SUFI STORIES (also posted in FACEBOOK/amirfarid.isahak)

 Shaykh Mahshook Rahman is my Shaykh in the Qadiri Tariqah. His name means one who is favoured by The Most Compassionate God. The Qadiri Sufi Order is named after Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (May Allah sanctify his soul), the Sultan of All the Sufi Saints (see Sufi Stories #4). I call him Atta (“father” in Tamil). He was born in 1943 in Chittarkotai, Tamil Nadu, India. At his birth, his father confidently announced that his son will become a Saint, and he wrote this in his diary. His family was poor, and he worked as a shepherd before migrating to Malaysia (Malaya then) in 1956 with his uncle when he was 13. At age 22 he was invited into the Sufi path by his teacher and Master, Shaykh Abdul Ghani Jalaludeen Siddiqi Al Qadiri (May Allah’s mercy be upon him), who had also come to Malaysia from Tamil Nadu. Shaykh Abdul Ghani was a descendant of Sayyidina Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, the first Rightly-Guided Khalifa of Islam. He was teaching at the main mosque for Indian Muslims in Kuala Lump...

This is the continuation to Sufi Stories #10. If you have not read that yet, please do so to understand this story better. Zarina was born into a Hindu family in Singapore. I never knew her original name. From small, she never liked idols and gave all sorts of excuses not to follow her family to the temples. Otherwise she lived a normal life, got hitched to a fine gentleman, and married him. But on her wedding day, something strange happened. As part of the traditional Hindu wedding ritual, the couple circled the Holy Fire several times. But each time they circled the fire, she saw the Arabic word for “Allah”, which most non-Muslims living among Muslims would recognize. After the wedding, she told her new husband that she wanted to become a Muslim! What a drama it was, and you can imagine everyone’s consternation. She was adamant about converting, which would mean the marriage had to be dissolved. Finally, the husband decided that the only way to continue being married to her was for h...

In 1990 I was the VP of an Islamic NGO. We had a small library and I took the opportunity to read some of the books there. One of the books that fascinated me was about the most famous female Sufi Saint of all time, Rabia Al Adawiyya of Basra (Iraq), may Allah sanctify her soul. However, after reading the book, I ordered it to be taken off the shelves, until I could confirm if some parts of her story was true or fabricated. Rabia was famous because of her intense and undivided, unconditional love for God. According to the story, she loved God so much that she refused to marry because she did not want to share her love and devotion for God with anyone. She had asked one of her suitors, the famed Sufi Saint Hassan Al Basri, that if she were to marry him could he guarantee her Paradise? Of course he replied that he could not even guarantee his own fate, what more to guarantee hers. She replied that she had no reason to marry him because she was already very much in love with the Owner of ...

Since I began writing this series of Sufi Stories, I have received some enquiries about Sufism that need to be answered. So today we shall take a break from the stories (there are many more to be told) and clarify about Sufism instead. Much has been written about Sufism, but the views vary depending on whether the writers were Sufis or non-Sufis, and whether the non-Sufi writers were tolerant or antagonistic towards Sufism. The most antagonistic have branded Sufis as deviants and heretics.   I will address some FAQs in the hope that my readers will have a better understanding of Sufism from the perspective of a Sufi, and not from an outsider. Of course my views will be biased, but you can make your own judgement based on the explanations I offer. This is not a scholarly treatise. There are many long essays and books on Sufism already written by famous scholars and Saints that you can read. I have posted pictures of some of the books in the previous articles, and will continue t...

Shaykh Nazim (may Allah’s Mercy be showered upon him) was the leader of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani-Aliyyah Sufi Order (or simply Naqshbandi-Aliyyah), Grand Mufti of Cyprus and jurist of the Hanafi madzhab (school of jurisprudence). He was born on April 23, 1922, in Larnaca, British Cyprus (now Turkish Northern Cyprus). Through his father, he was a descendant of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah’s Mercy be showered upon him), the Spiritual Pole (Ghawth Al Azam) of Sufism, while through his mother, he was a descendant of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (may Allah’s Mercy be showered upon him), the GrandMaster of Sufi Poetry. My story with Mawlana Rumi will come in future episodes. Through them, Shaykh Nazim was a descendant of The Prophet (PBUH ). These supreme Sufi Saints were the founders of the Qadiri and Mevlevi (Mawlawiyya) Sufi Orders respectively. Shaykh Nazim was initiated into both Orders in his youth. He was initiated into the Naqshbandi Order later, which was renewed by his fina...

Today’s story will attract controversy because it is about my encounter with the late Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil Al-Haqqani Al-Qubrusi (may Allah be pleased with his soul), Grandshaykh of Naqsyabandi Haqqani Aliyyah Sufi tariqah and Grand Mufti of Cyprus. Both he and his tariqah (Sufi path) were declared deviants in Malaysia and in several other Muslim–majority countries. But the story must be told. I have also obtained the blessings of my Shaykhs to tell these stories. I had shared about the visits by several departed saints, but the visits by the prophets were not mentioned in my previous stories to avoid undue controversy. However, this must now be mentioned, otherwise today’s story becomes meaningless. But, I will not reveal the details of those encounters here. After the visits by the saints and the prophets , I had the opportunity to get further confirmation from a great Shaykh who was always under the instructions of The Prophet (PBUH ). In Sufi Stories #2 (The Accidental ...

Sometime in 1991, I was requested to lead night prayers (Qiyamulail) for a cousin’s family. One family member was suffering from terminal brain cancer and we wanted to request God for whatever was the best outcome for her. The prayers and dzikr began at about 3 am and lasted until just before the Fajr (Subuh) prayers. Once the prayers began, I felt the presence of a Saint who guided me throughout the prayers. He did not speak to me other than guide me with the prayers and supplications. When the session finished, there was an eerie silence among the family members who were seated behind me. Then one after another, they said that throughout the session they saw somebody else leading the prayers and supplications instead of me. My cousin said he saw Tok Kenali (may Allah’s Mercy be upon him) the famous Saint of Kelantan (our birth-state). They all agreed that who they saw was Tok Kenali. Several years after this incident with my cousin’s family, there was a time when I was in dire financ...