it is easy to understand the concept of freedom in our time. For instance, salafi says no madhab, just derive your law from Quran and Sunnah because the Imams makes mistakes and make use of weak hadiths or sometimes no hadith… as they always emphasize. Their publications are still in circulation and more accessible to people than the Sufi books and even when you pick a Sufi book, hardly you find a hadith, it emphasizes on the teaching of a gnosis than quoting from a hadith. And those are some of the allegations of the Salafi against the Sufis. It may take time for someone following a particular Tariqa to explain why he is attached to a particular Sheikh. I mean, imagine teaching a non-Muslim about Islam, the mention of Tariqa will be the last thing (and that is true because it should be the last journey of a Muslim which is to perfect and train himself to attain Ihsan). Because of that, common people can easily identify with Salafi teachings because of their claims.

Secondly, a Salafi is equipped or trained to argue whereas a Sufi adherent will rather walk away as a sign of Adab. However, it is still necessary for Sufi teachers to train their followers all defence mechanism against the Salafis so it won’t look like they are defeated all the time and being vocal about the truth is another form of Dawah. That is why I love to read the works of someone like Imam Fakhruddin Owaisi, he speaks in the same manner the Salafi speaks, I mean defending with all proofs and with confidence. You can see in his write up that he knows what he is talking about and his knowledge is deep. Right from time, intellectual defense via oral or written has always been the way of the scholars of Islam to resolve issue. See the effort of Imam Ghazali in “Ihya Ulumu deen”, the science of Tazkiyya never remained the same because of the effort he placed in the book. Another thing the Tijaniyya followers are lacking (not only in Nigeria) is the low patronage of technology for Dawah. To do a simple test, go to Youtube and watch Tijaniyya videos, watch videos they released in 2019 you will mostly see poor video uploads. While most Salafis have mastered the use of good cameras to presents their lectures, you will see sufi brothers using phone to record lectures. It is easy to discourage someone who is used to watching clean digital content. Sh. Ibrahim Niyas used all the means that was available in his time to propagate Islam and that is why many of his works are still relevant. I was told his Tafsir was transcribed from his audio recorded sessions. He is so intelligent that he knows the value of recording speeches. It also shows how he follows the prophet both in spirit and letter just as the Prophet would encourage his companion to use the poetry to defend Islam because that was the media of that time, he would encourage them to learn other languages.

The last thing I noticed, and to the advantage of Salafi, the Sufi always like to tag or name their events with something that mentions their affiliation to the tariqa or the Sheikhs of the Tariqa, whereas the Salafis organize programs without mentioning Salafi or anything related in their tags or posters giving the notion that it is for all Muslims regardless of your affiliation. And I think this is the reason why you see more converts in Salafi than among the Tariqas. It is very rare you see someone who was once a Salafi to take bayah. It is possible they renounce Salafi, but they find it difficult to join a Tariqa. They would prefer to be independent. In fact, I have listened to a popular lecturer who beliefs Sufism is a valid science but openly said he finds it difficult to join a Tariqa because he does not like the mentality of having to submit to a Sheikh or conform oneself to a set of activities, he said, he is speaking as someone who have been oppressed for a long time and knowing many reports that shows Sheikhs of Tariqa manipulating their followers. So he prefers to practice Sufism without joining a Tariqa while validating that one can join a Tariqa but should be very selective of who you take as a Sheikh so they don’t ruin your life.

However, if one is to carefully look at our situation, there is no generation that needs to have a strong guide like ours, our lives are full of distractions. At the least, we need a companion that can watch over us when we slip but there is nothing like having a good Sheikh that can help you to refine you and get you closer to Allah in your clean state. I am happy to find a mentor at a time I was going haywire. My meeting with him was on a Eid, I was at his home to celebrate with one of his children, and it happened that my friend that I went to visit was very busy and the Dad who is now my mentor had to engage me. That first meeting was a turning point for me. He is a man with few words when he is discussing mundane affairs but when it comes to intellectual discussion, you will see the other side of him. He is vast and intelligent but very humble. At that time, a debate is ongoing regarding child marriage and so he started to share his view with me from an Islamic perspective. His idea was so brilliant I became very interested and started throwing questions at him to see how he will answer them. At first, being someone with Salafi mindset, by his appearance I did not imagine he will be someone with immense knowledge. We continue to gist, we ate together, we observe Dhuhur and Asr and throughout the whole discussion I did not even remember the person I came to visit not until when I was about to leave. This man who will later became my mentor gave me his email that I can email him anytime I wish to share something with him or like to ask questions. And that his door is open for me to visit at any time. I have never in my life sat close to someone so intelligent as him. When I got home, I started to think of what to ask him so I will be able to benefit from his knowledge. I was able to ask him many questions and his response were so satisfying, deep and mature. He would refer me to books and give me references. He finally captures my heart completely that before I take any major action, I will seek his advice or opinion. One thing that surprised me, he never revealed to me that he is a Tijani. You won’t see a single picture of Sh. Ibrahim Niyas in his house as most Tijani brothers do in Nigeria (as an Identity to showcase their membership). He is not noisy about the Tariqa, yet he took his bayyah since in the 80s. He later showed me the certificate that has his sanad back to Sheikh Tijani then to the Prophet. When I later discovered, which is at the time of taking my Bayah, he said he does not see it as necessary telling people he belongs to a Tariqa because he is a Muslim first, the essence of being in a Tariqa is to purify himself and not to brag about it. Infact, he mentioned some scholars who are also Tijani but they don’t make noise about it. I was shocked when he mentioned those names and he has proofs because he knows most of them personally. The point is, there is no need to make noise about something when it is not necessary.

So, after a while, he identified my problem that I have limited my research or knowledge to a few scholars. He wanted to cure the sentiment and detoxify me in such a way that I see everyone as human being first which is enough for me to be merciful to everything regardless of what they are or subscribe to. He narrated to me the biography of Sh Al-Albany and what influenced his teachings. He introduce me to science of Usul Fiqh, RANDs reports and their research about Muslims and Muslim world. He did all his best to expose me.

