Riyadat an-Nafs

I have just been informed of the passing away of sayyidi Hasan Gai Eaton.

He is a man whom I truly loved, though I never got to meet him. His books left a huge impact on me, and truly helped me grow, intellectually and spiritually. And his talks and lectures were always powerful doses of wisdom and light.

I always wanted to try and meet him, but never got the chance to.

So I will be crying over myself  for not trying hard enough. What great loss to myself, that I did not get to meet him in person, and be in his presence, and learn from his words and from his silence.

But I will not be crying over him. He has moved on to somewhere better. In the blessed month of Rabee’ al-Anwar, in the very days of the birth and death of his beloved Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, he went to join him, inshaAllah ta’ala.

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, to join him with those that he loved in the Barzakh and in Paradise.

And I ask Him ta’ala, to reward him the best of rewards for Islam and the Destiny of Man

And I ask Him ta’ala, to reward him the best of rewards for Remembering God.

And I ask Him ta’ala, to reward him the best of rewards for King of the Castle.

And I ask Him ta’ala to reward him the best of rewards for his talks and lectures, and for every benefit he gave to the Muslims by his works or actions or interactions.

And Ya Allah, send him from us the thawab of the Fatiha.

YouTube with translation

Mixing of States

I have been writing a lot lately about all the different dhikrs I have been going to in Jordan. At first, my intention was to see the ahlul Allah in Jordan, and to rejoice at the sight of the different dhikrs and mashaykh. I kept going to many of them, now with another intention:  to encourage some of my friends to go, who normally wouldn’t go without my taking them.

But now after a while, those who want to go know how to go, and those who don’t want to go won’t go. And last week, I began to feel something in my chest, a feeling that I should not be going to dhikrs not from my tariqa anymore. Every tariqa has its own states, and its own lights, and methods, and each dhikr is suited for the tariqa it belongs to, and brings people closer to the states and ways of its mashayekh. And I started feeling uncomfortable being in other dhikrs, as they simply didn’t “taste” the same as the Ja’fariyya dhikr, and I didn’t really enjoy them anymore. I decided I would be better off staying at home by myself and doing adhkaar from my tariqa, until Allah allows me to visit Egypt again and feast from heavenly fruits in the Ja’fari hadra.

So today, I decided not to go to the Haqqani dhikr led by the beautiful and blessed shaykh Abdessalam. But I knew that after it ended at 9 pm, he would have a mawlid recitation, and I definitely wanted to attend that. So alhamdulillah I went and arrived while they were doing the du’as at the end of the dhikr, and then got to enjoy the mawlid from beginning to end.

Food of the Awliya

When the mawlid ended, they made a spread on the floor and brought out trays with rice and meat. Usually after the dhikr there would be a small plate of something sweet, but tonight, because of the Mawlid Nabawi shareef, there was a proper feast! Now, shaykh Saleh and shaykh Abul Ghani always stressed the importance of eating the food of the awliya, the food that is present in a mosque or place where dhikr is done, as it is blessed food, bringing light and healing to the body. Shaykh Abdul Ghani seems to consider it almost as important and beneficial as the dhikr itself, as one brother told me.

But I had just eaten dinner at home, and decided to skip the baraka this time, and go home. So I gave everyone my salams and went into the car. But as I got into the car, and into my seat, something strange happened. I can’t explain how it happened. It might have had something to do with the winter abaya I was wearing. But somehow, I banged my elbow really really hard on the car door, so that my left arm felt paralized. I’ve hit funny bones and funny places before, but I never felt such a strong feeling of paralysis before. I knew it would go away within minutes (Well, I hoped! The paranoid voice within me told me this might be permanent!) But I decided that it’s a sign to go back to the zawiya.

The People of Hospitality

As I sat there, I started wondering why I was sent back to the zawiya. I told someone from there what happened, and he said: you left without asking permission from the shaykh didn’t you? Yes, I said, but that was only because the shaykh had gone off somewhere, I thought to myself.

