Question: What is the evidence of zikr in congregation (alluding to the Wazifa in the Tidjaniya)?

Question: What is the Islamic evidence of zikr in congregation (alluding to the Wazifa in the Tidjaniya)?

 

According to Abu Darda (may ALLAH be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 

« On the Day of Judgement, ALLAH will resuscitate certain people, their faces will be radiant, and they will be seated upon chairs of pearl and will be envied by others, although they are neither Prophets nor martyrs. »

A Bedouin fell to his knees and asked:  

« O Messenger of ALLAH! Please describe these people to us so that we recognize them. 

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) answered: 

These people are from different tribes and different regions, who love each other, and who have gathered in order to evoke ALLAH ». (related by Tabarani, hadith hassan)

 

According to Amru Ibn Anbasa (may ALLAH be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 

« To the right of the All-Merciful… There are people, who are neither Prophets nor Martyrs, who dazzle those who look at them because of the radiance of their faces. Both Prophets and Martyrs will envy their rank and closeness to ALLAH. » 

He (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked: 

« O Messenger of ALLAH, who are they?

 He (peace and blessings be upon him) answered: 

They are groups from different tribes who gather to evoke ALLAH and who choose the best words in the same way that one would choose the best dates. (related by Tabarani, Tirmidhi, Ahmad)

 

Abu Huraira and Abu Saeed Khudri (may ALLAH be pleased with them) narrated that they visited the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and he said“Whenever people sit to remember Allah (SWT), angels cover them (spreading their wings over them) and divine mercy envelops them; inner peace descends on them and Allah (The Exalted) mentions them to those who are with Him.”

 

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 

Whenever people gather to evoke ALLAH only for the sake of His Countenance, a herald from heaven will say to them: “Arise, you have been forgiven and your sins have become good actions.”” (Ahmad)

 

Abdullah ibn Umar (may ALLAH be pleased with him) said: 

« I asked : 

« O Messenger of ALLAH! What is the reward for the zikr gatherings?

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: The reward for zikr gatherings is Paradise.”” (Related by Ahmad, Hadith hassan)

 

Jabir (may ALLAH be pleased with him) said: 

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out towards us and said: O people! Throngs of angels descend and attend the zikr gatherings on Earth; make haste to go to the gardens of Paradise.” They asked: “Where are the gardens of Paradise?” He (peace and blessings be upon him) answered: “The zikr gatherings are in fact the gardens of Paradise. Attend them in the morning and the evening and remember that he who wishes to know his degree with ALLAH has to look at the degree of ALLAH with him. The servant moves away from Him as much as he moves away from Him within himself (by forgetting to mention Him)” Hadith related by Ibn Abū ad-Dunyā, Abū Ya‘lā, al-Bazzār, aabarānī, al-Hākim and al-Bayhaqī.

Al-Hākim said that the transmitter chain is authentic 

 

In « Rimah », it is written: 

“On the subject of zikr in congregation, Seyyidina Ahmed Tidjani (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) was asked what was the evidence because the different schools of Law diverged in this matter. Seyyidina Ahmed Tidjani (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) replied that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said (or words to that effect):If you happen upon a garden of Paradise, be sure to benefit from the feast.” They asked him: “But what are the gardens of Paradise?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) answered: “The circles of evocation.” Then the same person said to Sidi Ahmed Tidjani (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret): “The scholars affirm that the gardens of Paradise are in fact the circles of knowledge, likewise in the hadiths that mention: “Whenever people sit to remember Allah (swt), angels cover them (spreading their wings over them).”” To this, Seyyidina Ahmed Tidjani (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) replied: In this very case we are talking about the evocation (zikr) while Imam Malik (may ALLAH be pleased with him) has used the term “gardens of Paradise” to mean circles of knowledge rather than gatherings of evocation because the inhabitants of Medina did not have gatherings of this kind. The deeds of the inhabitants of Medina are referred to as part of the legal foundations for the school of Imam Malik. However the other Imams consider that it is permissible (zikr in congregation is authorized) and meets with no disapproval in the texts that are acknowledged and authenticated by them. This is the truth because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) incited me to perform the zikr in congregation. I concluded that the people of Medina chose only to practice that which brings the greatest reward, and thus their interpretation of the hadiths remains in the context of apparent meaning. In fact, because the zikr in congregation is performed out loud, and given that the zikr not done in the out loud way brings seventy times more reward than the zikr recited out loud, the inhabitants of Medina have chosen that which brings the greatest reward.”” 

 

Imam Ahmed Tabarani, Nasa-i and others related that Ya’la Ibn Aws said: 

“Abu Shaddad ibn Aws and Ubada ibn As-Samit said: “Once when we were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) he said to us: “Are there any strangers among you?” That is to say People of the Book. We replied: “No there are not, O Messenger of ALLAH!” So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed to close the door and then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Raise your hands and say “La ilaha illallah”.” Sor we raised our hands for some time and then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lowered his hands and said: “Praise be to ALLAH! O My Lord! You have sent me with these words, you have ordained me (to recite) these words  and with them you have promised me Paradise. Certainly, You never break your promise.” And then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us: “Receive the good tidings that ALLAH has forgiven you.”

 

Al-afi Ibn ajar al-‘Asqalani said: « Those who affirm that evocation out loud is an innovation are wrong because it is authenticated in the “Sahih” –according to the hadith related by Ibn Abbas (may ALLAH be pleased with him)– that raising one’s voice while performing the zikr was indeed practiced at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when people finished the obligatory prayer, leading Ibn Abbas (may ALLAH be pleased with him) to say: “I knew when they had finished the prayer, because I could hear them (reciting the zikr out loud).”

 

Reason for rolling out the white cloth during the assembly of the wazifa: 

The reason for this cloth during the recitation of the wazifa in congregation is that before the blessed zawiya of Fes was built, the zikr assembly took place in a corridor in the house of Seyyidina Ahmed Tidjani (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret). Because many people used this corridor, in order to guarantee the purity of the place, Seyyidina Ahmed Tidjani (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret) used to put a cloth upon which he and his companions would sit.

Subsequently, this custom was maintained, even after the construction of the blessed Zawiya, and became a meritorious act during the recitation in congregation. It is not a condition of validity: that is to say whether we put a cloth or not has no consequences on the validity of the zikr.

More on the white cloth: https://www.tidjaniya.com/en/faq-tidjaniya/white-cloth