He managed to diffuse the poison of enragement in my blood by letting me know that, there is no reason for us to hold grudges or to be too harsh on a matter regardless of the belief of another person. For the first time, I understood why it was easy for the companion to quickly accept new Muslim despite what they had done to Islam because they love all but hate only the kufr or the bad act and whenever they repent, it was easy for them to accept them. He said people will defend their actions before you even if it is obvious such action is illegitimate, leave them because in the end, we will be alone with our own deeds in the grave. Why not take care of ourselves instead of worrying about the incorrectness of other person’s deeds. I will say knowing him was the beginning of my journey to Tasawwuf because he was emphasizing more on the Spirit of the law while regulating it with the letter of the law. He was so humble that at times, he is not shy to tell me he does not have answer to my question.

In the next part, I will elaborate on his role as mentor even when I traveled out of the country.

Shukran 🌹

PART 5 – MY MENTOR AND HIS MENTORSHIP ROLE

Although, if you are to judge the content of this series by its topic one would think it is meant to praise Sufi teachings over that of Salafi but the previous parts especially the last one proved that to be wrong as I dedicated a large portion to highlight some of the weaknesses that exists the Sufi circles. Although, Tasawwuf in Nigeria is as old as the arrival of Islam in Nigeria while Salafism came around in the 19th century, the prosperity of Salafism is partly due to the failure of Sufi adherents not being a good model for the society. There are some practices which are over emphasized among the Tijanis in Nigeria; for every ten events organized by a Zawiyyah or any Tijani group, nine of them are Maolud Nabiyy. It is as if there is more to it and I may not be wrong that the intent are to extort people in the name of showcasing their love for the Prophet. We have seen the way some Sufi Sheikhs and mostly Muqaddams (most of whom are only fortunate to be selected not by qualification) has abused members through some concepts like Khidma. The kind of Zawiyyah where the likes of my mentor were trained are now very rear. Imagine everyone is trained in that manner, maybe none of us will even want to smell anything salafi because we will be too carried away with the beauty of Tazkiyyah. Unfortunately, many of the people who are vocal in criticizing the Sufi are those who once belong to a Tariqa or were Tariqa by birth. They have experienced the worst corruption and Salafism was a consolation for them to fight back. I have cases of people who left the Tijaniyya and never regretted it and the reason being that the kind of “Tazkiyya” they were exposed to is so corrupt that they find it difficult to return even if Salafiyya is not promising to them. As a result of these poor situation, And because, in my own thinking, no meaningful development to expect from both ends, some Muslims now turn to western science to heal themselves e.g Psychology, psychotherapy etc... and you now see Muslims learning and teaching each other these science and it was meant to fill the gap of what either the Sufiyya or the Salafiyya suppose to offer the Muslims. If Sufi scholars are doing their job the prophetic way, science of Tazkiyya is far deeper and more beneficial than the so called western Psychology or Psychotherapy healings, not to say they are not beneficial or useless. But people would have gotten something purer from Tazkiyya. These Muslims are now setting up private classes to transfer the knowledge while both groups (Salafi and Sufi) are busy organizing Halaqas and Maolud Nabiyy. We need to wake up to understand the challenge of people are beyond what we are giving them. Allahu allam!

Furthermore, if we are to analyse it, the problem rocking the Sufi is secondary while that of Salafi is primary, reason being that the core teaching of Sufism/Tazkiyya is to seek purity and move closer to Allah and so deviating from that teaching does not change it just as the deviation of a Muslim does not change the message of Islam. Take Boko Haram for instance, it will be wrong to say they represent Islam. But the Salafi has a root -problem in the sense that the root teaching is faulty. The first thing you learn is hate, yes. The first primary text will tell you those you should not associate with and how to argue with them to proof to others that your understanding is the only safe path and others are innovator or disbeliever. Laying too much emphasis on Jahannam and the people that will be in them. And so they have this concept in their mind that they are the saved sects. Unfortunately, many of these texts written by Sh. Muhammad Abdulwahab were written at his time to justify their campaign on innovators and to establish some authority in the region and now, his teachings has become a global system of learning in the Salafiyya community. So even if a Salafi tries to pretend those teachings does not exist in the surface, it will only be eye service which means he can switch his or her personality base on what he has been taught at any moment. So the corruption is at the root for Salafism while the corruption will always be at the surface in Sufism if any illegitimate act is displayed in its name. Exposure also play a bigger role in how people practice their religion and one of the tools that exposes people today is the internet while many use it to serve as disadvantage to their life, it has also saved lives and make it easy. And I am one of those who benefit as a result of having good access to the internet. And this happens when I traveled out of Nigeria to a more developed country.

My migration was a live exposure to reality of diversity, the country is among the countries with diverse race and so you learn to tolerate people alot. The things I cannot tolerate in Nigeria, I am now witnessing the worst version of them and vice versa. And even in religion, I discover most of the things we make noise about to condemn each other are just basic Fiqh difference that needs no argument about if only we had accepted the vastness of Islamic scholarship and differences of opinions. For instance, in some places you will see people hardly standing shoulder to shoulder in prayer not to talk of the toes touching. Initially, I thought maybe because I am black and the light skin guys do not want to get stained. I rushed to my email to express it to my mentor which he then explained that such things exist in some Madhab and gave the proofs that validates it. There are many other things I saw that are different and Alhamdulillah with the help of my mentor and using sheikh google, I was able to understand these things better and begin to appreciate the four madhabs. Everytime I get this enlightenment, I always remember my brother at home and feeling the urge of transferring the knowledge to them. I am grateful for steady and high speed internet which is not available for me in Nigeria. I said to myself that perhaps if I don't have the opportunity to attend Jaamiah (Usually use for University of Medina because that the standard way to learn if you are a Salafi), then I should make use of the internet seeing it as a gift from Allah that Allah may count it against me. At first I don't have idea of how to start, I decided to study history and Seerah of the Prophet, then study the lives of the four Imams of the Madhaaib.. Although, I have read from the Salafi books and they have only emphasized on how the Madhab was not needed and how it looses its relevance at some point in history. But seeing people still practicing more than one madhab around the world and in the current country I was shows it is still very relevant.

