Huuu.... Here is a clip on Youtube with one of Sherif Baba's zikirs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0my76YB7i1Q

Hu Erenler-- It's been quite some time since I have posted here, but I hope that insh'Allah you have all been well. I've been in a fairly introverted space for the last few months and have been keeping most of my online presence to a minimum, but elhamdullillah, it has been a time of learning and interesting transitions. More on that later, perhaps. Most importantly for now, Sherif Baba sent me these wonderful pictures from Konya to share with you, mash'Allah.

Sherif Baba forwarded this a few days ago...

“ Allah, göklerin ve yerin gaybını bilir. O, kalplerin içinde ne varsa onu da hakkıyla bilendir. ”
(Fatır Suresi, 38.)

"Indeed Allah is All Knowing – of all the hidden things in the heavens and in the earth; indeed He knows what is within the hearts."

"Allah sizin dış görünüşünüze ve mallarınıza bakmaz. Ama o sizin kalplerinize ve işlerinize bakar "
Hz. Muhammed (sallallahü aleyhi vessellem)

“ Ey zengin! Sen Allâh’ın huzuruna yüz çuval altın götürsen, Cenâb-ı Hakk buyurur ki: “Ey getirdiği yükler altında iki büklüm olan kişi. Bana gönül getir, gönül." Eğer o gönül senden razı ise, ben de senden razıyım. Ama gönül senden yüz çevirmişse, ben de senden yüz çeviririm. Ben sana bakmam, gönüle bakarım. Ey can! Armağan olarak bana gönül getir.”
Hz. Mevlâna Celaleddin-i Rumî (k.s.)

Allah’ım, Hz. Muhammed (s.a.v.) ve âline salat eyle ve  kalbimizi sevgin için boşalt; zikrinle meşgul et; korkun ve haşyetinle ona hayat ver; özleminle ona güç ver; onu Sana itaat etmeye istekli kıl ya Erhamerrahimin. Allah’ım! Senden hidayet, takva, iffet ve gönül zenginliği istiyoruz. Ey Rabbimiz nefislerimizi ve nesillerimizi edepli ve hayâlı kullarından eyle. Âmin...

Baba asked that this one be posted also.

Ey iman edenler! Zannın çoğundan kaçının. Çünkü zannın bir kısmı günahtır. Birbirinizin kusurunu araştırmayın. Biriniz diğerinizi arkasından çekiştirmesin. Biriniz, ölmüş kardeşinin etini yemekten hoşlanır mı? İşte bundan tiksindiniz. O halde Allah’tan korkun. Şüphesiz Allah, tevbeyi çok kabul edendir, çok esirgeyicidir.

'O you who believe! Avoid most suspicion [about one another]. Indeed some suspicion is sin. And do not spy and do not backbite each other. Would one of you eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it. And be conscious of Allah and ward off evil [from within and without].  Allah is Accepting of Repentance and is Singularly Compassionate.

Qur'an 49/12.
Sura al-Hujurat 12
HUCURAT 12
(English translation by Shaykh Nooruddeen Durkee)
__________________________________________

“Ey diliyle îmân edip de kalplerine îman tam olarak yerleşmeyen kimseler! müslümanların gıybetini yapmayınız, kusurlarını da araştırmayınız! kim müslümanların kusurlarını araştırırsa allah da onun kusurlarını araştırır. allah kimin kusurlarını araştırırsa, onu evinin ortasında bile olsa rezîl eder.” (Ebû Dâvûd, Edeb, 35; Tirmizî, Birr, 85)

HAZRETI MUHAMMED (s.a.v.)
____________________________

Ey gafil insan! Fil yavrusunu kebap edip yiyen kişiler gibi sen de Allah'ın kullarının gıybetini yaparak etini yiyorsun. Onların bulanmadıkları kötülüklerini söylüyor, günaha giriyorsun. Aklınızı başınıza alın; sizin ağzınızı koklayan Allah'tır. Temiz olanlandan başka o muayeneden kim  canını kurtarabilir? Yazıklar olsun o kişiye ki
Mezarda onun ağzını koklayacak olan ya Münker’dir veya Nekir! O büyük meleklerden ne ağız kokosunu, yani dünyada edilmiş gıybet kokusunu glizlemeye imkan vardir, ne de bir ilaç bulup ağzı hoş pis kokan ağzın kokusunu gidermeye zaman vardir.

