This is a short summary of Seyyidina Sheikh Ahmed Tijani's life (May ALLAH be satisfied with him).

A famous master in Sufism by the name of Sidi Mokhtar El Kounty (May ALLAH be satisfied with him), had declared that the 12th century of the Hegira was comparable to that of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) in many aspects and that it was at that particular moment that the Seal of Mohammadian Sainthood would appear.

Indeed, in 1737/38 (1150 from the Hegira) Seyyidina Sheikh Ahmed Ibn Muhammad Ibn Mokhtar Tidjani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) was born in a small town of Algerian desert called Ain Madhi. He was the son of the very pious and well learned Sidi Muhammad Ibn Mokhtar Tidjani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) and the virtuous and honorable Aicha (May God be satisfied with her).

They were of a noble lineage where one could find several gifted scholars and saints. For instance there was among them his ascendant in the fourth degree (his great-great-grandfather) who owned in his house a special small room for his own use where he used to practice spiritual devotions. He would always shut himself away in his room and nobody was allowed to go into this private chamber. He had reached a high degree of spirituality which compelled him to wear a veil from his chamber of meditation to the mosque and from the mosque to his place on his way back home. Indeed those who would see his face, even if it was just for a second, could not stop staring at him, otherwise they would die. Thus he had to act so for 23 years.

Seyyidina Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) was from a Sherifian lineage, that is to say, his family-tree could be traced back to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), from Seyyidina Ali and Fatima (May God be satisfied with them) through their son Hassan (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) but he did not testify it before asking the Prophet himself (Peace and blessings be upon him) when he saw him in an awakened state.

He answered him three times: “Truly you are my son.”

Then he added: “Your lineage from Hassan son of Ali is authentic.”

Thus, it is in this environment of faith, science and sainthood that Seyyidina Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) was born and grew up. His family was scrupulously applying the teaching of the Quran and the Sunnah in their daily lives.

His father encouraged people to carry out good deeds, urged men and women to live in conformity with the Sunnah while he was fighting against any innovation, without fearing, for ALLAH’s sake alone, to be wronged by anybody. He was thus loved and respected.
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Continuation
As it often happened, spiritual beings (Ruhaniyat) used to visit his father, offering him to meet all his needs, he would reject them and tell them: “Leave me alone with ALLAH. I do not want to establish any link but with ALLAH.” People often came to see him in his house and their only purpose was to remember ALLAH.

The education of the saint-child was entrusted to the famous and prestigious Muhammad Ibn Hamou Tidjani (dead in 1162) under the aegis of whom he memorized the whole Quran and this, when he was seven years old.

Then he learned Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) according to Imam Malick’s School of Law (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) and he studied the different books of jurisprudence with the “knower of ALLAH” (‘Arif billah) the scholar Sidi Mabrouk Ibn Bou‘afiya Madaoui Tidjani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him). Still very young, Seyyidina Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) made himself known thanks to his intelligence and piety. It was the same for his virtues and his modesty. He was an assiduous student and had a surprising will to succeed. He always finished everything he started doing, he always completed it.

One day during his childhood, as he was leaving school, he saw a huge light in front of him that was climbing up to the sky, then the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) appeared and enhanced him with these words: “Go on, for you are truly following the right way.” Then, he ran away to find refuge at his aunt’s who lived nearby. She covered and cheered him up, as she baked bread for him.

The young child would see in dreams what was going to happen to him. In fact, he saw himself on a throne, managing and controlling multitudes of creatures. Once, he saw the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) riding a horse in Ain Madhi and Seyyidina Sheikh was following him very closely. He wanted to ask him for something but preferred waiting that the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted from his horse to feel more at ease. When the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) got down, he (Peace and blessings be upon him) went to a field and started praying. Seyyidina Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) wanted to join him in his prayer but he only arrived at the moment of the second rak’a. Then he understood thanks to that dream that his wishes would be fulfilled only in the second part of his life, which was represented by the second rak’a.

As the Saint Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him), Sheikh Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) became an orphan. Indeed, in 1752/53 (1166H) when he was only 16 years old his father and his mother died the same day because of a plague outbreak. This event did not demoralize him and he kept studding with even more determination.

In 1757/58 (1171H) when he was 21, he left Ain Madhi under the impulsion of an extremely strong thirst for learning, he went to Fes which was at that time a well known city of knowledge with notably its famous University-Mosque: Qarawiyyin. That town was also a place where famous masters and saints used to meet and Seyyidina Sheikh Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) visited them so as to benefit from their teachings and blessings (Baraka).

Every day, in company of the Qarawiyyin’s scholars, his knowledge increased. Finally, he got all the degrees that enabled him to teach all the science known by the Muslims of that time but his strong thirst to learn was not quenched yet. His efforts and fear of ALLAH, his modesty, his love for truth and his dislike of falsehood compelled everyone to respect him.

One day he met a Sheikh who belonged to those who have the spiritual unveiling (kachf) and this man urged him to go back to his native town, which is what he did. On his way back he stopped at many Zaouia and met a great number of pious men. After leaving Ain Madhi, he went to Abiud Sidi Sheikh where he stayed with Sidi Sheikh Ben Eddin (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) for 5 years then he left for Tlemcen in 1767/68 (1181H). He was at that time 31 years old and taught there for many years.

In Tlemcen, he was loved and respected by the scholars for his wide knowledge and wisdom. To those who asked him questions about the identity of the great erudite who would have taught him so much knowledge, he always answered: “I did not receive this science from one person only but from all those I met while traveling.”

During all these past years, Sheikh Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) was successively the follower of many spiritual ways (6 in all) and he met famous saints (Awliya). Among those ways there was the one of the Qutb Mawlana Tayeb Ibn Muhammad, (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) dead in 1180; the spiritual way of Sidi Abdul Qadir Jilani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) he took in Fes; the Nasiriyah Tariqa with Saint Sidi Muhammad Ibn Abdallah Tazani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) then that of the Qutb Sidi Ahmed el Habib Ibn Muhammad (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) dead in 1165 and known under the name of El Ghamary Sejelmassi. Besides, miraculously, this great Qutb, after his death, came to see Seyyidina Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) in a dream and gave him one Divine Name to evoke. He also took the baraka from Saint Malamati Sidi Ahmed Tawachi (May ALLAH be satisfied with him), dead in 1204. This one gave him a Divine Name and told him: “You need retreat (khalwa), solitude (el wahda) and remembrance of God (dhikr), and be patient until God gives you a spiritual opening, for you are going to reach a very high rank.” Sidi Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) disliked those conditions, and then Sidi Ahmed Tawachi (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) told him: “Repeat this invocation, be constant in doing so, without any retirement or loneliness, ALLAH will give you a spiritual opening in this case.”

Once he assimilated the teachings and the secrets of the well known scholars he met and reached spiritual high ranks, this thirst and desire for ALLAH that obsessed him still urged him to go further in his quest. Some famous Saints told him that he would attain a high rank he would never have expected.

Thus, he met the great Saint (Wali) endowed with spiritual unveiling; Sidi Muhammad Ibn Hassan el Wanjali (dead in 1185, May ALLAH be satisfied with him,) who told him that he would reach the station of the famous Sheikh and Qutb of his time Sidi Abu El Hassan Al Shadhili (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) and he revealed him other secrets too.

One day he also met Saint Sidi Abdallah Ibn Sidi Arbi Ibn Ahmed (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) from Auled Ma-an el Andaloussia (dead in 1188) in Fes who after talking with Seyyidina Sheikh Ahmed Tijani (May ALLAH be satisfied with him) repeated three times: “ALLAH grabs by your hand”

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