Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān in his private room at the Amman takya, Jordan, practicing his favourite hobby, reading (19 April 2012).
The seeker wants and Allah (high and exalted is He), the Messenger, and the Shaikhs want from the seeker. They want him to apply the Muḥammadan Sharia, then apply the states, sayings, and actions of the Messenger to himself. If the person would not act in his own interest, how can he act in the interest of others? The seeker must apply Ṭarīqa to himself first, then to his spouse, family, and children. If he can, he may try to apply Ṭarīqa to others, including friends, relatives, and acquaintances. He should talk to them about enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil.
Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān (Sermon, 5 December 2012)
Outside of his formal religious and academic studies, our Shaikh never stopped educating himself. For instance, after being forced to leave Karbchna with his father at the beginning of 1959, he studied Farsi in 1959-1960 in Penjwin under Qāḍī Raḥīm, the Qāḍī of Mahābād in Iran and a caliph of Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm. His interest in learning Farsi was due to the great number of dervishes in Iran. He was an avid reader and would read as much as he could despite his limited free time. After retiring from politics in the second half of the 1960s, whenever he visited Baghdad, he would frequent the city’s bookstores daily looking for books of interest. He was interested in reading about religion, history, politics, and psychology; he had no interest in novels or poetry books.
The following is a karāma that demonstrates his effort to learn and develop his knowledge. In 1972, Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm gave caliph Yāsīn Ṣūfī fifteen dinars to buy a copy of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s renowned al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr (The Great Exegesis). He told him that the commentary consisted of sixteen parts. When the caliph returned to his city of residence in Ramādī, he asked at its two bookshops but they did not have the book. He went to one of Baghdad’s biggest bookstores but he did not find it there either. The store owner told him that it was unlikely that he would find it. When he asked for it in a small bookstore nearby, he found what he was looking for. The shopkeeper brought the book, but it turned out that it was written in eight volumes. Yāsīn said that he had been told that it would consist of sixteen parts, but the shopkeeper assured him that every volume contained two parts, so that was sixteen in total. The commentary was an old lithograph edition dating back eighty-three years. Caliph Yāsīn asked about the price, and the seller said that it was fifteen dinars—the exact amount Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm had given him! He agreed to purchase it on the condition that he could return it if it turned out not to be the same commentary that the person who sent him wanted. The commentary originally belonged to a deceased Sufi Shaikh whose family had asked the shopkeeper to sell it for them. He agreed to a ten-day return period after which he would give the money to the selling family.
When the caliph went into Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm’s assembly in Kirkuk carrying the commentary, the Shaikh stood out of reverence for the magnificent Qur’an and signalled to him to place the commentary on a table. The caliph explained that even though the eighty-three-year-old edition was in eight volumes, it consisted of sixteen parts. Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm leafed through the book, confirming that it was what he was looking for. Yāsīn was wondering why the Shaikh would need this specific commentary when Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm looked at him and said, “My son, I do not need this commentary. Kāka Muḥammad (meaning our Shaikh) has read twenty-two Qur’anic exegeses, which is something no one knows, including his wife and mother. I want him to read this one as well”.
Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān at his residence during his visit to London (middle of 2000).
Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad was interested in education and culture in general. After he retired from politics, his assembly in Kirkuk became a daily forum for scholars and intellectuals. Various religious and philosophical issues and books were discussed and debated. These discussions included critiquing anti-religious philosophies that were popular among intellectuals, such as atheism and materialism, and defending Islamic and Sufi thought. He would purchase various newly published books that he and his assembly would read and discuss.