- You think you can just go? He smiled.

I smiled back, but I didn’t think that was the reason, because I’m not a murid of the shaykh.

So I thought: maybe it’s because I need to drive my friends to their homes afterward as I usually do.

Or maybe it’s because I should have eaten the blessed food as shaykh Saleh and shaykh Abul Ghani would have wanted me to.

And then I thought.. Well, before setting off to the mawlid, I was in the process of creating a YouTube video of one of shaykh Saleh’s madeehs. It’s chorus went like this:

Salatun Salamun ‘ala al-Mustafa,

Wa Aalih wa Sahbin, uhayl al-qiraa

Uhayl is a different form of “ahl,” used here because of the meter of the poem.

Qiraa: Means hospitality.

The shaykh is describing the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa Sahbihi wa sallam, and his Ahlul Bayt and Companions, as people who honor their guests and feed them and take care of them.

On a side note, here’s something our shaykhs in the Ja’fariyya tariqa have taught us about the hospitality of the Prophets, Companions, and awliya, when we visit them in their tombs:

When you visit someone, anyone, at their homes, they will always offer you something. A (medieval) king might shower you with gold or expensive presents, especially if you give them a small gift, and a simpler person may offer you tea to drink and warm hospitality.

So think of what it would be like to visit the most generous people of all, the Ahlul Bayt and the awliya of Allah. They are alive in their graves, which are as gardens of Paradise, and are notified by Allah Most High of all those who visit them. And if you visit them, they will most certainly offer you a gift, such as a prayer to Allah that will be answered, or a future Hajj, or whatever else Allah wishes, and they will each offer you a different gift. You won’t necessarily know what that gift is (unless you see it in a vision), but know that they are the most generous of the generous.

(riyada.hadithuna.com/tombs-in-egypt/)

So I said to myself: Maybe it’s because I’m uploading a video praising their hospitality, that they wanted me to have some food and dessert tonight (the people in the zawiya forced me to eat for the sake of the baraka despite all my protests).

The Abode of Eternity

But then, one of the blessed shaykhs at the zawiya (sayyid Majid) introduced the man sitting next to him as a muadhdhin and munshid. And so this man recited to us a beautiful nasheed, and then sayyid Majid pulled out a little booklet and recited a poem himself. Then that man recited another poem, then shaykh Majid again. Finally, the man recited a third short poem, and shaykh Majid recited one more poem from his little book.

And as soon as I heard the first two lines, my heart jumped with joy and I thought: Ya Shaykh Saleh! That’s why I’m here! To listen to your most blessed poem!

Now, I wrote earlier about the mawlid I went to last week, where munshids came from the city of Zarqa especially to bless us with poems, and from their book, they recited shaykh Saleh’s Al-Qaseeda al-Maqboola.

Well, tonight, shaykh Majed read out another short poem connected to this qaseeda called: Li-Daar al-Khuldi (To the Abode of Eternity).

Shaykh Saleh and shaykh Abdul Ghani had this little poem printed along with al-Qaseeda al-Maqboola, on their own. So if you ever go to Daar Jawaami’ al-Kalim in Cairo, and buy the Qaseeda Maqboola booklet, you will find Li-Daar al-Khuldi printed with it. And in the introduction, shaykh Abul Ghani writes:

“And the al-Maqboola (the accepted one) was not called al-Maqboola except after it was accepted by the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa ‘alaa Alihi wa sallam. Our shaykh, upon him Allah Most High’s ridwaan says:

‘I recited the Maqboola at the Rawda Shareefa twice, in two years in which I visited the Mustafa, alayhi salawaat Allah wa barakaatuh, and no lover recites it except that he will be given tawfeeq to go to Ziyara, inshaaAllah ta’aala.

As for the second poem (Li-Daar al-Khuldi), it was composed in the Rawda Shareefa, at his place, alayhi assalatu wassalam. And he who recites it or hears it will feel Prophetic lights.

