The Post Andalucian Notes

Discourse at Granada Moussem, Spain

From the beginning men (sages) has spoken
about this difficult matter (of Tao/Dharma/Way)
in term of being :

Blown out like a flame,
being pulverized like a mountain,
or being blown away like a cloud..

and all have agreed that this recognition
is based on your Non-Existence !

People say, " Ah, when I listen to Mozart "
And some very exalted people say that when they
listen to Bach - " I feel this Oneness that
the mystics talk about".

But if you experience anything then there are two, so where
then is Unity , where is the Oneness of Allah (Tawhid or Fana) ?
Ibnu Arabi has written much about this phrase :

"Everything perish except the Face of Allah".
And He is the Going-On (al-Baqiu)
Oh Lord of Majesty and Generous Gifts

In America , people often wolud say to me,
" I know what you are talking about.
I am mountain climber and I climb up the great
heights in the Rockies and I look at the horizon
and I am ANNIHILATED.

I feel I am NOTHING before this
greatness of the DIVINE."

They never leave the realm of the SENSORY and so they
do not enter into the realm of MEANINGS.

The modern men say, " I want spiritual knowledge". In other words, I am not interested in this outwardness, I want inward knowledge but I am not interested in all these religions. These all are forms, and I want the essence". And because they have not got a Path of Teaching, these people (psedo-sufis/modernists) end up in terrible disaster. Modern man is in the marshes! What a mess.

Someone said to one of the great shaykhs of the Darqawi tariqa,

" Tell me the greatest Name of Allah". And he said,
" Show me the least thing in the whole universe,
and i will show you the Greatest Name of Allah".

(Note : to practice the calling of Ismul Azim in khalwa
the seekers need special idhin, guidance and protection
in secluded place. Its experience may shatters one unprepared self.
Re-entering the sensory realms from the homeland of meanings
of the spirit is beyond this discourse. Get it from the arifun )

Always To Be In Change

The Fuqara Must Ask Always To Be In Change- By Shaykh Abdal Qadir as-Sufi

The du'a of the Muslim is, "O Allah, keep me in change." Keep mealways changing because everything is changing and every day Allah ison a new creation.You must be renewing and renewing yourself. You have to always be inchange. You must remember that the company of the fuqara is thehighest company. You must keep each other company.

You must travel toother places where there are fuqara. You must sit with the fuqara inevery place. You must be an example to them and take example fromthem when you meet people of quality. Seek the people of knowledge,seek the people of love of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and the peopleof love of Rasul, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam. To take the adab ofthe great ones you have to sit with them, you have to sit with thepeople of knowledge. It is by your company that you are purified.

Tasawwuf is keeping company, then tasawwuf is listening, thentasawwuf is acting upon what you hear. There is only one enemy andthat is your self. The nafs has nothing good in it. The worst of allthings to the Sufis is the recognition of their own good qualitiesover and against that of other people – it is what sets them back andsmashes them on the rocks of destiny. You must not look at your goodqualities. You must consider them something that in themselves havebeen spoiled even by your being conscious of them. You do not look atyour self.You do not find fault with others, you find fault with your self.You must look at your self and say, "What is wrong with it?" Harithal-Muhasibi went over his day, then went over his hours and then wentover his minutes, then went over his breath until he had verifiedthat it was pleasing to Allah, that it was acceptable to Allah.

Two great `ulama met in Baghdad and they argued and fought with eachother. At the end one of them said, "Let us meet tomorrow and discussthis matter further and the other one said, "No, let us meet tomorrowand make peace and forget all about it."

This is the way of the Sufis – to begin again.You must not be limited in your forgiveness of the faults of othersbut you must not have any measurement of any attention to yourself.Any consciousness of your self you must turn from. You must turn awayfrom the nafs and the method of turning away from the nafs is not apsychological method, it is dhikrullah. (Surat ar-Ra'd, 28 ) "Only inthe dhikr of Allah can the heart find peace."

You must do dhikr ofAllah. You must remember Allah standing, sitting and reclining onyour side. You must call upon Allah.You cannot afford to be out of the company of the people who loveAllah for any amount of time in this age that we live in. You must bewith the people who love Allah, you need them. You need the people ofAllah because they will remind you of Allah. You need the people ofknowledge because you have to be strong in your Deen and you have tobe correct in your Deen in an age where every mosque has a differentway of going into sajda, let alone the higher things of the Deen.

You must speak well of people and have a good opinion of people. You mustbecome people of futuwwa, you must become these people who are spokenof because of the high aspiration, the high himma you have which ison a universal scale that when you go to the Ka'ba, with all thetroubles that are there, you must look for the people of Allah thereand sit with them. Beware of the people of dunya. Beware of thepeople of dunya until you are safe, and when you are safe it does notmatter where you go. If you are not safe then you must be careful.

You must have taqwa and you must have wara'. You must take care, takecare, watch, until you are on Sirat al-Mustaqim because when thingsgo wrong you have to remember that all you have got is then to turnto Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.Remember, even tawba is nothing to do with you – it is because Allahhas decreed for you tawba because He wants you, so even that is notyours, it is not your good achievement.Your asking forgiveness is not your good achievement, it is simplyAllah claiming you and you recognising that He has claimed you.

Youbelong to Allah. You have come from Allah and you are going to Allah.This is what you have to tell yourself. You must not be hypnotised bydunya.Remember that Rasul, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, indicated that thesmall coin of the poor person is as dangerous as the gold of therich, so you must be generous. To be generous is to follow the way ofRasul, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam. You must be generous, you musthave a good opinion of other people, you must not say bad thingsabout other people and if you do say them you must go back and cleanit out and you must ask their forgiveness.

If someone is totally against you and totally in the wrong then you have to forgive themand you have to forget it and you have to go back and put thingsright. This is how the Deen has always been. This is how these greatmen have lived in the past.Just finally to remind you – look what has become of futuwwa – theelders of the organisation of people calling themselves al- Fatah aretying dynamite to youngsters' bellies and shoving them out to blowthemselves up, when the people who fought with Rasul, sallallahu`alayhi wa sallam, pushed the young people aside in order that theycould go and fight fisabilillah, fight in the service of Rasul,sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam.