When I study the four Imams, I was very touched by the facts that all of them are giants, they were infact special being, they were saints judging by the type of life and legacy they left behind. When I concluded my research on them, it took me almost a week to decide which Madhab to pick because all the four Imams has one or two things that attracts people to them and it shows it is by the help of Allah that he preserved their school of thought. Well, I said to myself that since the school of Imam Hanbali is actually the official Madhab of Saudi Arabia then it is better for me to follow the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and because that is what is closer to Salafism. Because unlike the Al-Albani version, the Saudi-led salafi still encourages Hanbali primer text just so they understand the basics before delving into the Hadith books. What some of them also do, is to pick a book of a Madhab to teach Fiqh with the intent of verifying all the evidence backing every law or techniques that would be mentioned in the book. But later, on I decided to switch to Maliki as I felt that is better since it is what is associated with Muslims in my community and also because that was the Madhab of Sh. Usman dan Fodio (I admired him after studying his personality) and so it can be easy for me access resources and scholars in the long run. I began to understand why the old Imams in our local communities we use to condemn their form of prayer are actually correct. And many other things. And I began to appreciate their efforts.

I was learning a lot from the abundant internet and then it rekindled the zeal to want to learn as a scholar. The one I could relate to very well is seeing my mentor giving me a precious gift, that particular gift meant knowledge when I read the interpretation from dream books. I did not pay much attention to it because I know he has been exchanging knowledge with me and I did not even tell him about it and the other ones, although I later did. I was getting more confused as I expose myself to other sciences in Islam and also reading the history. I wish to have clear understand. Especially when I read the history of Usman dan Fodio and other west African scholars, I discovered they emphasized on their affiliation to a particular theology, fiqh and Tasawwuf. I said to myself, these men have achieved a lot, it is not enough to say they were misguided especially reading about their personality and achievement and their level of knowledge, the wisest thing to do is to make research on those affiliations and what they truly mean. I decided to further take two steps;

1. Go for a structured learning,

2. Seek clarification from my mentor.

I think it is better to break the narration here. To be continued in the next part.

Shukran

PART 6 - GOING FOR A STRUCTURED LEARNING & SEEKING CLARIFICATION FROM MY MENTOR

In recent years, we see how the Salafi scholars and speakers are being attacked for not following “the methodology of the salafs” the attackers are from random Salafi adherent who are either graduates from University of Medina or studied locally from Salafi scholars. Their claims are usually that those scholars are deviating from the path of Salaf in one or two of their actions. All scholars are liable to be criticized except those in Saudi because they use them to regulate the standard of other Salafi teachers. These group of brothers regulates who should listen to and who not to listen to. They will justify their criticismin reference to a “big Sheikh” in Saudi. Sometimes, they will call the Sheikh or ask someone to ask them about the statement made by so so person. Once the Sheikh gives a negative approval to the statement, they lunch attack and use the name of the “big Sheikh” to blackmail the victim. The greatest sin you can commit is to denounce Salafi group.

The most notable of these attacks is by *Salafi Publication UK* SPUB and most vocal of these attackers is Abu Khadeejah (He has his personal site). As a Salafi at that time, I was getting fed up. The SPUB and the likes make things worse for me to really determine who is right and who is wrong. They attack not only the scholars of other sects and group especially people of Tariqa and their Sheikhs, but they also attack salafi scholars. Among the teachings of Salafism is conformity although they call it unity but in reality they want every Muslim to understand and worship Allah the way they have understood it. If any of the Salafi scholars make statement that is in contrary to main stream opinion, such a person or teacher is up for condemnation. The most popular of those being criticized over the years are: Sh. Hamza Yusuf and Dr. Yasir Qadhi (one a Sufi and the other Salafi but are both giants in the West, Yasir Qadhi dissociated from Salafism after being one of their stronghold for many years). They have declared them no go area for Salafi adherents among many others. These attackers are so influential that their attacks are honored by Salafi followers. One time I booked a visitation to one Salafi teacher, he is also a big name in Salafi community. He was a convert. I had read his history and like how to become a Muslim and it’s interesting. And now he is in the same country with me. So I discussed my zeal to learning and I need his advice because he is a teacher in one Islamic institute but they do not really focus on complete scholarship, just courses on basics. This is to find solution to one of the two proposals I mentioned in previous part.

So I proposed two solutions. Which are; make effort to go for structured learning instead of picking and choosing anything my mind wishes to study. And the second is while I am making effort to identify a structured learning I should seek clarification from my mentor. One of the things I needed clarification on was the issue of Tasawwuf. Because the more of the history I read, the more adherent of Sufism I find. At that time, I have pushed away all sentiments. I wanted to listen to other scholars and also verify the reason why the Salafi are warning against them. At that time, I had decided to go completely offline due to distractions. I really wanted to focus. I was off on major social media platforms including Whatsapp. I have other means of communicating family members. So while working on meeting the Salafi teacher, I was also planning to inform my mentor of my intention to go fully into Islamic studies.

When I met the Salafi teacher, he said the best thing for me is to go to University of Medina, he warned me not to go to other universities if not Saudi Arabia especially Medina and Makkah but that of Makkah has no scholarship. He further said the major setback for me is my citizenship, although age is also a restriction as I was above the age for admission into the Jamiah but being a Nigeria a big disadvantage because Nigeria has the highest number of student in Medina (This is to show Sufi scholars need to wake up from just celebrating Maolud, they need to organize serious training for sufi students and be ready to defend the science of Tazkiyya, if not the Salafi will continue to gain dominance). And the truth is unlike in the past when the best students in the popular Madaaris will be sent to Cairo to study, they now prefer to go to Medinah. So the Salafi teacher however promised to talk to some big names privately (because he studied with some scholars after graduating from Department of Hadith) on my behalf as he was guiding some people for Hajj that year. He seems to like my zeal and the way we interacted and saw that I was serious. He asked me to send some particulars to his email and even promised to translate all documents. He was willing to assist. I was so delighted and had to send those request to him the next day. He acknowledged my email that he received them and promised to work on it but he’s not granting any assurance. While praying for the admission to be successful, I have not given up on learning privately. The Salafi teacher has also given me free access to all his previous classes. All the classes he thought for 2-3years including Hadith, Aqeedah, Fiqh etc.