This intellectual assembly continued after he became the Master of Ṭarīqa and moved to Baghdad, with prominent intellectuals, academics, writers, and artists frequenting it. These included sociologist ʿAlī al-Wardī, linguist Ḥusayn ʿAlī Maḥfūẓ, historian Ḥusayn Amīn, historian and archaeologist Sālim al-ʾĀlūsī, Sufi history and literature specialist Kāmil Muṣṭafā al-Shībī, archaeologist Bahnām Abū al-Ṣūf, astronomer Ḥamid Mijwil al-Niʿaymī, preacher of Sulaymāniyya and president of the Scholars of Northern Iraq Association Muḥammad al-Qaradāghī, and expert and reciter of the Iraqi maqam Hāshim al-Rajab. His daily assembly attracted great minds and hosted diverse and detailed discussions. ʿAbd Allah Sallūm al-Sāmurrāʾī, a prominent thinker of the then-ruling Ba’ath Party who frequented our Shaikh’s assembly, described it as a place where “one could breathe intellectually and be spiritually enriched”. At times, these intellectual assemblies lasted well past midnight, possibly as late as 2 a.m. Our Shaikh’s interest in all sciences reflected his immense respect for scientists.
Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān during one of his daily visits to the British Library in London, with his eldest son and General Deputy, Shaikh Nahro, on his right, and his assistant, Ḥājj Laṭīf, on his left (middle 2000).
After assuming the Shaikhdom, he continued reading and self-educating, focusing primarily on Sufi books. When he lived in Baghdad in 1982-2000, he visited the large bookshops in Bāb al-Sharqī nearly every day. He would familiarise himself with what they had on their shelves and check out new releases, picking up titles that interested him. On Fridays, he would visit al-Mutanabbī Street bookstores, where books from personal libraries were sold. It was possible to acquire rare and very old books this way. He would also check to see what mobile vendors were offering from the books they displayed on the ground.
After assuming the Shaikhdom, he added ancient Sufi manuscripts, including those that specialised in dhikrs and supplications, to the list of books he took interest in. From the early 1980s until he migrated from Baghdad in 2000, he would spend most of the morning, usually two to five hours, visiting libraries housing manuscripts and books on subjects that were of interest to him. These included the Iraqi House of Manuscripts, formerly Saddam’s House of Manuscripts, which contained more than 45,000 manuscripts; the al-Awqāf Library; and the al-Ḥaḍra al-Gaylāniyya Library. He did not limit his visits to the manuscript libraries in Baghdad, also visiting libraries in Mosul and Sulaymāniyya.
Even the deterioration of his eyesight and his need to use a magnifying glass did not diminish his interest in manuscripts and reading. For example, in April 2000, he had to wait for two weeks in Istanbul for the completion of his travel arrangements to London, where he would receive treatment for his eyes. Instead of resting his eyes and taking a break from reading, he would visit the famous Süleymaniye Library daily. The library contains more than 67,000 manuscripts. He would review certain manuscripts from the library’s four indexes. He would also visit the Atatürk Library in the same city. He kept this practice up during his five-month stay in London, from April to September 2000, during which time he underwent two eye operations. Almost every day, he would go to the British Library, which contains a large number of ancient Arabic manuscripts. I had the honour of accompanying him on those visits. He would choose specific manuscripts from the indexes and scan through them. When he found something of interest, he would mark the pages he wanted to photocopy, but he would sometimes ask for the entire manuscript to be photocopied.
These efforts contributed to his massive work Mawsūʿat al-Kasnazān, the only extensive Sufi encyclopaedia, which we discussed in §11.4. When he came to London, he had already compiled more than 5,000 entries, which is more than half of its contents. This unique encyclopaedia was completed and published less than five years after his return from Britain.
He also made multiple visits to the Library of Congress, Washington DC, as he travelled to the USA several times. He went there for medical examinations and treatment in 2003 and 2004, and in early August 2010, he underwent a kidney transplant there. He returned in 2014, 2016, and 2019 for periodic evaluations and treatment.
Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān visiting the Natural History Museum in London (middle 2000).
In the Shaikh’s last years, when he was living in Amman, his body could no longer stand walking through bookshops, so bookstore owners would send new arrivals in areas of interest to the takya. He would look them over and decide whether he would like to purchase or return them. The severe weakening of his eyesight made it difficult for him to read, except when the writing was very large. A personal assistant, which was usually his office manager, caliph Muḥammad al-Kātib, would read the index, and at times specific topics of our Shaikh’s choosing, of any new book so that he could choose whether to keep the book. Most days, he would ask his assistant to read for him topics from certain books. His deteriorating health in general, and his weakening eyesight in particular, did not affect his interest in reading books. Not a day would go by without him reading through some books.
