Sīdī Muhammad b.

Qaddūr
Masters of the Shādhili Path Series

Translated by Sidi Idris Watts

He is a descendant of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant

him peace, from the family of Wukīl. His grave is still to be found in
Mount Karkar, which lies underneath a great dome. By the side of his
tomb, lies a sweet spring. Inside the dome, still resides his rosary that
bears 1000 beads and his giant lance that he hunted wild beasts with.

He studied the arts of reading and writing in his youth by

frequenting a scholar on Mount Qal‘iyya in Nador. The teacher would
write him his portion of Qurān and leave a space at the bottom of his
slate where he would draw the divine name of God ‘Allah’. He was
instructed, on finishing his portion of Qurān, to close his eyes and
invoke the Divine Name. He continued to do so, regularly repeating the
Name after finishing each of his daily portions until one day a powerful
state overtook him and he fell to the ground unconscious. When his
teacher came to check on him, he found him lying still on the floor.
Believing him to be dead, he fled the village fearing for his life. Once
the boy had regained consciousness, he was in a distant state and not
all together himself. He remained in this state for some time. He
wandered into Algeria, where he met a man of God, who said to him, ‘If
it were not for your ancestor Muhammad, I would not have wasted a
word speaking to you. Your need is with the spiritual pole, Muhammad
b. ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Bāsha who resides in the region of al-Khurūb.’ The
boy headed off earnestly to meet the Master and dedicated his
services to him.

After a time, some of his master’s relatives began to despise the

boy and grew jealous of him. The master ordered the boy to leave, so
he went to the bottom of the mountain where he hid in the day, and in
the night, he brought fodder for the master’s animals. He remained like
this for some time. There were times when hunger overcame him so
that he was forced to eat snails to stop the hunger pangs. One night
one of the master’s relatives spotted him moving amongst the animals,
so they reported him, believing him to be a thief. The master began to
look out for the thief at night, but when he saw who a figure moving
around outside he called out to him. ‘Who is it?’ He replied. ‘It is I, Bin
Qaddūr.’ He invited him to come out and sit with him. Whilst they were
speaking, a maid came up to them and reported that the vessel they
used to make bread with was missing.
When Sīdī bin Qaddūr heard this, he ran off to the market in
search of one, and with which he returned, carrying it on his back all
the way to his master’s house, a great distance. When his Master
found him, he asked him where he had located the vessel. He told him
that he had brought it from the marketplace at Qal‘iyyah. His master
stood back astonished. The boy grew even dearer to his teacher from
then on.

He remained in the service of his master until he was told to go

to his homeland to spread the teachings of the path. ‘Be honourable
and generous but also be on guard against your fellow family
members, who will be envious.’ And so it happened that his family
plotted to kill him. Whilst he was far off from the village on a mountain
side, a man appeared before him bearing a knife, wanting to kill him.
Sīdī bin Qaddūr began to admonish him and told him to fear God, but it
was to no avail, so Sīdī bin Qaddūr was forced to shoot him with his
rifle, killing him. Immediately, he ran home gathered his family and
fled with them to a mountain called ‘the Spring of Zūrā’. There he dug
two caves in the earth, one for his family and one for his students.
There he lived with his family and disciples.

His reputation soon spread far and wide amongst the

neighbouring tribes. One day a tribe called Banī Būhyā, who had
previously pledged allegiance to him, came to visit him. They took him
to their homeland at night on Mount Karkar. He ordered them to leave
him there, and it was on this mountain that his zāwiyah was built. It
was also here that he issued people the invocation of the Divine Name
and spread his teachings until he finally passed away.