A Muslim individual resolving to enter into attachment with the person of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, can join the group of the Dandarawi family by morally belonging to its founder, As-Sultan Ad-Dandarawi.

This moral attachment (Intisab Ma'nawi) to the founder of the Dandarawi family bestows on the member the title of ‘ Dandarawi', which would precede his name but would not replace his surname; thus we would refer to such a member by the name ‘Ad-Dandarawi so-and-so son of so-and-so.’

Furthermore, this moral belonging makes of the founder of the Dandarawi family – As-Sultan Ad-Dandarawi may Allah have mercy on his soul – the moral forefather for all members of his group. Thus, the second Dandarawi, his son Al-Imam Al-Abbas, would be the spiritual father for all the children of the Dandarawi family; and the third Dandarawi, his grandson, his highness Al-Fadhl Ibn Al-Abbas Ad-Dandarawi , the great brother of the groupings of the clans and families of the Dandarawi overall family.

The founder of the Dandarawi family may Allah have mercy on his soul has decreed that membership of the group should be left open for all the masses of monotheistic believers in the unity of Allah till the end of time Allah willing, so that anyone who wishes to join the group can do that at any time, in accordance with abovementioned stipulation.

It has always been the practice of founders of human groupings to direct their attention towards attracting certain categories of people: the young, university students, prominent businessmen, or the affluent and influential – never heeding the weak or the underprivileged. Others would accept none in their groupings except the pious and virtuous and refuse to become preoccupied with reforming those who are less than virtuous. And it is amazing how this categorical patterning in human grouping comes out clearly whenever we come in contact with some of these groups on a social occasion, for example.

On the other hand, the founder of the Dandarawi family addressed his reform call to any Muslim who is approachable and is likely to be interested. That was because he wanted for his group to reflect the picture of the fabric of the Muslim world community and the structure of the society. That was why he may Allah have mercy on his soul took special care of a number of practical principles that we enumerate in what follows:

That the human structure of his group should embrace Muslims belonging to all four Islamic intellectual trends: Salafi schools, Sufi orders, charity organisations, and nationalist patriotic organisations.

That the human structure of his group should embrace people from all social classes: the rich and poor, the privileged and underprivileged, the educated and illiterate, the rulers and subjects.

That the human structure of his group should embrace people from all human races and colours: white, black, red, and yellow.

That the human structure of his group should embrace Muslims from all quarters of the globe and from all territorial habitats: east, west, north, and south; inhabitants of mountainous areas, valleys, plains, or coastal areas.

That the human structure of his group should embrace Muslims from all national or land structures: tribes, clans, or families. Thus the Dandarawi family will comprise closely formed ranks of clans and families moulded into one human structural group, attached morally to the founder of the Dandarawi family.

Thus we see that the human structure of the Dandarawi family is formed of Muslims of Muhammedan constitution (Takwin Muhammadi), belonging to various clans and families, descending from all races of the world in all their four colours, spread in all four quarters of the globe, coming from various living standards and social classes.

The Dandarawi family sees the four Islamic jurisprudence sects as schools wherein a Muslim may learn the rulings of the Islamic Shariah law in acts of worship and dealings in accordance with the teachings of the Prophetic Sunnah.

In the Dandarawi vision, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, has drawn four aspects for his way (Sunna) and Allah the Most Sublime guided each one of the four major jurisprudents to one of these aspects; and a Muslim can embrace the straight Muhammedan path through the aspect that is within his capability, that matches his personal nature, and that matches his climatic surroundings at the same time, all in moderation without exaggeration.

The founder of the Dandarawi family, As-Sultan Ad-Dandarawi, himself followed the Syafi'e school teachings in his devotions, and gave each one in his group freedom to follow any school in his acts of worship, with the caution that no member of the family should take a hostile attitude towards other schools; this is because the difference between the schools is one of complementation and not of hostility.

Thus we see that the Dandarawi family is not a new jurisprudence school and that its human structure is left open and ready to adopt and adapt anyone who wishes to embrace its teachings from among the followers of the four jurisprudence schools any time he wishes to do so. This way, everyone would display the centrality of attachment to the person of the Chosen Messenger and Leader peace be upon him in restoring the coherence of the fabric of the Muslim nation, and what ensues from this coherence of development in construction and glory among the nations of the world.

The Dandarawi family sees the various Sufi ways as schools for Muhammedan gracious manners that teach a Muslim the fundamentals of the rulings of Islam by following the Muhammedan example and gives him high taste in terms of understanding and sublime resolution in terms of will. These orders, furthermore, nourishes the soul with their devotions, prayers, and invocations; and uplifts the practising Muslim from the lows of his earthly existence to high human spiritual levels.

