The Salafi Who Restored a Maqam

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is adapted from Signs on the Horizons by Shaykh Harun Michael Sugich. 

“‘Abd al-Halim Mujahid was not a Sufi.  In fact, he was a Salafi who was against the practice of Sufism.  But he had a business acquaintance that encouraged him to consult with the Shaykh of al-Azhar before deciding on where to build his mosque.  When they met, the Shaykh of al-Azhar immediately recommended that the businessman build a mosque beside the newly re-discovered tomb of Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah (q.s.).  ‘Abd al-Halim came away from the meeting with profound misgivings, and went back to his Salafi friends who talked him out of building a mosque beside the tomb of a Sufi. 

Then he had a vivid dream. In the dream he was standing before the famous Mosque of Abu al-‘Abbas al-Mursi, in Alexandria.  Abu al-‘Abbas al-Mursi, the heir of Imam ash-Shadzili, was ibn Atha’illah’s spiritual master and predecessor.  In the dream Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas was standing in front of the mosque, and holding the hand of Shaykh ibn Atha’illah. He addressed ‘Abd al-Halim, saying, ‘They have built this mosque for me. I would like for you to build a mosque for my brother.’  ‘Abd al-Halim reported this dream to Shaykh al-Azhar, who was delighted.  He said, ‘This means you must build this mosque.’ 

Despite his qualms, ‘Abd al-Halim proceeded with design and construction.  He put all the funds required to build the mosque into a safe in his office.  Before construction began, he withdrew a large sum of money from the safe to pay the first installment to his contractors, recording his sums in a ledger.  The first phase of building commenced.  When the time came for him to pay the second installment, ‘Abd al-Halim opened his safe to withdraw the funds and found that he had exactly the same amount of money he had before he made the first withdrawal.  At first he assumed that he had made an accounting error.  When he returned the next month to withdraw the third installment again, the same amount of money was in the safe as before the beginning of the project. 

‘Abd al-Halim began to worry that he might be losing his mind.  He thought that perhaps the Salafis who warned him about building a mosque near a tomb had been right.  He went to Shaykh al Azhar in a state of high anxiety and told him what was happening.  Shaykh al-Azhar beamed ecstatically, and told him that this was from the blessing of Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah.  ‘If you had kept this miracle to yourself, it would have continued until the mosque was completed,’ the Shaykh said. ‘Now that you have shared this, you’ll have to use your funds.’  And this is what happened.”