Hold Fast to Your Wird
Counsel of al-Sayyid al-Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ b. ʿAbd al-Ghanī b. Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (ḥafiẓahu Allāh)
Shaykh of the Jaʿfariyya Aḥmadiyya Muḥammadiyya Ṭarīqa in Egypt and the Islamic world
The spiritual path is not travelled simply by continually adding more. More adhkār. More awrād. More ṣalawāt. More voluntary practices. More numbers to complete.
A murīd may begin with sincere enthusiasm, but without wisdom that enthusiasm can itself become a source of difficulty. The seeker takes upon himself more than he can sustain, the remembrance of Allah gradually becomes heavy upon him, and what began as spiritual aspiration becomes a burden.
In an important counsel concerning the prescribed dhikr, Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) warns against precisely this danger.
His advice is simple but far-reaching:
Know the capacity of your nafs, do not burden it unnecessarily, and hold firmly to the awrād you have been given.
Dhikr and the Training of the Nafs
Dhikr has a particular effect upon the nafs — the lower self.
For that reason, the seeker should pay attention when the dhikr begins to feel unusually heavy. If he responds to that difficulty without wisdom, he can enter what Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) describes as a “difficult maze.”
He recalls seeing his father and spiritual master, Sayyidī Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu), receive brothers from among the murīdīn who came to him with questions concerning their adhkār, awrād and ṣalawāt.
Some would ask about the particular subḥa used by the Shaykh. Others wanted to know particular numbers of tasbīḥ, tahlīl or takbīr.
Behind such questions can sometimes lie a subtle tendency: the desire to continually add more.
The problem is not remembrance of Allah. Nor is it an abundance of remembrance in itself. The danger is that a person begins prescribing things for himself without understanding the capacity of his own nafs and spirit.
The seeker must therefore learn not only how to strive, but how to strive with wisdom.
When Aspiration Meets Resistance
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) draws attention to an important principle concerning the awrād known to the pious predecessors.
As the himma — the spiritual aspiration — of the murīd increases, resistance may also increase. Contradictory thoughts arise within him, and Shayṭān — we seek refuge in Allah from him — seeks to place pressure upon the murīd and the dhākir, the one engaged in the remembrance of Allah.
This struggle is not confined to the awrād.
A person may resolve to rise for Qiyām al-Layl, only to encounter whisperings telling him that he is too tired, that the prayer is too difficult, or that he should leave it for another night.
The same struggle appears throughout worship.
Alongside this is the nafs al-ammāra — the commanding self that inclines towards what is lower and resists discipline.
Our spiritual practices are therefore a means of training the nafs.
But training the nafs is not the same as overwhelming it.
There must be discipline, but there must also be wisdom.
Comfort for the Nafs
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) points to the Prophetic principle of tarwīḥ ʿan al-nafs — giving the self appropriate rest and comfort.
Our Master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, taught his Umma through both his words and his actions. He ﷺ was not in need of these things as we are, but through his blessed example he taught us how to journey to Allah.
The coolness of his blessed eyes was placed in the prayer, and he ﷺ would say to Sayyidinā Bilāl (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu):
“Give us comfort through the prayer.”
This changes how the seeker understands worship.
Prayer was not merely another weight to be carried. It was a source of repose, tranquillity and nearness to Allah.
Yet for us, this requires training.
We live in an age surrounded by worldly distractions and forms of instant gratification that promise immediate pleasure without necessarily bringing lasting happiness. Attention is constantly divided. The nafs becomes accustomed to stimulation, speed and novelty.
Against this background, sustained spiritual striving can feel especially difficult.
The answer is not to abandon striving.
Nor is it to respond by piling more and more practices upon oneself.
The answer is disciplined consistency.
Do Not Place Upon the Nafs More Than It Can Bear
The counsel of Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) is direct:
Do not place upon your nafs more than it can bear.
A murīd should not become his own shaykh, issuing rulings for himself and continually adding to the adhkār he has been prescribed.
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) explains that the awrād transmitted by Sayyidī Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) and Sayyidī Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu), together with the prayers and supplications placed in the hands of the murīd, are reasonable for daily recitation, are not overbearing and — importantly — are more than sufficient.
This gives us an essential principle of the path:
The objective is not accumulation.
The seeker is not measured by how many different litanies he can gather, how many books of awrād he possesses, or how many additional practices he can impose upon himself.
The question is whether he is faithful to what he has already been given.
The Murīd Must Hold Fast to His Awrād
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) gives two principles in particular.
First: when the murīd has already been prescribed the necessary adhkār, ṣalawāt and supplications, there is no need for him continually to search for additional practices.
The prescribed wird is not deficient such that it constantly needs to be supplemented.
Second: the murīd must remain steadfast upon his awrād.
This was among the constant counsels of Sayyidī Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu).
The essential ʿilm of every murīd is his wird. He should not allow himself to become distracted from it by continually searching for other awrād and aḥzāb from other ṭuruq.
There are many blessed supplications, awrād and aḥzāb throughout the Islamic tradition. Their virtue is not in question.
The issue is one of spiritual discipline.
