Grand Mufti of Cyprus
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In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful. Peace and Salutations be upon His Messenger
His full name is Muhammad Nazim 'Adil ibn al-Sayyid Ahmad ibn Hasan Yashil Bash al-Haqqani al-Qubrusi al-Hanafi, may Allah sanctify his soul and preserve his secret. His kunya is Abu Muhammad - after his oldest son - and he is also the father of Baha' al-Din, Naziha, and Ruqayya.
He is the Grand Mufti of Turkish Cyprus. He was born in 1341 (1922) in the city of Larnaca, Cyprus (Qubrus) to a family of Arab origin with Tatar roots. His father descended from the Cardinal Saint of Islam, Sultan al Awliya Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani; who declared “My foot is on the necks of all Saints”. His mother descends from Mawlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi.
He grew up in Cyprus, as a top student in all of his classes and he also showed great signs of Wiliyat throughout his youth. As a youth, he was initiated and trained in both the Qadri and Mevlavi Paths. He excelled in both of these to the extent that elders would come to visit him and ask him to make istakharah for them regarding various matters concerning their personal lives.
His Educational Background
After finishing school in Cyprus, young Shaykh Nazim went to university in Istanbul and graduated in Chemical Engineering. While in Istanbul, he also studied Arabic and fiqh under Shaykh Jamal al-Din al-Alsuni (d. 1375/1955) and received ijaza from him. He also took initiation into the Naqshbandi Tariqa from Shaykh Sulayman Arzarumi (d. 1368/1948) who eventually sent him to Syria in search of the renowned Wali of the epoch, Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Daghestani, who held the secrets of the Naqshbandiyya.
Shaykh Nazim then left his homeland and headed towards the Middle East, where he sought the company of Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Daghestani. He spen five years looking for his Shaykh. During these intense five years, he continued his Shari'a studies in Halab (Aleppo), Hama, and Hims. He studied at the shrine and madrassah of Khalid ibn al-Walid (radi allahu anhu) in Hims under its great Ulema and obtained ijaza in Hanafi fiqh from Shaykh Muhammad 'Ali 'Uyun al-Sud and Shaykh 'Abd al-Jalil Murad, and ijaza in hadith from the Muhaddith Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Muhammad 'Ali 'Uyun al-Sud al-Hanafi.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Muhammad 'Ali 'Uyun al-Sud al-Hanafi is one of the ten great hadith teachers of the late Rifa'i Hafiz of Aleppo, Shaykh al-Islam 'Abd Allah Siraj al-Din (1924- 2002 CE) who met Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Daghestani in 1959 and gave bay'a to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim during the latter's last visit to him in Aleppo in 2001.
Shaykh Nazim also studied under Shaykh Sa'id al-Siba'i who sent him to Damascus after receiving a sign related to the coming of Mawlana Shaykh 'Abd Allah al-Daghistani to Syria. After his initial arrival in Syria from Daghistan in the late thirties, Mawlana Shaykh 'Abd Allah lived mostly in Damascus but often visited Aleppo and Hims. In the latter city he got to know Shaykh Sa'id al-Siba'i who was director of the Khalid ibn Walid madrassah. Shaykh Sa'id wrote to him, "We have a remarkable student from Turkey studying with us." Mawlana Shaykh 'Abd Allah replied to him, "That student belongs to us; send him over!" That student was Mawlana Shaykh Nazim who came to Damascus and gave his bay'a to Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Daghestani between 1941 and 1943.
According to the Ulema
The director of Dar al-Ifta' in Beirut, Lebanon, Shaykh Salah al-Din Fakhri wrote by hand: “On the morning of al-Ahad 20 Rabi' al-Akhir 1386 corresponding to Sunday 7 August, 1966, we were granted the privilege of visiting Shaykh 'Abd Allah al-Daghistani - Allah have mercy on him - in Mount Qasyun in Damascus on the initiative and in the company of Mawlana al-Shaykh Mukhtar al-'Alayli - Allah have mercy on him - the Mufti of the Republic of Lebanon at the time; Shaykh Husayn Khalid the imam of Nawqara Mosque; Hajj Khalid Bashir - may Allah have mercy on both of them; Shaykh Husayn Sa'biyya [the present director of Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyya in Damascus]; Shaykh Mahmud Sa'd; Shaykh Zakariyya Sha'r; and Hajj Mahmud Sha'r. The Shaykh received us most kindly, with a warm welcome full of happiness and mirth. This was in the presence of Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi - Allah save and keep him! We sat from nine o'clock in the morning until the zuhr call to prayer while the Shaykh - Allah have mercy on him - explained and spoke about Sham, its excellence, its extraordinary merits, and the fact that it is the site of the Resurrection and that Allah will gather all human beings in it for the final Reckoning. He mentioned things that moved our hearts and minds, imbued with the glorious spirit of the Salihiyya district, and he spoke about the indissoluble link - in practice as well as discourse - between tasawwuf and the Shari'a....”
