This excellent spiritual litany, the Wird’l-Adhkaar wa’d-Da`awaat (The Litany of Remembrances of Allah and Supplications) by Shaykh Abdullahi ibn Fuduye`, may Allah be merciful to him, was composed on a Thursday, the 5th of Jumad’l-Ulaa in the year 1244 A.H. (circa August 3rd 1829 C.E.) exactly seven months and seven days before his death in Gwandu. Therefore the litany constitutes the last of the awraad which the Shaykh adhered to before his passing to Allah ta`ala.
The wird consists of five chapters of the Qur’an, six separated verses of the Qur’an, and 114 supplications extracted from the confirmed Sunna of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He designated that this wird should be recit ed after the subh prayer until sun rise everyday. I myself have tested this and found it to be precise whether it recited swiftly, at a medium pace or slowly, one will complete it by the rising of the sun. The Shaykh made conditions for the recitation of the wird in his own words, where he said:
“It is necessary that the place in which the wird is recited be in an uncontaminated circumstance. The one reciting it must be in the most perfect of spiritual and ritual states. This means that his mouth must be clean through the use of the tooth brush (siwaak). He must be facing the qibla. He must be attentive of what he is saying, reflecting on its meaning while listening closely to his recitation. While reciting the wird, he should avoid what is forbidden, in food, drink and attire. He should be since re with Allah. He should send forward some good deed prior to reciting it. He should be in a state of ablution, and precede the recitation with praising Allah and sending blessings upon His Prophet, as well as ending it with the same. He should also take the Prophets and righteous as intermediates between himself and Allah. May Allah make it easy for us by His benevolence and generosity – Amen.”
Both Shaykh Umar Ahmad Zaruuq and Shaykh Abu Bakr Basambu told me that this wird of Shaykh Abdullahi ibn Fuduye` contains three of the Hidden Immense Names of Allah ta`ala, that when you ask by means of Them, you are given and when you supplicate by means of Them you are answered. The wird is a protection against Satan for that day. It is a elevation of the spiritual rank of the one who recit es it, the revival of his heart and a wiping away of bad deeds. The one who recites the wird is as if he recited 2/3rd of the Qur’an. It is a protection for himself and his family against poverty, want, anxiety, afflictions, hardships, drowning, excessive debts, magic and sorcery. The wird subjugates for its reciter 70,000 Angels who send blessings upon him and seek forgiveness for him for that entire day and he will be counted that day among those who are grateful. The wird is a weapon against enemies, and a defense against tyrants and the intrigues of those who are envious. The one who adheres to this wird will be guaranteed the intercession of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace on the Day of Judgment.
The reality of the wird of a Wali of Allah ta`ala is that it contains the primordial secret b etween that Wali and Allah ta`ala and is an ontological image of the covenant between him and Allah, when Allah ta`ala asked the primal question in the world of spirits: “Am I not your Lord.” The response to this question from every human and jinn was ‘Indeed’ (balaa), but the affirmation took the form of the wird which was bequeathed to the Wali and which he was ordered to give to his followers in particular or the believers in general. It is the ‘Word’ which forms the spirit of that wali before he or she were given physical appearance and is what essentially remains of the wali after his or her demise. In certain cases the intercession of that wali comes from reciting his or her wird at least once and it is guaranteed for the one recites it regularly, and Allah knows best.
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Shaykh Muhammad Shareef bin Farid
Read Text: (Arabic)