However, it was the same period I decided to verify the reasons why Sh. Hamza Yusuf and Yasir Qadhi are being criticized. I keep mentioning Yasir Qadhi because I have been following up with his works for a long time so he is part of my journey and so I could not fathom the criticisms that was rocking him. I was never listening to Hamza Yusuf because it was obvious to me he is a sufi. But when I read most influential Muslims, and saw his name, I was like so this sufi man has so much influence. When I searched his video on Youtbe, I saw good comments from his followers. When I read further, I discovered he schooled in Mauritania and knowing that some Salafi teachers also studied there, I developed a soft spot for him and now I really want to listen to him, to know what he has to offer. Before this time, one of the things I needed to clarify from my mentor is Sufism, to tell me what it is all about. I had read few things online but I was not confident because they were not quoting any Hadith (the salafi in me). It is very hard to convince someone of Salafi mindset to easily accept Sufism. A friend to my mentor said in one of his recent talks that looking at the trend of Sufism we have now (he meant in Nigeria, southwest in particular) an intelligent person will not join Tariqa or subscribe to any Sufi group only the one Allah gave special insight because what you see at the surface is not encouraging.

While waiting for response from my mentor, I decided to listen to a few lectures from Hamza Yusuf. I wish to state that, I am someone who is easily attracted to intelligent people. When I listened to a few lectures from him, I wondered why I have missed this kind of brilliant mind for so many years. He was like encyclopedia. He would quote this book and that book offhand and he is not just quoting them like the Salafi but applying wisdom. YouTube also suggested other names like Dr. TJ Winter (Abdulhakim Murad), Dr. Umar Farouq Abdullah (the man captured me with his golden voice despite his age). I discovered all these three are Maliki. It was becoming interesting. And for the very first time, I was listening to a very long lecture per video. These guys will talk for long and will be making sense throughout. They were deep in their knowledge. But they did not look like the Salafi in their appearance. They wear Shirts and pants, they are in suits, how can I trust them. But the messages they are giving are capturing me. I also noticed they are Ash’ari (at this time, all I know is that Ash’ari are those guys that are misguided and exaggerated and deny some attributes of Allah as Dr. Yasir Qadhi dedicated the intro part of his book Ulumul Quran to criticize the Ash’ari). So things are getting clearer and I wanted to know what this Ash’ari is all about. I saw a video by Hamza Yusuf and Dr. Umar Farouq on The Schools of Aqeedah (that topic was a shock to me, how can Aqeedah has a school again, we are supposed to have one Aqeedah). In my mind, these guys are some kind of philosopher. I listened to the long series but they go very deep into the topic and they even mention some of the theology of the non-muslims like the Buddha. (You know when Hamza Yusuf is talking, he gives you encyclopedia of knowledge). I was weary of all the things they said, although the message was clear. So now two assignment for my mentor. At this time, my mentor was very busy with some office work however he promised to answer and clarify to all my questions when he is free. He begged me to be patient. And he does not give me two three lines answers. He would compose answer of about 10-20 pages anytime I asked him questions especially if it is a very important questions like these ones.

So I am getting all these new knowledge from these white muslim guys. Remember, I was still waiting for the Salafi teacher to know if there is any chance of admission. I decided to listen to complete series of Seerah of Prophet by Yasir Qadhi. That single series gave me a clue of the issue the Salafi had with Yasir and also why Yasir left Salafi. Returning to US to have his PhD program changed his view and also being an expert on Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, he was able to align him with the Najd scholars and it seems he understood the two has different agenda. They have only used Ibn Taymiyyah’s work to support their own agenda because he is one of the most respected scholars in the Salafi circle. Asides, he saw how Salafis are not willing to embrace everyone, which is limiting their influence in the global scene. In short, Yasir Qadhi became wiser and apologizes for his past. Although, he never joined sufi and in fact he still does not have soft spot for Sufi but he has stopped bashing other groups and he is willing to work with every group that is identified as Ahlu Sunnah wal Jamma (which he strongly believes it includes the Ash’ari and Maturidi, something he disapproved of in his early years). Yasir Qadhi now prefer to say he is Athari by Aqeedah and an Hanbali by Fiqh. He is now very open and safe to listen to by my own judgment. He is also very intelligent. To continue, for me, things were getting clearer and I began to understand all these Salafi/Sufi politics even before my Mentor sent me his reply. As Allah would have it, the Salafi teacher never gave me a reply regarding the Medina University and admission time had passed. I was not expecting again and at this time, I was not willing to ask him. But I was listening to his structured classes. In his Aqeedah class, he also spoke against Yasir Qadhi and warned against listening to him. The thing is, Salafis are always afraid of letting their followers listen to someone who does not subscribe to them so they don’t get them “corrupted” in that case, they warn against them.

In the next part I will break down how I finally accepted Tazkiyya and was willing to even join a Tariqa. Again, I appreciate the unrelenting effort of my mentor. He was patient with me in a way many people will not be. Because for the first time, I debated some of his responses and it led to a little friction but his wisdom prevails. You will get the details later. In sha Allah

Shukran 🌹🌹

PART 7 - HOW I ACCEPTED TAZKIYYA AND MY WILLINGNESS TO JOIN A TARIQA 

I wish to highlight that the hero of this story is actually my mentor. Sometimes I wonder if I am more beloved to him than his children. He emulated the Prophet in that manner such that everyone around him feel like he loved them the most because of his attentiveness and support to everyone. Another thing is that, it is very important to have a good model to look up to. This is something that is indirectly/strongly emphasized in Sufi community. Unlike the Salafis, even though they often have respected figures, the fact that they have been given an impression that, the source of guidance is from the Qur'an and Hadith, then they are not liable to follow or obey anyone in absolute sense. A good teacher teaches good Adab and the first teacher are the Parents. A senior colleague called my attention to the fact that if I look at the manners of approach of most Salafi brothers to people, it shows some deficiency in their upbringing then coupled with the argumentative training they get from the Wahabi teachings. He said if a person has a good teacher, he would have been thought how to respect others and table your opinions without arousing animosity. I'm emphasizing this aspect of etiquette because it is related to the next part of the narration.

