HE WHO WALKS WILL REACH HIS GOAL

Allah comes to those who call on Allah.
The Devil answers those who knock on the Devil’s door.
Asadula Ali

On the morning of October 19, 2002, mosque imam Absar Hadji al Daghestani and I flew from Moscow to Istanbul. The Almighty being willing, we intended to fly on the same day from Istanbul to Gechitkal in Cyprus, and then travel on to Lefko, where Sheikh Muhammad Nazim Kiprusi lives.

And our journey unfolded as planned. In Gechitkal, we had no trouble making the taxi driver understand that we wanted to go and see Sheikh Nazim.

From that moment, we were aware of the constant patronage, protection, and invisible presence of Sheikh Nazim.

We arrived in Lefko late in the evening. We did not know if the sheikh was at home. But some inner confidence assured us that our journey in the name of Allah was not in vain. Since we arrived at night and did not want to disturb the sheikh at such a late hour, we checked into a hotel.

After saying namaz (prayer), we fell into a blessed childlike sleep. I had a dream: “Absar Hadji and I came to the sheikh’s house. The house was located on a hill and there were no other houses or buildings nearby, only a small neon sign with Arabic letters. I do not know Arabic, but I felt that the letters spelled out one of Allah’s names. I saw a wooden door, and it was closed. I do not remember how we entered, but suddenly we were in a room filled with bookshelves. This was apparently the sheikh’s library. Imam Absar Hadji was holding a beautiful book. Then he began taking other beautiful books down from the shelves and leafing through them to find some particular passages.

When I woke up in the morning, I told my travel companion about my dream and drew in the air one of the letters I had seen on the cover of the book.

Absar Hadji fell into thought but did not say anything.

Before midday namaz (prayer-time), a taxi driver took us to the sheikh.

There was a courtyard with tables where the sheikh’s guests could partake of food and drink, a large prayer room where namaz was performed, and a separate room, an office, where the sheikh received his visitors. Everything was simple and welcoming.

There were a lot of people in the courtyard. It struck us that these people had come from all over the world. Anyone can come here, regardless of race, nationality, or religion.

The sheikh receives one and all. The sheikh’s barakat (benevolence) is bestowed on everyone who truly desires it. All one has to do is wish it and come to see him.

The sheikh is like a beacon in the ocean by which ships set their course. The sheikh is the guiding light of every soul, raising a mortal being to immortality. The sheikh can read the sacred script on the stone tablets of nature and has the prophetic gift of seeing the world that ordinary eyes are not wont to.

Sheikh Nazim with his
son-in-law, Sheikh Hisham Kabbani,
and his brother, Sheikh Adnan Kabbani

Sheikh Nazim with
the Sultan of Brunei (left) and
the Prince of Malaysia Raja Ashman

When we came to see the sheikh, we understood that Allah was bestowing on us his kindness.

We had come at a time when a large assembly (festival) of sheikhs from all over the world was taking place. They had come to spend the Baraat (the Blessed Night) in ibadat (worship) with the murshid (teacher) Sheikh Muhammad Nazim Kiprusi. Baraat means impartiality, complete segregation; on this night, people who have committed bad deeds are completely segregated (expelled) from Paradise, and people who have committed good deeds are segregated from Hell.

Sheikh Nasim in the Malaysian Royal Palace with the grown prince, his brother, HRH Raja Ashman, and Sheikh Nasim's caliph, Sheikh Hisham

There were guests from America, France, England, India, Pakistan, and Germany; the Honorable Attendance was too numerous to count. The atmosphere of mutual respect and kindness that filled the air enchanted and captivated the spirit. We were surrounded by a host of benevolent faces and compassion-filled eyes, expressing empathy and brotherly love. I understood these people very well, although I did not know the languages they spoke. I pondered over what had brought so many people from such different walks of life together. Why did I feel as though I had known these people for a whole eternity? Why did my soul fill with an extraordinary, celestial love for everything I saw and heard?

A tall young man particularly drew my attention. He was preparing food for everyone, but it was clear that this person had achieved the peak of knowledge and spirituality. He offered us tea. As we drank the tea, I noticed a banknote of high denomination lying on the floor. I pointed it out to Absar Hadji, and he in turn drew the tall young man’s attention to it. The latter picked up the banknote, tore it into small pieces and threw them into the rubbish bin. As he did so, he said something in English. Absar Hadji confirmed my thoughts by explaining that there were other things of value present in this place that could not be bought for all the money in the world and that the young man had said the same thing. Later we found out he was a sheikh who had come from the U.S.A.

