by Muhammad Sajad Ali Webmaster
Part 1 A Contents
Introduction
And this where the journey begins
Note about Hadra as a somatic experience that heals trauma:
Five years ago
Part 1 B
Dreams also five years ago before baya’
Dream of being at Maqam of Imam Jazulil
Dream - of Morocco doing hadra on Hill
Dream in the week my old Shaykh passed away and I went into khalwa- seclusion in the dream
Dream of the different shaykhs
2007 was year that my Mother passed away and full ‘ijaza of Naqshbandi-Mujaddid Kareemi
‘Spiritual depression’
‘The good dream is a forty-sixth part of prophecy’
Salawat nariayh last dua I printed
Salawat naariyah below English with meaning;
Flight of the Phoenix
Spiritual stagnation
Two Scientific lessons about our bodies and the barakah of always being positive and increasing with dhikr and not being in the state of spiritual stagnation.
1. The human body is made up of more than 70% water
2. Scientifically positive words, prayers and thoughts over water affect our molecular structure.
Part 1 C
The search
Protection from the Seventy balah-problems we get a day
Five years later -The National gathering of the Fuqarah in Chesham Aylesbury
Spiritual attention (tawajjuh) of a pious person or Tasawwur-e- shaykh
How is tawajjuh Spiritual attention done
Dream of Sidi Jamal before the Baya
The Qutb of this Time and the mujjadid - the reviver of Sufism
Coming soon Part two - A Faqir travelling the path of Al-Qadiri-Budshishi order
The search
For weeks or months I was trying to find the Zawiya on Jenkins Street, as the dhikr gathering five years ago had touch me and the pieces in my life now, like a jigsaw puzzle were all coming together into one picture the dreams of Morocco, salawat Nariyyah, the tasting/or experiencing-Dhawq and more was yet to come. I found the Budshishi Zawiya in February 2007 when at the same time the BBC2 series ‘the retreat’ was being aired. (‘The retreat’ programme was based on the Budshishi tariqah and Sidi Abdullah was a senior faqir of the Budshishiyyah in the UK) I entered the Zawiya and was welcomed with Love and good hospitality Mahabba- love which is one of the key attributes of the tariqah the others being two being Suhba–companionship and the third excessive Dhikr which includes; a personal Wird read twice a day, Wazeefa gatherings and a lot of Qasidah reading and Hadra.
I was there for few months trying to work out my personal problems with the fitna looming over my head and my spiritual depression setting in, this stagnation was causing spiritual retrogression- meaning going backwards I remember a sister telling me most people that join any tariqah today are one step forward and two steps backwards which is 'spiritual retrogression' not really moving on the path at all.
And I understood why many people just don’t realize that love is the key and help others or putting others first which is called khidma- serving for the sake of Allah is were you will find Fath-an opening, its not just doing dhikr and then thinking your better than everyone else because you have a sufi shaykh for this is just arrogance what is needed is humbleness for this is the door that opens one to sainthood and being kareem-generous and many people in tariqah don’t have this. They are too busy rapped up with their own concerns and not a worry of their brothers or sisters desperate need for help what ever that may be need such as financial or some naseeha-kind good words, counselling which I’m trying to give here and on my personal journals online.
There is a tradition that goes like this; it is ten times better to help your Muslims brother/sister with a hajaat-need even if your doing Itikaaf-seclusion in Ramadan even if that is in the Mosque of the Noble Prophet, peace be upon him that is Medina, leave that and go and attend to your brothers/sisters need if you can do so. Now let’s think about that, ten Itikaaf, to me equals hundred days of seclusion and hundred days of fasting and hundred nights of Ibaadah and times that by ten thousand because just one good action in the Mosque of Medina shareef is said to be ten thousand rewards, oh I forgot any action in Ramadan is times by seventy and more. Can you see the point being made for helping someone for no other reason but for the sake they need help or naseeha- good advice.
