This is a summary for travelers on the path (murids) of the key aims of the tariqa, at its beginning, middle, and end.

The Sufi path is not a way of words but of work. Its aim is to change one’s soul and life to conform to the Divine. The strongest means for this change are dhikr or ‘remembrance of Allah,’ mudhakara or learning from one’s sheikh, and jihad al-nafs or overcoming the self. If one is doing these things, one is travelling the path. If one is not, one has stopped.

I. Dhikr

By having taken the tariqa, one is authorized to recite at one’s discretion any of the wirds of the masters of the path one wishes that are found in Awrad al-Tariqa al-Shadhiliyya (Invocations of the Shadhili Order). Although the bay‘a of the tariqa only necessitates reciting the general litany, six are recited by most murids:

(1) The wird al-‘amm or general litany of the tariqa, which is recited by everyone morning and night. It is recited ‘to oneself,’ meaning whispered so that one can hear it oneself but others cannot.

(2) The Supreme Name “Allah,” recited sixty-six times aloud in a quiet but audible voice before going to sleep at night, drawing out the final a and bringing up the final h from the chest.

(3) A juz’ or thirtieth part of the Qur’an, as Bukhari relates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) told a questioner to “recite the Qur’an in a month.” If one cannot, then a half a juz’ a day is acceptable, and if not even that, a page or two is better than nothing. Women in their period should recite a daily part of the Dala’il al-khayrat of Imam Jazuli.

(4) Hizb al-Bahr by Abul Hasan al-Shadhili (Allah be well pleased with him), which is recited to oneself when alone, aloud with others. Hanafi women in their period, for all wirds, should recite the Qur’anic parts silently in their hearts, while Shafi‘i women may recite everything aloud.

(5) The Wadhifa or Abul Mawahib al-Tunisi’s and Dhafir al-Madani’s interlineal prayer upon Ibn Mashish’s famous Blessing on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). The short form is to recite it up to the words in the middle: A‘udhu bi kalimati Llahi al-tammati min sharri ma khalaq (I take refuge in the consummate words of Allah from the evil of what He has created); while the full form is to recite it to the end.

(6) Zayn al-Anfas, a silent, breathing dhikr done once a day before eating, and at moments of “watching one’s breaths” during the day. It is especially emphasized for murids living in the West who could use more serenity. A detailed description is found in the following pages.

If one desires a seventh daily dhikr, it is valuable particularly at the end of the wird al-‘amm to recite the short form of the Latifiyya (129 times) described in the Awrad book.

II. Mudhakara or Sufi Instruction

The teachings of one’s sheikh are the mirror in which one sees oneself and one’s progress in the path, and those who leave their house without looking at the mirror often appear strange. In this-worldly matters one should always compare oneself to those less fortunate than oneself, while in religious matters—and this is the function of mudhakara—one should compare oneself to those above one: the prophets, the Sahaba, and the awliya (Allah bless them one and all).

      The Shadhili Tariqa contains a fairly detailed written description of the path, though mudhakara is traditionally a spoken medium. A number of whole books have been taught and recorded at the zawiya in Amman in tapes and CDs. One can obtain them from others, or from tariqatapes.com, or can download sound files of suhbas and other lessons from Sidi Hamid’s vasuhba.com. The ones to begin with are the ten “1998 Virginia Suhba” tapes. One should listen to fifteen or twenty minutes a week with the intention to learn and to change for the sake of Allah.

      The best mudhakara is sitting with one’s sheikh, whether by going to visit him in Jordan or meeting him with others at the suhbas. Whoever spends and sacrifices and travels will find baraka in his path, while whoever stays home while able to go will find himself becoming stale and filled with wasawis or ‘neurotic misgivings’ before his very eyes. The same is true of the Latifiyyas in one’s area: when the intention is there, any gathering that has the permission of the sheikh will be a session of baraka. Ibn ‘Ajiba notes that the path of suluk or spiritual development is not the way of solitude, but “gathering, listening, following, and benefiting.” We do not go to the dhikrs and specifically Sufi gatherings of other sheikhs, though anyone may come to ours. As for public religious lectures and programs, the madad or ‘spiritual help’ in them is not very great, but if one needs a faith event to socialize at, one may go.

III. Jihad al-Nafs

The tarbiya or ‘education’ of Sufis consists in starting with people as they are and bringing them step by step to the desired point. To accomplish this we have a series of muraqaba or ‘self observation’ lessons of graduated difficulty, whose purpose is to free our lives from the makruh and the haram. They have teeth, and everyone who has done them has benefited. The end point, in which sins almost never happen, is necessary for the dhikr to have its full effect. The first of them is the Forty Grand, which is described in the pages below.

When one is doing these three things, the tariqa gives what it has to give. If one is not, one’s tariqa is in danger of becoming mere talk. When Sheikh ‘Adel was once asked about the reality of the tariqa, he rolled up his sleeve and said, “You and your arm.”

MMIV © N. Keller