So the whole Deen has to start all overagain.You are the people who must start it and in this continent is whereit will begin. It is from your people and from your children, but youmust have an adab to them, you must treat them with courtesy. Youmust treat your children with courtesy, you must treat the young withcourtesy just as you must treat the old with courtesy. You mustbecome the people of adab and if you become the people of adab youwill be safe.

If you become people of adab you will be Sufis. At-Tariqa kulluha-adab. The Tariqa is nothing but adab, that is all itis – adab.You must also have some respect for yourself. That respect foryourself is only manifest by the fact that all the people around youare at ease and in harmony with you and pleased that you are there.This is how you must be.

You must be a blessing on the earth. Youmust be a baraka for everybody. You must be ones that when you entera room it all lights up because of your love of Rasul, sallallahu`alayhi wa sallam, your love of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, andbecause your tongue is supple with the name of Allah and not thematters of dunya.Dunya will not fail to happen. All its strategems and spoils will notfail to crash about your ears, they have always done it and they willcontinue to do it.

When the People of the Cave came out, there again faced with the world and all its problems and all its difficulties, but Allah loves the people of tawhid and loves thepeople who love Him
and this is the company, the company of the Sufis.

We ask Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, that we prefer to go
to the company of people who only want to go to Allah
in preference to anyone who may do anything to help
give us advantage in this world.

We ask Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, to make us ready for the tests
come so that we can respond to Him and remember to praise Him
in every situation. Alhamdulillahi `ala kulli hal.

We ask Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, to bless this mosque
and its imams and its guardians and that it continues
to be a witness for Islam as it has been
in the troubled times of the past.

Amin.

Remembering Sidi Idris Kamaruddin 24 May 2003

Discourse by Sidi Umar Vadillo , 24 May 2003, Ribat of Kuala Lumpur

Bismillahir rahmanir rahim.

Tonight I am saying something special about Sidi Idris. His death/passing away and the events surrounding it were a great opening to all of us. We ask Allah Taala to shower His bounty and mercy upon him. He has gone ahead of us.

He is a man of wisdom-hikmah and certainty. Things become clear to him and looks settled while for others it is wobbly. He went through life with everything (riches and status etc) and also everything was taken away from him (become poor and stripped away).
In tasawwuf, this process is called annihilation-fana of the slave attributes. He purifies the nafs until it becomes free and pure for the worship of Allah with knowledge.

Sidi Shaykh has conferred highest honor on him by appointing him as his khalifa-representative in the tariqa of Shadhili-Darqawiyya in the region of Nusantara-malay world ( after he had made a difficult trip to England and Spain to meet SAQ in Granada in the month of Ramadhan in the early 1980s. He was well versed in the teaching of malay classical texts-kitab and graduated with an economic degree from Belfast Queen University).

We confirmed him as the wali of Allah. Nobody knows the secrets of the wali as he is buried/ hidden among the community of murids. He takes away this gift with him to the presence of Allah Taala. We witness his great love for Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alaihi wasallam although he try to hide his tears and states in the dhikr session.

The Sufis rejoice whe a mumin dies because he had doine his job and pleased with Allah.
When a baby is born, they-sufis are grieved bcos he is going to face a test of his life. Those who remembers Allah is alive and those who forgot Him are already dead although outwardly they are alive.

Sayyidina Umar r.a. said : Die before you die. It means you must have the knowledge of death which is about the power, decree and secret of Allah’s action while we are alive before facing the real death and ready for Akhirah. Each person build a prison around him while living. The dunya can be a prison if we don’t see its power that masters over the self-nafs. By that we are veiled from the knowledge of Allah.

Tasawwuf is freeing the nafs from this prison which we build by our attachment, fears, love..etc. The awliya has no fear bcos they already went through this matter in the Path. (As instructed by SAQ, the fuqara in kuala Lumpur had recited the Wird, Suratul Yassin and three qasidah from the Diwan of Sh. Muhammad Ibn alHabib (SMH), for the last three days in his illness.
One day before he passed away, we recited the Lakal-Hamd, Counsel of Death and Asma ul-Husna for him in a special gathering. May Allah gave us the mercy, secrets and blessings
of that zikr only to remember His gifts to us in this short life sojourns.

The kafirun hides the news of death. They feel at loss. They don’t know what to do. They fear it and attributed it to worldly causality..this and that events. For the muslims, it is entirely a matter of the Decree of Allah, the Giver of Life and Taker of Death. It does not matter how things are going our way before we die if we accepted our destiny. To live, worship, obey and love Allah Taala. We are all journeying toward our own death and meeting with Him.

Sidi Idris will be remembred by us in the dhikr, dua’ and the knowledges or advice he given to us and his blessed company with us .

We ask Allah taala to give him a high place in the Garden
among the company of the Salihun.
We ask Allah Taala to protect and strengthen his family members
and make great openings for them.

We ask You, Oh Allah, by the rank of our compassionate guide
Sayyidina Muhammad, grant us sciences that will benefit us
in the Day of Rising, strengthen us with lights at every instant
and make us firm at the time of sealing,
the agony of death and in the grave.


Dua’ from the end of Asmaul-Husna Qasida of SMH :

Oh Allah, we beg You by Your Most Beautiful Names
seeking Your approval and lutf in this life and the grave.

And on the Day of Rising and Gathering at the Stopping Place
where creation will taken into account , Oh Knower of secrets !

When the book of actions are taken, and at the Arrival-Masyar
and when we pass over the Sirat.

Oh Vast Goodness-ya Wasial Birri
Give us health in our life transaction, and this world and mercy
in the Two Abodes by Your Overflowing Generosity.

We ask for a seal of goodness (husnul khatimah) at death, and
to be near the Prophet, the praise worthy station of gathering.

