A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is an extract of “From Points of Light”, by Shaykh Harun Michael Sugich.   He wrote, “We had a plane to catch.  We were heading deep into the Egyptian desert to Humaythra to visit the tomb of one of our greatest saints, Imam Abu al-Hasan ash-Shadzili ( q.s. ).  The overwhelmingly generous high court judge, Yassir Azzam, had organised the whole trip and was driving up the hill to the heights of Mokkattam to pick up a fellow traveler.  The Toyota Landcruiser stopped at a street corner at dawn to wait for our new passenger to turn up.  We waited.  Time passed.  No show.  Yassir called him.  Sitting on the jump seat at the back of the Landcruiser, HRH Princess Reem al-Faisal, warned us that the man we were waiting for was an explosive presence. ‘He’s a majdzub !’ she said.   The word ‘ majdzub ’, for those unfamiliar with the term, refers to someone who is God-intoxicated, or more accu...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from “When You Hear Hoof Beats, Think of a Zebra” by Shaykh Shams Ira Friedlander.   There was a shaykh who came to Istanbul.  He was a wandering dervish.  He went to the governing authority in charge of religious affairs, and asked for a building to be used as a dervish prayer lodge.   “How many dervishes do you have?” the officials asked.   “I just have this one dervish,” he said, “and myself.”   They thought this odd, but there was an old rundown building, and they agreed to give it to him.  He accepted, and with his one dervish, occupied the building.  Very soon there was an enormous light coming from within this building.  The sound of dzikr could be heard every night, and crowds of people attended.  The light was great and bright.   The government authorities in charge of dervish prayer lodges wanted to know what this man was doing to draw so many peop...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is extracted from “When You Hear Hoof Beats, Think of A Zebra” by Shaykh Shams Ira Friedlander.   Moses ( a.s. ) was in the field one day, and Allah ( s.w.t. ) Said to him, “What is it you have in your hand?”   “A staff.”   “And what do you do with this staff?”   Now Allah ( s.w.t. ) did not have to Ask Moses ( a.s. ) of course.  Allah ( s.w.t. ) would Know, for He Knows all.  But He Asked this of Moses ( a.s. ) so that their conversation can be repeated, and we can learn from it today.   When He Asked, “And what do you do with that staff?” Moses ( a.s. ) said, “I lean on it.  And sometimes I use it to separate my sheep and keep them in line.  Also I knock down leaves from trees so that my sheep will have some food.”   Allah ( s.w.t. ) Said, “Throw the staff to the ground.”  He did, and the staff turned into a snake.   Then Allah ( s.w.t. ) Said, “Pick up the sn...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from “When You Hear Hoof Beats, Think of a Zebra” by Shaykh Shams Ira Friedlander.   A Sufi was walking by a madhouse.  He looked up, and there was a doctor leaning out of the window.  He asked the doctor, “Have you discovered the cure for all that afflicts these men?”  The doctor said he had not.   One of the crazy inmates was at the next window peering out, and he said, “Do you mind if I answer that question?”   The doctor and the Sufi exchanged looks and said, “No, not at all.”   And the inmate said: “In the pharmacy of Allah, prescribed by Muhammad, you take the root of repentance and the leaf of consciousness.  Grind them in the pestle of your heart, add some tears, sift it through your intelligence, cook it with the fire of your heart, taste it with a measuring spoon, then eat it with satisfaction.”   He had given them a dervish recipe.  In the Pharmacy of Al...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is taken from “When You Hear Hoof Beats Think of a Zebra” by Shaykh Shams Ira Friedlander.   One day in the courtyard of the mosque, Shaykh Bayazid Thayfur ibn ‘Isa al-Bisthami ( q.s. ), a great Sufi shaykh , and the Quthb al-‘Arifin , the central pillar of knowledge, was making his ablutions in preparation for prayer.  Across the courtyard, he saw a very old man.  In the old days, they used heavy clay pitchers for water, and if you were strong enough, you picked one up and washed yourself.  Often, the person next to you would help you pour the water, and in turn you did the same for him.   Shaykh Bayazid ( q.s. ) saw no one was helping the old man.  He walked over to the old man and said, “Old man, what could you have done in your long life that you do not have one friend?  No one has come to help you?”   The old man looked at him and said, “The ones who serve are served.  And if I h...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from Shaykh Shams Ira Friedlander’s “When You Hear Hoof Beats, Think of a Zebra”.   There is a special adab , proper spiritual behaviour, between shuyukh of dervish orders.  A man wanted to be a dervish.  He went to see Mawlana Baha’ ad-Din Muhammad al-Walad ( q.s. ), better known as Sulthan Walad, the son of Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi ( q.s. ), in Konya, who was then the head of the Mawlawi Order.  Sulthan Walad ( q.s. ) said, " al-Hamdulillah , all Praise is for Allah.  Come, bring a sheep, and we will make a feast.”  The man left, and the next Thursday he was supposed to bring a sheep.  He was a thief.  That was his job, so he stole a sheep.  He threw the sheep over his shoulders, and walked up to the door of the tekke .  Sulthan Walad ( q.s. ) stopped him and said, “Wait!  That sheep cannot be cooked in our pots.  You cannot be a dervish with our ...