Protection from the Seventy balah-problems we get a day
Moving no, I was deteriorating, declining going backward in my development and falling and this at a time in my life when I was drowning in tribulations what was needed was much dua, a Shadhili dua from a wird found goes like this; 'Allahumma Audh bika minal jaddil-Balah'-O Allah protect me from the struggle of tribulations/major problems. This is part of a line in from one of the wirds of the Shadhiliyah tariqah which I liked and learned. I would say this and throw a penny into a money jar and have the niyyah –intention for giving sadqah, this is also helped.
Sadqah is a shield from Balah. 70 Problems will attack you everyday, and giving Sadqah-charity is a shield for that. Giving sadqah in times of need and problems a http://www.deenislam.co.uk/me/extra_2.htm what I understood later from "Allah's Mercy in forgiving sins in Sickness & Hardship" and The Seventeen benefits of tribulation/Problems a potion of this is translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson and is based on this CD. I highly recommend reading this link; see http://sufi.forumup.co.uk/about502-sufi.html
Five years later - The National gathering of the Fuqara in Chesham Aylesbury
It was the first national gathering that I have been too for five years so I was excited but I still hadn’t taken the noble baya’. Its called the London gathering but takes place in Chesham Aylesbury and the power and the presence for some of the fuqarah is so intense that some saw the noble prophet peace and blessing upon him, in the gathering and only after when the lecture was give was it mentioned, the event was recorded on camera too. This is normal I later found out that many of the fuqarah experience states and visions from the power of Budshishi gathers. Other Murids of tariqahs have said that they really get spiritually elevated in the gathers of the Budshishi and that they only ever get this taste then their own shaykh is present in their gathers, I think that should endorse the power of the Budshishiyyah and really is a non-bias comment to give and is coming from other tariqah students.
Spiritual attention ( tawajjuh ) of a pious person or Tasawwur-e- shaykh
Several months had passed and in was soon going to be Ramadan so I decide to make tawajjuh-(spiritual attention) of Sidi Hamza or others may say Tasawwur-e- shaykh of Sidi Hamza, to connect and find if his tariqah was for me or accept me and his follower.
How is tawajjuh Spiritual attention done
This is from Sidi Gibril Haddad "That a mureed must imagine he is facing his Shaykh when doing dhikr" is not called tawajjuh but tasawwur, although they are inter-related. Also, what the question described "as having been compared that it is like trying to see the sun by facing a mirror" is better expressed as being like the sunlight directly hitting a wall, so that the opposite wall facing that wall becomes enlightened by it. The first wall stands for the accomplished guide-(al-murshid al-kamil) who is both spiritually connected and able to connect others; the opposite wall stands for the Murid who connects himself to that guide through Suhb-(companionship) and rabita-(spiritual linkage). As for rabita, it is defined as tying one's heart to the accomplished murshid and, in the process, keeping his image in one's imagination, even in his absence, which is called tasawwur.
They said that the murshid is like a roof-duct: spiritual outpouring descends from his heart to that of the connecting (murabit) murid. In accordance with the hadith "Man is with whomever he loves," the murid actualizes in him the murshid's features and states. Hence, al-Khani said in al-Bahjat al-Saniyya, self-extinction-(fana') in the shaykh is the prelude to self-extinction in Allah Most High. A Shaykh said "It must be known that wayfaring is through the rabita-(bonding) and love for the shaykh being followed... his look is a cure for the diseases of the heart, and his tawajjuh lifts away spiritual ills."
So simply to explain I found picture of the Shaykh on the internet and I placed the picture especially this blessed face into my mind and my heart and locked it, so when I closed my eyes all I could see was the bless face of Sidi Hamza Al-Qadiri Budshishi. Which also is called Muraqaba-vigilant or paying attention, I was given this as an ‘ijaza from my shaykhs already thus knew its power and techniques. I did this and then suddenly experience something that I have never experience before in my life my ‘first real full Hal’ . I was sitting down with Sidi Hamza’s blessed face in my heart which I was concentrating and focusing on all the time. I fell backwards then forward then I was just shaking and rolling around finally Sidi Riyadh Yemeni place his leg and foot around me like an anchor so I was stop moving until finally it stop.