HAZRETI MEVLANA
___________________

Allah’ım, Hz. Muhammed ve aline salat eyle. Allah’ım, bize, sana itaat etmek muvaffakiyetini, isyandan uzaklaşmayı, niyetin doğruluğunu ve ihtiramları korunması gereken kimseleri tanımayı ihsan et; bize hidayete erişmek ve ona sabit kalmakla ikramda bulun; dillerimizi doğruluk ve hikmetle güçlendir; kalplerimizi ilim ve marifetle doldur; karınlarımızı haramdan ve şüpheli şeylerden arIt; allerimizi zulUm ve tecavüzden alIkoy; gözlerimizi kötülüklerden ve hıyanettin koru; kulaklarımızı boş söz ve gıybete kapat. Amin.

Sherif Baba asked me to post this...

“Her kim de benim zikrimden (Kur'an'dan) yüz çevirirse mutlaka ona dar bir geçim vardır. Bir de onu kıyamet gününde kör olarak haşrederiz.”
(Taha, 124)

“Allah'ı anmaksızın çok konuşmayın. Allah'ın zikri dışında çok söz söylemek, kalbi katılaştırır. Katı kalpli olanların ise, Allah'dan en uzak kimseler olduğu kesindir.”
Hz. Muhammed (s.a.v.)

“Hakk yolunda okuduğun virdi, çektiğin tesbihi, terk edince, zahmete sıkıntıya düşersin. Sana sebebi bilinmeyen bir iç sıkıntısı bir darlık gelir gönlüne düşer. Bu sebepsiz üzüntü, bu iç sıkıntısı, sana bir çeşit ihtardır. Bir çeşit seni terbiyedir. Devam ede geldiğin virdini bırakma, eski ahdini bozma, dikkat et demektir.”
Hz. Mevlâna Celaleddin-i Rumî (k.s.)

Allâh'ım, beni, Sana şükreden, Sana itaat eden ve Seni zikreden bir kul eyle. Rabbim, tevbemi kabul buyur, beni günahlarımdan arındır, duâmı kabul et, hüccetimi sağlam yap, kalbimi Sana yönelt, dilimi düzelt, gönlümü nûrunla aydınlat. Âmîn...

Hu Erenler--
I hope that everyone has had a lovely Mawlid-i Nabi/ Valentine's Day.  I love that they occurred on the same day this year.  There seem to be a lot of these kinds of coincidences these days, such as the timing of the Kurban Bayram and Thanksgiving recently.  It brings a tremendous joy to my heart seeing the coming together of Islamic and Western traditions-- celebrating similar themes. Elhamdullillah, Rab'il Alemin.  Some of you may also remember Valentine's Day 2001, when the mevlut  for Burhan Efendi was commemorated.  That was an incredibly powerful evening of zikir and singing-- really one of the most amazing nights I've ever experienced.
I've been trying to digitize some photographs I took over the years, mostly around 1999-2000 in Chapel Hill, so insh'Allah I'll be posting some more soon.  This is one of my very favorites:  I asked Baba if I could take a picture and he grabbed another camera, held it to his heart, and said "Yes, as long as you make sure to take a picture with your heart."
If anyone has any pictures or stories that you would like to share, please send me a message with your email and I can contact you.  I'd love to find more pictures of Sherif Baba, Burhan Efendi, the Rifa'i Marufi tekkes in Turkey, pictures from the Rumi Festival in Chapel Hill, etc.
Huuuu

Every Land is Kerbela, Every Day is Ashura.

Her Yer Kerbela, Her Gun Asura.


From time to time, I teach Islamic history at a university. 

People sometimes ask me to explain why, in places like Iraq, people are still in such intense conflict over events that took place so long ago.

I usually end up quoting William Faulkner-- 
"The past is never dead. It's not even past."


