(Arabic link on the appointment: www.shorouknews.com/ContentData.aspx?id=195678)

(English link m.apnews.com/ap/db_15716/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=NEqFrpbd)

I’ve heard many good things about him, so I am pleased at this decision and ask Allah ta’ala to assist this shaykh in raising the noble Azhar and reviving it.

And if he is to keep his position as President of al-Azhar University, then it would be the first time (that I am aware of) that both functions have returned to the same man ever since the post of President of al-Azhar was created by the Egyptian government to limit the powers of the Shaykh al-Azhar.

Here’s a picture of him between the current Grand Mufti of Egypt, shaykh Ali Jum’ah, and shaykh Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din (www.ihsanetwork.org/mufti/005_big.jpg). This was on his visit to the offices of the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation in Cairo to discuss possibilities of cooperation between Dar al-Ifta’ al-Misria and the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation with regard to their Hadith Encyclopedia project. (www.ihsanetwork.org/mufti.asp?lang=e)

YouTube

Part 2: the du’a

YouTube

Also uploaded recently: Salloo Binaa Yaa Haadireen

YouTube

“To this day he is revered and loved throughout the Muslim world as a profound intellectual, an extraordinary social leader, and cultural icon.”

(abudhabikhutbas.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/abdel-halim-mahmud-azhar-at-its-best/)

Shaykh al-Azhar shaykh Abd al-Haleem Mahmoud with Imam al-Azhar shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari, radi Allahu anhum wa jazahum ‘anaa khayr al-jazaa’.

But this week saw the people of Amman celebrating it’s three biggest mawlids (Relatively big, considering Jordan’s small population. They are nothing compared to mawlids in some other places). The first one I went to on Monday the 8th of March in a mosque in Sweifieh, a large commercial area in Amman. The imam in the mosque of Suhaib is called shaykh Mustafa Abu Rumman, and he looks very very similar to shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi, the famous Shadhili shaykh to whom most Shadhili lines in Bilad ash-Sham go back to. SubhanAllah sometimes I would look at him and think he’s shaykh al-Alawi himself! This shaykh went all-out, mashaAllah. In the Jumuah prayer before, he announced that there will be a mawlid, and encouraged everyone to bring their families, and so mashaAllah it was very well attended. The mosque was completely packed. He also brought a famous nasheed group from Syria to perform, and also brought two whirling dirvishes in Mevlevi uniforms. He also had the microphones hooked to the adhan speakers on the minarets, and so the entire area of Sweifieh heard the entire mawlid, just as loudly as they would hear the adhan. It was really something, mashaAllah. My favorite part was when when one of the whirling dirvishes was whirling on his own, and the Syrian munshidoon began singing:

Madad madaaaad, madad madaaad, madad ya Rasool Allah!

Madad madaaaad, madad madaaad, madad ya Nabiyy Allah!

Madad madaaaad, madad madaaad, madad ya Habib Allah!

At this point the entire mosque erupted in ecstasy, chanting along as loud as they could, while the dirvish began to call out: “Allah! Allah!” between the lines. The joy in the air was amazing, and what made me happier is that thousands of people all around the area where hearing us from outside.

The second mega mawlid is Jordan’s largest annual mawlid celebration, always done in a mosque called al-Fayhaa, in an area called Shmeisani. This one was yesterday: Friday the 12th, and I couldn’t attend it fully because I had to be with my family, but I caught maybe an hour or so of it. It was really big, mashaAllah, and also had a very large and excellent nasheed group.

Finally, was today’s mawlid. Even though usually the mawlid at Fayhaa mosque is the largest mawlid in Jordan, today was something else… We had none other than the Abu Ayyub al-Ansari group, better known as the Abu Sha’r brothers. They are 6 brothers, the sons of a shaykh, who formed a nasheed group, and they are the most famous in all of Syria- no, all of Bilad ash-Shaam. Not only do they sound amazing, but they really sing from the heart, and it really touches you. They began with a long repetition of salawat on the beloved, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, and then their first nasheed, the Burda of Imam al-Busiri, was done in a truly unique style that really touched me and almost brought me to tears.