One example that shows his interest in reading and manuscripts despite his poor health is that on his last trip to the USA, he visited the Library of Congress to review its Sufi and prayer manuscripts. This, which I think was his last visit to the Library, was on 13 August 2019. I was one of those who accompanied him. This visit took place over 19 years after his many visits to the British Library, most of which I was with him for. The two decades in between had exhausted him physically, but time had not weakened his determination and love for knowledge and work.
I, and at times caliph Majīd Ḥamīd, would read out the catalogue for him and he would identify any manuscript he was interested in. As we could not work through the entire catalogue in that visit, our Master wanted to revisit the Library. Caliph Majīd suggested that he and I would do that on his behalf, given his poor health, which he agreed to. No better indication of his determination and intention to continue to read regardless of the state of his health is that he asked for forty-five manuscripts to be photocopied! The tenth-century poet al-Mutanabbī was spot on when he described this sublime state as follows:
When souls are ambitious and demanding,
Their bodies tire in keeping up with their objectives.
In addition to reading books and manuscripts, our Shaikh was also interested in collecting them. His invaluable personal library contained numerous printed books and many Sufi, prayer, and dhikr manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts were very old and rare. It also contained photocopies of manuscripts.
Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān in a public library in Baghdad (1990s).
He would constantly stress the need to acquire knowledge and that it is a door to faith and approaching Allah. He also mentioned that knowledge is a form of power, citing the noble Prophetic ḥadīth, “A strong believer is better and more loved by Allah than a weak believer”.[1] Just as he respected, opened his assembly to, and praised the efforts of thinkers and intellectuals, he constantly reminded disciples of the necessity to acquire as much knowledge as possible:
We do not instruct the seeker to abandon knowledge, because it is through knowledge he worships his Lord. Knowledge makes the person understand the act of worship because knowledge is light, “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” (al-Zumar 39:9). We instruct the disciple to perform righteous deeds. We instruct the disciple to study, to read, to go to school, to learn, to become educated, and to worship. How beautiful it is when a seeker is well-educated![2]
He would reiterate the saying “knowledge is light”. He would urge disciples to seek as much education as possible and to obtain the highest academic degrees. He also allowed students to temporarily stop reading the Ṭarīqa’s dhikrs during exams, while continuing to perform the obligatory prayers, and to try to make up for what they missed once on holiday. Just as he encouraged disciples to acquire the highest academic qualifications, he urged his children to excel in their studies and to obtain at least a basic university degree. All of his sons completed their undergraduate studies and some completed postgraduate studies. His daughter graduated from a teachers’ college.
One manifestation of his support for education and his urging of disciples and people, in general, to obtain the greatest amount of it was his establishment in 2003 of a private university-level educational institution in Baghdad. It was first called “Shaikh Muḥammad al-Kasnazān University College” but was later renamed the “al-Salām University College”.
The university opened in 2004 with four departments: Computer Science, Law, English, and Interfaith and Intercivilization Dialogue. To encourage students to enter the latter, tuition in this department was free for several years. The university now includes science and humanities departments. Specifically, it has the following departments: Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Law, English, Banking and Finance, Pathology, Islamic Studies, and Interfaith and Intercivilization Dialogue. It grants baccalaureate degrees in these subjects. The Shaikh wanted it to ultimately develop to teach various disciplines and award postgraduate degrees.
He exerted much effort into increasing the dervishes’ degree of awareness and understanding of the thought and practice of Ṭarīqa. He pursued this through the publication of books and literature dealing with various aspects of Ṭarīqa, delivering sermons regularly, urging dervishes to study and acquire different types of knowledge that were easily available to them, and attracting many intellectuals and academics to Ṭarīqa. The educational development of the Kasnazānī seeker was one of his permanent concerns.
In May 2006, he was awarded the Arab Historian Medal and the Arab History Certificate by the Union of Arab Historians, in recognition of the large role he played in enriching Islamic and Arabic culture.
[1] Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, IV, no. 2664, p. 2052.
[2] Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān, sermon, 29 January 2010.
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