1 – You receive a spiritual initiation, and moral education (ma‘rifa).
2 – You will master the religious sciences which are a prerequisite for progress in the knowledge of Allah, His Messenger and Islam.
3 – Knowing Allah and His Acts and His Attributes. The universe is a mirror that reflects His greatness, His wisdom and His omnipotence.
4 – Getting closer to Allah and to His Messenger.
5 – Knowing the evils deeds of soul that are often more serious than the other sins.
6 – Reaching Presence of Allah (Hadhra) and the contemplation of His beauty by watching the Universe.
7 – Attending the People of Allah, which is Pious is a noble action.
8 – Advancing on the path to Allah with the three pillars of Iman (faith), Islam (rites) and Ihsan (Excellence).
9 – Being under the watchful eye of the Shaykh, or Muqaddam, who will help you to move forward. They will show you the “obstacles” and will remove the veils that block your view.
10 – When you constantly meet with the brothers, Allah erases sins, and help elevate you to enjoy the love and brotherhood.
This is what you can find only in a regular tariqa, under the gaze of a living Shaykh (Murabbi). The work done in the tariqa deepens the other acts that a Muslim does every day.
Muhammad ibn-Khalifa al-Madani was born in the city of Ksibet al-Mediouni in 1888, in a noble family
His father Khalifa was a merchant, he was different from others and had a good temper. He has a cart in which he transported his harvest olive’s oil to Tunis where he could sell it and return to the village with substantial benefits. Since he was a pious man soonly becomes the first followers of the Sheikh as-Sadiq as-Sahrawi, muqaddam of the brotherhood Madaniyya Shadhiliyya in Tunisia. His spiritual teacher was sheikh Mohamed Zafir al-Madani.
Khalifa ibn – Hassan has a strongly desire to have a son and he wanted to give him the name of the founder of brotherhood (Muhammad-al-Madani)
When the son was born, he was named Muhammad al-Madani, and before 5 years old he joined the “Kùttab” to memorize the Quran.
He learned by hear 60 chapters of the book when he was only 12 years old. He was sent to Monastir city, where he attended the Quranic school courses and learned writing, reading, and how to calculate.
In 1901, he got back to hometown for starting up the religious sciences and the rules of syntax and Arabic grammar. He was taught by excellent teachers and in two years, the young Muhammad al-Madani becomes ready to join the courses of the big mosquet of Tunis city. At the age of fifteen years old he left the town which he grews up to join the Zaitouna university “… he was considerate as one of the best students in his class…”
In this period influence of the Sheikh Muhammad Abdùh was already significant in the academia, some of the scholars were against his reformist ideas, and others followed him. When Muhammad al-Madani was subscribed in the Zaitouna in 1903, there was an atmosphere of discord. During the second visit of sheikh Abdùh to Tunisia (the first was in 1884), quarrels caused violence between supporters and opponents of the grand imam of Egypt. The young student, who three years ago was disappointed by what he saw in Tunis when he visited for the first time “…you’d really never be able to recognize Muslims from Christians as they are alike in the clothes and the language…”
And now the people of knowledge, the observers of Islamic identity were fighting against each other, instead of uniting against the conquerors.
Sheikh Muhammad al-Madani (d. 1959) divided men going towards Allah into three strictly separated categories.
a – People of the Benediction: They are believers who devoted their lives only to adoration acts for Allah (‘ibādāt), without paying too much attention to reaching the Knowledge of Allah.
b – People of the left: those who deny the Knowledge after having received it. They must however keep faith in Allah’s graciousness.
c – The First, those who outstrip the others: they are the closest and already possess the paradise of knowledge before reaching the eternal paradise. Muhamamd al-Madanī said:
“What the Elite [1] understands of this verse [Quran, 56, 14], according to the allusive interpretation, is that, when the cosmic universe realizes itself and that the illusory facet disappears from the Enlightened’s eyes, the men that go towards Allah are divided into three categories:
The men from the right, those who have the chance, the benediction, and the good deeds. They are those who strive to achieve ritual acts that take them closer to Allah. They are those who head forward the holy Presence. As a result of this intention, they will achieve more ritual acts, will pay more attention to the sunnah salat, even if they do not get the grat Knowledge and do not reach the holy Presence. The second group is made of the people of the Left, whom end will be bad and who will suffer a sad turnaround. This group goes astray the right path; its light lessens and becomes the darkness that covers their heart, till they deny the Knowledge they got. Maybe the Devil whispers to them this Knowledge is opposed to the precepts of the quranic Revelation. This will happen if Allah’s wisdom covers them. They will be part of the doomed people whose end will be terrible.