And I have seen in his madh (praise) wonders and lights and secrets, so you must oh brother listen  to his madh and recite it, and it will bring life to you in every way.’”

After sayyid Majid finished the qaseeda (and everyone in the room was looking at me, wondering why I’m so happy), I went to him and took the little book from him, and saw that it was a collection of different qasaa’id. And I saw that under that poem’s title it said: Shaykh Saleh al-Madani. So I asked him for a pen, and the shaykh next to him had one, and I crossed out “al-Madani” and wrote: “al-Ja’fari,” and said to him: This is my shaykh!

Now, as soon as I read “al-Madani,” I remembered reading a translation of a poem on the website of Al-Miskeenah (almiskeenah.com/?p=2084\), one of the most blessed places on the whole net.

And I remember reading this poem, and it said underneath that it was written by Shaykh Salih al-Madani al-Azhari (Allah have mercy on him). Ramadan: 1374/1955.

And at that time, I had a strong feeling that it was shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari who wrote it because it said “al-Azhari” and it was written in the lifetime of shaykh Saleh. I thought to myself that the word “Madani” was a mistake, but I hadn’t read the Arabic yet so I thought to myself that maybe I’m wrong.

So I just went back to her website and looked it up and found it. And now I realize that it’s definitely shaykh Saleh’s poem, and it has been translated by shaykh GF Haddad, as it had been included in a blessed collection of madeeh about Ziyara, and this collection was given as a gift by its compiler to shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, the shaykh of GH Haddad.

And i think that the little book of poems that shaykh Majid was reading from must be this same collection, re-published by the Haqqanis.

So, here is the translation:

Salatullah Salamullah`ala al-Hadi Rasoolillah

To the abode of eternity we have come
And the elect one we have visited
And in the Grove we have prayed
And we have seen Rasulallah.

I saw the people in droves
The sea of their love surge like waves
The tears of longing like cool rain
All in love with Rasulillah

So we visited him the Pure-hearted
Of greatest rank and nearness to Allah
Whoever bears him loyal love
Becomes filled with Rasulillah

Seeing him is joy followed by joy
While incense wafts and overflows
There the people of love are revealed
And Rasulullah pardons them

Light surrounds us the secret is revealed
Goodness arrives piety is achieved
The people of Allah are fed and quenched
By witnessing Rasulallah

The night of separation is gone away
The morning of connection dawns to stay
The light of al-Mustafa highlights
Our foremost guide Rasulallah

Drinks of eternity go round from hand to hand
And in the cups lights overflow
And with this drink perfumed and filled
Rasulullah is quenching us

The hearts obtain what they had hoped
Racing each other in ascent
One throng after another says
Salaamun Ya Rasulallah

See them in their place of prayer
The God of the Throne giving them gifts
Habibullah is meeting them
They visited Rasulallah

Gifts of forgiveness and secrets
For whoever visits al-Mustafa
Upon them glow sparkles of light
Coming from the Guide Rasulillah

The armies of nafs went away
The moons of guidance have risen
Rain-clouds hail filled with good
For the visitors of Rasulillah

The sun of Religion guides us
To the Creator Who made us
Rasulullah is calling us
We have come Ya Rasulallah

The beauty of al-Mustafa shows
Welcoming us and cheering us
It has perfumed the soul of this valley
We have witnessed Rasulallah

We have obtained intimacy
By Divine grace without the veils
We visited the Arabian liegelord
Abu al-Qasim Rasulallah

Souls are swayed by their Creator
Before the Chosen One their guide
They have received their dearest hopes
At witnessing Rasulallah

Our consolation an undying love
At al-Mustafa’s doorstep we arrived
The connection of hearts is sealed
With al-Hadi Rasulillah

The Paradises of creation ours
By coming and greeting Ta Ha
The soul of love enlivened them
With help from Rasulillah

(The blessing of Allah like rain
On the Elect of highest fame
And Companions all radiant chiefs
And the House of Rasulillah

For as long as al-Ja’fari writes
And al-Mustafa’s praise is sung,
And the faces of lovers beam
With light from Rasulillah!) *

——————–

* Corrected from the translation.