In displaying the importance and necessity of following the ways of a specific Sufi order for a Muslim, he committed himself and his kin to the Ahmadi Idrisi way, but gave other members of the group freedom of choice of the Sufi way whose specific devotions would best suit them in nourishing their souls and bringing their Islamic practice into perfection.

Thus we see that the Dandarawi family is not a Sufi way/order; however, its children individually follow one of the known Sufi orders – most of them follow the Ahmadi Idrisi way. None of them, moreover, cling fanatically to one of the orders while viewing other ways with hostility; they deal with all Muslims following all other pure Sufi orders as brethren, friends, companions, and neighbours. By tolerating this plurality of ways of tasting Islamic spiritual values, the human structure of the Dandarawi family remains open to and willing to embrace anyone who wishes to join the group from among the adherents of various Sufi orders at the time that suits him best. The goal is that the nation, with this coherence, restores the essence of the unity of its fabric and its status among nations of the world.

The children of the Dandarawi family are committed to social coherence because it is an Islamic obligation, which is a pre-requisite for man living Islam in his life. They are committed to social coherence not only amongst themselves but also with everybody in their community. This coherence takes the shape of cooperation in times of fear and solidarity in times of adversity.

However, despite the great attachment of the Dandarawi children to social coherence, the Dandarawi family, in its constitution, is not to be seen as a charity organisation. Moreover, this does not mean that the family does not appreciate the efforts of genuine philanthropic organisations or that it stands in hostility to the benevolent associations. On the contrary, the family leaves its ranks open to any member of any benevolent association who wishes to join the ranks of the family.

In the final analysis, it is part of the system of the Dandarawi family to have full respect to all genuine philanthropic assemblies; and the children of the family deal with the members of these assemblies as brethren, friends, neighbours, or companions whenever they are in their social surroundings.

During his travels in Muslim countries, the founder of the Dandarawi family saw that the living conditions in many of their societies have led to a kind of class distinction whereby people of similar living circumstances tended to group together, isolating themselves from – and sometimes feeling hostile to – people of other classes. This phenomenon has impacted negatively on the structure of the society as a whole, leading to corrosion in its coherence and to depriving the community from the process of continued development.

This observation led the founder of the family to take special care to make his group reflect the structure of the true Muslim community. This resulted in the Dandarawi family being an all-embracing social construction including people from all social classes and not an exclusive social construction.

Thus the Dandarawi family embraces in its single construction people from various social groups or classes, and cares to make it clear to anyone who is in contact with its fields of action in any community that man, by genuine attachment to the person of the Prophet peace be upon him, can overcome the barriers of social class distinction and communicate from his position with people from all classes. This will occur as a result of man reforming and refining his soul by following the model of the Prophetic manners and controlling it in a way to make it feel the justice in the system of class variety in the society.

Such a community is not likely to experience and suffer from envy: no poor person would envy the rich; no weak person would envy the strong, no uneducated person would envy scholars, and subjects would not look with envy towards rulers.

The children of the Dandarawi family are committed to the unity of the Muslim nation because it is an Islamic obligation, which is a pre-requisite for man living Islam in his life. They are thus committed to solidarity with their brethren in Muslim communities across the borders with relationships of empathy and love, as this is the spindle that weaves the fabric of the Muslim nation in a single corpus.

However, despite the great attachment of the Dandarawi children to Islamic unity and national harmony across various nations, the Dandarawi family is not to be seen as a nationalist organisation. Furthermore, this should not mean that it takes a hostile attitude towards nationalist groupings or that it rejects those working in political nationalist activity; on the contrary, it leaves its ranks open to any member in any genuine nationalist organisation who wishes to join the Dandarawi group to participate in retrieving the essence of the Muslim nation.

In the final analysis, it is part of the system of the Dandarawi family to have full respect to all genuine nationalist groupings; and the children of the family deal with members of these assemblies as brethren, friends, neighbours, or companions whenever they are in their social surroundings.

A Muslim's membership in the Dandarawi family strengthens his loyalty to the legitimate state of which he is a subject and emphasises his attachment to all its laws and systems. Such a peaceful relationship with the state – free of all conflict or friction – is likely to provide the healthy and wholesome climate for the state to go about practising its required functions and performing its national obligations by endeavouring to attain durable security conditions for the citizens and achieving lasting suitable working conditions for them. It is a known fact that man needs both these conditions to persist in a fulfilling life where his individual dignity and his ability to progress in development could be guaranteed: durable security and fitting stable means of obtaining livelihood.

The axiomatic Dandarawi statement runs : ‘The stability of man's confidence concerning his lasting safety is a fort for his human dignity ... and his assured confidence in the stability of his livelihood is a forward push for his movement in life.'

