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One of the more interesting things in my view is how Tijani repeatedly says that "Allah took special care of me", "I was so good", "All were amazed at my knowledge" etc. before his encounter with Shias, and throughout his book. For example, we have:
"I acquired so much admiration and my reputation went beyond our alley to the whole town." (Chapter Brief Look at my Life)
"Allah has cared for me in many ways, for I was liked by everybody I met in the conference, and many asked for my address in order to write to me in the future." (Chapter Brief Look at my Life)
"I proved myself to be worthy of their respect due to my knowledge of poetry and my winning of many prizes" ((Chapter Brief Look at my Life)
"The Shaykh sensed the uneasy atmosphere and tried to cool the situation by using his wit, so he said, "He whose start is burning, his end will be shining." The
audience took that as a graceful sign from the Shaykh, which would guarantee my shining end, and congratulated me for that. " (Chapter Pilgrimage to the House of
Allah)
"I visited Shaykh Abdul Basit Muhammad Abdul Samad, the famous reciter of the Qur'an, whose voice I liked very much. I stayed with him for three days, and
during that time I discussed with his friends and relatives many issues and they liked me for my enthusiasm, frankness and knowledge. If they talked about art, I sang; and if they spoke about asceticism and sufism, I told them that I followed the Tijani order as well as the Medani; and if they spoke about the West I told them about Paris, London, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Spain which I visited during the summer holidays; and if they spoke about the pilgrimage, I told them that I had made the pilgrimage to Mecca and that I was on my way to perform the Umrah. I told them about places which were not known to people who had been on pilgrimage seven times such as the caves of Hira and Thawr and the Altar of Ismail. If they spoke about sciences and technology I gave them all the figures and the scientific names..." (Chapter In Egypt)
"Some of al-Azhar's Shaykhs used to come to these meetings and liked what I recited from the Qur'anic verses and the sayings of the Great Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.), besides they were impressed by my strong arguments and asked me from which university I had graduated. I used to answer them proudly that I graduated from al-Zaituna University" (Chapter In Egypt)
"My mind wandered as I started to recall a series of events that I had experienced in the past... I remembered that happiness of my childhood up to that day and dreamed of a better future. . . I felt as if Allah and His Messenger were providing me with a special care." (Chapter A Meeting on board the Ship )
"The main point which I have mentioned in this chapter is that I started feeling big and somehow over confident, and I thought I had actually become learned. Why
should I not feel so when there were a number of Ulama from al-Azhar who attested for me, some of them even told me that my place was there, i.e. at al-Azhar. What really made me proud of myself was the fact that I was allowed to see some of the Great Prophet's (s.a.w.) relics..." (Chapter In Egypt)
Seems weird, because first, Allah forbids the general people to make a show of themselves. Allah says:
[4:49] Have you not seen those who claim sanctity for themselves. Nay -but Allah sanctifies whom He pleases, and they will not be dealt with injustice even equal to
the extent of a Fatila (A scalish thread in the long slit of a date-stone).
[4:50] Look, how they invent a lie against Allah, and enough is that as a manifest sin.
Of course, Allah takes care of all people, but here Tijani is supposing as a foregone conclusion that Allah loved him and loves him more than others. This is part of psychologically preparing the reader to see how Allah "guded" Tijani to Shiaism because of Allah's "great love and care"... But how do his personal feelings and the events he mentioned give us a proof that this was Allah's love and not something else ?
Edited by nit, 09 June 2005 - 06:33 PM.
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