والحمد لله رب العالمين على نعمه كلها

اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على سيدنا ومولانا محمد خير البرية

وعلى آله في كل لمحة ونفس عدد ما وسعه علم الله

I’ve also uploaded another YouTube madeeh of sayyidi Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari.

But this one, it’s hard to appreciate its beauty without knowing Arabic. It’s all about the meanings. So I added the arabic words into the video, instead of translating them.

YouTube

(salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam!)

I found this beautiful madeeh of sayyidi Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari on YouTube. Beautiful pictures of the masjid nabawi in the background that I haven’t seen before…

Al-Ghali Rasool Allah

Comes with the words:

الغالي الغالي رسول الله
يا رب صل على النبي ………..خير الأنام وآله
بجماله بجلاله ……….. بكماله بمقاله
خير الأنام محمد ………. الفضل من أفضاله
قد قال ربى رحمة ……….. للخلق في إرساله
دار النعيم مقامه ………. والخلد في إقباله
فمتى اقبل تربة ………. كانت مقر نعاله
ومتى أشاهد روضة ………. مملوءة بنواله
واشم من طيب الحبيب ………. أقيل تحت ظلاله
ويدور كأس شرابه ……… من عذب ماء قلاله
يا حبذا لو زارني ……… حتى بطيف خياله
الود منه لقد بدا ……… وكذاك من أشباله
و أحبه و أوده ……….. حقا لطيب خصاله
ما جاء مثل محمد ……… ما جاء مثل مثاله
في الصخر اثر مشيه …….. ما غاص فوق رماله
وأشار للبدر انقسم ………. فانشق مثل هلاله
والجذع أنَّ تشوقا ……… لكلامه ومقاله
يحمى الكنانة سيدا ……… كالليث في أشباله
الله يحفظ زائرا ……… قد سار بين جباله
يمشى إليه مهرولا ……… ليفوز يوم نواله
الله يحفظ قلبه ………. بالنور في أحواله
ويظل في بركاته ……… ويزيد في أمواله
ويعود نحو سيادة ……… تنجيه من أوحاله
ثم الصلاة مع السلام ………. على النبي وآله
ما الجعفري بمدحه ………. يشدو بصدق مقاله
الغالي الغالي …… رسول الله

لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولاً مِّنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُواْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ

وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُواْ مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلالٍ مُّبِينٍ

Allah did the believers a favour when He sent among them a Messenger from amongst them, reciting to them His aayaat, purifying them, and teaching them the Book and the Wisdom, when before they had been in manifest error. (3:164)

لقد من الله) أنعم الله (على المؤمنين) بمنة هي أكبر المنن (إذ بعث) أرسل (فيهم رسولا) وهو سيدنا محمد صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم (من أنفسهم) من جنسهم وقرىء من أنفسهم بفتح الفاء أي من أشرفهم وهو من أشرف قبائل العرب بل أشرف الخلق أجمعين (يتلو) الرسول (عليهم) على المؤمنين (آياته) آيات الله القرآن (ويزكيهم) بها من دنس النفوس ليرتقوا إلى حضرة القدوس (ويعلمهم) بلسانه وحاله وإمداده (الكتاب) القرآن فيدركون ما فيه من المعاني الظاهرة والباطنة (والحكمة) السنة فيعرفون سرها وبركتها (وإن كانوا من قبل) من قبل بعثه فيهم (لفي ضلال) ميل عن الحق (مبين

(Allah did the believers a favour) Allah blessed the believers with a favour that is the greatest of all favours,

(when He sent among them a Messenger) our master Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam,

(from amongst them) anfusihim: from their own kind.

