University of California Press
Berkeley & Los Angeles. 1984. 215 p.
The Tijani litany consists of three sets of prayers which are recited at specified times in addition to the five daily prayers required of all Muslims. They are the wird, the wazîfa, and the hadra. This terminology can be somewhat confusing.
Hampâté Bâ says (in VE, 231) that all these prayers together constitute the Tijani wird, although al-Hajj Umar refers to them collectively as the adhkâr and employs the term wird to designate only the first set of prayers (called by Hampâté Bâ, the lâzim). Umar specifically states that it was the first set of prayers which the Prophet Muhammad ordered Shaykh al-Tijani to transmit to all Muslims who requested them. Abun-Nasr also employs this usage. This interpretation suggests that entry into the Tijaniyya order was effected by receiving an authorization to recite the wird (the first set of prayers listed below) and that authorizations to recite the other prayers were granted later. This procedure seems to have been the intention of Shaykh al-Tijani, and would conform to the progressive or “initiatic” nature of membership in the order which is suggested in much of the literature.
The following information is from Rimâh, 1, 229-30, although the translations of the texts of the prayers are from Abun-Nasr, The Tijaniyya, 50-7. This information can also be found in VE, 231-6.
The wird includes three recitations to be recited twice daily, in the morning, before the dawn prayer, and in the afternoon.
The wazîfa includes four recitations recited at least once daily before the morning prayer, but a second time in the evening if one wishes.
The hadra is a group recitation held each Friday afternoon during which the hailala or simply the name Allah is recited. The number of recitations is not specified.