I recently found that Sidi Riyadh Yemeni was the last shaykh of ‘ijaza of the 'Alawiyyah tariqah and when he came to the Budshishi gathering he gave up and stopped the tariqah and became Budshishi. Sidi Riyadh’s took his ‘idhn from Shaykh Muhammad Qasim al-’Alawi who took it from, Shaykh Hassan Ismail who took it from either Shaykh Udda bin Tunis or some one else not to sure there, and who took from Shaykh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-'Alawi. Note the Budshishi link to the Alawi tariqah is one of the shortest even short then Shaykh Nuh Keller who both have five in the chain.
Sidi Hamza has the shortest link to Shaykh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-’Alawi which is 1.Shaykh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-’Alawi who gave to 2 Sidi Abu Madyan bin al-Munawwar al-Qadiri al-Budshishi who gave to 3. Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri al-Budshishi.
I preformed tawajjuh-(spiritual attention) of Sidi Hamza again the following week and again the same powerful hal rapture over took me. The third week it happen again but less as I let my mind wonder and was still given something of spiritual energy. Other experiences also happen such as the first time I performed dhikr with the Budshishi I fell to the ground into sajda-prostration I think this happen twice.
Dream of Sidi Jamal before the Baya
Then after the third hal – rapture I had dream of sitting with Sidi Jamal’s (Sidi Jamal is the son of Sidi Hamza) Dhikr gathering and I’ve never meet Sidi Jamal before. And thus the following week which we now entered Ramadan I took the bayah at the hands of Sidi Iqbal as I finally surrendered my will to the Shaykh, who if I really think about was in a way calling me for five years in effect, but only in this last year all the experiences and dreams all add up and I was given a strong ishara-sign did all this come together. And now I have been blessed and I’m under the spiritual tutelage, guidance of the Qutb of this time Sidi Hamza.
So why did it take so long
The dreams of Morocco, salawat Naariyah, the tasting/experiencing-Dhawq, The Naqshbandi-Mujaddid Kareemi ‘ijaza, recognizing Habib Kazimi with nor prior experience and feeling I knew him from someone else, see dreams of Shaykh Jazuli’s Maqam, dreaming of Sidi Jamal, the Powerful hals which were never experienced by me in fifteen years in following Sufism and within that time, twelve of the those years being with my old shaykh, the last five of those being alone as he had passed away. Well simply I was told that I can only ever have one bayah with a shaykh but last year and after much research that leads me to find out this is incorrect, also the powerful experiences really gave me by Yaqin-certainly really to move on with my life and to progress.
Know that Shaykhs of tariqah have even given up there tariqahs and joined other orders to progress like Shaykh Moulay Sulaiman who's Shaykh was Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman, the grandson of Moulay al-‘Arabī al-Darqawi, changed this tariqah from Darqawi to Alawi.
I really didn’t want to leave my Tariqah but I wasn’t benefiting from it now, I was told that the greatest indo-Pakistani Sufi ‘Ala hadhrat Imam Raza Khan says that if your Shaykh passes away, it is permissible to take a new living Shaykh. Also others say it’s a must if one really wants to continue. Most indo-Pakistani shaykhs have a narrow understanding about this and don’t even know that its allowed and thus this was also part of the reason I also waited so long but the dreams and experience saved me all that which I’m grateful for to Allah and his noble Rasul peace and hundred thousand blessings upon him for his guidance to Sidi Hamza.
The Qutb of this Time and the mujjadid - the reviver of Sufism
"..One of the few Sufi orders that has managed to attract members of Arab elites despite obstacles is the Budshishiyya, which has since the 1960s been unusually successful in recruiting members of Morocco's intellectual and social elites. This order is a Moroccan branch of the Qadiriyya order.
