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

  I had intended to share some of the miracles performed by or involving Imam Al Ghazali (May Allah sanctify his soul). But I realized that it would be better to discuss the subject of miracles first, something which we all take for granted, but was investigated thoroughly by him. Then we will appreciate the miracles more. So the actual description of his miracles will have to wait till the next article. Imam Al Ghazali, like many other theologians, had major differences with the Muslim philosophers. It was the nature of Imam Al Ghazali that when he investigated any branch of knowledge, he would gain as much expertise in the subject and not just comment from the periphery. Thus when he focused on philosophy, he became one of the most prominent philosophers of all time (not just among Muslims), and even now, his ideas and arguments are still being discussed and debated among modern-day philosophers, though many may disagree with him. He created a major schism by severely criti...

For a very brief introduction to the life and works of Imam Al Ghazali (May Allah sanctify his soul), please read Sufi Stories #13 first. This article assumes you already know that much about him. I had mentioned that he was the Mujaddid (Reviver of the Faith) of the 5 th Hijri century, and for the Sunnis, he is the Hujjatul Islam (Proof of Islam). Although several others may have also been give the title, only Imam Al Ghazali is universally recognized. In Shia Islam, thousands have been given that title ( Hojatoleslam) which is a rank below Ayatollah , of which there are also many. I also related that The Prophet (PBUH) had endorsed him as the wisest and most brilliant scholar among Muslims (in the dream of Shaykh Hasan Al Shadhili), and The Prophet (PBUH) had also endorsed and commended Imam Al Ghazali’s book Ihya Ulum al-Din (in the dream of his critic Ibn Hirzahm). Although reports of dreams about The Prophet (PBUH) are not considered as Hadiths, there is an authentic Hadit...

In this series of articles, I relate my personal experiences, introduce some of the Shaykhs and Saints that I have encountered and take the opportunity to give some explanations about Sufism, its teachings and its practices. Unfortunately, throughout history, Sufism came under heavy criticism and we hardly hear about it here, and certainly most local Muslims have not been exposed to any Sufi group. Because many Sufi tariqas have been declared deviant and were banned, the ones that survived the official onslaught tended to play safe and remained low-key. So it is a challenge to interest Muslims about Sufism here. Since I am not an Islamic scholar, my views and arguments do not have much impact on the Muslim society. Because Sufism has been widely criticized by some non-Sufis, I need to present the arguments of Sufi scholars who are highly respected, even by the non-Sufis. I find that the best among them is Imam Al Ghazali (May Allah’s mercy be upon him). Therefore I rely much on his wri...

 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...