As a Muslim Southerner, how else would I explain the importance of Kerbela ?  ;)

Sometimes the issue is written off by Westerners as having to do with age-old grudges. Some Western academics try to understand the Shi'i perspective as having something to do with a collective guilt that more of the early umma did not come to the assistance of Imam Huseyin. Many Sunni Muslims write it off as some form of idolatry, or an obsessive interest in lineage. Most accounts by non-Shi'i, whether Sunni or non-Muslim --however understanding or sympathetic-- tend to explain the Shi'i position in terms of the family lineage from the 12 Imams back to the Prophet Muhammad.

But actually it's not really about that. Hz. Imam Ali himself states in the Nahjul Balagha that character and nobility are found in one's actions, not in their family line. All of the major Shi'i historical scholars maintained that the 12 Imams were who they were based on their character, and would have been the Imams whether they were from the family of Hz. Muhammad or not.

And the importance of the story of Kerbala is not only one of Sunni/Shi'i division over the politics of who should lead the community after the death of the Prophet. That's certainly a part of it, but that's not all. That's the part that people teaching the history of Islam in universities talk about, and it's the most accessible part of the question. That's what I talk about when I teach on this topic. But for many of the people for whom this issue is important, the question has much more to do with injustice.

The story, although significant in its own historical terms and in the context of understanding Islamic history, has taken on a life of its own-- a living, breathing story that is every day infused with new meaning. It functions as an archetype of the injustice and oppression that takes place on a daily basis throughout the world, and in particular, the suffering that takes place at the hands of tyrants who use religion to prop up their tyranny. And every day, and in every place, the events of Kerbala are reinterpreted to exemplify current struggles.

For many, particularly the Alevi of Turkey and the Ahl-e Haqq of Iran and Iraq, the story of Kerbala is a warning against the grave injustices that are committed by so-called "religious" states or other authorities that marginalize, deny the rights of, and sometimes outright kill members of religious minorities.

In Iran at exactly this time last year-- and that symbolism was not accidental-- Iranians took to the streets with the image of Kerbala in their minds, and the name of Hz. Imam Huseyin on their lips. In Iran today, apparently, Yezid can even take the form of Shi'i religious authorities.

So, it's always being reinterpreted for the current moment... where is Kerbala today? Who are the martyrs of today's Ashura?
And they still exist. Many, many, on a metaphorical level, and of all faiths. And, sadly, there are many this very week in who were literally killed in the actual city of Kerbala, Iraq for their religious beliefs as they went to pay their respects with their families at the shrine of Hz. Imam Huseyin.

And it's not only a question of Sunni or Shi'a. Many Sunni, particularly Sufis, commemorate these events every years, seeing in that story the example of courageousness and principle against forces of aggression who twisted religions to fit their own quest for personal power. This is a universal struggle, and the martyrs of today's ongoing Ashura live in Kerbalas throughout the world. Some are Sunni. Some are Shi'i. Some are Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan or Atheist-- but they are living the principle of Imam Huseyin and his companions. No matter what your faith, this tragic story can be an example-- as it was for Mohandas Ghandi.

Because it's not just a story of an Islamic succession crisis of the early Caliphate. It's the story of humanity.

This is Kerbela, and today is Ashura.

And the many attacks on Shi'i pilgrims in Iraq over the last week and the arson of the Harabati Tekke (an important Bektashi center in Macedonia) by fundamentalists a few days ago, as well as several arson attacks on Alevi Cemevis in Turkey over the last couple of months are ample evidence of this. The struggles of other religious minorities in the Middle East tell this story. The struggles of women in Afghanistan tell this story. The struggle of Tibetans to reclaim their culture and their homeland is also telling this story. Anyone who is struggling for their rights against entrenched power--especially a violent form of power that pretends to represent religious authority-- is living the story of Kerbela. It's everyone's story. And it could even be your story-- no matter what your religion or lack thereof or what part of the globe you may happen to live in. It's not about religion. It's not about culture. It's about the everyday struggles of humanity for the best of their principles against those who would deny them for personal gain.

And that's here. And it's now.

Muharrem

The following is the text of Sherif Baba's comments about the holy month of Muharrem that appeared in the April 1998 edition of The Flashlight (Vol. 1. No. 3).
___________________________________________________________________________________

In the world of Islam, Muharrem is the month that begins the new year. As this month has many peculiarities, it has great value as a time of the start of transitions. It is for this reason that this month was chosen as the first month. Here I am going to tell you briefly some of its peculiarities. This knowledge has been given by Hazreti Muhammad through the Hadisi Sherif, teaching which open up verses of the Qur'an. 

