Imam Muhammad ibn Sulaiman al-Jazuli ق of the Dalai’il al-Khayrat
Imam Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli ash-Shadhili ق is the author of the celebrated manual of salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ , The Dala'ilul Khayrat (دلائل الخيرات) (Guide to Goodness) . The great imam gathered the selawat that appear in the book from the Sunnah as well as direct inspiration to his heart. He wrote it for all people regardless of their spiritual rank and spiritual path.
It is by far the most popular and universally-acclaimed collection of prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ and has been observed as a litany throughout the Muslim world for over five hundred years. Millions of Muslims in the East and the West throughout the generations have eagerly recited it either in solitude in their homes or communally in mosques and Sufi lodges. For over 300 years in the Haramain of Makkah and Madinah, Dalail al-Khayrat was recited in daily gatherings after the Asar prayer. It is one of those rare books that have become so popular that the number of printed copies remains unknown.
The people of spiritual insight have recognised that it is an exclusive and exalted book, overflowing with the secrets of refinement and spirituality. It was also a practice of Singapore’s Grand Saint Habib Nuh al-Habsyi (May Allah be pleased with Him).
It is said that Imam al-Jazuli ash-Shadhili ق once went on a journey, when in great need of water for making ablutions. he came upon a well but could not reach the water without a bucket and rope which he did not have. He became very worried . A young girl saw this and came to his assistance. She spat into the well whereupon the water rose to the top of its own accord. Seeing this miracle, he asked the girl ” And how is that possible?” The replied “I was able to do this through my asking for blessings upon the Prophet, Allah’s blessings and peace be upon the him.” Having thus seen the benefit of asking for blessings upon the Prophet, Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him , he decided to write Dala’il al-Khayrat (Guide to Goodness).
“And if you see the Ego controlling you,
And it comes to lead you into the Fire of Desires,
Banish its desires by continuous blessing,
There is nothing to compare with Dala’il ul-Khayrat
With Dala’il ul-Khayrat you must be firm,
Read it to obtain your wishes,
Lights appear and blaze thereby,
O my Brother, it is never to be abandoned.”
The Khadim of the Maqam, who is also from the lineage of the great Imam, is a man of immense love and generosity. He narrated this account (separate to the commonly known account with the young girl of Husayni lineage) of how Imam Jazuli came to compile the Dalailul khayrat. The Shaykh mentioned…
"Imam al-Jazuli was married to a very pious lady. And she was blessed to be from amongst those who would receive regular ziyarah of the Prophet ﷺ in her dreams. Every night she would wake up in ecstasy, giving Imam al-Jazuli glad tidings that she had been blessed with the beautific vision of the Messenger of God ﷺ. One morning, Imam al-Jazuli asked his wife in regards to her daily worship in the hope that he would discover something ajib that he could take and put onto practise to receive the same blessing that his wife would regularly experience. She told him, 'before I go to sleep, I recite a particular Salawat with immense yearning and true longing. Whenever I have recited this prayer upon the Prophet ﷺ, I have received ziyarah.' Imam al-Jazuli then started to compile Salawat in the hope of coming across that particular prayer. After compiling a short book, which became known to be the famous work al-Dala'il al-Khayrat wa Shawariq al-Anwar fi Dhikri al-Salawat `ala Nabiyyi al-Mukhtar, he presented it to his wife. She spent time pouring over the work, and said with a smile upon finishing, "the prayer is in this book. But I won't reveal to you which one it is.""
“Know that one who carries any of the following three traits in his heart, he should repent to Allah. They are: pride of knowledge, bad character, and beholding a bad opinion of people.”
His Name
His full name is Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Suleiman Ibn Abi Bakr Al-Jazuli Al-Simlali and was a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, praise and veneration be upon him, via his grandson Hasan, son of Ali, may Allah be pleased with them. Al Jazuli belonged to the Berber tribe of Jazula that settled in the Sus area of Morocco which lies between the Atlantic ocean and the Atlas mountains.
His Lineage
He a descendant of the Prophet ﷺ, Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad al-Jazuli al-Hasani ash-Shadhili, son of our master ‘Abd al-Rahman, son of our master Abu Bakr al-Murtada, son of our master Sulayman, son of our master Sa’İd, son of our master Ya’la, son of our master Yakhluf, son of our master Musa, son of our master Yusuf, son of our master ‘Abdullah, son of our master Jundun, son of our master ‘Abd al-Rahman, son of our master Hassan, son of our master Isma’İl, son of our master Ja’far, son of our master ‘Abdullah, son of our master Abu Muhammad al-Hasan, the Prophet’s grandson and sweet basil.
His Life
He studied locally and then went to the Madrasat AS-Saffareen in Fez where his room is still pointed out to visitors. After setting a tribal feud he left the area and spent the next forty years in Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. After this, he returned to Fez where he completed Dala’il al-Khayrat.
He was initiated into the Shadhili Tariqa by Sharif Abu Adullah Muhammad Ibn Amghar. He taught him facets of Sufism that would dazzle intellects and unlocked recondite and ambiguous aspects associated with it, as a result of which he became one of its luminaries. He also spent fourteen years in Khalwa (seclusion) and then went to Safi where he gathered around him many followers. He had the best of students whose number exceeded twenty thousand, and who transmitted Prophetic hadith and sayings about the spiritual path and Sufism from him.
Among the prominent disciples who took the path from him was the complete ghawth, the radiant proof, our liege and master Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. ‘Abd al-Haqq known as al-Tabba`. He was a supreme succour who encompassed the secrets of the folk of ultimate reality. He was a notable scholar endowed with virtue and beneficence, and who made peculiar statements on the sciences and allusions of the Sufis.
His Passing
According to a tradition, it was the governor of Safi who poisoned Imam al-Jazuli in Afughal and caused his death, whilst in his second prostration of the Dawn prayer’s first cycle, on 16 Rabi` I, AH 870. He was buried after the Midday prayer on the same day, in the middle of the mosque he had set up in that locality.
Seventy-seven years after his death, his remains were moved from Sus to Marrakech. They buried him in the ‘Arus Gardens and a mausoleum and shrine were built over his tomb. It is reported that seventy-seven years after his death. his body was exhumed for reburial in Marrakesh and his body was in the same state in which he had died, so they decided not to throw any fresh earth over his corpse. Throughout the intervening time, his conditions were unaltered, and the trace of the shave on his head was exactly as it had been on the day of his death, as if it had only recently been shaved. One of those present placed his finger on his noble forehead, holding the skin back from what lay underneath, and when he lifted his finger the blood returned to the spot, as it would happen to a person who is still alive.
His tomb in Marrakech is enveloped by a tremendous majesty, a shining light, and a manifest force. People congregate around his noble grave and read the Dala’il al-Khayrat over it, while the fragrance of musk exuded from his tomb pervades the mosque entirely.
A mausoleum that draws visiters was built over his remains, becoming hub for people of virtue and the spiritually elite. He is one of the seven axial saints buried in the city of Marrakech and from its spiritual fotresses. O Allah, benefit us through Your righteous Friends, and pour their spiritual sustentations over us at all the times, amin.