When my mentor finally responded, he gave a somewhat detailed academic response with references. He’s amazing! Rather than answer my question on Aqeedah and sufism, he decided to explain how all these sciences developed over time; Especially Fiqh, Aqeedah and Tazkiyyah. And use the hadith of Jibril the three meaning (Islam, Iman and Ihsan). What he also did in the write up is to show that the these three categories/levels never ceased to develop although at some point they were canonized and that all scholars after the canonization subscribe to one of the schools that was developed or canonized like the four madhab, the school of Aqeedah. And for Tazkiyyah, he said since it is a science that is hidden it is the most delicate of the two and so only people who have proven to be a doctor to help people attain Ihsan has always been followed by Muslim so that these selected saints can guide their followers to a state of Ihsan. He listed some popular scholars and their affiliation to the schools of thought developed and even their affiliation to a certain Tariqa or they either had a Tazkiyyah Sheikh that helped them to refine them. The message was sinking as I was able to put together what I have been reading and watching from the YouTube and it was making sense. He recommended books and I read most of them. So I now know what I need to study and how was not sure of how to go about it. I also wanted to know more about Sufism so he gave me one of the books written by Usman dan fodio where he analysed and explained the levels of belief. I was impressed. I decided to read wide on Usman dan Fodio’s personality and he was someone you could say has a very high standard and restraints when it comes to following the Sunnah. He was stricter than his brother Abdullah fodio who is more open in his opinions. By Allah, none of the Salafis running around today can stand Usman Dan Fodio in his strict adherence to Sunnah. He was a Sufi and this is true of all the Sufi Sheikhs. I was made to realize Sufism is not some kind of training for miracles but a transit from lower cadre to higher cadre in establishing relationship with Allah. Meaning your Aqeedah and your Fiqh must be stable before proceeding to full Tazkiyya. Tazkiyya without Aqeedah and Fiqh is ruin. So when you see someone claiming to be Sheikh and the first two levels are missen, run for your life!

My mentor also emphasised that being in a Tariqa is not binding on anyone and in fact there are individuals who do not belong to the Tariqa and still attained high stations. And also that one has to really consider it well before joining a Tariqa because of the activities that maybe involved. It should not be seen as a social group but a Tazkiyya training platform for seeker of knowledge. After reading his response, the Aqeedah issue is clear and I know what will be next is to do proper studies about it. My heart was not comfortable with it despite the fact that it is clear, the memory of the corrupt sheikhs that I know personally is contradicting what I am reading. After further studies, I came to a conclusion that, someone like me who is just coming from the other side, it will be difficult to assume I will do this alone. Where will I get a Sheikh. So I concluded the best is to join a Tariqa. Because of my admiration of Usman dan fodio and also that his Tariqa is not so popular like that of Tijaniyya in Nigeria, I would prefer it so that I will remain solo with *Qadiriyya*. Asides, Qadiriyya is assumed to be the first and Tijaniyya being one of the last so I was feeling, let me go for the oldest Tariqa. I was only nurturing in my mind. At this point, it was clear to me that my mentor belongs to a Tariqa or he is practicing it in another form. So I decided to ask him which Tariqa he belongs to and how to select a Tariqa for me.

THE JOURNEY TO TIJANIYYA TARIQA

So he mentioned to me that it is better to join a Tariqa that is accessible and for him, he is affiliated to the Tijani Tariqa. I lamented to him that what I have seen many Tijanis do is not encouraging and goes against what I have read about Tazkiyya and knowing him as someone intelligent, why is he associating himself to them. Although, in addition, I did not tell him how I feel about Sh. Ibrahim Niass. I am not comfortable with the way his pictures are everywhere and the way his followers exaggerate about him. He said whatever I see in the surface as I have described is just to show the poor state of the Ummah, not only the Tijani Tariqa and that if I meet good Sheikhs I will understand. And he confirmed that the Tijani Tariqa is sound. And because I have mentioned Sh. Ibrahim Niasss, he decided to tell me more about him and gave me some biography to read. His profile is highly impressive and I wish to read his works. So mentor shared one of his first books, the one he authored as a Teenager or young adult and that is “Ruh ul Adab”. The one he sent to me is the one translated by Sh. Hassan Cisse. I was really weary of that translation, I have residue of the attacks that had been done on Sh. Hassan Cisse by the SPUB. Before, I don’t know of now, you will see the picture of Sh. Hassan with red marks showing sign of danger on the website depicting him as one of their victims. So when the book was sent to me, I had already concluded that the translation will not be of good quality. So I prepared my mind to criticize his translation even without reading it. I also had the mind-set that this Sufi guys are less knowledgeable about Hadith that is why they are always scared of quoting it. Anyway, when I read the book, my mind saw what I was expecting and I wrote a reply on every line justifying the injustice and the poor translation by the translator. The words I used were somewhat derogatory because I was proofing in the commentary that I know more that the translator which is actually what shaytan was telling my soul. My mentor was not happy with my responses and warned politely to be careful of what I say about people of Allah. He quoted Quran and Hadith on the danger of talking ill of the Awliyya of Allah. And that even if I don’t believe him to be one, what if he turns out to be one. He however said, he was not surprised with my response because of the reminants of the previous orientation that I had. He then promised to send me another book which is simpler and straightforward for someone like me.