How can I explain to you just how amazing it was tonight? It was in a mosque in a residential area called Umm Udhayna. As I tried to approach the mosque, I saw that cars lined the sides of the entire long road leading up to the mosque. So, everytime I passed by an intersection, I would look right and left, and find that the side roads were all completely packed with cars as well. I started going around, and realized that every little road in a large radius around the mosque was lined with cars almost on top of each other. I had to park very far away, and wherever I looked, I saw families walking in the streets toward the mosque.

I got to the mosque, and saw that there were hundreds and hundreds of people. The mosque itself was completely full, and so were all the halls attached to it on the sides, and so was the courtyard outside the mosque. I had to stand in the courtyard for a long time, and listen from outside. I noticed that there were families out on the streets outside the mosque, sitting on the sidewalks, listening from afar!

It turns out that this event was so big, and the Abu Sha’r group so loved, that people came to share the celebration all the way from Palestine and Syria! People actually took the trouble to cross from Palestine to Jordan, and others travelled from Damascus, to share with us this celebration. It was also attended Jordan’s Minister of Religious Affairs and many famous mashayekh. A lot of Ikhwan youth were present, as I was told by someone from the Ikhwan.

They will also be doing another mawlid celebration at the University of Jordan before they go back to Syria, may Allah protect them and bless them and reward them for moving our souls.

The group has made a music video of their rendition of Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari’s al-Qaseeda al-Maqboola (www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWageVm5vns). However, I really don’t like the way they perform it, the refrain they chose for it, and the changes they made to some of the words. But it’s still good, alhamdulillah. I think it’s their first beautifully and professionally produced music video.

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

]]> http://riyada.hadithuna.com/jordans-mega-mawlids/feed/ 1 http://riyada.hadithuna.com/fortress-of-securit/ http://riyada.hadithuna.com/fortress-of-securit/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:05:35 +0000 nuruddinzangi http://riyada.hadithuna.com/?p=867 My friend asked me to send him a certain audio file, and since I uploaded it and sent it to him, I thought i’d put the link for it here, for others who are interested.

This is known as Hisn al-Amaan min ash-Shaytaan, al-Jaan, al-Insaan

The Fortress of Security from the Shaytaan, Jinn, and Humans.

By al-arif billah ta’ala, shaykh Abdul Ghani b. shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari. Recited beautifully by a qaari’.

It includes the Husoon al-Ja’fariyya (Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari’s selection of Qur’anic ayas of protection that are read as part of the wird every morning and evening), and other parts of shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari’s wird, as well as other du’as from other sources and ahzaab, and ahadith.

It can be downloaded from here (www.sendspace.com/file/h88cey).

1 hr : 35 mins long.

*****

Also I have been informed by a shaykh in the Tariqa that there is a general idhn for anyone to benefit from this Hisn.

*****

with my translation and commentary.

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And with the blessings of the name of Allah we begin…. Bism Allah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem.

And the awliya are the subul of ar-Rahmaan

Their imdaad comes from the mine of the Furqaan

Allah ta’ala said in the noble Qur’an: “And those who strive in Us, We will guide them to our subul” (29:69).

Subul is plural of sabeel: a path or way, or a means or medium.

Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari said in explaining this aya: And the people of Allah are the subul of Allah in the land of Allah. They take one to the light of Allah, the Seal of the Prophets, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam. “Allah guides whoever He wills to His light” (24:35).

Their imdaad (meaning: what they receive, and in turn, give to others) is from the mine of the Furqan (meaning: The Criterion, another name for the noble Qur’an).

That is because the Qur’an is an endless ocean containing the stories of those who came before, information of what will happen later, and guidance for the present. It is thus a mine from which they can extract the jewels of guidance and the gems of meanings and secrets, and with them they can guide others and purify them.

However, on another level, the “mine” is referring to the Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, whose heart is the mine of the Qur’an.

Allah ta’ala says: “Did We not expand thy breast? (94:1)

Imam Sahl at-Tustari said: “Did We not widen your breast through the light of Apostleship (nur ar-Risaalah) and so make it a mine for the spiritual realities (haqaa’iq)?”

Allah ta’ala says: “So it is those who believe him, honor and help him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him, who will succeed.” (7:157)

Imam Sahl at-Tustari said: “The light is the Qur’an whose mine is the heart of Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam.”

And so the awliya receive their knowledge from the Prophet Muhammad salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, whose heart is the mine of the Qur’an and the fountain of knowledge and imaan.

