Hu, Erenler! Sorry I haven't posted in a little while. It is so nice to see that some people are actually reading this, and to my great happiness, they are all over the world. Alhamdullillah. So thank you so much for your comments. Cok tessekur ederim! Shukran jazilan! Jazakallah khayr.
so, onto the posting for today.
This is the turbe of Ummi Sinan in Turkey:
The Sinani are a branch of the Halveti tarikat, founded by one of Sherif Baba's favorite saints, Ummi Sinan. As many of you know, the current guide of that order is a woman. I have not, so far, been lucky enough to travel to the Ummi Sinan tekke, but I've heard stories of wonderful experiences from people who went there with Baba. I'd love to hear anything like that. So if anyone has nice stories about Baba, please feel free to post them in comments.
Here's a nice video of a Kadiri dhikr-- you can see several different styles in it:
for those of you who have never attended a dhikr before, I would like to just mention that though some of the practices may appear a little odd from the outside, much of the physical action involved has to to with breath control. It is in this way somewhat similar to some techniques in certain styles of yoga. The more important element, however, is certainly the repetition of the Names themselves. Sufis of various orders have many different styles of doing this, individually and collectively. In addition to these kinds of group ritual dhikr, most Sufis also recite the Names silently throughout the day. ________________________________________________________________________________ Here is some of a small Rifa'i dhikr somewhere--- you can't really see anyone but the main singer, but these are nice salawats (praises of the Prophet, p.b.u.h).
Hu, Dost! This is my way of saying thank you for all of the gifts that my teacher, Sherif Baba, has given all of us.
I love the Ahl-ul Beyt, but I am not Shi'a, at least not in the usual sense. I love the Alevi way, but I am a mainstream practicing Muslim (or, at least, trying to be one). I love Mevlana, but I'm not a Mevlevi. I love some teachers who may or may not be very shari'ah adherent, but can open hearts. Several that I love most are practicing Muslims, but not all of their students are. I've even seen one or two Salafis who are dripping with the Nur of Allah. As a Bektashi Baba once said, if we find something useful, we embrace it. I'm a liberal, but practicing Muslim, and I believe that anyone who is showing us Compassion and Mercy is showing us the way of Islam.
May we all become beautiful human beings, insha'Allah! ;)
This is really putting up some things I put together for myself about my shaykh and our path-- a friend suggested that it might be helpful for some other people as well. I thought while I was at it, I might as well add some music links along the way. Because this began for my own personal use, I have no idea where some of these pictures and quotes came from, so I apologize for putting them up without citation. I make no claim that all of this is my own. I'm simply trying to share a beautiful vision of God and humanity that I have learned about from Sherif Baba and also some inspirations from the Alevi/Bektashi tradition of Turkey, with whom Rifa'i Marufi shares many principles. Let me make it clear that I am not myself a Bektashi, though I love their path. My connection is to the Rifa'i. I hope you enjoy this offering and that these things will inspire you as much as they have inspired me.