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People in Pakistan may be surprised to learn that a large
number of Americans in all of the fifty states attend Sufi
gatherings and take part in zikr even though some of
them may yet be non Muslims. Their lives are full of
material comforts America has to offer but these people feel
emptiness from within. They come searching for answers.
I had been looking for Sufi groups for quite sometime while
residing in the US. So one day, I found a contact of a Sufi
Order in my locality. I called up the given number and a
Malaysian lady picked up, she introduced herself as sister
Noora. I mentioned to her that I wished to come to one of
their meetings. She was apparently delighted and informed me
of the next meeting taking place at her house:
“One of our sheikhs is coming over next week, why don’t you
come then”?
I thanked her for this gracious invitation and accepted.
Here was a chance to meet the newly converted Muslim
followers of Sufism as well as born Muslims who were
following the traditional Sufi path; I wasn’t going to miss
this for all the tea in China.
On the agreed date, on a freezing cold evening, I bundled
myself up and went to sister Noora’s house. I was greeted
with great warmth by her and her daughter. She made me sit
in her kitchen facing a window; outside of which I could see
the earth covered with snow. Her guests began to arrive one
by one. We all sat and had a hearty chat as if we knew one
another for donkey’s years. She was busy making dinner
arrangements. The menu consisted of entirely Malay food;
delicious yet non spicy. This was in keeping with my own
traditions as I being a Sindhi prefer non spicy food. So to
make small talk I pointed to a platter full of what seemed
like Chinese dumplings and asked:
“What are those”?
“Cream puffs”, came her prompt reply. They were the Malay
equivalent of samosas.
Sister Noora was quite taken by the fact that I had chosen
to come, she repeatedly told me how thrilled she was that I
had chosen to attend a zikr session of her Order. I
briefly explained to her that my whole land is connected
with Sufism and I have a natural affinity to people with
mystic inclinations. She informed me of the program for the
evening: They were going to do zikr for a while and
eat dinner afterwards.
Our conversation came to an abrupt end when the Limo bearing
the sheikh pulled up at her gate. I was a little bit
surprised at the apparent display of luxury by a holy man
but gathered that it was most probably rented by his
followers; as a mark of respect.
Earlier, sister Noora had told me a little bit about this
Sheikh and had shown me pictures of her Grand
Sheikh residing in Turkish Cyprus. The door of the black
Mercedes Limo opens and a person with a grand looking white
turban, long robe, sporting a long beard appears. The Order
members were in full attendance, they belonged to all
nationalities, Chinese, Malaysians, Pakistanis, white
American reverts, Arabs and African Americans and some non
Muslim Americans who had come to learn and partake in this
blessed event.
The zikr session started with the chant of certain
attributes of Allah which were part of the recitation
rituals of this Sufi Order. I took part in them; naturally.
After the zikr, the learned sheikh gave a little
talk. I sat with the regular followers of the sheikh and
some non Muslim white Americans who had come to hear him
speak.
When the Sheikh began to speak there was no way I could
have guessed that this person was an American revert! His
appearance, attire and mannerism were that of a typical
eastern holy man. I have come across a lot of reverts in
the West (people who have accepted Islam from other
religions) but something about them always betrays their non
Muslim past. I don’t mean this in a derogatory way; its just
it takes a long time to learn a new way of life.
The learned Sheikh told us; children of born Muslims; how
lucky we were that Allah had raised us with the religion of
truth, many a folk come to Islam after searching for years
in the wilderness so to speak. He told us that he was born a
Jew and his former scriptures call on their followers to
carry out an act of kindness to a certain number of
individuals everyday upon waking up. This teaching has gone
out of the window as they are hell bent on killing Muslims!
He then began telling us the story of him reverting to
Islam. His life had been that of a typical non Muslim
American. One day he was called to Islam in the most unusual
of places. He didn’t say what kind of a place due to decorum
of an Islamic gathering but the narration of him accepting
Islam below is self- explanatory. He said:
It happened when I was singing on a stage with guitar in my
hand. A man got up from the audience in a state of complete
drunkenness and pointed to me as said:
“Play Play”
As I began playing some more, I sensed that the man in front
of me was sober, he was not drunk at all! I also felt as if
there was no audience and I was all alone. At this moment my
whole life changed. I was no longer interested in singing or
in my former religion or life style. I accepted Islam at the
hands of the Sufi Sheikh (who had in fact visited me in the
form of that ‘drunken man’) and began traveling to the lands
inhabited by the Sufis of old, including Samarkand and
Bukhara. There I met learned scholars who were in possession
of the first compiled Qur’an with the holy blood of Hadrat
Usman (R.A.) still on it. I gained knowledge from them and I
also got to see the magic carpets in those ancient lands.
Upon hearing this, it became clear why I he didn’t seem
Western. He had traveled far and wide and met the people. He
had been in Seclusion (they sit and recite certain
attributes of Allah for 40 days with a diet of lentil soup
and bread and taking breaks during prayer times only) under
the tutelage of the Grand Sheikh himself.
After dinner, I moved over into the kitchen and poured
myself a cup of coffee from the coffee machine on the
counter as if I was in my own home. There I met a revert
White American sister who was concerned about American
aggression against Muslims. Our conversation went back and
forth from Sufism to the current situation faced by Muslims.
As the evening drew to a close, I thanked sister Noora for
the invitation before leaving (in keeping with the Western
tradition) and left thinking: as long there are such people
in the world, any evil will always be kept in check; God
willing!
Uploaded on 20th September, 2008 on
www.mehranmag.com |