They make the nafs despise its desires

If you see them you remember Allah

From the Qutbs of the Ummah in the 20th Century:

Shaykh Ahmad Reda Khan al-Barlewi (India)

Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari (Egypt)

Shaykh Ahmad Bamba (Senegal)

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Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari: The Imam of the Lovers and the Exemplar of the Righteous

(1328 AH  / 1910 CE –  1399 AH / 1979 CE)

And how many are the worshippers who walk,

With the Qutbs and with al-Khadir

If you were in Cairo coming on Salaah Saalem road from the direction of the airport toward al-Darraasa, you will see before you reach the tunnel a large sign and an arrow pointing to the right, and on it it says: “Al-Ja’fari Street.”

And if you turn right with the arrow, you will find that blessed building: “Masjid ash-Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari”, not more than 1 – 1.5 kilometers away from Masjid Sayyidna al-Husayn and the Jaami’ al-Azhar ash-Shareef.

And if you were fortunate and visited the mosque on a Sunday or Thursday evening, you would see a sight that will expand your breast. You will see the people after finishing their Salaat, sitting in rows with serenity and sakeenah, to start the hadra. And at its head sits shaykh Abdul Ghani – the son of shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari and the shaykh of the Tariqa today – in dignity and humility.

And the hadra of shaykh Saleh is almost entirely in praise of the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa ‘alaa Alihi wa sallam, and all the poems of praise are the composition of the shaykh, whose diwan (collection of poems) in the praise of the Mustafa salla Allahu alayhi wa ‘alaa Alihi wa sallam reached 12 volumes. And his sons still find every once in a while, here or there, new poems of the shaykh that have not been published.

And perhaps what causes the most admiration in this majlis is the great adab, and the exact and precise order that is easy and automatic, without requiring any effort or force.

***

During the hadra, while the maddaheen (those who sing the madeeh) are in the middle of their praise of the Master of the Creations, salla Allahu alayhi wa ‘alaa Alihi wa sallam, every one present will be fed, without exception. They will be taken line after line, to a large room downstairs, without the madeeh stopping, and without any commotion or choas. And the food is always – since the time of the shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him- meat and thareed.

And when everyone is finished eating, the cups of tea go around to everyone, and some types of sweets might be given out as well, brought by some of the attendees, while the madeeh is always continuing. And sometimes valuable books or perfumes are given as gifts to the shaykh, and he has them distributed while seated in his place. And perhaps their number might not suffice everyone present, and there are those who will take and those who will not take, but everyone is in stillness and contentment: you don’t find anyone raising his hand or calling out : me! me!

As for the maddaheen, they are from the sons of the Tariqa, and their skills in madeeh vary tremendously, and that is because this majlis is a school for the graduating of maddaheen, and an institution for the building of love in the hearts. That is why you find the shaykh encouraging everyone to praise, and you might find a maddaah doing madh for the first time in his life- whether he be young, below puberty, or old- and he might make mistakes, but you don’t find anyone bothering him, or paying attention to his mistake, because everyone is busy in the madeeh which is in reality a salaat on the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa ‘alaa Alihi wa sallam, combined with veneration and love. And in what they are doing, they are in harmony with the movement of the universe that Allah has made to revolve in the orbit of Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa ‘alaa Alihi wa sallam, and in harmony with the angels of Allah in the Higher Realms that do not cease their salaat on the Master of Creations, night or day, and likewise is the salaat of our majestic Lord.

The maddaah is singing the praise, and everyone in the majlis is repeating in a joyful voice certain verses from the poem, which adds to the majlis beauty on top of beauty:

By praising Rasool Allah my knot is untied

For praise of Rasool Allah is my best means (waseela)

By praise of Rasool Allah my needs are fulfilled

And my sins forgiven, and my repentance accepted.

By him I ask the Generous Lord a karaama (honoring)

For the praise of Rasool Allah is my provision and ammunition

By the great rank of Rasool Allah, oh Lord, guide me

To understanding the subtle secrets of the sciences

And make quick my healing, my Lord, and cover me

In your forgiveness, oh Forgiving One, from every slip.

***

It is an atmosphere of mercy, affection and harmony that is based on the love of Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa ‘alaa Alihi wa Sallam, and so became purified from any taints, and raised above the dunya’s insignificant affairs. And the spirit of shaykh Saleh – may Allah be pleased with him- hovers over the place, adding to it and its people from its elevation and purity.”