May the blessings of Allah be upon him and His peace without end
and on his family and glorious Companions.

Ribat of Sidi al-Banna Retreat
Bukit Keramat Hujung
Kuala Lumpur

Encounters New Fuqara at Masjid Bukhari

Imam Junayd of Baghdad said:

‘If I had known of any science greater than Sufism,

I would have gone to it, even on my hands and knees’.

The one (sufi) has been robed with the robe of Honour (wilayat)

and is complete. Light upon light. Empty and full.

The heart is Serene. The instant (now) is Present.

The sufi’s task is to recognize the end at the Beginning.

He has gone beyond. He has Rolled up the cosmos

In its turn and obliterated it.

He has reduced and then Eliminated the marks

Of selfhood to allow a clear view of Cosmic Reality.

(The Hundred Steps: page 1)

It is constant Discovery. It is constant Renewal.

It is ever fresh Witnessing of the Beauty and

Ever fresh Bowing to the Majesty.

This brings to birth in the Gnostic a new longing

And joy- to transmit to the sons of Adam the good news

And the warning - and to invite people

To the Way of Self Knowledge (Marifa)

Witnessing (Musyahada) and Wonders

(THS : page 87)

Shaykh Muhammad ibn alHabib said in Robe of Nearness :

‘Strip yourself of all knowledge and understanding

So that you may obtain what the great (awliya) have obtained.

Freely offer up your self/nafs, you who desire union

And follow the Shaykh in whatever he indicates.

Witness the truth (haqiqat) in him, both in your essence

And your heart, annihilate yourself in him:

By him you will win (the gift).

He is the light(nur) of the Messenger from every aspect

And the medicine of hearts, both openly and secretly.

Blessings be upon the Prophet and all his family

And Companions and all who direct people to him

And peace, fragrant with musk and every scent’

Full beauty and unrivalled sublimity.

(From The Diwan of Jewels of Traveling Murid and

Treasures of Gnostic Wayfarers)

Gathering at Masjid al-Bukhari, Kuala Lumpur : 2 June 2007

All praise and thanks to Allah. We never expected a stream of new comers to attend our Saturday after maghrib zikir circle and teaching since the first grand gathering of Maulid in Mac 2007. In fact, some of the fuqara were from different continents and reunited again after more than 20 years.

Such is the case of Sidi Malik Bennet from USA. He met several malaysian fuqara while staying brieftly in Granada Spain in early 1980s. He almost cannot recognize Sidi Dimyati and Amir Zahari, very young and long haired hippied that time who taught him silat melayu.

The second long time faqir to reappear is Sidi Shaarani from Seremban, an close friend to arwah faqir Sidi Sulaiman Lim who worked together in Nestle chocolate company there. The thrid faqir is Sidi Hilmi, after more than 10 years in Pakistan and 10 years in Johor, he was blessed by Allah Taala to be sent near us. Now he worked at Megasteel plant in Dengkil, very near Putrajaya.

What is amazing, many of the fuqara brought along their grown up sons, the new second generation of fuqara to inherit, take over and renewed the struggle, seek knowledge from company of noble muridin and salihun/ulama and travel in the Path of Allah. In many weekly zikir that we attended at Masjid alBukhari, some night, the young fuqara sons outnumber the older ones or their father. We honor them in this posting by putting their blessed names for posterity to recognize, remember and to advance further and taste the fruits and gifts of Allah as the time and future unfolds:

Sidi Malik Bennet who study in ISTAC, UIA travel all the way from Gombak by taxi or LRT/Monorel took his three sons as follow:

Sidi Muhammad Taha Bennet age 16 - email: muhammad_taha513@yahoo.com
Sidi Ibrahim Salahuddin Bennet age 11.
Sidi Mahmoud Yahya Bennet age 10.

Sidi Shaarani should be given the highest marks of dedication, having traveled furthest 60 km away from Seremban to KL. He begin the journey by using KTM commuter train from Seremban, stop and transit at Bandar Tasik Selatan station, take the STAR-LRT and exit at Jalan Hang Tuah station..just walk 200 meters to reach Masjid Bukhari. His pack of young wolves as follow:

Sidi Muhammad Nizamudin Nuaim age 14.
Sidi Muhamad Syamim Nizar age 13
and Sidi Muhammad Nasrul Naim age 16- Form 4,Sekolah Tunku Durah.

Not to be outdone, last night 2 June 2007, our muqadim Sidi Dimyati from Taman Gombak despite heavy rain and traffic jam, managed to arrive at our zikr circle with his three future mujahid and bespectacled fuqara as below:

Sidi Muhammad Ihsan age 20
Sidi Umar islam age 16
Sidi Ahmad Fridaus 14.

Our Amir Zahari of Bukit Antarabangsa, KL did also brought his two young faqir sons Sidi Abu Bakar and Sidi Yusuf (Ahmad Qabil) the previous month and Muqadim Abdal Halim Shin last two week ago take along his son Ahmad Zuhri Shin who stand taller than his father, aged 18 and scored 9A1 at MRSM Tun Ghafar, Melaka, undergone 2 month PLKN at Kuala Kubu Camp in February 2007. He will enroll at Kolej Mara Banting for pre-university IB medical course.

We almost forget to record that Sidi Wan Izni of Education Ministry,last week 26 May also unexpectedly brought along his two young warrior sons:

Sidi Wan Muhammad Yusof age 11
and Sidi Ahmad Ibrahim age 7.

Although they may not able to sit quite in zikr but they do running around and active exploring every corners of the new blessed mosque, rebuilt from a waqaf land by Syed Anwar al-Banna younger brother at cost of RM12.5 millions. Suddenly Sidi Malik Bennet said: ' Ah...I know this name. I met him in Granada, he is very tall man, where is he now ?".

Just to reflect back, in past there weeks, 19 May, 26 May and 2 June of 2007, the fuqara sons overhelmingly outnumber the old fuqara/fathers. Ha ha very encouraging signs. Anyway, the young travellers like to take the KL Monorail, LRT-Star or KTM Commuter rather than suffer the traffic jams especially at Jalan Hang Tuah leading to the crowded popular Bukit Bintang and Puduraya area.