And it has also been read as: anfasihim: from the best and most noble of them, and he is from the most noble of the Arab tribes, nay- the most noble of all creation.

(reciting to them His aayaat) The aayaat (signs) of Allah: the Qur’an,

(purifying them) by them (the aayaat) from the impurity of the selves (nufoos) to elevate them to the presence of the Quddoos (The Holy and Pure One).

(and teaching them) by his words, by his states, and by his imdaad (spiritual giving),

(the Book) The Qur’an, so that they come to see what is in it of apparent and hidden meanings,

(and the Wisdom) The Sunna, so that they know its secret and its blessings,

(when before) before he was sent among them,

(they had been in manifest error) deviation from the Haqq (Truth).

تاج التفاسير لكلام الملك الكبير

للإمام محمد عثمان الميرغني الختم

The Crown of Tafseers for the Speech of the Great King

by Imam Muhammad Uthman al-Mirghani (al-Khatm)

والحمد لله رب العالمين على نعمه كلها

اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على سيدنا ومولانا محمد خير البرية

وعلى آله في كل لمحة ونفس عدد ما وسعه علم الله

بسم الله والحمد لله على نعمه كلها

اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على سيدنا ومولانا محمد خير البرية

وعلى آله في كل لمحة ونفس عدد ما وسعه علم الله

I just came back from a beautiful beautiful mawlid organized in a little mosque called Masjid ar-Rahman, in the Armenian (and therefore mostly Christian) neighborhood in Amman.

MashAllah it was organized by the locals imams there, and it was blessed by some great shuyukh, and lots of blessed children.

It was mostly talks either about the mawlid celebration itself, or about the greatness of Rasool Allah wa Khaatam an-Nabiyyeen, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa Sahbihi wa sallam tasleeman katheera.

Among the several speakers was a blessed shaykh from Daghestan, shaykh Habib ad-Daghestani, who has been in Jordan for a year now, and lives in the city of Zarqa. He’s the only one who’s talk I missed, when I went to drop off my friend at a main road so he could take a taxi home.

And the final short talk and du’a was made by the great and blessed shaykh Ahmad al-Khodari, may Allah bless him and preserve him.

It was an atmosphere of such beauty… Ilm and Love and Beauty. MashaAllah, tabarakAllah.

And there were also a group of munshideen that also came all the way from the city of Zarqa to bless us with nasheeds. They began with the Qasida Muhammadiyya of Imam al-Busiri, and then recited a long section from Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari’s al-Qaseeda al-Maqboola, which of course, brought great joy to my heart.

And just earlier today, after the Jumu’ah Salaat, I sat in a large gathering for almost two hours, with the imam at my local mosque, as well as Shaykh Abdessalam ash-Shamsi and several Naqshabandi murids, including three visiting Turks and one visiting British convert. After listening to some beautiful madeeh from a famous Iraqi munshid, shaykh Abdessalam read for us what was perhaps the most beautifully written, exquisite, heart-melting speeches I had ever heard on the mawlid. I dunno who wrote it, except that her name is Maryam. Whoever she is, she’s a true aashiqa of the beloved of all the worlds, and the beloved of the Creator of the all the worlds, sayyidna wa mawlana Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa Sahbihi wa sallam.

SubhanAllah. You can feel the days becoming so much more blessed now that we are in Rabee’ al-Anwar.

“And peace be upon me on the day I was born and the day I shall die and the day I shall be resurrected alive,” said nabiyy Allah Isa alayhi assalam.

Peace be upon you all, on this month of the birth of the his imam and leader, Rasool Allah Muhammad ibn Abdullah, alayhi assalatu wassalam. May the Peace, subhanahu wa ta’alaa, As-Salaam, shower us all with peace and blessings and mercy. Wassalam!

والحمد لله رب العالمين على نعمه كلها

اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على سيدنا ومولانا محمد خير البرية

وعلى آله في كل لمحة ونفس عدد ما وسعه علم الله

On Doomsday it will be called out:

“He who has sung mevlut, shall come!”

