Therefore the love for the righteous adheres to the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and after him those who adhere to his sunnah and reach degrees of righteousness and nearness to Allah and great door or expressway of nearness to Allah is loving them and becoming attached to them.

The Prophet (SAW) – replied, “What have you prepared for it?” The Bedouin said, “I have not prepared much salaah, or much sawm, or much sadaqah, but one thing: I love Allah and His Messenger.” Then the Prophet (SAW) – said, “You shall be with whom you love!” Anas – Radi Allahu Anhu – the narrator of the hadith said, “By Allah, nothing brought us more happiness after our Islam than that statement: ‘you shall be with whom you love.’ I love Allah and His Messenger, and Abu Bakr and Umar And I hope to be with them (on the final day) even though I have not done as much as they did. Immediately the man asked the Prophet (SAW), “When is the final hour?” A question the Prophet (SAW) – disliked. It is narrated in a hadeeth that one day the Prophet (SAW) – sat with his companions when a Bedouin came. Ample proof for this is the wide and extensive use made of two central wirds or dhikrs of the Alawiyyah Tariqah, the Ratib al-Haddad (Known as the “Gadat” in the local dialect) and the Ratib al-'Attas, by the Muslims here. The al-Tariqah al-Alawiyyah al-Haddadiyyah, in addition to other major Sufi movements like the Khalwatiyyah and the Qadiriyyah, has impacted profoundly on the local Muslim community here in South Africa.

There was also a great revival of Sufism in the Hadramawt under the remarkable guidance and tutelage of Imam 'Abdullah Alawi Haddad whose influence and leadership was acknowledged by the scholars of both Yemen and the Hijaz. He is considered the primary reviver of Islam among the revivers of Islam in the 12th Islamic Century. The Imam is perhaps the most well known of the Hadrami scholars because of his numerous books and litanies. The Ratib al-Haddad is one of Imam al-Haddad's most widely recited litanies. It is a tradition for many local Muslims in Cape Town to recite the Ratib al-Haddad, more commonly known as the ' Gadat' on selected evenings or special occasions. The influence of Imam 'Abdullah ibn 'Alawi al-Haddad, is quite evident in Cape Town, South Africa.

Ratib al haddad cape town pdf