Alhamdulillah, last night we recited Yasin and Tahli after Maghrib with the alBukhari foundation people and feted to a sumptous dinner of beriyani, mutton, ayam merah, dalca and fruits, then after Isyak prayer, we joined the Ba Alawi or alHaddad fuqara in reciting the full Qasida Burda lasting about 45 minutes. We were given opportunity to sing in between Qasida od Ahimu Wahdi from Diwan Shaykh Muhammad ibn al Habib.

So after that event, we hold our short zikr at basement floor joined by Sidi Zainuddin from Shah Alam, a close friend od Haji Azmil who now studying in Syria. Welcome also to Sidi Wan Nordin and wife Nik Mahani from Ampang, who pioneered the minting of Emas Dinar Kelantan with success in Kota Bharu supported by the state government. They are preparing a big Dinar Seminar in July 2007 inviting Sidi Umar Pasha, insya Allah to give lecture. We pray for success all the da'wa work fi sabilillah.

Muqadim Dimyati gave a short talk on his encounter with Shaykh Abdal Qadir as-Sufi in 1978 and his visit to a zawiya in Moroccan Desert. The awliya told them: ' Here Islam is losing ground and being isolated, go to land/place where Islam is growing and in need.' He indicates that our da'wa shall be in land of West or our homeland where the light of Allah are needed by people after being colonialized and secularised. Tasawwuf is the journey of ihsan where we must fulfill our basic Islamic practices/ibadah and our iman/aqida is correct. Sidi Dimyati quote a reply by a Turkish man who said Islam is in the heart !. This is a wrong answer. Islam is outward, iman is inward and unseen, not the other way round. Amir Zahari later informed us the latest development and activity. He asked us to use fully the space and freedom given by Bukhari Mosque for teaching and dawa and meeting with various jemaah.

We end our blessed night with Salawat Najiyya from our Diwan as follow:

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad and the family of Muhammad
with a blessing by which You will save us from every fear and harm.
Supply us with all our needs by it,
and purify us from all evils by it,
and raise us to the highest degrees by it,
Through it, let us attain the furthest goal of good
in this life and after death.

O Allah, in this hour send down some of Your good
and Your baraka on us as You send it down
on Your Awliya- Friends and
send us what is kept for Your Lovers.

Let us taste the coolness of Your Pardon
and the sweetness of Your Forgiveness.
Spread over us Your Compassion which encompass
all things. Sustain us with Your Love,
Your Acceptance, our renewal in You,

Your Counsel, Your response to our asking
forgiveness and well being, taking in the present
and the absent, the living and the dead
in Your Mercy.

O Most Merciful of the Merciful,

O Lord of the Worlds.

Tears of Diamond

My dearest Charlene :

Let us brighten you up with many prayers which we learned from Maulana Rumi, he said:

Dont grief if the world slip away and sorrow came they are guests of God that bring fortitude and joys
Stand bow and sajda longer in your salat and munajat until tears became your diamonds in His sight
He will bring you out of darkness into light

Learn and recite His Divine Words until it is yours Rabbi habli hukman wa ahiqni bis-salihin
Allahu waliyul lazi amanu yukhriju minaz zulumati ilan nur Anta Waliyyi fid Dunya wa Akhira wa tawaffani musliman

There are billions people outside there dont get this blessing of iman
everyday they running after money and work and enjoyment
our happiness are when we able to wash purify and face Qibla
Allahu akbar..Fatiha..then everything became small and gone
swirling and journeying into His vast mercy of Rahman and Rahim
answering the echo of 'Alastu bi-rabbikum and Irji ila Rabbiki
radhiyyatan mardhiyya.

Sometimes we envy the people of zen who can meditate for hours
in stillness and emptiness of being and at peace with existence
while we muslims agitated just for a few minutes of 5 prayers
why because our hearts are filled with dunya and fear of provision.

Fasting is the food of lovers and patience is fortress of certainty
shake the dry palm tree trunk and dates fell at maryam feets
See and wonder how Allah Taala honored the righteous women
How the mother of Moses forced to throw her baby to the river
and Siti Hajar with a young son were send into deep desert
...the rest of event is history that commemorated by more
than 2 millions believers in the rite of hajji pilgirmage

Make niyyat and doa to be there , insya Allah, my Charlene
will be there exhausted and totally overhelmed one day
beyond words, beyond intellect and beyond pictures.
Fasalamun ala man tabaal huda. Fastaqim kama umirtu.

Note: Charlene is a young and divorced american women
who recently embraced by the light and love of Islam...

Retrieved and edited at the teahut office of Dailin Nur 6 June 2006

Marhaban and Maryah From Turkey

Just like to say marhaban to Muslima and

Maryah hailed from the blessed land of Turkey :

To begin with when I was fortunate and amply blessed by Allah to perform hajji in 2004 to met a lot of turkish muslims there in Makkah and Madinah. Here are they as listed from my little memory :

Sidi Orhan and Abdal Jalil whom guide me to visit tomb

of late Sheikh Sami Mahmud Effendi in Baqi sanctuary in Madinah

Sidi Abu Bakr Rifaii of Istanbul

Two Turkish hajj at Masjdil haram that gave me a copy of Dalailul Khayrat
and we parted with kisses and warm embraces after Fajr prayer.

Sidi Vahid Bayrak of Madina aged over 70 years at Masjid Nabawi

Sidi Mustafa Sozen and wife who invited me to partake their food

in Masjidil haram and later gave me the copy of Nursi prayers book.

And last, I had to admit secretly that I am a longtime lover and poet apprentice of Maulana Jalaludin Rumi of Konya. His poems and Mathnawi almost dance and rains in my endless seeker encounters. Last month I bought a book by Sefik Can on Rumi, what an illuminating soul he was and helping others to understand and guided by Rumi almost 700 years ago.