Reverence From the Pious Ulema
There are many more prestigious names of the Ulema and Awliya' of Syria who loved and associated with both Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Daghestani and Shaykh Nazim Al Haqqani during the golden thirty-year period of their association such as Shaykh Muhammad Bahjat al-Baytar (1311-1396), Shaykh Sulayman Ghawji al-Albani (d. 1378) the father of Shaykh Wahbi, Shaykh Tawfiq al-Hibri, Shaykh Muhammad al-'Arabi al-'Azzuzi (1308-1382) the Mufti of Lebanon and principal Shaykh of Shaykh Husayn 'Usayran, al-'Arif Shaykh Shahid al-Halabi, al-'Arif Shaykh Rajab al-Ta'i, Shaykh al-Qurra' Shaykh Najib Khayyata al-Farazi al-Halabi, al-'Arif Shaykh Muhammad al-Nabhan, Shaykh Ahmad 'Izz al-Din al-Bayanuni, al-'Arif Shaykh Ahmad al-Harun (1315-1382), Shaykh Muhammad Zayn al-'Abidin al-Jadhba, and others - Allah have mercy on all of them!
Thus has it been noted that in every encounter with the Awliya' and righteous Ulema of this Ummah, they invariably show the highest respect and most fearsome humbleness to Mawlana and his silsila even when they are ostensibly on a different path such as al-Habib 'Ali al-'Aydarus in Malaysia; Sayyid Muhammad ibn 'Alawi al-Maliki in Makka; al-Habib 'Umar ibn Hafiz of Tarim; Sayyid Yusuf al-Rifa'i of Kuwait; Shaykh 'Isa al-Himyari in Dubai; Sayyid 'Afif al-Din al-Jilani and Shaykh Bakr al- Samarra'i of Baghdad; al-Sharif Mustafa ibn al-Sayyid Ibrahim al-Basir in central Morocco; the Grandmufti of Syria Shaykh Ahmad Kuftaro ibn Mawlana al-Shaykh Amin and his friends Shaykh Bashir al-Bani, Shaykh Rajab Dib, and Shaykh Ramazan Dib; the Kattani Shuyukh of Damascus; the late Shaykh 'Abd Allah Siraj al-Din and his nephew Dr. Nur al-Din 'Itr; Mawlana al-Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghuri; Dr. Samer al- Nass; and more- may Allah have mercy on them! Each of the above-named Ulema all invoke tarazzi on Mawlana al-Shaykh Nazim, expressing belief in the loftiness of his wilaya and asking for his du'a. "And Allah suffices as Witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" (48:28-29).
His Seclusions
During his thirty years of intense training under Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Daghestani, Shaykh Nazim was placed in numerous seclusions. When he was only 33 years old, he was ordered into seclusion by Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Daghestani who told him, “I have received an order from the Prophet for you to make seclusion in the mosque of Shaykh 'Abd al Qadir Jilani in Baghdad. You go there and make seclusion for six months.”
About this same seclusion Shaykh Nazim himself states, "I only emerged from my room for the five prayers. Other than that I spent my whole time in that room. I was able to reach such a state that I was reciting the whole Qur'an in nine hours. In addition to that I was reciting 124,000 times the Dhikr 'Laa ilaha ill-Allah' and 124,000 prayers on the Prophet (salawat) and I was reading the entire Dalail al-Khayrat [book of devotions]. Added to that I was regularly reciting 313,000 'Allah Allah' every day, in addition to all the prayers that were assigned to me. Vision after vision was appearing to me every day. They used to take me from one state to another and give me a state of complete Annihilation in the Divine Presence."
Inheritor of the Masters
Before his passing from this temporary abode, Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Daghestani made a will and appointed Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani as his Caliph and Sucessor. He granted to him his office and the secrets of the Naqshbandi Tariqa. He ordered that Shaykh Nazim’s name be included in the Silsila of the Naqshbandi Tariqat and that people take Shaykh Nazim as their Murshid in his place, who would now connect them to the Naqshbandi Masters. Since then, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim in addition to his travels towards the East, he began frequenting the West regularly, conveying to Europeans and Americans the spiritual and peaceful message of Islam and its mystical teaching as taught by the Naqshbandi Masters.
Mashallah, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Al Haqqani is currently over eighty four years old and resides in Cyprus, where he dedicated his entire life to Defending Truth and constant ascetic worship of his Lord. His spirituality has attracted hundreds of thousands of Seekers to the Path from all walks of life and from all over the world, including internationally acclaimed musicians, artists, businessmen and even Monarchs and Heads of States such as the Sultans of Malaysia and the Sultans of the UAE. His miracles (Karamah) are countless, from literally disappearing into thin air and later reappearing while in presence of numerous witnesses to appearing countless times in dreams and visions with the Messenger of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to guide his Murids to their heavenly destinations. Mawlana’s efforts to spread Islam in the West have resulted in more than 100,000 persons having taken the Naqshbandi Order through him both directly and indirectly and more than 10,000 people having embraced Islam through him. As such, it is our prayer that Allah Most Majestic protects him and keeps him healthy and grants him a long life so more from humanity may benefit from the barakah of his presence and breaths. Ameen.
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*Mawlana’s Islamic educational background adapted with slight editing from: ‘A Glimpse at Our Beloved Mawlana Shaykh Nazim's Life and Teachings’ by Dr. G.F HaddadStatistik: Postat av b — ons okt 22, 2014 4:55
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