Chapter (19) Appointing the Next Shaikh

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Shaikh Nahro visits his father Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān at his residence in Virginia, USA, on the first day of Eid Al-Adha (11 August 2019).

The Kasnazānī person must have zeal, gallantry. Bravery is one of the attributes of the Messenger. A person who is not brave is not Kasnazānī, because a Kasnazānī person has to apply and have the attributes of the Messenger (PBUH). These are the attributes of the Messenger (PBUH), as well as trustworthiness, truthfulness, and bravery, as you must have heard. You have to have all those attributes. The Kasnazānī person has the attributes of the Messenger (PBUH).

Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān (Sermon, 1 July 1990)

As mentioned in Chapters seven and eight, the Shaikh of Ṭarīqa must name his successor before his death. Selecting someone for the Shaikhdom of Ṭarīqa is a spiritual decision, not a reasoning exercise, so the present Shaikh cannot leave it for people after him to decide. Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad followed this tradition by naming his eldest son, Nahro, as his successor.

Shaikh Nahro visits his father Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān at his residence in Virginia, USA, on the first day of Eid Al-Adha (11 August 2019).

Our Shaikh knew the identity of his successor long before announcing it publicly. For example, one morning in late 1981 or early 1982, when Shaikh Nahro was around twelve years old, our Shaikh was having breakfast with his brother-in-law, Shaikh Sāmān. He was filled with joy as he shared with him a dream he had the night before. He saw Sultan Ḥusayn al-Kasnazān take someone off a chair and put Shaikh Nahro in his place. The chair here refers to the position of Shaikhdom. This visionary dream illustrates that the Shaikhs of Ṭarīqa chose Shaikh Nahro as our Shaikh’s successor as early as a few years after Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad assumed the Shaikhdom.

Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān with his then General Deputy and later Shaikh of the Ṭarīqa, Shaikh Nahro, at the Amman takya, Jordan, on the night of the Prophet’s birthday according to the solar calendar (1 May 2017).

From the end of the 1990s, our Shaikh indicated from time to time that Shaikh Nahro was his Deputy and has treated him with distinction. In 2005, he called a large number of caliphs and dervishes for a meeting in the central takya in Sulaymāniyya. In that meeting, named the “Meeting of the Lovers”, our Shaikh said about “caliph Nahro”, “Allah willing, he is the future Shaikh; your Shaikh, your brother, your servant, and the Ṭarīqa’s servant”.[1]

Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān in a praise session at the Amman takya, Jordan (2 May 2018).

The official public announcement of appointing Shaikh Nahro to the deputyship of the Shaikhdom of Ṭarīqa Kasnazāniyya was made in 2006 in the central takya. In a sermon to hundreds of caliphs and dervishes called the “Address of the Pledge”, our Master said the following:

The Shaikh has a General Deputy, and caliphs are deputies among you. However, the General Deputy is Shaikh Nahro. Any instruction from Shaikh Nahro is an instruction from the Shaikh. He is the Shaikh’s eldest son and deputy. No one besides Nahro represents Ṭarīqa after Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad. He is the one who represents Ṭarīqa after the Shaikh. Be mindful of this. He is your little brother, but he is also the Shaikh’s deputy. When the Shaikh is present, he is a small dervish in your midst, but when the Shaikh is absent, he is the Shaikh’s deputy. Protect yourselves from anyone who wants to deceive you in the name of Ṭarīqa, in the Shaikh’s name, or in the Kasnazāniyya name. Be ready and see what your little brother Shaikh Nahro needs from you. Help him, Allah willing, because he is my successor, the Shaikh after me. As of now, no one represents me other than Nahro, because he is the Shaikh’s General Deputy. His instructions are the Shaikh’s instructions, so it is obligatory to obey him. Allah willing, all he wants is what is best for you. He works for your best interests, and he is sincere with you, sincere with your Ṭarīqa.

The Shaikhs do not designate an unqualified person to preside as Shaikh. The Shaikh does not choose by himself but, it is rather, they—from the Messenger (PBUH) to sayyid ʿAbd al-Karīm—who choose. They are the ones who appoint the Shaikh’s General Deputy. The Shaikh needs deputies. After Shaikh Nahro comes the caliphs, who are the Ṭarīqa’s deputies. Shaikh Nahro does not command you to do wrong. He commands you to do good. He commands you to do what is right and forbids you from doing what is wrong. Obeying Shaikh Nahro derives from obeying the Shaikh, and obeying the Shaikh derives from obeying the Messenger (PBUH), “Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you” (al-Nisāʾ 5:59).

You must not follow any words besides those of the trustworthy caliphs who have taken these words from the Shaikh or Shaikh Nahro. There may be someone who comes and claims that he was told such and such a thing in a vision. You must not rely on him. There is the Shaikh and there are the caliphs. The present is not like the past. Wherever you are, you can inquire about any matter from the Shaikh’s office or from Shaikh Nahro, as he represents Ṭarīqa after the Shaikh. Protect yourselves from hypocrites who claim that Shaikh Nahro is one thing and the Shaikh is another. This is not true. Shaikh Nahro is my heart; he is my liver. He is your servant and a servant of your Ṭarīqa.[2]

Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān in his private room at the Amman takya, Jordan, practising his favourite hobby, reading (19 April 2012).

Our Shaikh continued to remind people of Shaikh Nahro’s succession now and then, as in this sermon in 2012 in Amman:

I would like you to be dear brothers for Shaikh Nahro because Nahro represents me after I am gone. He is your Shaikh, the future Shaikh, he is your brother. Keeping to Nahro means keeping to the Shaikhs. He was chosen from his childhood. A righteous person once told me that one night he saw Sultan Ḥusayn had put his tongue in Nahro’s mouth.

A few days ago, I saw some people trying so hard to take Nahro out of the chain (of Shaikhs) but, by Allah, they could not do that. He stayed in the chain of Ṭarīqa. They could not remove him from the chain. Allah willing, this is no lie, it is the truth. I must tell the dervishes only what is true. They (the Shaikhs) are people of the truth. Speaking the truth to dervishes is obligatory on the Shaikh. He must not cancel from the seeker something that draws him near to Allah, something that is beneficial to the seeker.[3]

Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān at the end of the Prophet’s birthday celebration in the Amman takya, Jordan (15 April 2018).

He had immense love for Shaikh Nahro and showed exceptional care for him because he was destined to carry the Ṭarīqa’s responsibilities after him. Our Shaikh had a special place in Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm’s heart, and so Shaikh Nahro had a unique status with our Shaikh. As a testimony for history, I witnessed our Shaikh’s love for Shaikh Nahro only exceeded by his love for the Prophet Muḥammad (PBUH). In my last two visits to him, in August and October 2019 in Virginia, he looked to have increasingly more love for Shaikh Nahro and more attachment to him. It seems this was because his departure, hence Shaikh Nahro’s succession, was imminent, as our Shaikh left this world early in July 2020.

Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān in a praise session at the Amman takya, Jordan (19 September 2019).

[1] Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān, sermon, 22 December 2005.

[2] Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān, sermon, 2006. The video recording of the sermon shows the date 14 November 2008, but this is its production date.

[3] Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān, sermon, possibly September 2012.

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