Anyway, who is this stranger abuzuhri of malaysia dambling in deep Turkish territory and picking walnuts along with Yunus Emre. Actually twenty years ago I already fall in love with Badeeuzaman said Nursi and all the great Ottoman sultans and ulama awliya than defended Islam from western kuffar dark forces for more 300 years.

May Allah always protect and keep the great generous people and land of

Turkey with pure living and unfolding of islam.

A You Seeker Or Trepasser

Read in the name of your Creator Zhen Zhu

You will never know your fate Ming Ching

Then set out to discover life of Yin or Yang

The school cannot teach the seeker without a Master

They are programming achievers and engineers

My friend, Do you want a piercing advice ?

From the sage of a hundred generation /Sheng Ren

How can forgot about Mencius or Lao Tzu

Oh Chinese seeker, here here not in China

You will find the answer not in Tao Te Ching

Al-Hujwiri says in Kashful Mahjub Unveiling The Mask

A reality without a name in beginning

Now too many fighting over a sufi name

Find out more from The Book of Stranger

Ming bu fu shi-goes the saying of Lun Yun

The Heaven and Earth cannot contain

My precious secret, only the true ones can bear it

All men within four seas are brothers

China is not the central kingdom anymore

The Tao of Heaven appear everywhere

The Tao of men slowly disappeared

Follow what the Heaven Decrees

Call it- Ming, call it Revelation or Wahyu

Gnosis or Illumination sounds better.

Master Pai Chang say: quick quick grasp it

or your wild ducks fly away from Zen Blue Cliff Mountains !

Try comprehend Tao and Islam as painted Sachiko Murata

In beautiful calligraphic strokes but still not complete

Why not learn the movements of Qigong Taiji

Stand still inwardly in harmony ya Ulil Absari

Embrace the Tiger and return to the Mountain of Arafah

This is your original nature. Consult your Oracle.

Ask yourself why Marx and Mao rise up

To sweep away decadent beliefs of atheist China

The masses cannot think.

‘Old wisdom only in books’

help me oh my seeker friend !

you speak a very different language

like a Sufic-Wu Li dancing Masters (read Gary Zukav

he still on nine beclouded guy unless get re-Rumized)

Openly witness the One Reality

and affirm the Noble Messenger-Glorious Sage

Who honored you before your Ancestors

His wisdom light already in your chest

An Illuminated path neither East or West

Nurun alan-nur, yahdiLlahu li-nurihi man yasyaau.

Wa Allahu bi-kulli syain alim

Translate it for me. Be brave.

The Straight Path is in front of you.

The men of Tao delights in flowing water

The superior men delight in mountains

Why, the wise sages alway in the move, never still

Master Kung says: Set your heart upon the Way.

Support yourself by its power.

The Messenger of Peace says:

Seek knowledge even unto China

A few seconds of reflection is better than a thousand prayers

Your life is a testing journey

To the Garden or the Fire

Do not be cheated by pretenders

All the Gurus self appointed leaders

Shaykh Ibnu Athaillah indicated in Hikam:

Idfin wujuka fil-ardhi khumuli

Enrich yourself in the earth of obscurity

In order to bloom perfectly later

Sidi Nuh Ha Mim Keeler from America

unexpected got it right in Jordan...

assembled The Reliance of The Traveller

Umdat as-Salik in just under 7 years

My Blue Colored I Ching Hexagram Text says:

When the Sage is in a lowly position

Is like a dragon concealed in depths.

One the should nurture/cultivate inner virtues

In obscurity while awaiting the proper time to act.

The rest is your choice.

Yin and Yang, don’t let the Shadow of fears and doubts

Cover your future destiny

Uncover the Light of iman within that will

Lead you to the Garden of Bliss Eternally

Otherwise you get only the sunburns (Yang) or

Remains in the shades (Yin) of cover up forever.

From old Notes Dailin Nur 14 April 2007

talks by Dr.Anqaravi Bursevi

The Reflowering of Islam in China

Preface Note by Dailin Nur Editor:

A friend told this writer that while performing the Hajj in 2004 at Mecca, he met several Uighur Muslims from Urumqi and Kasghar who openly told him that they are the followers of Bekhtasi and Qadiriyya tariqas but unffortunately back in China, they had to practice it in a hidden way and to survive another day. May Allah proctect the muslims in china, make them strong in brotherhood and the deen and spread the light of Islam to the new lost generations of the kuffar.

Recently a notable muslim leader, businessman, activist lady Rebia Kader who vigorously championed the islamic worship and freedom of ethnic Uighurs was nominated for Nobel Peace prize. She was jailed many years, later exiled to America and still propagating from overseas. Another dedicated East Turkistan muslim leader was Abdal Jalil Karkash where he operate a Islamic center in Germany for exiled and persecuted muslims across central Asia and Europe. We as muslim one ummah must support and help these noble muslims in china to keep the deen strong and may Allah guides them alway, and to produce new scholars, awliya, ulama, leaders and salihun that strive in His Path.

The Second Tide of Islam in China : Spread of Sufic Brotherhood

A young Chinese murid/disciple whom destined to be a great sufi shaykh was told by Nashqabandi teacher Khawja Afaq in 1672, after receiving the initial training in Middle East and Central Asia was told :

“ I am not to be your (complete/perfect) Teacher (yu er fei shi ),
my Ancient Teaching is not to be passed to you, your real Shaykh
has already crossed the Eastern Sea and arrived in Eastern land
(of China). You must therefore return home quickly, and you
will become a famous (sufi) Teacher in the land (later)”.

This student was famously known as Master Qi Jingyi ( Shaykh Hilal-addin)or Qi Doazhu. He was buried in Linxia’s great tomb which became an active center of Qadiriyya Sufism in china. He had preached Islam in the province ofGuandong, Guangxi,Yunnan, Guizhou and Ningxia before his death in 1674. Another record traced that Qi Jingyi had studied in the Prophet Illuminated City of Madina under the renown mystic Shaykh Ibrahim al-Kurani of the Shattariyya-Qadiriyya Tariqa, the same teacher of the Sumatra ulama Abdul Rauf Fansuri ( author of Umdatul Muhtajin).

