The word used in the Arabic language for allegiance is bay’at, which means “taking hand.” The practice is sanctioned in the Qur’an by Surah 48:10: “Verily, those who give thee their allegiance, they give it but to Allah Himself.” It is used for the initiation ceremony specific to many Sufi orders.
The following question is on page 33 of Fruits of the Tree of Life available at www.sufimaster.org or www.sufigifts.org
Student: What is the meaning of the bay’ah?
Sidi: This is the Promise to Allah. This is a great Order and a secret Order. Not everyone can taste the real meaning of the bay’ah if he does not walk. It is only for the student who has walked through all the stations and is complete to really taste. It can only be fully understood with the Order from Allah. Many students come and do not really taste the meaning of bay’ah. It is a very holy Order because this is a very special Way. Allah has made everything in this Way for the student to walk straight, cleanly, and quickly. There is no Way like this Way.
The meaning of the bay’ah is:
I am a slave and I believe that You are my God.
I believe in all the Orders that You have sent with all the Prophets.
I do not make a difference between any of them.
I promise to walk straight and not to make mistakes.
I promise to give the Mercy to everyone and to send the Love and the Peace to everyone.
Help me, my God, to be special for You.
This is is what I promise.
Student: What does it mean to be a slave?
Sidi: To be a slave for your God is the highest station a faqir can hope to reach. He stands in front of his God, Face to Face, all his time. In every waking moment he moves with the Order of God, totally surrendering everything to Him, without the desire for anything but the Love of God. In reality the student has nothing to give, because everything is from the Soul of Allah, and there is no you and there is no He, but everything is One picture. Being a slave for Allah means to carry all the qualities of Allah and not to move without His order. No separation is made between anyone created by Allah and the slave is there for everyone and contains everyone. The slave always lives in the complete freedom because he always lives in the world of the unity.
The following explanation of the Promise was provided by the Shadhiliyya Sufi Center.
Sidi Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal ar-Rafa’i, the Guide of Peace, and the Love, and the Mercy, is the Guide of the Shadhiliyya Sufi Path, founded by as-Shaykh Ali Abu-l-Hasan ash-Shadhili in the thirteenth century C.E. He is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, through his ancestor, Shaykh Ahmed ar-Rafa’i. He is the spiritual inheritor of the Shadhili line from his Guide and Master, Shaykh Abdu-r-Rahman Abu-r-Risah.
The Shaykh lives in Jerusalem on the Holy Mount of Olives. There he is the Head of the Higher Sufi Council in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, as well as a teacher and central figure of the sacred al-Aqsa Mosque. 
The teachings from the heart and spirit of Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal are very deep for all those who have a heart and listen with this heart. He lives only to be the complete slave for God, and he gives the message of God’s Love, Peace and Mercy to all people without prejudice towards race, gender, and religion.
An Explanation of the Bayat
When someone is ready to accept Sidi as their guide, he allows them the opportunity to make a promise to Allah, which will set the intention for their walking on the path. This is called the “bayat.” Sidi takes the hand of the student in his hand, signifying a commitment to guide and be guided. This echoes the verse in the Qur’an where Allah tells the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that those who take a pledge with him are in reality taking the pledge with Allah.
It is said by the Sufis that there is no arrival except at the hands of a guide. When we take the promise in God to follow Him and obey His orders, we take the key which helps us to return to our real life, which He created for us from the beginning.
The student of Allah promises:
- to be one from His children, to follow His way, the Sufi way
- to follow all the holy prophets and all the holy books
- to be (as) my father (take Sidi as their guide)
- to give everything for the Face of your Beloved God
- to carry His message, the message of Peace and Love and Mercy and Justice
- to walk His way, the Sufi way, the Shadhuli way
- to be honest, to be sincere, to listen for His voice
In the Sufi tradition, in order to help yourself, you must first give to others. Therefore, when you take the promise, you make a sacrifice as a condition for entering upon the Sufi path. Just like Abraham, father of all the prophets, was asked to sacrifice his beloved son, the student makes a sacrifice. This sacrifice, like that in the Bible, is considered one of the most holy and sacred ways of giving yourself to God. Abraham’s son was spared his death and a sheep was exchanged for him. So you too are asked to offer a sacrifice for yourself. Through our sacrifice we are actually giving spiritual food that will give strength and sustenance to those who walk the path. It feeds the giver and the receiver in both a physical and spiritual way. When you walk this path, you need to offer yourself as a sacrifice to Allah until Allah embraces you between His two arms.