According to chronological order, in this month Hz Adem (Adam) announced for the first time that he is the halife, representative, and prophet. Hazreti Nuh (Noah) was saved from the flood; he and his people disembarked from the boat onto land and made the sweet soup called ashure, said prayers and began a new life. Third, the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) was saved from Nimrud's fire. Fourth, the prophet Ismail (Ishmael) received the ram sent by Allah to be sacrificed in his stead. Fifth, the Prophet Eyyub (Job) found healing after his period of illness. Sixth, the Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) was taken out of the dungeons and made ruler of Egypt. Seventh, the Prophet Yunus (Jonah) was taken out of the stomach of the fish. Eighth, the Prophet Musa, Moses, achieved freedom from the Pharoah's oppression.  Ninth, the Prophet Isa (Jesus) stepped on the sirra kadem, the living and eternal endless state, and retired to the fourth level of the heavens. 

In the world of Islam, Hz. Muhammad's hijret, migration, from Mecca to Medina was also in this month.  The coming together of so many holy events caused Resulu Ekrem, the Prophet of Perfection, because of the value that he gave it, to count this month as the beginning of the new year. For this reason, Hz. Muhammad fasted in the month of Muharrem and did not shave or cut his hair. 

Also in the month of Muharrem, Jenabi Resulu Ekrem's grandson Hz. Imam Huseyin, at the place called Kerbela, from the first of Muharrem through the tenth, was under siege by the armies of the damned Yezid who did not even allow them water. On the tenth of Muharrem, after Imam Huseyin and his family and friends who were with him were tortured, they were martyred and their blessed heads were chopped off.  This is a day of mourning.  These events that are known to have happened in this way in the month of Muharrem are being told because those who are the friends of the Ehli Beyt, the family of the Prophet Muhammad, and those who follow the road of the Prophet need to know. 

As you know, those who follow this road, because they are working to save humanity from the darkness of oppression and bring them into Divine Nur, Light, take their share and caution from such events and reflect like a light from the living of Hak, of Truth, and the allowing of Hak to live as a system for humanity.  If warning can be taken and lived frmo the examples of history and past events, then mistakes and defiance won't bring on darkness.  Maybe there will be a warning for future days.  Because they are viewed from this perspective, these histories have been established and made known to people through the Divine Books.  
--Sherif Baba

Hz. Imam Huseyin

a telling of the events of Kerbala...

This is a very good film in English about what happened to the family of the Prophet and their companions at Kerbala...
this is part one of seven. Click on the links to continue the film.
This is such an important story, not just for Shia to know about. Not even just for Muslims.
This is the universal story of human beings who bravely suffer against oppression and injustice.

                                               Sherif Baba

Huuu...

Hz. Pir Ahmet el-Kebir ul-Rifa'i

Hz. Idries Shah-- Dreamwalkers

Above is a beautiful Orientalist painting of Qadiri dervishes...


Below is the first of a series of 10 videos from the Idries Shah film Dreamwalkers.  If you follow the links, you will find the rest of the film. With connections to both Naqshbandi Sufism and also to Gurdjieff, Idries Shah was a fascinating and provocative figure.



The following is a set of Questions and Answers with Hz. Idries Shah.

Peter Kingsley

I've been finding this fellow's work quite interesting.  Peter Kingsley, as some of you know, has written several very interesting books about ancient Greek spirituality and its meaning in today's world, particularly in the West.  Selma and I have been visiting his gatherings in Asheville and have found his work very helpful. His most recent book, A Story Waiting to Pierce You, concentrates particularly on the links between Central Asian shamanist traditions and the dawn of Western civilization.

Interview with Hz. Idries Shah

The grave of brilliant and unconventional Sufi teacher Idries Shah.  I've loved his work for many years, and I'll post film of him in the next few days, insh'Allah.
Please click on the following interview-- you won't regret it.

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/sufi/sufi-shah.html

I'd like to add more on this site of words, ideas, stories, etc. So if anyone has found interesting links related to Sufism or has personal stories about Sherif Baba, Burhan Efendi, or anything else to suggest, I would love to post them.
Ashk ve Selam....
Hu