The main Qadiri teaching are :

“ Those who know their self, clearly will know Allah”
(man arafa nafsahu, fa qad arafa Rabbahu)

and “ The Awliya-saints help us to know-correct ourselves first before knowing Allah (perfectly in worship and devotion)”.

There are three stages of sufic teaching are known in Chinese expressions as

-Sharia / Chang Dao
-Tariqa / Zhong Dao
- Haqiqah / Zhen Cheng / Zhi Dao.

Joseph Flectcher ‘s cogent observation is worth citing : “ many sufi reforms spread throughout china during the decades of Qing Dynasty. Increased travels and communication between muslims both east and west, generated revival and exposition to new teaching.

There are now 4 main menhuan tariqa exist in china : the Tariqa of Qadiriyya (traced back to shaykh Abdal Qadir al-Jilani), Jahriyya and Khufiyya (from Shaykh Bahauddin Nashqabandi) and Kubrawiyya ( from Shaykh Najmuddin al-Kubrawi of Persia). Interesting enough, the sufic text/poems of Mathnawi of Maulana Rumi are still recited/ chanted in Ningxia province until today”.

According to another sufic saying – ‘True Tao/Way are unceasing (Ti tao wu she ) which means that authentic sufic paths will always exist and sustained by the power, decree and overflowing of Allah’s immense knowledge, secrets and lights deposited through His Awliya/Friends. The Khufiyya menhuan preferred silent zikr remembrance of God. It is more suited to the hostile opposition from the Chinese governments which sought to assimilate them.

Shaykh Ma Laichi was the founder of Nasqabandi in china. From 1728-1733, Ma Laichi went to hajj to Mecca, then passing to Yemen and Bukhara wher he studied with several sufi masters. He emphasised on a more active participation in society beside infusion of knowledge, zikr and reverence of past saints. The Nashqabandi Jahriyya was another important sufic order in china founded by Shaykh Ma Mingxin a dynamic leader. His teaching was thought to be novel, heterodox and subject to many conflicts in north west china. He preached the vocal-loud zikr (jahri).

Many of his murids stated that : “ The root of our Way is from Arabia, the branches and leaves are in China” This remind us of the Prophetic Hadith :‘ Seek knowledge even unto China’.

After extensive search, Fletcher discovered that Ma Mingxin spiritual lineage was connected to a Nasqhbandi sufi named shaykh Abu Duha Halik from Yemen. This sufic silsila contained in the documnents found by a missionary FW Martin Taylor who was based in Jinxi, Ningxia.

After him, there are other sufi shaykhs such as Ma Hualong, Ma Jinxi and Ma Yuanzhang, active until the late 1920s. Gellner suggested that , “ Sufism provide a theory, terminology and technique of leadership for the Chinese muslims for future survival”.

At the 1985 Commemoration Ceremony ( Ermaili) on the death of the Jahriyya founder Ma Mingxin, over 20,000 adherents gathered for 3 days at his tomb complex at Langzhou for zikr, prayers and cultural/business activites as well. Eventually, the Chinese Government allowed the Provincial Islamic Society to rebuilt the centre as tourism attraction.

The exclusivity of sufi orders in china illustrates the crucial identity and authority for the Hui Muslims. Anyone can enter the orders through ritual vow (ba’aya) or by birth, but seldom the murids maintain allegiance to 2 menhuan-tariqas at once.

The well acceptance of Islamic teaching by the Ming Emperor can be shown in an imperial edict which read :

“ The Confucian study can order men and complete tasks (in society) but it is inadequate for penetrating the Unseen reality or understandingthe transformation of Nature.

The other similar sufic sayings to attract the Chinese by comparing Confucius
and Lao Tzu to the Messenger of Islam are : “ A thousand sages have only one heart (inner truth) and ten thousands years have only one principle” and “ Their hearts are One, therefore their Ways are the same from (Divine Source)”.

There are another two great Chinese Ulama and Sufi Teachers widely acknowledged in the 1500-1700 century namely Imam Wang Daiyue and Shaykh Liu Chi whom masterly employed the Confucian ethics and Taoist classical philosophy imbued with Islamic light, wisdom and Tawhid/Quranic teachings to replace/renew the lost/decayed Ancients Teaching of the sages. They travelled extensively for da’wa and debate with Chinese scholars and monks, many of them embraced Islam after the illuminating exchanges. They are both proficient in Mandarin, Arabic and even Persian scripts/language. The early kitab on Aqidah by an-Nasafi were translated into Chinese as early in 1300. Dr.William Chittick had recently edited and translated an abridged version of Jami al- Lawaih (Gleams of Spiritual Lights) by Wang Daiyue and Liu Chih into English from mandarin texts.

Insya’Allah, we hope to publish more insightful articles on Islam in China and how the new generation preserved their unique Hui identity and keep the light of Qing zhen Jiao bright and shining. In another encounter with the real Mr.Shu Yumin showed us the potential attracting new muslims only if we are ready to hold genuine dialogue and exchange of understanding on the fragmented Chinese philosophy and delusion of the materialistic atheistic society in need of spiritual awakening.

My Hajj Journal 2004

Oh Allah, by Your Name I begin my affairs

and by Your Qudra I make my deliberations

and unto You is our returning

If you engage upon travel

You will arrive- and may Allah,

be praise be to Him

Guide you and us !