———————

Here is a video showing what the Ja’fari Hadra is like: Jafari Hadra on YouTube

Between Maghreb and Isha, we recite from certain wirds in unison.

And after Isha, we listen to madeeh and sing along, as described by shaykh Khalid Muhammad Thaabit.

This video, however, is from the Mawlid of Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari, and therefore there’s a lot more people present. During the mawlid, we listen to lessons and speeches from scholars, interspersed between different madeehs.

]]> http://riyada.hadithuna.com/the-jafari-hadra/feed/ 1 http://riyada.hadithuna.com/sharaab-al-arifin/ http://riyada.hadithuna.com/sharaab-al-arifin/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:51:44 +0000 nuruddinzangi http://riyada.hadithuna.com/?p=844 Translated from Shaykh Khalid Muhammad Thabit’s book:

From the Qutbs of the Ummah in the 20th Century:

Shaykh Ahmad Reda Khan al-Barlewi (India)

Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari (Egypt)

Shaykh Ahmad Bamba (Senegal)

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Al-’Alim ar-Rabbani

The great and leading role that our shaykh al-Imam al-Ja’fari performed was in his bringing to life al-rabbaaniyya (lordliness: the state of being with Allah) in its pure and clear form in the age of materialism and desires.

This is a man from the followers of our master Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa Alihi wa sallam, who performed his role in life to the utmost, and exceeded in that many others, and yet did not by any degree relinquish any bit of the fixtures of our pure Islamic religion in its highest levels: the level of Ihsaan. And he did not take the excuses of those who used the excuse of the changing of times and circumstances, because the rabbaniyyeen never looked at anything except Allah, the creator of the circumstances and Time, and the creator of everything.

If you, oh noble reader, where to see one of his poems like “Sharaab al-Arifeen” (The Drink of the Knowers) you would have thought that it was composed by someone from the righteous salaf (predecessors) of the ummah: those who lived in the ages of purity and virtue, in the first centuries of Islam.

And al-Imam al-Ja’fari did not say it- and say others like it- while secluded from the people in a cave on top of a mountain. No, he said it in the midst of life, coming and going between the people in the heart of Cairo: bustling, crowded, and full of all the contradictions of the modern age. However, a high level of uboodiyya (servanthood) had been realized in him, where the heart is with Allah, and the body is among the people.

Listen to him while he says in an easy language that is not difficult for anyone:

The drink is poured in the dhikr

A drink whose scent diffuses strongly.

We entered the presence of purity (hadrat al-quds)

And it was Laylatul Qadr

We drank the cup of Love

And it made us lovers for all our lives.

A drink pressed most sweet,

And it was the hour of pressing (‘asr)

In the depth of the night we were called

By the Lord of the Throne, for Fajr

So how many are those awake in supplication

And how many are those reciting the Dhikr (the Qur’an)

And how many are those up, crying,

With tears dripping down like rain drops.

So ask the prayer movements about them,

In the time when the night is passing.

And how many are in the mosque in i’tikaf,

Like a bird in its nest.

And how many are buying, selling,

But the love in their hearts like burning coals.

And how many are the worshippers walking

With the Qutbs and with al-Khadir

And how many are travelers, journerying

Like the birds and like the eagle.

And how many are the scholars, presenting

Pearls of knowledge, like the ocean.

And how many are doing dhikr at night,

Like the lion when it roars.

And how many are silent, reciting,

With their souls, in their innermost being.

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Now this poem holds a very special place for us because it’s the one that shaykh Abdul Ghani likes to recite himself in the dhikr on special occasions. And when he does, we all stand up out of joy, and sing along, standing, until it’s over, and then we sit back again.

And this poem is also sung in a very special way that is reserved only for it. This unique and distinct style is not used for any other poem. Here is a taste:

Sharaab al-Arifeen on YouTube

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

]]> http://riyada.hadithuna.com/sharaab-al-arifin/feed/ 9 http://riyada.hadithuna.com/and-to-him-is-our-return/ http://riyada.hadithuna.com/and-to-him-is-our-return/#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:25:19 +0000 nuruddinzangi http://riyada.hadithuna.com/?p=840 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.