So few days after, he sent me the book written by Imam Haddad’s book of assistance. Then he asked me to check some Youtube talks by Yinka Mendes. I read the book, it was practical for someone like me. I also watch some series that explains the book and I was made to know that it was more like an abridged version of Ihya Ulumu deen. My mentor had also mentioned this book before. I took this Book of Assistance as a companion. All the content in it, I could verify them so it makes me love it more. And it was not written in poem version which is common with the West African scholars. In summary, it was written for laymen like me. I also searched Yinka mendes and through him, I discovered other speakers especially Sh. Yahya Rhodus, Sh. Fahmy. I mentioned these two because the lecture series I watched from them really change everything about me. The first lecture series I listened to was that of Sh. Yahya Rhodus at Zaytuna College, the series was on explanation of the book “Disciplining the soul by Imam Al Ghazali” about 9 session and avergely 1hr15min per session. I became very cold and calm after listening to the lecture. It was a spiritual experience for me. I was able to understand what they are saying about soul, the diseases of the heart and all that. And for the very first time, I see with a different eyes. I understood this is the disease many hard core salafis are facing. Now I need to a Tariqa and I need a Sheikh to help me. I now know how sick I am. The second series I came by is called “Knowledge Series” organized by ISBCC mosque. It was cordinated by Sh. Yasir Fahmy and different speakers were invited to speak on different topic. The essence of the series is to help people appreciate and understand what true knowledge is, as against what we have these days. It has about 18 sessions and averagely 1hr per lecture. After that lecture, I was certain, and I was happy I have found a true path. These two series gave me conviction but I am not convinced yet about Tariqa Tijaniyya.* I became addicted to and follow activities of institutions like Seekershub.org, Zaytuna College, Cambridge Muslim College, ISBCC and a host of others. I started learning and reading the contents and watching beneficial series and signing up for courses. I also benefitted from the RIHLA series organized by Deen Intensive, they go deep in the program and try to mimic an ideal traditional learning. The sessions were impactful and if I see any beneficial topic or course in the future, I will still subscribe. It was now certain that I needed to be in some group to be motivated and elevated. I cannot do this on my own. I need help. But I don’t know anyone around me with this inclination. I can’t go to that previous Salafi teacher and the institute, they have the opposite of what I now know. So I sent a message to Seekershub through the question portal to direct me to a place I can go and learn in my location. I received an answer from Sh. Faraz Rabani himself and he linked me to the gathering by providing me contacts. They belong to the same Tariqa of Imam Haddad. I was impressed by the Imam. I began to attend their sessions. It was not easy for me because of the distance but I knew it was for my advantage.

Meanwhile, my mentor was not aware of these efforts and unknown to me he was also working in the background to get me good resources. After a while, he sent me a link to read an article titled *“The Redemption of Sidi Ibrahim Dimson”.* He said he read it recently and it gave him new insight. So I decided to read the story. I saved it on my laptop in pdf format, and now I have it in my Evernote as archive. This story by Sidi Ibrahim Dimson, may he live long and I wish to meet him one day to hug and thank him for writing the story for me :). Even though it was meant to be his personal journey recount, it answered some of the questions I have not gotten the right answers to, it made me to belief in the Wilaya of Sh. Hassan Cisse who played a big role in the life of Sidi Ibrahim Dimson. So many impossible things happened in the story and I became sorry for having belittled Sh. Hassan in the translation work that was previously sent to me by my mentor. I expressed to my mentor how sorry I was and prayed Allah to forgive me. My mentor said he understood my state of mind that I did that passionately but ignorantly. So I told him I am ready to join Tariqa Tijaniyya. He said no problem but I should know that it is not compulsory for me to join a tariqa and that I should bear in mind that it is simple not to be in Tariqa because I will be given spiritual tasks or routine to do which maybe challenging if I am not ready for it and it will be damaging if I don’t follow it. So it has to be pure conviction and the intention is to purify the heart and to keep working on oneself to seek perfection which is something we will continue to seek till we meet Allah. He made it known that everyone is a work in progress. No one is absolutely perfect. He further said, that I should take note that this science is not something you get from books but by getting closer to the people of Allah and referred me to Sidi Ibrahim Dimson’s article for me to relate to the story. He promised that when I travel for vacation we will discuss better.

So, I was getting prepared. And I was determined I must take the bay’ah before returning to my station. At this point, the conviction was already there and now I am lonely. I continue to stay offline and it’s been over a year I did not use any of the social media tools. I had offended many people who had tried to reach me through social media. Most of them thought I was snubbing them. They didn’t know what I was battling. The matter was between me and my mentor. I still didn’t feel like going back online until after vacation and I only open WhatsApp.

I will be discussing the Bay’ah in the next part.

*Shukran* 🌹🌹

 

PART 8 – SETTLING FOR TARIQA TIJANIYYA

In this last part, I conclude on how I finally settled for Tariqa Tijaniyya. Throughout the period of this transition, I won’t say everything happens so fast, but I engaged myself for over two years to conclude and finally decided I was not only divorcing Salafism but marrying Sufism (Tariqa Tijaniyya) immediately. Many Muslims especially if you never subscribe to Salafi before, may never understand how hard it is to transit from Salafi to Sufism and I don't mean from Salafi to being a colder Muslim as Andrea Brigaglia tagged it, showing softness towards the Sufis and keep the company of their followers or the Sheikhs but won’t subscribe to any Tariqa. Some find it difficult to purge the negativity they have been taught about Sufis, in those cases, they still show some affinity to the Salafi teachings while believing the core of their message/teaching is faulty. It should be known to us that Salafi/Wahabi agenda has successfully created generations who will never have contact or know anything about the traditional understanding of majority of Ummah (in the sense of Aqeedah, Fiqh and Tasawwuf). The Salafi government have been allowed to sponsor, give scholarship, fund Schools, adjust curriculum, and provide books and other resources to suit Salafi teachings. Basic schools especially the private schools mostly patronize the Salafi-trained teachers to teach Islamic studies and so the coming generation are already conditioned to practice their Islam based on the teachings of the Salafi. Asides, Salafi government have gone far in their campaign by sponsoring so many projects and programs to ensure the spread of Wahabi teachings. However, the best way to be victorious in my opinion is for the Traditional Muslims to revive their Madrasah, the Sufi Zawiyyah should also be a place of learning, both the outward and the inward knowledge. So at the least, the remaining Muslims in our custody are well equipped and protected from the Salafi ideology and gradually create a ripple effect over time. We should equip them to preach to them in their character and also with good speech. The only area where most Sufis mostly have advantage to debate the Salafi is that, the percentage of those who can read, write and speak Arabic fluently in the Sufi community are larger compared to the Salafi group. And so they use that to mock them as the reason why they are lacking in their understanding. But when it comes to quoting the Hadith, most Sufi are flawed. Even though they are often quoted out of context and incorrect in the application, it has served as offensive and defensive weapon because the Sufi community are relaxed in that science.