(The Makkan Revelations –Shaykh al-Akbar)

AlhamduliLlah wa syukriLlah. I would like to thanks the wonderful muslims and fellow hajjis and hajjahs whom gave me inspirations to write this journal. Capturing all their blessed embraces, presence, advice and prayers they uttered for this humble seeker. Here are part of the names and descriptions which I managed to remember:

Sidi Muhammad Ridha Lua

Sidi Abu Bakar of Casablanca

Sidi Yassir Abdullah al- Manooni of Meknes

Sidi Abdul Jalil Ahmad and wife

Sidi Muhammad Muazzam of Kasghar, Xinqiang

(a murid of Bekthasi tariqa)

Sidi Shaji of UAE, Haji Zulkifli Jusoh of Pekan

Sidi Mustafa Sozen- a Nursi/Risalai Nur student of Turkey

Sidi Malik and wife Safia of East London

Sidi Muhammad Jiddan al-Qadiri al-Fulani of Sokoto

Sidi Ahmad Saidi of Banting

Sidi Moazzaz – nuclear scientist from Pakistan

Two noble fuqara of Nasqabandiyya Shaykh Abdul Baqi of Turkey

(who parted with their precious copy of Dalailul Khairat at MH)

Sidi Muhammad Dury of Atleb, Kuryn District Officer of Syria

Sidi Abu Bakar Rifai of Istanbul

Sidi Dato’ Abdur Rahman Ibrahim

An Uighur/Kazak Muslim who prayed incessantly

(At the outer Nabawi Mosque near the Raudhah)

Sidi Vahid Bayrak al-Madani ( over 80 years)

Sidi Luqman Chua of Kota Bharu whom I missed to meet

And Sidi Yusof Ong of Sham Alam, Sidi Ali Yahya al-Aghla al-Jiraini -born in Madinah

A Hajji from Aleppo, Syria, A Senegal student of

(who memorizing Quran in the Nabawi Mosque and corrected my recitation)

Six Fuqara of Shaykh Omar Abu Bakar al-Rifai of Ankara

A Majestic Turkish Sufi at the side of tawaf perimeter first floor

Of Masjidil haram on Friday, Three hajjis from Hotan, China

A Nephew of Dr.Yunus we met on Jabal Qubais

A Mujahidin fund raiser on the roof of MH

A group of Thai Muslims near the Raudhah

A Turkish alim at the Prophet Mosque, A faqir of Abu Ayyub Ansari descendant

(who presented us a copy of Hisbul Haqaiq an-Nuriyyah)

A hajji from Maharasta, India. Sidi Agus of Tasik Malaya, Bandung

Sidi Muhammad Shafii of Yangon, Mynmar

Dr. Shuja Ali of Tyler University, Texas

Three fuqara of Shaykh Sami Mahmud Effendi ( who passed away

and buried in Madinah near Imam Malik at Baqi)- Sidi Abdul Jalil,

Sidi Orhan and Sidi Umar. Sidi Said ibn Zakaria al-Qadiri of Kano

Haji Ramli of Gombak Setia ( Hotel Wardah Andalus roommate in Madinah)

Haji Yahaya of Kuala Lumpur. Three hajjis from Meknes who sang Lakal-hamdu

Sidi Ibrahim Hassan of Kasghar-Nasqabandi Khufiyya.

A Yemeni shopowner (who sold the Darqawi black tasbih in Madinah)

Sidi Muhammad Samin al-Madani (who recited doa for us at Masjid Nabawi

hand as greeting of salam toward the Rawdah) and not the last..

Two hajjis from Makasar, Sulawesi (land of Sh.Yusuf Makassar Khalwati)

The Beginning

1. This seeker journey to Hajj begin more than 25 years ago. One young Chinese economics student had decided that after his final third year exam in University of Malaya in January 1979 is the time to declare the mighty Witnessing of Reality , the Shahada : Ashadu anla ilaha illa Allah, wa ashadu anna Muhammadun rasuluLlah. This is the secret formula to the Door of The Garden. Whoever proclaimed it sincerely deep from his being will be granted by Allah the Garden. He only had to follow the Sunna of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him pecae in fulfilling the five basic pillars of worship. In fact, the seeker had done serious research for 5 years since 1974 in comparative religions. I still remember the magazine Nuggets of Wisdom which I read in the library of Sekolah Alam Shah which contains the excerpts from various sages of the world. Ibnul Arabi the great master said: Engage in travel, you will arrive.

2. 9 Januari 2005- Climb up to the third floor of the Mosque to pray Fajar. Can look down directly at the magnificent House of Allah drapped in black velvet with Quranic inscriptions. Thousand and thousands of pilgrims never stop swirling around it, proclaiming labayka Allahumma labayk. That morning was extra chilling and windy. I was wearing 4 layers of clothing without the outer black jacket. After finish the jamaah prayer, make my way down through the stairs. I saw sleeping figure tucked in one corner at the passageway. May be this is the right man to receive the first sadaqah. Slowly I approach him and tapped him lightly at the shoulder. Assalamualaikum. Allahu akbar, wake up. He turned and opened up the eyes still misty and saw my smiling face. Then I put the money warmly into his hand saying :

“From the Sufis-the Sufis, (meaning) please honor

and think well of the Sufis.”

They looked around for the poor and give out for the Face of Allah without hesitation. He must be poor if not why this arab looking man slept at the mosque with bare possessions, why not in his hotel room ?

I make my way down to ground floor after people had dispersed to get better dhikr position in front of Kaaba. There an ardent mumin praying the nawafil salat or Dhuha almost non-stop facing the House. Up and down may be more than 8 rakaats. Then he stops to raise his hand in prayer just beside me. Suddenly he spread across his hand to lift my copy of Diwan Shaykh Muhammad ibn alHabib without asking my permission. I glanced at him and talked with him several minutes. At last, I gave a black tasbih to him and asked his prayer for the muslims and all the Sufis. He was a student at Cairo and doing his hajj first time.

Two Old Uighurs From East Turkestan and We Are Sufiyye

After this encounter, I moved to another corner of the Mosque to continue my doa, dhikr, salawat and Quran. Two old hajji from Uighur China caught my attention. They are easily discernable by the Chinese Turkic face and wearing the cotton brown jacket. I gave salam and kissed both of them on their cheek, how happy when two strangers muslim meet each with greeting, respect, honor and love of Allah. The elder Uighur said to me : Shariat – Tariqat –Haqiqat and Marifat ! He seems to be a sufi lovers.

