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long or short, which have occurred in the Universe. He who recites it ten times acquires recompense greater than that which is due to a wali who lived ten thousand years but did not say it. Saying it onecs is equivalent to the prayers of all angels, jinns from the beginning of their creation to the time when it as uttered; and saying it second is like it (i.e. equivalent to the recompense of the first) plus the recompense of the first and seconds, and so on. Among its merits also is that he who preserves in reciting it every day dies in good faith… and he who recites it a hundred times on Friday evening will be absolved in his sins (even if he lived) four hundred years. Among its known merits are other things for which there is no space in this abbreviated book.
SELF- ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Highlight the views of Shaykh Mahmud Gumi on Şalātu `l-Fātiħ.
How did Sani Hasan Kafanga refute them?
3.4 The Izālah – Tijāniyyah Polemics on Jawharatu ‘l- Kamal
165 O God, bless and salute the Source of Truth from which are manifested the Tabernacles of Realities; the Source of Knowledge, the most upright; Thy complete and most straight path.
O God, bless and salute the Advent of the Truth by the Truth; the greatest treasure, thy mysterious Light. May God bless the Prophet and his household, a prayer that brings us to knowledge of Him.
This Şalāt is equally believed to possess great merits. For example, it is said that the Prophet will love whoever persistently recites it at least seven times daily and that such a person will become a wali before he dies. It is also said that wherever it is read at least seven times the Prophet and his four caliphs will be present at the venue at the seventh recitation. On the basis of this belief it is a teaching of the Tijānīyyah that the wazifah should be done in a place where a space that can accommodate extra five people is available. This space is covered with a white clean piece of cloth, called ‘’izaar’’. On which the unseen quests, the Prophet and the caliphs, will sit.
It is noted that in some zāwiyahs in Nigeria voices are lowered at the seventh recitation of the Şalāt Jawharatu’l- Kamāl while the reciters lower their heads as mark of respect for the Prophet. They remain in this posture until the end of eleventh recitation of the Ṣalāt when they believe the Prophet and his Companions will depart from the scene.
The belief of the Tijānīyyah about the Ṣalāt Jawharatu ‘l- Kamāl has attracted many criticisms to which the Tijānīyyah have replied. For example, on the practice of lowering of the voice, a Muqaddam said that it was in conformity with the Quranic directive which requires that voices be lowered in the presence of the Prophet. Many explantions have been given for the spreading of the izaar during the wazīfah.
According to one of them it was said that Shaykh Ahmad Tijānī used to cover the area on which he and his followers sat during the wazīfah with a clean piece of cloth because they used to hold it then on a wayside which was considered ritually unclean. The izaar is said to be non-obligatory part of the wazīfah but a mandub (recommended practice).
The belief of the Tijānīs that the Prophet and the first four caliphs attend the wazifahs simultaneously throughout the world looks absurd because it is not natural. Furthermore, this belief seems to have made the Prophet function in a new way which he did not do when he was alive in the sense that there is no report that the Prophet was ever present in two different places at the same time when he was alive. Probably if the
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Tijānīs say that the Prophet is with them in spirit, they may not be critised since that may suggest that their deeds are blessed with the Prophet’s assent. However, some Tijānīs see the izār as a mark of dignifying their place of worship worship which also makes the place clean. One may agree with this because cleaniless is part of Islam. The izār by the way has become a symbol of the Tijāniyyah by which they are easily identified in a mosque.
Another criticism against the Jawharatu ‘l-Kamāl centres on its being recited only with water ablution. This has been viewed as if the Tijānīs have placed it over and above the Qur’ān which can be recited with tayammam and obligatory Ṣalāt prayers which can also be said with tayammam. The defense on this by a Tijāni is that there was nothing wrong in the action and did not mean that the Jawharatu ‘l- Kamāl is more important than the Qur’ān or any obligatory prayer. More so, according to the Maliki school of Islamic Law, Ṣalātu ‘l- Jumu‘ah should not be said with tayammum, Ṣalātu `z-Zuhr should be said instead. And this did not mean that Ṣalātu ‘l- Jumuah was superior or greater than the Jumu’ah which could be recited with tayammam and Ṣalātu `z-Zuhr which could be said with tayammam.
Critics of the Jawharatu’l-Kamāl have also claimed that it contains a linguistic fault which they considered as a misuse of word. The word is al- Asqam. According to the critics, this word should be al-Aqwam since it is the superlative form of the adjective mustaqim (straight). They consider al- asqam to mean ill or defective sacrilegious in describing the Prophet’s path.
The Tijānīs do not see anything wrong in the word and blame their critics
for lack futi,
for example, the word al-asqam is derived from saqama, and not obscures a word which is uncommon. It is derived from saqama, yasqimu and has the equivalent meaning of adala ya‘dilu (to straighten) and it is not from saqima to be ill. He explains further that this usage of saqama in the sense of ‘adala is in vogue in Morocco. One may feel that the Tijānīs interpretation of the meaning and etymology of the word asqam shall be accepted as valid since they are the owner of the prayer and they conceive the idea of ‘straight path ‘ not ‘defective path’.The Tijānīs are also criticized that the prophet will attend their wazīfah at the seventh recitation of the jawharatu’l-kamāl. The critics see the idea as absurd and unrealistic because it is not possible for the prophet to be present everywhere in the different parts of the world where the jawharatu ‘l-kamāl is being recited simultaneously. The Tijānī in their view do not see anything wrong or absurd in this claim. They explain it that the prophet has said that he would be present any where he was
167 being remembered. Muhammad al-Arabī wonders why this should be attacked, if Angel Azrāil can be present in more than a one thousand place at the same time to take the lives of people. In addition to that Muhammad b. Abdullah argues that if the sun can be in its own planet and its rays are felt in different parts of the world at the same time, no one should criticize the idea that the prophet attends the wazifahs at the same time in different places.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Highlight the views of Shaykh Mahmud Gumi on Jawharatu `l-Kamal.
How did Sani Hasan Kafanga refute them?