A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Once upon a time, a shaykh requested from his students to bring him some flowers.  All of his students came to the presence of their teacher with various beautiful flowers.  However there was one student, “Yusuf” ( q.s. ), who came with a wilted hyacinth in his hand.  When his teacher asked him about the wisdom behind his attitude, his answer was, “Whichever flower I tried to pick, I heard that they were occupied by the dzikr and tasbih of Allah ( s.w.t. ).  My could not bear to cut off their tasbih .  I looked around and saw that this poor hyacinth had come off its stem, so I brought this flower to you.”  Because of this incident, his teacher named him, “Sumbul” which means, “hyacinth”.   This little boy was Imam Sumbul Yusuf ibn ‘Ali Sinan ( q.s. ), who passed away in 1529 CE in Istanbul.  He was the murshid and founder of the Sumbuliyyah Sufi order.  Imam Sumbul ( q.s. ) said, “The heart of the...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh ‘Utsman Nuri Tufbas wrote, in “Islam, Spirit, & Form”, Imam Sumbul Yusuf ibn ‘Ali Sinan ( q.s. ) asked his disciples the following question, “O my sons!  What would you do, if Allah gave you the right to mastermind the world?”   They each gave a different answer.  One said, “I would exterminate all unbelievers.”   Another said, “I would eradicate all who drink!”   Another one said, “I would exterminate all smokers!”   Among the disciples, there was a learned scholar named Shaykh Muswlih ad-Din Muswthafa Sururi ( q.s. ).  He was keeping quiet.  The shaykh faced him and asked, “O my son!  What would you do?”   Shaykh Muswthafa ( q.s. ) answered decently, “O master!  What is wrong, Allah Forbid, with the way Allah ( s.w.t. ) has already Decreed?  I would keep the things as they are.”   Imam Sunbul Sinan ( q.s. ) rejoiced and said: “The things now found are as t...