October 4, 2009
Earlier, in Desert Bloom (riyada.hadithuna.com/desert-bloom/), I wrote about three Sufi zawiyas that I visited in Jordan.
Tonight I added a fourth.
This one was built by shaykh Abd al-Qadir on top of his house. The ground floor of the villa is his house, and the second floor is the zawiya.
As you approach the villa on Sunday nights, you will hear nasheeds from far away, and see heads of the people from the window.
You go up and find more than 60 Jordanian men, sitting all around the room.
Shaykh Abd al-Qadir apparently has hundreds or thousands of murids, having been a shaykh for more than 40 years. He was actually appointed as a shaykh for guidance at the age of 20, by shaykh Mustafa al-Filali, student of shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi. Thus, like shaykh Shaghouri, may Allah have mercy on them all, there’s only one person between him and shaykh al-Alawi.
He was 20 in 1967 when he became shaykh.
After some nasheeds, he gives a lesson, usually inspired by a line from one of the poems that have been recited, as was the case today, and the lesson is quite long and very beneficial and inspiring, mashaAllah. Then there are more nasheeds. And that’s it. You see several people crying with tears at mention of the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam in the nasheeds. It’s a very blessed place, mashaAllah.
Interestingly, the Rifa’i shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Khateeb of the Imam Rawwass Mosque also became a shaykh around 40 years ago, at the age of 17. At that age he had murids and zawiyas!
As for shaykh Husni al-Sharif of the Khalwatiyya Jami’a tariqa (Dar al-Iman), he became the shaykh of the tariqa at the age of 24 in 1988.
subhanAllah! Makes one feel ashamed of themselves.
nuruddinzangi
October 5th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Salam,
Indeed the circles of dhikr are beautiful and are from the gardens of Paradise. They give the mind and soul so much peace and rest. Subhanallah.
I read something very pertinent written by Shaikh Hisham Kabbani from the Naqshbandi tariqa which I will copy verbatim here..
“…Imam Shafi`i has been asked about that halaqah about the importance of halaqah and the benefits of halaqah. He said that “it is a piece of Paradise, that halaqah that people sit and listen or recite dhikr they are in Paradise. And cannot be other than that because of the hadith of the Prophet (s) maa jalasa qawman yadhkuroona Allah illa hafathum al-malaika. When people sit remembering Allah, angels will encompass them. And another hadith says that Allah swt
“إنَّ لله تبارك وتعالى ملائكة يطوفون في الطرق يتلمسون أهل الذكر، فإذا وجدوا قومًا يذكرون الله تنادوا هلموا إلى حاجتكم فيحفونهم بأجنحتهم إلى السماء الدنيا، قال فيسألهم ربهم وهو أعلم بهم ما يقول عبادي؟ فيقولون: “سبحونك ويكبرونك ويحمدونك ويمجدونك..”.
lillahi malaikatan yatalamassoon ahli’dh-dhikr – There are angels roaming in the streets looking for circles of dhikr that they can sit in it and Allah sent them there.
And he said that angels in heavens are always in remembering in circles non-stopping so any circle that people sit remembering Allah are in Paradise. And anyone step in Paradise cannot go to hell. Wherever you enter a Paradise you are continuously entering a Paradise doing dhikrullah then Allah will take you to Paradise on last breath.
So ard al-halaqah ard al-jinaan. The earth of halaqah is earth of Jannah …”
Imagine that! Angels surrounding you and the gathering of dhikr and inform Allah swt of your dhikr!
It makes me tearful and ashamed that with so many sins, Allah still has the mercy to bless us with such an honour, even though we are not worthy of it, we continue to sin and have nothing to offer in return.
Absolutely nothing.
As you mentioned in one of your posts, may Allah give us the ability to follow in the footsteps of the pious in this life and allow us utter a few words on the last day and say “Ya Allah, I have absolutely nothing to offer you as you the Master. What possibly can a slave offer his Master?”
Allah, Allah.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Wassalam!
Indeed, how could they not be pieces of Paradise, when the angels, peace be upon them, surround these gatherings, all the way up to the Heavens.
How generous is Allah!
Ya Allah, as you have allowed us entry into your gardens of Paradise on Earth, don’t deny us your Paradise in the hereafter!
October 8th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Dear Brother nuruddinzangi
I appreciate the wonderful narratives in your blog. Though we may envy the fantastic achievements of those masheikhs, we must remember that everyone has his own place before Allah SWT. My elders used to say, Istiqamah in your amal, no matter how insignificant it may seems, and you may receive your reward, inshaAllah. Personally, you yourself just doesnt realise how more-fortunate you are, that you are a mureed of Sheikh Saleh AlJaafari, the Imam that we here, used to hear of.
October 8th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Dear brother Ibn Ariffin.
JazakAlah khayr. What I said about the age of these mashayekh and one feeling ashamed of themselves is to give myself and the reader a boost, to make one work harder on their own paths.
I know that it’s impossible to know just how great a blessing it is to be a murid of shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari, but trust me I’m aware of this amazing blessing, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
The reason I go to these other places, and write about them, is to express my happiness at the blessings found in Jordan, and wherever I go in the world. To say alhamdulillah that Allah has blessed each country with a group of great mashayekh, and to show the world that these things are everywhere. Many people think that Jordan is a very salafi country, but they don’t realize that salafis are a minority everywhere in the world, and Sufism, being the original Islam, is always greater.
When I asked a friend in Jordan where to find all these places, he told me you shouldn’t go to get blessings from a gathering not from your tariqa. I told him, who told you i’m going for the sake of blessings or advancement? I’m going to see what is present in my country, and how are the people in my country, so that I know what things are like here.
Plus, the more I go to these things, the more I feel that nothing can compare to my own tariqa’s gatherings! But I try not to make comparisons in my posts themselves (maybe here in the comments it’s ok), because I don’t like the whole “my tariqa is better than yours” attitude in many people. Blessings are everywhere alhamdulillah.
And don’t worry, I plan to write many more posts about shaykh Saleh inshaAllah, and to start translating his works as well. Please keep us in your duas!
October 9th, 2009 at 12:55 am
Salams,
I think its very important to know what going on in your respective countries and seek out the gardens of Paradise within them. I personally go to benefit from the Awliya at such places and for Allah to show His mercy on my poor soul by hoping that some of the dust from these gatherings rubs off on me.
I dont think there is anything wrong at all to visit, acknowledge and respect gatherings of other Tariqas, as they are all paths to the same goal….Allah. In fact, this visiting builds loves between the people of Tariqa and reinforces the view that sufism isnt in the minority.
This is why I like places like Masjid Imam Rawass that is becoming a centre for sufi activity in Jordan. I remember when I went there for the first time I saw one of Shaikh Nuh’s murids there who came to revere Shaikh Nasirudin Al Khateeb who is a Rifai.
I saw this and felt touched. No doubt, learning and following a Tariq should be confined to your own Tariqas Shaikh, as he is your doctor and knows the illnesses you have…..and can give the right medicine needed and can monitor your status to elevate your rank as you progress.
When following a path, mixing Shuyukh will, I believe, stunt your spiritual growth, just as going to too many different docotors will confuse you and may lead to the root cause being missed.
Anyhow. Im not qualified to talk about such a subject and thus will leave it as this.
October 9th, 2009 at 5:15 am
jazakum Allah khayr!
off to syria today inshaAllah.
be back in a few days.
wassalam
December 11th, 2009 at 12:34 am
[...] earlier about some of the Zawiyas that I visited in Jordan. (riyada.hadithuna.com/desert-bloom/), (riyada.hadithuna.com/another-garden-in-jordan/), and some of its shaykhs [...]