God gives a license made of light-

“He who has sung mevlut, shall come!”

He shall go fast to Paradise,

He shall turn to the left and right-

What grace the Lord has shown to him!

“He who has sung mevlut, shall come!”

- Yunus Emre, radi Allahu anhu.

[Schimmel, Annemarie, And Muhammad is His Messenger]

والحمد لله رب العالمين على نعمه كلها

اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على سيدنا ومولانا محمد خير البرية

وعلى آله في كل لمحة ونفس عدد ما وسعه علم الله

Assalamu Alaykum!

If you’re in the UK, try to pick up the beautiful new (Rabi’ul Awwal) issue of Invitation Magazine (www.invitation-magazine.co.uk/)

It includes my translation of Omar al-Midwahy’s article on the blessed chamber of the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, and many blessed and beautiful pieces.

wassalam!

In the 1970’s and 80’s, the Egyptian film industry went into decline, with the rise of movies aimed mostly at making a quick buck. Seduction became one of the most important elements of these movies, and they thus showed a lot of women in seductive dress and situations, and might feature lots of scenes around pools and beaches, to show women in bikinis. There was a lot of dancing involved, and for some reason, attempted rape scenes were quite frequent.

One actress rose to stardom in this age, because of her great beauty and her willingness to play the most seductive and risque roles. Her name was Shams al-Baroudi, born in 1945 to a Syrian mother and an Egyptian father of Syrian origin. She starred in 41 films from 1965-1982.

Because her father was a religious man, and the Egyptian people are highly religious in general, she always felt guilt in her heart for the movies that she was playing, and the roles that she performed in them, but for 20 years she persisted. Sometimes the wish to leave the film industry and wear the hijab would come to her, but those around her would tell her: you are better now this way! However, she fortunately surrounded herself mostly with her old childhood friends, not friends from the film industry, and she would meet with them sometimes to recite the Qur’an on certain nights of the week, and especially in Ramadan. None of them wore the hijab, however, or fulfilled other requirements of the deen.

At that time, her readings focused on Bergson, Freud, Sartre, and other European philosophers, and she would enter philosophical debates about these matters, but at one point without any apparent reason, she suddenly stopped reading these books.

The urge to go to Umra also became suddenly lit within her, but she would say to herself: If I am going to go to visit the house of Allah, then I must start wearing the proper Islamic dress, otherwise how could I go visit it when I have not committed myself to dressing properly? But some of her friends said to her: No, no that’s not a condition! You can go to Umra, if you do not intend to commit yourself to wearing the hijab when you come back!

So she went in 1982 to the Umra, and she said: “It was the first time I wear white clothes, and don’t put any make up on my face, and I saw myself more beautiful than ever before.”

She arrived first in al-Madina al-Munawwara, and that is where the greatest moment of her life happened. She said:

“I went after the Fajr Salaat as usual to visit the grave of the beloved, the Mustafa, and in my hand was the book from which I would read the du’as as usual.

And I stood with my face in front of the grave of the Messenger, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam. It was really crowded with women there. I grabbed the book with my hand to open it and read the du’a. But I suddenly saw the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, at the door, on a level higher than us. Only his upper half appeared, and the rest of the body like a mirage.

I saw the Messenger with my eyes, and he was looking at me in particular. I couldn’t hold myself together… and I shook. And my body shivered. And I found myself saying: Ya habeebi! Ya habeebi! Ya habeebi  ya Rasool Allah!

My tears were pouring out and I could see nothing in front of me except the Messenger, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam. And sister Atiyyaat who was with me began to push me to move and to leave the place, though I couldn’t see. Moments passed, without me feeling when I moved and left the place.. My tears were pouring out, my body shivering, and I’m not uttering anything except: “Ya habeebi Ya Rasool Allah!”, until I lost all my power, and my legs could bear me no longer, and I found myself falling on my knees at one of the pillars in the women’s Prayer section. And sister Atiyyaat was trying to calm me down to stop crying and to stop repeating what I’m saying, and I was shivering.

