The text of this sermon was not originally included in the written and published sermons. Professor Assane Sylla provided the text in French in his book entitled “The Mahdi.” We present here the Arabic version to our readers so that they may all be able to read and benefit from it.
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of the universe. May God’s blessings and peace be upon the one sent to bring about the triumph of truth and to dispel falsehood.
Having said this, peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of God. O you who believe in God and His Messenger, this is a recommendation from Limamou Lahi addressed to those who are his Muqaddams (his representatives) appointed to impart the wird (to impart the wird to someone is to teach them the religious formulas to be recited from the rosary, specific to a religious brotherhood, and to authorize them to practice them upon joining that brotherhood).
Know that there are circumstances in which you must act with fervor and without any negligence. I advise you to be lenient with the faithful regarding certain shortcomings and to extend your leniency to all Muslims. Beware of that which may breed hatred and enmity in your hearts. Constantly strive to cultivate good relations among yourselves and to eradicate anything that might breed enmity in the hearts of some towards others. If discord ignites among you, hasten to extinguish it, and let your actions in doing so be solely for the purpose of attaining God’s pleasure. Let nothing else be added to this goal. If you see someone seeking to sow discord among the Muslims, stop them and calmly bring them back to reason with gentle words. I advise you to approach the believers gently, making things easy for them. Avoid causing them to distance themselves and avoid being too rigid in all that you advise or forbid, whether out of obedience to God or for the well-being of the believers. In this, you must consider what the Messenger of God said: “Make things easy, do not make them difficult, welcome people, do not cause them to distance themselves.”
You must also avoid the kind of debt that involves taking people’s possessions and promising them salvation in the Hereafter. Turn your attention away from what they own. Be convinced that it is God, the Most High, who bestows wealth, who takes it away, who belittles, and who exalts. Have no other concern than to integrate them into the religion, into Islam. Banish disunity and wastefulness. Do not seek to induce people to give you their possessions, whether small or large. However, you may accept what they willingly give you, without you having asked for it.
You must also avoid showing superiority to those who do not have the Muqaddam’s permission. Know that you are on the same footing as them in everything I have commanded the Muslims. If you fulfill what I have commanded you, you will benefit from it in this world and the Hereafter. If you do the opposite of what I have commanded you, you will have only yourselves to blame. On the Day of Judgment, people will seek redress (for damages) at your expense; since you succeed me in giving the wird, be successors also in enjoining good deeds and forbidding evil actions.
Do not be led astray by your desires. Desires and Satan will cause those who follow them to fall into ruin. Strive to live with integrity, to perform good works and noble deeds, to be good guardians of yourselves, and wage the great battle against your passions.
The virtuous religious leader, son of a virtuous person, Sheikh Ahmad Tidjan, said, from the very beginning of his advice to someone who was a Muqaddam (leader) in his religious brotherhood: “Enjoin good among your people as much as you can, strive fervently to cultivate a gentle character; the gentle one may very well become a Messenger of God; detach yourself from what people hold in their hands and they will love you, likewise detach yourself from this world and God will love you; the fact that God guides even one person to righteousness through your actions is better for you than anything else.”
Peace be upon those who follow the straight path. May God make you upright, may He grant you and all Muslims safety, Amen, by the grace of the Lord of existence (peace be upon him).
