Mawlid 2017 – Photos & videos

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
و الصلاة و السلام على أشرف المرسلين
و على اله و اصحابه أجمعين

Mawlid 2017 – Photos & Videos

All human beings living on Earth, without exception, made a pledge in pre-eternity, where neither time, nor space, nor bodies existed. This bay‘a was signed for, by and towards the Most High ﷻ. It is thus the duty of every human being to return to this pledge after the descent to Earth of Sayyiduna Adam – peace be upon him.

Such was the role of the Prophets and Messengers (peace be upon them), and after them of their Saintly heirs. Whoever today takes the bay‘a with an authentic Shaykh in reality only returns to this original oath, by virtue of His Word ﷻ: “Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you (yubayi‘unaka) are actually pledging allegiance to Allah (yubayi‘una Allah); the hand of Allah is over their hands. So whoever violates his oath only violates it to the detriment of himself; and whoever fulfils what he has promised Allah – He will give him a great reward.” [Surah 48, verse 10].

Sidi Shaykh teaches us that in reality his disciple takes the bay‘a with him once and only once, but that the mawlid and the rite of renewing the bay‘a have, among other aims, that of bringing the disciple from the state of heedlessness to wakefulness. That is, he constantly remembers that through his bay‘a with the Shaykh he has made a return to a sacred, lofty and very ancient act. It is also an occasion for the disciple to start afresh on good foundations with his wird.

These are some of the reasons why in the Karkariya Sufi Order, at every mawlid, it is the duty of the disciple to gather with his brothers beside his Shaykh at the zawiya. It is simply a moment of celebration: the festival of the Muslims, the festival of the believers, the festival of the lovers.

Preparation

The particularity of the mawlid 2017 is that a large public was expected in addition to the disciples from Morocco and from the rest of the world. The public mainly includes the disciples’ families, neighbours, acquaintances and all the curious who pass by.

A tent was therefore set up on the ground right next to the zawiya, and all the disciples lent a hand with the preparations, under the Shaykh’s supervision of course. See the photo album.

Welcome procession

As at every mawlid, the disciples of Bergam, Oujda, Taourirt and other cities of Morocco gather to be welcomed by the Shaykh and the disciples, near the mosque not far from the zawiya.

On the other side, from the zawiya to the welcome point (near the mosque), the Shaykh and the disciples behind him walk accompanied by dhikr. After the embraces, the way back is made under the chanting of qasa’id (poems). See the photo album.

Qur’an, invocation and poetry

After the meal and the recitation of the surahs, the Karkari wird is performed in chorus.

The dhikr is then followed by the chanting of qasa’id in praise of Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ. These chanted qasa’id awaken the aspiration and the spiritual impulse in the disciple’s heart: it is the introduction to the hadra (Sufi dance).

The public, as every year, is invited to take part in the chanting. See the photo album.

Here in video are the qasa’id (poems) that were chanted.

Hadra

With the large presence of disciples, the circle of the hadra was big and itself made up of several inner circles. As at every hadra, it is of course the father of Sidi Shaykh, Sidi Hajj Tayeb, who closes the session with du‘a. See the photo album.

Talks

The mawlid is an occasion for every disciple to present, if he wishes, a testimony, an anecdote about his journey, a teaching on the Tariqa or on the celebration of the mawlid.

This year, on the francophone side, it was Sidi Muhammad Florian who distinguished himself with music played on the Duduk, a very ancient Armenian instrument.

The Paris disciples, for their part, presented a play based on a tale, a wise story by Farid al-Din ‘Attar taken from his collection: The Conference of the Birds. In this play, birds troubled in their quest for the Simorgh (the Ultimate Goal) confront their faults before the Hoopoe, symbolising the Shaykh.

The play was presented against a musical background played by Sidi Muhammad Florian on his Duduk.

The music of the Duduk

The language of the birds

Meal

Finally, the evening – at least for the public – ended with a generous meal, to the delight of young and old. See the photo album.

Renewal of the bay‘a

The festival of the mawlid 2017 definitively ends when all the disciples renew their bay‘a by making a sincere and corrected intention. Sidi Shaykh follows the session with du‘a (invocation). See the photo album.

May Allah illuminate, until the next mawlid,
our daily lives, our acts of worship, our bond with Him.