Nahnu kullu sufiyyat ! We are all Sufis when travel fisabilillah, we yearn for the Awliya of Allah, we see the lights of iman in their frugal faces. So I prayed for their people in Xinqiang or East Turkestan, may Allah bless you and make their deen strong there. I mentioned all the name of places I know about them : Kasghar, Urumqi and about the tariqas or menhuan: Khufiyya, Jahriyya, Qadiriyya and Nasqabandiyya. They nodded in agreement.before departing, we embraced each other again. Tears almost flowing down their cheeks.

Somewhere in midday, I encountered 3 old Hui women from China in the mosque about the age of 60-70 but still strong and healthy. They smiled at me when I gave greeting of salam, saying that I am Chinese muslim from Malaysia. I put something into their hands- baraka Allah and may Allah bless you all, your family and people at home.

Perfume of Awliya From Tetuoan, Mostaganem and Meknes

Alhamdulillah, met 3 muslims from Algeria, they wore the distinctive jellaba, noble looking and very relaxed sitting at some pillars. I gave salam, approach them and talked with them inquired where they came from : Tetouan-this place sound familiar. So I tell them I know about Shaykh Ahmad Mustafa Alawi of Mostaganem and Shaykh Abdus Salam ibnu Mashish. They are delighted with this news. Again the key word is sufi-tasawwuf seem to unite our hearts. We kissed each other hands and get a warm embrace. I bring out the little green book Diwan of SMH to show them our linkage with the Darqawi-Shadhili tariqa. They happily glanced through the introduction page…..al-Arif biLlah Shaykh Muhammad ibn alhabib al Maghari al-.Hassani. My heart indicated that if a man do dhikr intensely in one right place, it will attract the lovers of Allah to be near him without realizing it or unexpectedly.

Mistakes and Lessons From The Shoppers

During the first week at Makkah before departing to the great plains of Arafa for wuquf, we had many opportunity to wander around the streets and shops. You can see through the shopkeepers greedy look. Come, come ,come , buy, buy..at my shop, cheap, cheap..glitterings goods. The aggressive ones will stop you at your track. Pull you to their side shopwares. I was angry when one of the young arab pulled my hand despite my dislike and strong prostest. I stared my angry face tost them. You want to fight ! Not me ! Realising this nafs ugly clash with others, I quickly retreated. Make a firm resolution- no buying or shopping at Makkah until I finish my hajj !

· Mistakes learned :

a. Don’t haggle over prices.

1. Don’t set your heart upon the good displayed at the market.
2. Avoid the road/street that lined up with busy people.
3. If pulled or held by sellers, don’t fight. Just turn away fast, don’t look at them.
4. Wear a serious look and don’t loiter slowly inspecting the goods.
5. Don’t stay too long at top floor of Mosque during Fajar prayer, you will get cold/flu.

Today is Friday, a festival day of dhikr, prayer and gifts from Allah. The faqir had tasted the meaning of being poor, nothing left at the pockets. Emptying out. Yaumul Jumaat, you must be extra generous. Fisabilillah. Not nice to count your tijarah which will never lose. Allah Taala had bought the selves and belongings of the muminun in exchange for His Garden. Read surah at-Taubat : Inna Allaha sytaral minal muminuna anfusahum wa amwalahum bi-anna lahumul-jannah….

Another lesson –even performing a good action can be a trap and distraction. Not you are doing it, not your power or your intellect but the source is from Him. Min fadhliLlah-the overflowing of Allah.

To Be At The Heart of Existence

Shaykh Abdal Qadir as-sufi says in the book –The Way of Muhammad :

Hajj means – “to struggle with, to make a spiritual journey, an argument , a single hajj, a year”. To circle the Kaaba, in the phrase of the Greatest Master, ‘ to be at the heart of existence of the world’. It is clear that to the hajji that the Saee(running in straight line seven times between Safa and Marwa) is about his existence and the Tawaff (around the Ancient House) is about Allah’s reality and the slave non-existence.

The seeker was astonished to find some shops at Makkah are selling exotic teas from the East. As connosoeir of Chinese teas, he bought two packets of Rabea Jasmine Scented Tear. A Khawja Sufi from Persia hundred years ago wrote a masterpiece of story on the hidden secret of the tea where the merchants valued it highly but the common people just treat it as a boiled water with some kinds of leaves and herbs. What important is the Sufis had opened up the Shops of Tea Experience everywhere they traveled to share this divine drink.

Secrets of Hajj From Maulana Rumi

Maulana Rumi tell us something about this merchants in his Mathnawi :

‘And come to us like a caravan. This is not a long road

Can the desert stop the merchants ? The heart travels to Kaaba

Every moment. Who bow his head to the King

Not of this world. You are like the Day of Arafah

And the Day of Idhul Adha. I am at the beginning of month Dzul Hijjah

I can never reach You nor can I cut myself from You.

.Where a re you, where are you ?

The Friend is in this very place (near you), come here

. His wall and yours are one –

Bewildered in the desert, what do

You seek and roam, when you behold

Without forms of this your Friend

Then, the Lord, The House and Kaaba

Will you become yourself.

The most powerful allegory by Rumi about Kaaba and the Qibla of the worshippers are as below:

The longer the Way. The more companions are necessary –

The way to Kaaba is hard. One needs a long caravan and

A Caravan Leader (Shaykh). And how much more difficult is

It to come closer to God through so

Many veils, steep mountains and Highway robbers !

The Kaaba of Jibrail and the spirits Is a Lotus Tree

the qibla of the belly slave is food on the table cloth

The Qibla of the Gnostics.. Is the Light of Arrival,

The qibla of the philosophers.. Intellect is phantasy.

The qibla od the ascetic/zahid Is the Generous Lord (al-Karim)

The qibla of the flatterer is A purse of gold.

To be continued, insya’Allah and still 70 pages

to be retyped from old tattered diary.