These thoughts about offensive and defensive weapon slips into my mind when my mentor finally took me to a Muqaddam to take the bay’ah. I was determined to be very observant and vigilant. I trust my mentor though, and I know he’s not going to ask me to do something stupid as he has displayed his integrity, intelligence and sincerity on many occasion. He engaged me throughout the journey and also gave more insights on how the Salafi are gaining prominence in the country and how status quo has totally changed. He shared snippets from the life history and personality of Sh. Ibrahim Niass. His achievements were impressive and I never thought a Sufi sheikh especially Sh Ibrahim Niass can achieve that height. When we arrived at the Muqaddam place and we met him, I thought my case will be the first thing on the agenda, but the two men continue to discuss other matters until the Muqaddam observed my new face in the circle and demanded introduction from my mentor. He gave him a summary of my journey, who I am and my intention and the role he has been able to play. The muqaddam congratulated me for the decision. He was a man of few words, so he asked one of his murid to take me to a private place and explain the conditions of the Tariqa even though, my mentor had explained those conditions to joining the Tariqatu Tijaniyya before. By the way, those conditions were impressive to me, it's challenging and I liked to be challenged in healthy stuffs. In essence, you must be at least an average practicing Muslim who understands the Shariah of Islam before joining the Tariqa. And most importantly, what is generally considered a small sin should now be seen as a big sin. For instance, observing the Salat in Jamah and at the appropriate time was emphasized. After the whole introduction, I was taken back to the Muqaddam who then asked me if I understood and ready to comply with the conditions and I nodded in agreement. He turned again to my mentor and he explained to him that I am already a practicing Muslim. So he told me I will be given some sets of litanies to be reciting often at certain time frame and the contents are Istigfar, Salat on the Prophet and La ilaha Ila Allah. Everything is making sense to me, as in, so comprehensive and nothing sounds out of the boundary of Shariah. Before now, Hisnul Muslim was my companion, the morning and evening adkar is constant so the new litanies are not going to be a stress at all only that I have to take more of some Etiquettes. It was then explained to me, that taking the bay’ah means I have accepted the Sheikhs of the Tariqa as my trainer/guide in the path or for the purification of my heart. And to not mix Tariqa as that maybe damaging. They made analogy of a patient visiting or consulting different doctors for same illness. So, he said some prayers and then congratulated me once again. Wow! That was simple to me. But the feeling afterwards was different. I was feeling like a new Muslim and like a stranger in the community of my Salafi companions. Although, none of them had a clue of what was going on, and I was not ready to tell them neither. And unlike before, I could not join them in speaking ill of those they consider "ahl ul bid’ah", but when I am forced to , I will make some statement to end the discussion or almost make them reason on some of the issues, I would prefer to refer them to history of Islam to make them see some facts from there. But I don’t go deep into the argument for fear of not been able to defend myself on some issues or get emotional and expose my identity in the process. I was not prepared for that.

As I prepare to return to my station, My mentor reminded me that I should not have the mindset and notion that I am better than other Muslim out there. This is just a platform that will train me to be more disciplined and be more closer to Allah. And the journey is just beginning. He gave me some books to read especially his own copy of Jawahir Rasail. I wanted to buy a copy but we could not find so he gave it to me as a gift with the hope of buying another one for himself. The book contains some of the verdicts given by Sh. Ibrahim Niass, some of his prayers and letter he responded to or advises he gave murids. We read few pages together and he explained them to me as they relate to history. Sh. Ibrahim Niyas continue to marvel me with his knowledge, achievements and personality.

Upon my return to station, I began reading more about Islamic scholarship in West Africa and also the Shuyukh of the Tariqa. In the process I came across pristinesufism.blogspot.com blog and fakhriowaisi.blogspot.com blog both hosted by same person who by Allah’s programming we met. Imam Fakhruddin Owaisi makes me feel very confident and equipped by reading most of his replies to questions. It was from his articles that I first discovered the Fayda did not practice Sadl, a popular opinion of the school of Madina. This influenced and explains why Nigeria Muslims who are Malikis stopped practicing Sadl even before Salafi became prominent. Sh. Fakhruddin messages are factual, verifiable and he presents them with confidence, in other words, you can feel a tone of authority in his pen. I read many historical stuffs from the Pristine Sufism blogs especially about/on scholars in Nigieria, however, I wanted something more academic in my research on the history of Tijani Tariqa, so I turned to academia.edu, there, I discovered the works of Zachary Wright, Andrea Brigaglia, Rudiger Seesemann, Abdur-Razzaq Solagberu, Y.A Quadri, John Hills, Antonio de Diego González and lately Oludamini Ogunnaike. Their works generally focus on Tijaniyya and Islam in West Africa. I was impressed and proud of Islamic scholarship in West Africa, a ripple effect of the Timbuktu legacy. Also, the fact that Sufism/Tazkiyya is naturally part of Islamic practice in that region and in fact all over the Muslim world.

Later on, I contacted the blogger behind the Pristine Sufism blog to help me find a book that was referenced by Zachary Wright in his book. Strangely, he just happened that he arrived like a week to the same country I am and we decided to meet up somewhere in the city. He was the first Tijani Muslim I met asides the ones I met at the Muqaddam place and my Mentor's family. In our meeting, I made it known to him that I’m baby in the Tariqa so he knew I wanted to benefit more from him. To my surprise though, I was still able to flow with him in the discussion because of my readings. He is an energetic brother willing to help at any time. He is also well connected and up to date about tijaniyya brotherhood. I told him about the book I was looking for and he promised to ask the author that referenced if he has a copy. On my next vacation, I had a good time with my mentor. I read the book, "Kashif al-ilbas an-faydat al-khatm" with him and also commenced the study of Yaquutat al-farida by al-Nazifi although we only covered section one and part of section two of the poem when my vacation ended.