…Once some intellectuals had joined the Budshishiyya, the writings of some seven or ten Budshishi authors, and the normal tendency of an order's membership to spread across family and social networks, meant that a growing number of intellectual: entered the order. The most important Budshishi writer was Taha 'Abd al-Rahman, whose al- 'Amal al-Dini wa Tajdid al- 'Aql brought many to the Budshishiyya. Another well-known Budshishi was Ahmad Tawfiq, a professor at Morocco's leading university (Muhammad V in Rabat), a counselor of King Hasan II, and director of the Moroccan National Library, and from 2003 Morocco's minister of Religious Affairs. Here we see the restoration of networks linking the elite to Sufism, with new networks replacing those destroyed during the ideological stage of the development of anti-Sufism, and the restoration of close and cooperative relations between at least some Sufis and the state. …..By the year 2000, perhaps half of the order's approximate membership of at least 25,000 were "educated". (Moroccans and more then 100,000 attend the Mawlid gathering every year)
…the Budshishiyya's high-quality educational activities were especially important in an era when state control had robbed other sources of Islamic education of much of inherit quality and legitimacy… Building on the order's existing membership, Shaykh Hamza appointed a number of university professors from various fields as his muqqadams (lieutenants) in many of Morocco's major cities….
……As well as examining the Budshishiyya's success in attracting "modern" Moroccans, we also have to explain the order's success in retaining such people once they have been first attracted to it. This derives in part from the widely acknowledged charisma of Shaykh Hamza, to which all the Budshishis with whom I spoke testified. Another quality to which Ahmad Qustas drew attention was that Shaykh Hamza was adroit in "tying up the arrogance of the intellectual." The Budshishiyya's success in retaining elite recruits, however, also results from a pragmatic approach to the application of the shari'a, from the "purity" of its practices, and from internal organization that makes excellent use of pre-existing networks.
…The Budshishiyya have re-established the close and cooperative relationship between major Sufi orders and the state that was often found before the nineteenth century but has since become rare." Extracts taken From ‘In Search of a Counter-Reformation: Anti-Sufi Stereotypes and the Budshishiyya's Response’ by Mark Sedgwick , chapter 6 of 'An Islamic Reformation?
Thus It is the only tariqah that has bought back Morocco and modern Morocco Frenchman from salafism to classic Sufi teachings and had a break through successfully were other tariqahs have really struggled or not managed at all. So a true sign that re-awakening of Sufism from a proven model, for the West is by the hands of the Mujaddid-(the reviver ) of Sufism in this Time the Qutb, Arif billah Sayyid Shaykh Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri Budshishi
Please note: some may ask or say as why I have shared this experience or think i'm trying to show-off. I am simply sharing this experience as a point of reference to those who are interested as such experiences are not shared as this deep and personal level also i would like to direct the reader to the experience that 'The Qutb Ibn 'Ajiba, the Darqawi Sufi Shaykh wrote in his "fahrasa," or autobiography, not for the pleasure of talking about himself but "to celebrate God's kindness'. I’m hoping to do this also but to inspire the reader to carefully think about the Noble Tariah Al-Qadiri Budshishi.
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Coming soon Part two - A Faqir travelling the path of Al-Qadiri-Budshishi order
These are the points are other with be addressed in part.
Dreams after taking baya’ into the Al-Qadiri-Budshishi tariqah and some experiences.
The Rapture and intoxications in the gatherings
The Fidya – respect
The Different gathering nights for strengthen such the Taqwiya Nights
The Different levels of Tariyyah with the different salawats in the Tariqah
The admiration Love Muhabb of the Fuqarah to each other which I never seen in any other tariqah,
Bringing new fuqarah to the tariqah
Dreams after baya’—
Dream of having the power of Sayyiduna ‘Isa bin mariyam, which MAY be linked to darqawi/Alawiyyah way
Dream of mother-in- law given in me bayah
Dream of Shaykh Muhammad Yaquobi and telling him I’m a Budshishi
Dreaming of the Fuqarah -being at the Maqam of Sayyiduna Yaqub as.s
Dreaming about the Five and the fifth Faqir who confirmed the dream
Burning up with salawat Naariyah.
Visiting Fez, Morocco and traveling to Sidi Hamza’s Zawiyah
Real love of the Fuqarah
The National gathering of the Fuqarah in Birmingham
More points to add inshallah
To find out more about the tariqah contact me: islam2jannat@yahoo.co.uk
0753 5654 125 - UK or outside UK +44753 5654 125
Yours Muhammad Sajad Ali - UK Webmaster