Sheikh Nazim

While I was thinking about what happened, the time arrived for midday namaz. The azan, the call to prayer, the call to salvation, sounded over Lefko. Everyone headed for the prayer room where the sunat-namaz was performed. Then a whistle was heard Sheikh Muhammad Nazim Kiprusi, enlightened by knowledge and wisdom, who was an associate of the enlightened souls living on earth, as well as of those who had passed on to the other side of life, entwined in the golden sinsila (chain) of the Murshids and the Prophet and so invested with the ability to accept the light that runs through this current and is passed on by the Teachers’ chain, long may Allah let him live. He walked, leaning on a cane, but he was also held reverently under the arm, due to his venerable age – the sheikh is over 90. But his eyes were as bright as a child’s and filled with love and kindness.

After the midday namaz, which the sheikh led, I, following imam Absar Hadji’s example, paid homage to the sheikh by clasping his hand. We were invited to sit next to the sheikh, and we sat down at the Most Honorable’s right hand.

Then the sheikh gave a sermon in Turkish and English, which many filmed on video. After the sermon, finding the right moment, Absar Hadji presented the sheikh with a beautifully designed, gold embossed Koran from his Russian admirers. The sheikh stood up, reverently kissed the Koran, and then said that in some editions of the Koran he finds what he considers impermissible omissions of one letter, “la,” due to which three ayats are reduced to one. After checking through the Koran we had given him, and to the overall joy of the Honorable Attendance, this letter was found. Then the sheikh kissed the Koran again with reverence and love.

When the sheikh retired to his office, Absar Hadji and I were invited to join him.

Sheikh Nazim with Absar Hadji al Dagestany (left) and Asadula-Ali

The sheikh inquired extensively about our journey and where we were staying. When he found out we were staying in a hotel he said that it was not acceptable for his guests to stay in hotels and asked to see the taxi driver who had brought us.

It turned out that the taxi driver was from another town and had already left, for which we were genuinely glad.

After this, the sheikh talked in Arabic to Absar Hadji. He asked about the people he knew. When he found out that I was an Avar, the sheikh began talking to me in Avar. He told me about how he had studied with a murshid for almost 30 years who was from the Avarian village of Kikuni. Then he showed us the image of the golden chain (sinsila) of the sheikhs, ascending to the Prophet Mohammad, may Allah bless and greet him, and a photograph of his murshid with Sheikh Muhammad Nazim Kiprusi by his side.

When we told the sheikh about our wish to build a temple on the Moon to the glory of the Almighty, One God of everyone on earth, the sheikh blessed our intentions. He ended our meeting with a dua (call, supplicatory prayer, request) to ask that our wish be fulfilled.

Absar Hadji and I bid the sheikh a reverent farewell. In the courtyard we also said good-bye to the others, with whom we felt a deep inner kinship.

When we said good-bye to the young guest from America, he kissed my hand. This took me by utter surprise. Imam Absar Hadji al Daghestani later answered my question: “Who can tell. The things sheikhs do cannot always be logically understood by the ordinary mind… Time will pass, and at the right moment, we will know what he wanted to convey with that gesture.”

The taxi driver, summoned in advance on the sheikh’s instructions, went out of his way to show us all the interesting places in the environs of Lefko, and brought us back to the sheikh’s house in time for evening namaz, explaining that he could not take us to the airport without the sheikh’s permission, no matter how much of a rush we were in.

The sheikh received us again. And we even had our photograph taken with him. After that, we were given telephone numbers and E-mail, in case any questions should arise and we wanted to consult with the sheikh.

Sheikh Muhammad Nazim Kiprusi also led the evening namaz, long may Allah let him live. The Yasin was read three times. After each, the sheikh made a dua. In truth, only Allah the Omniscient knows where we gain and where we lose. The Creator bestowed his kindness on us. Absar Hadji and I had received a great blessing and barakat.

Not until we had eaten supper together did Sheikh Muhammad Nazim Kiprusi bless us on our long journey, and asked the taxi driver to call him after he had escorted us to the airport.

The sheikh was very kind and attentive toward us. I took his bright image, which had primed my soul, away with me in my heart. Allah is great, who raised the crown of his creation – MAN – to the heights of earthly grandeur.

Asadula-Ali
October 23,2002.