Many of Sidi’s students are asked to make an offering for the poor, usually in the form of money ($500). Traditionally a sheep is sacrificed to feed the poorest of the poor. In the Holy Land this is the cost of buying, transporting, sacrificing and preparing a sheep in the holy way. For those who can’t give the full amount, you give what you can at the time of your promise with a firm intention to pay it off over time. The remainder up to $500 is your debt to Allah. You may pay it in installments until the full amount is paid.
The Qur’an tells us that whatever we spend in the way of Allah is restored by Allah sevenfold. Sacrifice to give life to others. This is the Way of the Sufi.
Who is the Guide that Carries the Truth?
“The guide who shows you the way is your brother. You cannot see the way if you do not know what you feel when you follow or what you are. You are the way of the truth. I tell you that to walk in the way is very difficult; you meet with darkness and many troubles. You need to have the guide who will help you and take your hand. If you do not follow the guide who knows the way well, you will not know. How can you reach God if you do not follow the person who has reached God? He has walked the way before you and he has reached the highest station. He knows how to walk and how to cut off difficulties and all troubles. He knows the good and the bad and the right and the wrong of this world.
It is necessary for you to search for the guide. When you find him, follow him. How can you know him? The guide carries all the Qualities of God. You can know him when you look at the way he walks. You will find his way to be polite. He gives mercy and he gives love and not only does he give love, he is like the sea filled with love. All the knowledge of God is in this sea. It is never-ending. Every ship can sail on this sea because this sea can carry all their ships. He is strong and his self is from the self of God. His soul is the soul of God and his heart is the house of God. He loves everyone and he gives love to anyone. He works all of his time in the way and he does not sleep much and does not waste time. His time is filled with teaching and he gives everything to his students. He opens his heart to everyone. His own life is not important to him. He makes peace between the people and teaches the family of God to be polite. He spends all his time working in the way because there is no time, only for God.
At last, and there is not last, it is necessary for you to know your guide well and to follow him because you need him. You cannot reach the complete truth if you do not follow him. He knows all the stations of the world on the crude outside (al-kathif) and he knows all the stations on the subtle inside (al-latif). You need him to clean you from the outside to the inside, to reach what he has reached because you want to change yourself from the darkness to the light. He is the father of the light and you are the son or daughter. Every son or daughter needs the father. Listen to every word he says and be like him because everything in him is very holy. Give him everything because he wants to give you everything. When you give yourself, then there is no difference between his face and your face. You can see his reflection in you and you can see the face of God in anyone of the family of God.
How can you see the face of God if you do not give everything? How can you reach Him and how can you know Him if you refuse any order He has given you? Do not refuse anything. If you refuse what he says and what he wants, then you refuse the order of God. Be polite with him when you site near him and especially when you speak with him, be quite and listen to what he says. Do not speak with anyone when he speaks. Find every meaning in every word he speaks. It is necessary for you to open your heart and to open your eye. Be like him in every quality. I want anyone to be with the guide in everything because he knows everything. Then you will know who the guide is. Do not change and do not follow another person who says he is the guide. If he does not have these qualities, then he is not the guide. I want you to stay with yourself and know everything. This is the guide. When you find the guide, you must open your heart and the guide must open his heart. This heart is like a flower full of beautiful fragrance. This perfume is for anyone to smell. This fragrance is the love of God and it has no beginning and no end. If the mercy is in your heart, why not give it to another, for everyone is waiting for it. This is the real message of the prophets.
God says, ‘Be My reflection in everything that you do. I have given you Myself and you can see Me in every human being. Give anyone love and mercy, if that is what he wants, and know you are giving it to Me.’ When you find the love, you find yourself. The secret of God is in the love. If you want to go beyond all that you have been to find the secret of God, then I am your brother to take your hand and guide you from the darkness to the light and to the garden.” – Sidi Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal from Music of the Soul
Update 2/6/2016 Even though Sidi al-Jamal passed late last year, you can still take bay’at with the teachers at University of Spiritual Healing and Sufism or the Shadhiliyya Sufi Center. You will still receive the transmission from Sidi al-Jamal through his students.