Finally, I was fortunate get to in touch with Imam Fakhruddin Owaisi and Prof Zachary Wright. That contact eventually led to Imam Fakhruddin adding me to his whatsapp group. I thank him for providing the platform for me to narrate this story and I hope and pray the story will be a means of setting victims of the salafi campaign free from their bondage and also help our leaders understand the task ahead of the need to revamp dawah approach and raise level of education. In the course of writing this story, I had received commendation, recommendation and motivations from the following individuals; Andrea Brigaglia, Dr. Giwa and Kishky and to Smilebak for publishing to story on his blog.*

اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد الفاتح لما أغلق والخاتم لما سبق ناصر الحق بالحق والهادي إلى صراطك المستقيم وعلى آله حق قدره ومقداره العظيم

By: Iwalewa Abdullah

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Al-Yaaqutatul Fareeda Fii Tariqatul Tijaniyyah (The Unique Ruby in the Tijaniya Spiritual Path), by Sheikh Muhammad Nazifi (R.A), translated by Sayyidi Jafaru Ibrahim

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SŪFĪ LITERATURE/WRITINGS/BOOKS COLLECTION

• Al-Durra al-Kharida fī Shar’h al-Yāqūtat al-Farīda (‘The Unpierced Pearl’ in the Commentary of ‘The Unique Ruby’) - [Arabic, 2 Vols] by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wāhid an-Nazīfī

• Jawāhir al-Ma’ānī wa Bulūgh al-Amānī fī Fayd Sīdi Abī-l ‘Abbās at-Tijānī (Jewels of Meanings and the Attainment of Aspirations in the Spiritual Flood of Abu l Abbas Tijānī) by Sīdī ‘Aliyyu Harāzim Berrada - Arabic [Single Vol 1/2]

• Fī Riyādh at-Tafsīr lil Qur’ān al-Karīm (In the Meadows of Tafsir/Exegesis for the Noble Quran) - by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (Compiled by Muhammad ibn Abdullah Jayjubi at-Tijānī) - Arabic [6 Volumes]

• Kanzul Masūn [Compilation of some Prayers and Supplications of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse] - Arabic

• Dawāwīn as-Sitt (Six Anthologies) on Prophetic Eulogy (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse) - Arabic

• Jihāzu Sārih wa Sā’ihi wa Sābih wal ‘Ākiful Fālihu fī Tawajuhāt bi-Salātul Fātih (Mandate of the Praise Worshipper, the Supplicany and the Glorifier and the Profit Secluder, in the Supplications with ‘The Invocation of the Opener’) by Shaykh Muhammad Gibrima Ad-Dāghirī - Arabic

• Ahzāb wa Awrād (Collection of Prayers/Liturgies and Litanies) of Shaikh Ahmad at-Tijani - Arabic

• Dalā’ilu l Khayrāt - Collection of prayers upon the Prophet “in Plain Arabic and Warsh script” (by Shaikh Sulaiman Jazūlī) - Arabic

We also have;

• Numerous Sufi Books (with English Translation, Prayer Transliterations)

• Mu’jam at-Tulāb (Student’s Dictionary) - [Arabic - English | English - Arabic] Compiled by Abed al-Hafiz Baydoun

• Al-Qāmūs (The Dictionary) [Bi-Lingual (Arabic to English & English to Arabic)]

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Dalā’ilu l Khayrāt - Collection of prayers upon the Prophet “in Plain Arabic and Warsh script” (by Shaikh Sulaiman Jazūlī) - Arabic

Kanzul Masūn - Collections of Prayers/Supplications (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse) - Arabic

Dawāwīn as-Sitt (Six Anthologies) on Prophetic Eulogy (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse) - Arabic

Ahzāb wa Awrād (Collection of Prayers/Liturgies and Litanies) of Shaikh Ahmad at-Tijani - Arabic

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1. Majmū’at ad-Dawāwīn (Collection of Eulogy Works) of Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse’ (English translation) - Translated by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq

2.Vessel of Spiritual Flood, Translation of Goran Faydah by Shaykh Balarabe Haroon Jega (Translated by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq)


3.Shariah and Haqeeqah: In the Light of the Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions(Translated by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq)

4.The Icon of Mystics: Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse Al-Kawlakhy (Translated by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq)

5. Tahniat (Congratulatory Ode) of Shaikh Ibrahim Niass - (Translation
& Transliteration of Majmuu' Qasaid al-Mawlid of Baye) - (Translated by Sayyid AbdulQadri Okeneye)

6. Handbook for every Tijaniyyat (by Shaikh As-Sufi)

8. Risalat at-Tawbah (Epistle of Repentance) of Shaykh Ibrahim Niyass al-Kawlakhi" - (Translation & Commentary by Dr. Razaq Solagberu)

9. Katsina and Kaduna Conferences (Jadhbul ahbab ila hadrat Rabbil arbab) and Mecca Conference - (Translated by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)

10. Softcopy of Numerous Sufi Literature (Arabic & English) - (To be sent via CD & email/googledrive)

12. Sayyida Fatimat Zahara (The Rose): The Beloved Daughter of the Holy Prophet (SAW) - (by Sayyid Ahmad Bello As-Suufi Harazimi)

13. Sheikh Ahmad Tijani and his Spiritual Path (Tariqat) - (by Sayyid Ahmad Bello As-Suufi Harazimi)

14.Special Prayers from Kanzul Masun- (Translated by Sayyid AbdulQadri Okeneye)

15.Facts about Sufism by Ismaheel Abdulrauf

16. Who is Shaykh Jamiu Bulala (by Ustaz Olanipekun Shittu Tunde)

17. Mawlud lectures of Shaikh Ibrahim Niass - (Translated by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)

18. Practical Guide on the Wird(Litany) of the Tariqah Faydah Tijaniyyah (The Adherent Handbook) - (Translated by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)

19. Hizbu Sayfi & Hizbul Mughni (Arabic text, Translation, Transliteration by Imam Marooph Raji)

20. Hizbul Bahri (Arabic text, Translation, Transliteration by Imam Marooph Raji)

21. Sufi Tasbih/Prayer Beads/Rosary 📿
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