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

Ibn Sina (Avicenna 980-1037, may Allah bless his soul) was the most masterful of the Muslim medieval polymaths, but his contributions only remain as a legacy, as these were mainly in the field of Medicine and the sciences. Although his teachings were the basis of much of what we know today, scientific knowledge has advanced so much since his time such that his contributions are honoured only as part of the history of Modern Medicine. I f Ibn Sina was the prince of exoteric knowledge, then Shaykh Al Akbar Ibn ‘Arabi (1165-1240, may Allah sanctify his soul) was the prince of esoteric knowledge. He was the grandmaster of cosmology, metaphysics and mystical secrets. His thoughts, poetry and books are until now being widely studied and discussed in many universities and intellectual circles in the East and the West, and there are many Ibn ‘Arabi societies and foundations across the world. In fact the interest in him is growing with time as more discover his genius. While the Sufis rever...

One day in late 1994 Atta (my Qadiri Shaykh, see SUFI STORIES #12) told me that Sultan Al Ariffin Shaykh Ismail (1463-1521, May Allah sanctify his soul) had invited me to visit him as soon as possible. He is the “Patron Saint” of all Sufis in this country. His mausoleum is in Pulau Besar (an island off Melaka, not to be confused with Pulau Besar off Johor). So the next day I set out on the journey from Kuala Lumpur by car, together with my wife, 2 young daughters (3 years & 6 months old), and my god-brother and god-sister (husband and wife), and their 2 young children (2½ years & 1 year old). They are a revert couple. He is a former Hindu, and she is a former Buddhist. He was the one who introduced me to Atta about 2 years earlier. We left in the late morning. After about 3 hours of leisure driving, we reached Melaka. We checked in at a resort to rest, especially with the young children in tow. By the time all were fully rested, it started to get dark and I thought it would be ...

Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad Al Ghazali (1058-1111, May Allah sanctify his soul) was most famous for his writings and teachings on tasawwuf (spirituality, purifying the soul and character-building). Not much has been written about his own spiritual experiences, including the miracles granted to him. He avoided writing about these, preferring only to hint about them: “….they (the Sufis) come to stages in the “way” which it is hard to describe in language; if a man attempts to express these, his words inevitably contain what is clearly erroneous”. [Al-Ghazali in Al Munqidh Min Al Dalal/Deliverance from Error, translated by W. Montgomery Watt]. Nevertheless, through his many books he did reveal some of these extraordinary and miraculous events. We also learn about these miracles through the reports of others, including those who dreamt about him. As often happened with luminaries, the hagiographical accounts may not be historical and it is often difficult to separate the facts from legen...