A person who is constantly looking elsewhere can neglect what has already been entrusted to him.
The path is not travelled by perpetually searching for another path. It is travelled by walking.
Your Wird Should Not Make You Neglect Your Responsibilities
There is another important dimension to this counsel.
Holding fast to the awrād does not mean withdrawing from the responsibilities Allah has placed before you.
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) recalls that Sayyidī Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) would permit students of knowledge to attend the Ḥaḍra only once a month when their studies required their attention.
The meaning of his instruction to the student was clear: complete your examinations first; then, when your holiday begins, come and sit with us in the mosque.
This too is spiritual training.
The ṭarīqa does not teach the murīd to use voluntary devotions as a means of escaping the responsibilities Allah has entrusted to him.
The student has his studies.
The worker has his work.
The parent has a family.
Each person has trusts and duties before Allah.
The awrād should bring order to the seeker’s life, not disorder.
Do Not Make a Display of Dhikr
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) then draws attention to another subtle danger: turning dhikr into something displayed before people.
He mentions that people would ask why he did not constantly carry a subḥa, or why he did not sit counting tasbīḥ upon it during the Ḥaḍra.
His response is instructive.
He had observed both Sayyidī Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) and Sayyidī Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) and did not see them occupying themselves with the subḥa in this manner during the Ḥaḍra.
The gathering itself had rights.
People would come and offer salām. The madīḥ had to be overseen. The gathering required attention.
How could a person properly attend to those responsibilities while simultaneously occupying himself with counting his own private tasbīḥ?
Again, the principle is one of putting everything in its proper place.
There is a time for the Ḥaḍra.
There is a time for work.
There is a time for study.
And there is a time to sit quietly with Allah and complete one’s awrād.
Put the Phone Aside and Focus
Perhaps one of the most immediately relevant pieces of advice in this counsel is also one of the simplest.
When you are at home and have time for your awrād:
Put your phone aside and focus.
The problem is not always that we need another dhikr.
Sometimes we need fewer distractions.
A seeker may spend great effort searching for new awrād, new aḥzāb, new ṣalawāt and new spiritual practices, while struggling to give undivided attention to the wird already in his hands.
The counsel of Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) brings the murīd back to something much simpler.
Make time.
Remove the distractions.
Sit properly.
And remember Allah.
Give Work Its Right — and Dhikr Its Right
The same principle applies to work.
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) cautions against deliberately neglecting one’s duties in order to sit with the subḥa while being paid to work.
If that time belongs to one’s employment, then fulfilling the responsibility of that work is itself part of one’s trust.
This does not diminish the importance of dhikr.
Rather, it protects dhikr from becoming confused with negligence.
The seeker learns to give everything its due.
When it is time to work, work properly.
When it is time to study, study properly.
When attending the gathering, be present in the gathering.
And when it is time for your wird, put aside what distracts you and give yourself properly to the remembrance of Allah.
Consistency Before Quantity
Taken together, these counsels reveal a balanced understanding of spiritual discipline.
Do not overload the nafs.
Do not continually prescribe additional practices for yourself.
Do not abandon your own awrād while searching through those of other paths.
Do not allow voluntary devotions to become an excuse for neglecting your studies, work or other responsibilities.
Do not turn dhikr into a display before others.
And do not give the remembrance of Allah the scattered fragments of your attention while your heart and mind remain occupied with your phone and the world.
Instead:
Hold fast to what you have been given.
The transformation sought through the wird does not necessarily come from continually increasing its quantity.
There is a transformation that comes through istiqāma — through returning to the remembrance of Allah day after day, faithfully and sincerely, until it becomes established within the life of the seeker.
The murīd does not need to make the path unnecessarily complicated.
He needs to walk it.
To fulfil what has been entrusted to him.
To train his nafs without overwhelming it.
To fulfil the rights of the people and responsibilities around him.
And to establish a portion of his day in which the distractions are put aside and his attention is turned sincerely towards Allah.
Hold fast to your awrād. Stave off the distractions. And ask Allah for tawfīq.
Read the Original Advice
This article presents and expands upon the counsel of al-Sayyid al-Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ b. ʿAbd al-Ghanī b. Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) on holding firmly to the prescribed awrād, training the nafs with wisdom, and protecting one’s remembrance from excess and distraction.
Readers are encouraged to continue by reading the original advice, Hold Fast to the Awrād and Stave Off Distractions!, in which the counsel of the Shaykh (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) can be read more directly.
Read Hold Fast to the Awrād and Stave Off Distractions! (PDF)
Terminology
Nafs al-Ammāra — the “commanding self”; the aspect of the nafs that inclines towards lower desires and must be disciplined through obedience to Allah and spiritual purification.
Wird (pl. awrād) — a regular portion of remembrance, ṣalawāt, prayers and supplications undertaken consistently by the seeker.
Ḥaḍra — a gathering of remembrance of Allah, ṣalawāt and praise of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Himma — spiritual aspiration, resolve or determination in seeking Allah.
Dhākir — one engaged in the remembrance (dhikr) of Allah.