The Dandarawi family does not deal with politics at the level of its groupings in the countries where it has an active existence; neither is it preoccupied with political affairs as this is not its cause. However, having said that, the family does not forbid any of its members from dealing in politics, provided he does that as his own personal affair and that he does not demand the members of the Dandarawi groupings to take his side for political benefits.

The Dandarawi family is a social not political entity; and when one of its members practices politics, he does so in his own personal capacity. The Dandarawi family sees that political activity is a profession, like any other profession, necessary for the wellbeing of the overall human existence, and, like all other professions, it should be subjected to all necessary epistemological and ethical regulations and conditions.

The axiomatic Dandarawi statement runs: ‘We have knowledge of politics but we do not practise it.'

From the Dandarawi perspective, a Muslim community is a pluralistic one with Muslims and non-Muslims living side by side. Never in any of Islam's scriptures do we have a stipulation for a Muslim to live in a single-religion exclusive society from which adherents of other religions are banished. Moreover, the blessed Prophetic Sunna teaches us that the society that Islam wants to establish is a pluralistic one and that the responsibility of developing it lies on the shoulders of all its members.

This is why the attitude of the Dandarawi family towards adherents of other religions was one of partnership in the community, and this is the official ruling according to the majority of Muslims scholars. In brief terms, this attitude means that Muslims should never force or harass anyone to become a Muslim: the Quran states unequivocally that there should be no coercion in religion. Add to this the attitude that any Muslim who extends harm to anyone of the adherents of the other heavenly religions for no other reason than being a non-Muslim, and then gives himself the liberty to do that based on a personal or group opinion/verdict not endorsed by official legitimate authorities, would be extending harm to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, personally as he, peace be upon him, has stated that he is personally the guardian for any non-Muslim who lives in a Muslim community.

Having respect to the non-Muslim partner in the community, guarding his life, and providing him with security, and dealing with him with good will and good neighbourliness, all this is part of the Islamic system of social life. It is not acceptable – neither legally nor by reasoning – to modify this system, in dealing with any group – by changing from a peaceful relationship to one of war – except by a decision on the level of the legitimate state authority and after the declaration of hostility and war by that group.

The Dandarawi family, despite its being a social entity comprising of only Muslim members, teaches that all its groupings in all the communities where they exist should live in good neighbourly relations with their non-Muslim communal partners and compatriots.

The Dandarawi family is a social entity in the shape of a tribe whose clans and families have spread in various countries. Since the family usually comprises the human being – man or woman – in their four known generations: the elderly, the grown up, the youth, and the infant; the founder of the Dandarawi family addressed his reform call to any approachable and willing Muslim to join the ranks of the Dandarawi family with his household.

The Dandarawi family thus is not a non-governmental organisation established for activities meant for the empowerment of women, refining her talents and skills, and improving her living conditions. But, with all appreciation to organisations concerned with the woman status, the Dandarawi family is a social entity in whose human structure woman – in her four generations – forms a vital part.

Women in the Dandarawi family, then, is man's partner in the realisation of human reform; and, with him, by genuine attachment to the person of the Prophet, peace be upon him, she stands in challenge against all ailments that afflict and lacerate modern man's conscience and all crushing diseases that make his life a field of disunion and strife among individuals as well as groups.

In the Dandarawi family, women is a member of the collective of the Muslim community; and, exactly like her male counterpart, she is responsible for rising to realise social and national reform. However, the Dandarawi family was not established for the cause of the women but for the cause of the human being in both its sexes and in all their four generations.

Anyone who has followed the progress of the march of the Dandarawi family since its first annual general conference that was held in 1973 concomitantly with the celebrations for the Prophet's Birthday (Al Maulid An Nabawi Asy Syarif) , up to the present day, would see clearly the progress that women has attained in her status, whether in her active participation in the conference or in her teaching and educational activities in the groupings of the Dandarawi family all over the countries where the family has widespread existence.

In the Dandarawi family, women has the same rights and duties as regards her social group as man: her viewpoint is respected and appreciated in general conferences as well as in all fields of activity. Moreover, she is held accountable for any shortcoming or failure, and is held in dignity for any success and honourable deed. In general celebrations and occasions, she – within the framework of Shariah rulings – would ascend to podiums to deliver lectures or would express her opinions from her place set aside for the women on general occasions, which is kept apart from the place of men across a legal partition.

The Dandarawi family sees that the process of human reform – which demands effecting change on all levels, change that would re-establish the present on the basis of the fundamentals of life – cannot succeed and proceed without the partnership of woman with her four generations, irrespective of her race, colour, geographical location, pattern of life, living conditions, the sect she follows, the way of her performance, the cooperative organisation she belongs to, or the political organisation she struggles with, and regardless of whether she tends to be introverted or open in her dealings with her community.