General Istikhara

  Some of the shaykhs would encourage to make a general istikhara for the good of the day and what it brings. Below is the supplication of general istikhara by Shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris: اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ، وَ أَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ، و أَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ العَظِيمِ، فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَ لَا أَقْدِرُ، وَ تَعْلَمُ وَ لَا أَعْلَمُ، وَ أَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الغُيُوبِ اللَّهُمَّ مَا عَلِمْتَ مِنْ جَمِيعِ كَلَامِي…

Continue ReadingGeneral Istikhara

“…do not forget your share of the world…”

    In Volume 4 of the Friday Lessons, Arabic edition, Shaykh Salih says regarding the statement of Allah, “…do not forget your share of the world…”(Quran 28:77): The share for the believer of this world is the Quran and whoever takes it has taken a bountiful share. While whoever forgets the Quran and forgets acting by it has missed his share of the world because…

Continue Reading“…do not forget your share of the world…”

Levels of “With-ness”

  Listen, O’ servant of Allāh, and listen well with the ear of your soul. May Allāh guide you and me to His secrets of the Universe, as Sayyidī Abū Madyan said, “Allāh has secrets in the universe through which He can be seen.” Being “with” is of various types. The first type is sensory, when you are at their graves. The second type is metaphorical…

Continue ReadingLevels of “With-ness”
Read more about the article Reading the Books of the Shaykh
Shaykh Salih's Library

Reading the Books of the Shaykh

Shaykh Ṣāliḥ says: ‘It is necessary for every disciple travelling on this path to rush to review the books of his guide in order that he attains harmony between the two souls, and they are pulled together. “Between them is a barrier they cannot transgress” . He will attain experiential knowledge which is not in books. It is necessary for you to search for the reality…

Continue ReadingReading the Books of the Shaykh

Those Who Should Be Wary

  Shaykh Salih relating from his shaykh, Sayyid Muhammad al-Sharif: ‘I heard from my teacher and shaykh, who was the reason for much good and who I took the covenant with over thirty-five years ago [around 1347 AH, when he was nineteen years old]. I accompanied and served him a lot and saw miracles and blessings from him. He is Sayyid Muhammad ʿAbd al-ʿĀlī, titled “al-Sayyid…

Continue ReadingThose Who Should Be Wary

Delving into the Unseen

From forthcoming book The Bountiful Treasures, in the chapter of not going to extremes in speech and belief, Shaykh Abdul-Ghani says:   "Among this is delving into matters of the unseen and frequently talking about visions and miracles. This leads delusion into the heart and steals away the characteristic of hiddenness and obscurity, which are from the most important characteristics of the travellers. Shaykh Salih says:…

Continue ReadingDelving into the Unseen

THE INTERCESSION OF THE BELOVED ﷺ IS FOR THE SINNER

THE INTERCESSION OF THE BELOVED ﷺ IS FOR THE SINNER Sidna Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Ja'fari was approached by a man who looked extremely distressed. If a person were to see him, it could easily be assumed that this man did not know happiness. The man greeted our Shaykh and said, "Mawlana, I can not sleep at night. I can not taste food nor do I have…

Continue ReadingTHE INTERCESSION OF THE BELOVED ﷺ IS FOR THE SINNER

Witnessing the Prophet ﷺ

Shaykh Salih al-Ja’fari commenting on the lines from the Salat al-Azeemiyya: ...and join him with me, just as You joined the spirit with the soul, outwardly and inwardly, in wakefulness and in sleep and make him, O Lord, a soul for my body in every aspect... Join, in my essence, between his perfect attributes ﷺ and my deficient egotistical attributes, like you joined between the perfect…

Continue ReadingWitnessing the Prophet ﷺ

Beware of Bad Company

  From the warnings of Sidna Shaykh Salih al-Ja'fari: "From the catastrophes that afflict the murid is his mixing with those who reject [ie tasawwuf, awliya, shaykhs, etc]. Their speech are like rocks and the heart of the murid is like glass, "And the glass that has been broken cannot be repaired." So, whoever presents his heart to them has presented his glass to be broken.…

Continue ReadingBeware of Bad Company

WOMEN IN THE TARIQA

WOMEN IN THE TARIQA OF SHAYKH SALIH AL-JA'FARI   Just as the case for men, the Ja'fari path is not simply for baraka. The expectation is sincerity in seeking knowledge, both the religious sciences and those of the path. Women do not have to go through the 'formal bayʿa' process involving taking the shaykh’s hand and repeating the covenant. Rather, they would make a firm intention…

Continue ReadingWOMEN IN THE TARIQA