Sidi AbdulWahab Baniss (May ALLAH be satisfied with him)

The perfect knower, the pious wali, the master Abdelwahab Baniss (may Allah be satisfied with him). He was among the elite of the companions of Seidina Ahmed Tidjani (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) and among those who had the Opening to such an extent that Seidina told him: "You are for me what Ibn Oum Maktoum (a famous companion of the Prophet who was also suffering from blindness) was to the Prophet (peace be upon him)".

He was very committed to preserve his religion; he hastened to obtain as much good with determination and effort. He was blind but he saw through the eye of the heart. In fact he is the one who heard the spirits exchange their condolences after the death of Seidina (may Allah sanctify his precious secret).

Indeed, he was returning from the Subh prayer of a mosque which was near Seidina Ahmed Tidjani's (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) home and, while walking along the road, he heard these spirits talk to each other.

In this regard, he said: "When I heard it, I wanted to be sure of this and I went to Seidina Ahmed Tidjani's (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) house. I then noticed that his blessed spirit had just left his body ".

Among the events that have been reported, he said: "I heard Seidina (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) say: "When you find out that someone has tobacco and he is in the Wadhifa assembly, drive him out ".

It was reported by Sidi Arbi ibn Sa-ih (may Allah be satisfied with him) that our character told him: "The authorization of Mouqadem that I had from Seidina (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) to transmit the Wird is conditioned by the fact that I am forbidden to give it to anyone who consumes these impurities nasally, orally or by smoking".

The Mouqadem Sidi Taieb Sefiani (may Allah be satisfied with him) reported that he had read the title of Mouqadem and the condition of transmission of Sidi Abdelwahab Baniss (may Allah be satisfied with him), roughly in these terms:

"He should not give the Wird to the consumers of these impurities, whether through the nose or the mouth or by smoking, and this, for the use of hashish as well as for that of tobacco and opium. However, he can give it to someone who drinks intoxicating beverages, because one can expect repentance from him whereas for the others most do not repent of their wrongdoings ".

Sidi Taieb Sefiani (may Allah be satisfied with him) also reported: "I saw that this condition for the transmission of prayers was exceptional except for the case of Sidi Ibrahim Riyahi (may Allah be satisfied with him). He neither gave the Tariqa to a consumer of tobacco".

It was reported that when Mouqadem Sidi Taieb Sefiani (may Allah be satisfied with him) went to Tunisia for some matter, he was invited by some brothers. Among those present in the Assembly some began to praise Seidina Ahmed Tidjani (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) and the Tariqa and they hoped to be able to enter it.

They said: "The scholar Sidi Ibrahim Riyahi has forbidden us to take the Tariqa because of the fact that we consume and smoke tobacco. He made it a condition that we should give up this habit, but we cannot break it".

Sidi Taieb (may Allah be satisfied with him) then told them: "If you are determined to take this Tariqa, then I will transmit it to you, even if you consume tobacco".

They took the Tariqa with a great joy and, when leaving the house, threw away their matches and cried out: "There is no good in these things and they are the causes of the fact that some Mouqadem could not give us the Tariqa". And they took the oath to Allah (praised be He and Exalted) never again to use them from that moment.

It was also reported that the Cherif Sidi Moussa ibn Ma'zouz (may Allah be pleased with him) personally sent out anyone having tobacco during the assembly of Wadhifa.
Seidina Ahmed Tidjani (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) said about tobacco: "Tobacco consumption is prohibited (haram) and the origin of this prohibition is the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who said: "Anything that causes a state of weakness is prohibited". So tobacco is taken into account in this hadith (because of the addiction caused by tobacco) ".

Seidina (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) also said on another occasion: "Whoever does not repent of their use (i.e. for tobacco or other similar substances) will not have a good end ".

Sidi Hajj Abdelwahhab ibn El Ahmar (may Allah be satisfied with him) reported that once one of the servants of Seidina (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) was suffering from a serious illness and when he was in agony he began to utter vulgar words without his tongue being able to pronounce the testimony of faith even though it was repeated to him.

The brothers were startled and some said: "But how can this happen to his servant while Seidina is alive?" So they went to find Seidina Ahmed Tidjani (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) and told him the case. To which he replied: "Ask his wife about what he used to do!"

When they asked her, she described his good religious qualities and his firmness in obeying his Lord apart from the fact that he consumed tobacco.

Seidina Ahmed Tidjani (may Allah sanctify his precious secret) then said, after they had reported her words to him: "This is due to these disgusting herbs, go and see him and ask him to repent to Allah". They went to him and told him his remarks, he repented and after this he was able to pronounce the testimony of faith and his spirit left his body.