Nevertheless, the fact of mentionning them between the people of the Right and the First that preempt the others, gives hope in the divine graciousness towards them. May God hold His hand out to them and lift them from the baseness of otherness to the height of Unicity majesty. “This is not difficult for God”. [Quran, 35:17]
The First, that lead the others, got the Knowledge of God, by making disapear the otherness and by exisisting only by Him. Those are the closest to God, the Real, who becomes hearing and eyesight, in the eternal Paradise, because their spirits have already glorified in the Paradise of Knowledge, and then in the Paradise of delights. In other words: first in the Holy Paradise (Allah), before reaching the Paradise of firdaws.
Among these First are the first Companions of Muhamad (saws) company. The majority, not to say the totality, of this first generation is among those who have the highest rank and the most honorable position. They all were at the top of the Présence with the Right. Shadows of heedlessness do not cross their minds. They spent their souls for Allah, seeking His Generosity. It is the same for a small number of the Last Generation of Muhamad (saws) Community. Thank God, they still exist! It is possible that the following prophecy refers to them : “A group of my Community will not cease to observe Allah’s precepts. Those who give up on them or who will go astray from them will not have any impact on them, and so, tiil God’s order come. They will remain on this path”. This tradition was brought by al-Baghawi and was also confirmed by a second hadith: “The Earth will not be empty of the forty man who look like Allah’s Friend [Abraham]. It is thanks to them that the rain fall, and it is thanks to them that you have your subsistence. Each time one of them dies, Allah makes up for him with another”.
Comment of the Surate 56 (al-Wāqi‘a, verse, 14, p. 14).
1- Our way is to gather once a week at least to study theology, practice dhikr (invocation), and go on in our love of Allah and His Messenger, sallā Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Our references go from Al-Junayd’s pieces, to al-Ghazalī’s, Ibn ‘Arabī’s, Ibn al-Fāridh’s, Abū Madyan al-Ghawth’s, al-‘Alaoui’s and Sheikh sidi al-Madani’s.
2- Our humble goal is to help interested people in their linving close to God (qurbā), important koranic concept. Authentic and lively, this spirituality develops itself intrinsically with our era, because everything belongs to Allah.
3- Our way is founded on the spiritual action of nafs (ego, soul) in order to purify intern evils. It is also founded on the deepened study of Koran and Sunna. Disciples ought to concisely observe the sharia’s precepts, as no Truth is reachable in spite of the sincere respect of its the rules of sharia. It is thus not a way of baraka, neither of laxity, but rather a way of education and of daily spiritual action.
4- Our aspiration is to live in the pure Muslim tasawwuf way, far from derives, exaggerations and excesses. According to our Sheikh, the tasawwuf is nothing but the third pillar of Islam, called Ihsan (excellency). Thus, our Sufi practices (invocations, studies, …) aim to strengthen our faith, to sincerely worship Allah, and to know Him through the love of His Prophet, sallā Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
5- Our weekly and annually meetings (for the Propeht’s birth) enable to exhort disciples to accomplish their religious duties, to strengthen love between the worshiping and to revive the Eternity of the divine Word.
6- Besides our spiritual engagement, we want to spread a moderated Islam, part of a societal vision, founded on respect and the understanding of values and laws of each State.
7- Under the direction of our current Sheikh, Mohammed al-Mounawwar al-Madani (born in 1937), we are all attached to the Madaniyya way. Our Sheikh received a written ijaza (authorization) from his father, Sheikh sidi Mohammed al-Madami (1888-1959), emblematic figure of Sufism during the early 19th century. The latter received his own formation from the Great Mosque of Zaytouna where he met Sheikh al-Alaoui (dead in 1934).
8- This website is the only official one of the Madaniyya way. It is our organ of communication, of transmission and of contact with all our brothers and sisters who want to help us in spreading the Love of Islam, of Knowledge, and Peace.
