Did The Prophet (SAW) Or His Companions (As'hab) Recite Any Wird?

Yes, the Prophet (SAW) has had Awrad and recited it. In fact before the five daily prayers were given to the Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had his Wird as directed by Allah, e.g. his visits to the cave of Hira.

Allah (SWT) says in the Holy Qur'an:

"Remember your Lord {O Muhammad} within yourself, with humility and awe, without loudness in voice, in the mornings and evenings. And be not of those who are heedless." (Q7:205)

This is the Tijani Wird during the morning and evening.

In another Ayah, Allah (SWT) says:

"Therefore be patient with what they say, and glorify your Lord with his praise before sunrise and before sunset, glorify Him during the hours of the night as well as the ends of the day, so that you may find satisfaction." (Q20:130)

Allah (SWT) also says:

"Keep yourself content with those who call on their Lord morning and evening seeking his Face; and let not your eyes turn away from them desiring the attraction of worldly life; and obey not him whose heart we have made heedless of Our rememberance, who follows his own desires and goes extremes in the conduct of his affairs." (Q18:28)

Shaykh Abu Bakr Siddiq Yusuf of Ilorin, Nigeria, says that this verse shows that the Prophet (SAW) was giving Wird because Allah ordered him not to take his eyes off (the As'hab) those who call on their Lord morning and evening seeking His face.


Muqaddam Anwer Bayat, The Divine Opening, p.38

Ignorants

On the scholars who look at Sufis with suspicion:

According to Ghazali, "If someone possesses no portion of the knowledge of the (Sufi) people, he is in danger of coming to a bad end. The least portion of this knowledge is to believe (in its existence) and to accept its possessors." He also said,

The saintly Substitutes (Abdal) have isolated themselves in the extreme regions of the earth, concealing themselves from the eyes of the general public. They do not pay attention to the scholars of the time, whom they regard as ignorant of Allah. They see themselves as scholars, and consider avoiding the ignorant to be among the virtues of true believers, as Allah has said, And turn away from the ignorant (7:199).


Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, The Removal of Confusion, p.104

Tawhid & Iman

Tawhid is the absolute requirement of Iman and who has none of Tawhid has none of Iman. Iman is a requirement of the Shari'yah and whoever has no Shari'yah has no Iman and has no Tawhid. Adab is a requirement of the Shari'yah and whoever has no Adab has no Shari'yah, and no Iman and no Tawhid.

From Bughiyat al-Mustafid of Sidi Arabi ben Sayeh (RTA)

Adab

Adab generally means beautifying yourself with every good behaviour and to abstain from every bad behaviour. It profits a Mureed, all the way. Adab has been classified into three types.

1. The Adab of the Murid (student) with himself, technically known as the Adab for Allah within himself i.e. to hold on to the Din, by doing what should be done and stopping where he should stop and following the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). By doing this, Allah will be pleased with him and he will enter Paradise with the first ones.

2. The Adab with the Shaykh is to respect him openly and in secret and never criticize him and always hold him in high esteem after the Prophet (SAW).

3. The Adab with his Tijani brothers.


Excerpt from the book The Divine Opening
Authored by Muqaddam Anwer Bayat

Categories of the Shuyukh

1. The Muqaddam that gives Ba'yah, he is Shaykh to whomever he gives Ba'yah to.

2. The Shaykh that links you with Allah, is called Shaykh Al-Murabbiy. This person must have the capability of guiding the Mureed to Allah and making the Mureed a Muqaddam. And some of these Shaykhs have Kashf and others do not have this quality.

3. The last category is the Qutub Al-Zaman (The Pole of the Time), whom all the Shuyukh are answerable to. This person may be known or unknown, but no time period will exist without him existing, and he is the true Khalifah of Shaykh Tijani (RTA) and Prophet Muhammad (SAW).


Excerpt from the book The Divine Opening
Authored by Muqaddam Anwer Bayat

MUQADDAM: The Conditions and Obligations

Aside from outlining the shaykh’s requisite spiritual abilities, Shaykh Ibrahim also detailed more specific behavior to which spiritual guides were meant to adhere. Most obviously, the guide must first precede the disciple in following guidance. Moreover, the guide should never see himself as the source of spiritual guidance, but must stay closely connected to his own guide. In one letter to a group of authorized spiritual instructors (muqaddamun), Shaykh Ibrahim wrote:

"I advise the instructors (muqaddamin) connected with us, with loving and kindly counsel, advice for the sake of God and by God, that they should all proceed in consistent earnestness with the guidance and advice of the brethren, in the religion and the spiritual path. In all cases, this can only be done after they follow (such guidance) themselves, for they can only command something after they have preceeded others in doing it; and they can only restrain others from doing something after they have restrained themselves. Let them not be lazy in appointing an arbitrator between themselves in everything of significance. There is nothing more harmful to the common folk than the faults of the elders, may God overlook our faults and theirs. And let them [the Muqaddam] not break the connection between themselves and their exemplar [Shaykh], for in so doing they will also cut off their own spiritual assistance as well as that of their followers."

In the same letter, the Shaykh went on to list a series of strenuous obligations for such instructors [muqaddams]. They must recite twelve thousand times the prayer Salat al-Fatihi in one twenty-four hour period, perform at least fifty cycles (rak’a) of supererogatory prayer, attend the congregational prayer five times a day, and lead the congregational remembrance (wazifa) in the place of prayer (zawiya) “even if alone.” They must give charity every day, even if only a loaf of bread. They must give respect to the descendants (shurufa’) of the Prophet Muhammad, all the saints (awliya’), the scholars (‘ulama’), and the students of Islamic knowledge (‘ilm). He also warned them against dividing against each other: “You must cooperate in your goals by the covenant of [abiding to your] word. Surely in coming together is mercy, and in division is punishment.”

Being a spiritual guide thus requires an exemplary work ethic and model social conduct as well as a special relationship with God.

Source: Jawaahir al-Rasaail, p. 34

Excerpts from the book: Living Knowledge in West African Islam
Author: Ustadz Zachary Wright

Gathering in Allah

The meaning of our gathering in Allah is the fact that all of us call each other to Allah the Blessed and Exalted. Each of us calls the other to being busy with Allah, and the reality of busying yourself with Allah is to busy your outward with the outward sacred law (shariyah) and your inward with the inward reality of the Haqq (Allah), and to fulfil the rights of everyone and everything that has a right over you, in order to differentiate between the different stations (maqamaat) and to differentiate between the divine presences (hadaraat) and to differentiate between the spheres (dawa'ir), these are in addition to the divine realities (haqa'iq) and relations (nisaab) and manifestations (tajalliyat) and within that you will be able to give everything its due right, and this is our responisibilty that has been made an obligation for all of us. And as for our seperation, our separation (farq) does not overpower our union (jam') neither does our union overpower our separation, and everyone of us withdraws ourselves towards Allah and maintains awareness of his presence (muraqaba) and witnesses his presence (mushahadah) and is absorbed and drowned in his presence with a real absorption and drowning (istighraaq), which then causes him to fear Allah outwardly and inwardly and engage with Him and approach Him with our bodies and with our hearts.

- Shaykh Ould Khayri