Wird and hizb litanies (Shadhili Hizb al-Bahr)

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili · Egypt

What it is

In Sufi usage a wird (plural awrad) is a person's regular, fixed portion of devotional recitation, and a hizb (plural ahzab) is a composed litany, usually attributed to a master, made of Qur'anic verses, divine names and supplications. Orders also use the term wazifa for an assigned daily…

Format

• This is a devotional practice, not a therapy. It has no phases, session count or manual. The framework below is for the psychotherapist working alongside it and is throughout unless tagged.
• Phase C: Work. Client-led integration, meaning-making, scrupulosity work (ERP with religious consultation), monitoring adverse effects, coordinating with the teacher where the client wishes. Format: ordinary individual sessions; no session count is given by any source.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Delay in seeking care; distress when "protection" seems to fail (see 4.4).
• Flashbacks, dissociation, avoidance of all devotion. Working when the client can choose how close to come to the practice.
• Pressure to act as a religious guide; your own reactions to the tradition. Working when the client keeps two clear relationships.
• Missing illness because it has religious content, or pathologising faith. Working when the client feels respected and risk is managed.
• Clients who feel the therapist must share their faith to help; clients who want the therapist to replace a teacher. Working when the client sets the terms.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.