Then I quietened down. We left together to meet my father and sister Atiyyaat’s husband. I left, silent, stunned. My father asked me: Why are you late?

I remained quiet. But sister Atiyyaat replied: Congratulate her, for our Lord has given her an opening! I heard that while I was in a state of silence, and no body knew what I had seen. I was in shock at what happened.. How did I see the Messenger? No body knew of what happened to me except after one year of my donning the hijab. I told my father and my husband Hasan. And every time I told it, my body would shiver and my tears would pour out.

I now stopped telling people what happened to me. Except if I were asked for a necessity. For this is a blessing that Allah has blessed me with.

The sight of the beloved Mustafa, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, was a blessing among the blessings of Allah that He gives His slaves. He gives them some of His signs, and brings down upon them of His mercy, that which supports them and pushes them and takes them by the hand to the path of Truth with determination, will, power, faith, and certainty.”

Then she went to Mecca, where she did the Tawaf. She says:

“During the first round of the seven rounds of Tawaf, Allah made it easy for me to reach the Black Stone and to kiss it. I made du’a with the strength of faith, my tears pouring down without ceasing, and I am silent. Only one du’a came to my tongue: I prayed for myself and my husband and children and parents and for everyone I know, for strong Iman. All seven rounds of Tawaf, I only prayed for strong Iman, and every round I would reach the Black Stone and kiss it.

And at the Station of Ibrahim, alayhi assalam, I stood to pray two rak’ats after the Tawaf, and recited the Fatiha. It was as if I had never recited the Fatiha before in my life, and I felt in it meanings that I consider to be a gift from Allah. And so I felt the true greatness of the Opening of the Book. I was crying and my innermost being was shaking. During the Tawaf I had felt as if many angels around the Ka’ba were looking at me. I felt the greatness of Allah as I had never felt it before in my life.

Then I went and prayed two rak’ats at the Hijr, and the same thing happened to me again. This was before the Fajr. Then my father came to take me to the women’s section for the Fajr Salaat, and by then I had become a completely different person. Some women said to me: Will you wear the Hijab after this, from now on? I said: With the permission of Allah. I noticed that even the tone of my voice had completely changed! I was completely transformed! This is all that happened to me.. And I went back (to Egypt), and after that, I never took off the Hijab.”

Shams al-Baroudi’s determination after coming back shocked everyone. This was not a religious excitement that would pass with the years. No, for two decades she was offered great sums of money to return to the cinema but refused. But not only that, she worked on getting up to 15 actresses to leave their profession, and this inspired many other actors and actresses to repent and turn to Allah. Until now she is working to get the rights to her old movies, so that she could keep them away from the television screens. She frequently pleads with the audiences to not see any of her old films.

What shaykhs have said about Shams after her transformation:

The imam and mufassir, shaykh Muhammad Mutwalli al-Sha’rawi said about her:

“Shams has surpassed us all! May Allah give her increase! She has become something else! And Allah has illuminated her inner vision. MashaAllah! MashaAllah!”

Shaykh Muhammad Khalid Thabit wrote:

“The great virtue of the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them all, was that they saw the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, and his vision was like kohl to their eyes. And this lady, may Allah be pleased with her, saw him, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, in the waking, not in sleep. And he looked at her with his eyes, at her alone and not the people around her. And in that look was whatever was in it, and that is the favor of Allah, that He gives to whomever He wishes.”

Shaykha Shams al-Baroudi and her husband.

May Allah bless us all with a glance from the beloved Mustafa, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam!

والحمد لله رب العالمين على نعمه كلها

اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على سيدنا ومولانا محمد خير البرية

وعلى آله في كل لمحة ونفس عدد ما وسعه علم الله