A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is taken from “An Introduction to Sufism: Advice to a Murid ” by Shaykh Ibrahim Etsko Odilus Franciscus Schuitema.   “I was pounced on by the diyn in 1981 and right from the start had a curiosity about taswawwuf .  I have had the good fortune to be associated with three shuyukh , all teachers in the Shadzili order.  My own idzn is in the Darqawiyya, which is a latter branch of the Shadziliyya.  The Shadzili’s are for Africa what the Chistis have been for the Indian subcontinent.  They have been the people who have taken Islam to the remotest regions of the continent.   This matter of ours is about freedom.  It is a freedom of such magnitude, that its price is everything in existence and its prize is the whole of existence.  There is no higher aspiration and it is therefore worthy of utterly single-minded commitment.  In the face of this quest, all other pursuits are trivial.   By me ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is the explanation of the Shadzili ad-Darqawi wird by Shaykh Ibrahim Etsko Odilus Franciscus Schuitema.   The Wird : Astaghfirullah x 33 Masha’Allah x 33 Subhanallah x 33 Hasbunallah wa ni’ma al-Wakil x 33 Laa Ilaha illa Allah x 100 Swalawat x 10 Surah al-Ikhlasw x 3 Surah al-Falaq x 1 Surah an-Naas x 1 Surah al-Fatihah x 1 Du’a for whatever we want, as well as our shuyukh and all the shuyukh of the  Darqawiyyah .   There are five adzkar in the wird specifically designed to cultivate in us the skill of silencing our inner dialogue, so that we can see everything for what it is and therefore be in the position to give everything its due.  These five adzkar are: “ Astaghfirullah ”, “ Masha’Allah ”, “ Subhanallah ”, “ Hasbunallah wa ni’ma al-Wakil ” and “ Allah ”.   Our inner dialogue is sustained by hopes and fears, and because this is the case, it is biographically based. ...