Wa ‘alaykum us Salaam Brother Abdul Latif,

May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala reward you for asking me such a sincere question.

We do wudu, make the niyya of taking the tariqa (spiritual path) of the Ba ‘Alawi, and pray two rak’ah salah after which we beg forgiveness from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala then opens the doors for us.

We try to find out if there is a shaykh or dhikr group in Tariqa Ba ‘Alawi in our town. We join it and obtain its barakaat (blessings) on a continuous basis through dhikr (remembrance) of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and salawaat (invocation of blessings) on Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam.

Then we come to learn that the Ba ‘Alawi are the noble descendants of our Beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam who are originally from Yemen but have traveled to and settled in various parts of the world, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Myanmar, and East Africa, to spread Islam. We also learn that the tariqa of the Ba ‘Alawi is based purely on the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

If there is no Ba ‘Alawi dhikr group in our town we go to the nearest town which has a Ba ‘Alawi dhikr group. We try to join them even if once a month, learn the awraad and adhkaar, that is, the voluntary regular invocations and supplications such as Ratib al-Haddad and Ratib al-‘Attas. Once we have learned these, we can then organize mawlid and dhikr sessions in our own town, by obtaining permission from a shaykh in the tariqa Ba ‘Alawi.

If the nearest dhikr group is too far away for us, as can recite Surah Yasin after every Fajr Salah and Ratib al-Haddad after ‘Isha Salah. There is more blessing if we obtain permission to recite this from a shaykh.

If we have more time, it is also good to attend the mawlid and dhikr sessions of other dhikr groups in other tariqas, such as the Qaadiriyya, the Rifaiyya, the Shaziliyya, the Chistiyya and the Naqshbandiyya to gain barakaat (blessings) from their dhikr sessions as well. All the spiritual paths lead to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.

All in good time we come to hear of a great shaykh in the Ba ‘Alawi tariqa. When people heard of our shaykh Al-Habib Ahmad Mash-hur bin Taha al-Haddad, Rady Allahu ‘Anhu, they traveled long distances to go and meet him. Some well known Muslims who went to meet him in Jeddah are Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad from U.K, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf from U.S.A. and Brother Ebrahim Kreps from Canada. Many went to take bay’a at his hands while others went to get blessings in his company and to be with the habaib (the blessed descendants of our Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam).

Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi used to travel once every week to Jeddah to be with his beloved shaykh.

If Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala puts you in the company of such a shaykh, your whole life is transformed so that you are on the path of istighfar, that is, seeking forgiveness from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. You cannot thank Allah enough for such a great boon and favor.

May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala raise us up with our parents on the Day of Judgement in the company of al-Habib under the Liwa’ al-Hamd (Banner of Praise) of Habib al-A’zam, our Beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam, Amin.

With many salaams and du’a,
Siddiq