Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Kasnazān in Kirkuk (second half of 1970s).
Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Kasnazān would not sleep at night. After leaving his assembly with the dervishes, he would perform the night prayer and remain in a state of dhikr until he would complete the morning prayer, the Sunna prayer, and his other devotions. Then, he would sleep. Even when he was extremely ill, he would continue to recite the Qur’an.
Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān (Sermon, 24 September 2016)
Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad was brought up in a household in which the remembrance of Allah never stopped and the call to piety and good deeds could be heard all the time. His father was the Master of Ṭarīqa, having succeeded Shaikh Ḥusayn when our Shaikh was less than one year old. His mother was an exceptionally devout woman who dedicated herself to helping the Shaikh of Ṭarīqa.
Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm was the primary influence on our Shaikh. The latter learned the best traits and virtues from his Master, and this influence shaped his personality and behaviour tremendously. He loved his father immensely and deeply revered him, so much so that he could not bring himself to sit in his father’s presence until he was asked to do so. He often avoided sitting in his assembly even after the Shaikh asked him to do so. He would not approach the Shaikh unless he had been summoned by him or he needed to ask for his thoughts and instructions on a certain matter.
As was the case with all of Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm’s family, our Shaikh would refer to his father as “Shaikh”. While his biological father, Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm was his spiritual father in the spirit world before that. The seeker’s soul is connected to his Shaikh’s soul from the day Allah created souls. Despite the significance and sanctity of a paternal relationship, the seeker’s relationship to his Shaikh has a greater effect on his life. Generation by generation, this blessed family inherited respect and reverence for the Shaikh. For example, the family of our Master only referred to him as “Shaikh”. His children would only stand in his presence, except for Shaikh Nahro, who our Shaikh insisted should sit in his assembly, often because he needed him close to him because he was his General Deputy.
Our Shaikh’s spiritual relationship with Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm was unique; it was not merely a relationship of a disciple with his Shaikh. Rather, it was also a relationship of a Shaikh of Ṭarīqa in the making with his teacher and the present Master. Just as our Shaikh had immense love for his father, Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm had an exceptional love for our Shaikh, as we shall see later. Our Shaikh recalled that when he was less than ten years old, he used to accompany Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm in his daily visits to the farm of Shāh al-Kasnazān, behind Karbchna, as he oversaw farming work. The Shaikh would perform the afternoon prayer and the afternoon dhikr, and at times the sunset prayer as well, before returning.[1] At night, our Shaikh would not sleep until his father came home after the conclusion of his night gathering with the dervishes. He would then sleep on his father’s leg. When Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm would travel for preaching, our Shaikh would fall ill until his father came back because of his love for and attachment to him.[2]
Sayyida Ḥafṣa was a little girl of no more than two or three years old when her mother, sayyida Khadīja, passed away. Her father put her under the care of her maternal uncle, Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm Qādir Karam, while she was still young. While in the care of her uncle, she learned the Qur’an under Mullā Muḥyī al-Dīn, who was the family’s cleric. After marrying Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm, she completed her studies under the wife of the great Āzhar Shaikh ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Maḥmūd when the couple visited Sultan Ḥusayn and stayed in Karbchna for a while. Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm also studied the Qur’an under Shaikh ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm. The latter completed his university studies in Egypt and became a scholar in 1932. He joined the Āzhar mission at the Sorbonne University, France, at the end of 1937 and stayed there until he received his doctorate in 1940. Since Sultan Ḥusayn departed this life in early 1939, we can date Shaikh ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm’s visit to Karbchna to some time between 1932 and 1937. His decision to pursue a doctorate in Islamic Sufism, specifically on the renowned Sufi Ḥārith Ibn Asad al-Muḥāsibī (AH 243), points to the influence the time he spent with Shaikh Ḥusayn al-Kasnazān had on him. ʿAbd al-Halīm Maḥmūd became the Shaikh of al-Āzhar in 1973, holding this position until his passing in 1978.[3]
Sayyida Ḥafṣa was an exceptionally devout woman who was always in a state of dhikr and constantly maintained her ablution. Our Shaikh reiterated that he only saw her doing three things: praying, reciting the Qur’an, and reading either dhikrs or the book Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, which is a compilation of various formulas of prayers upon the Prophet (PBUH). She never suckled her children without being in a state of ablution. This was also the case of Sultan Ḥusayn’s wife with her children. Sayyida Ḥafṣa and Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm also had three other daughters, Kāfiya, Ḥalīma, and Salmā.
Early in 1956, their eldest son, Ḥusayn, died from an incurable disease, at just twenty-nine years old. From then on until she passed away in 1992, Sayyida Ḥafṣa was in a constant state of spiritual retreat. She became vegetarian, she would not eat fat or oil, and she would not go near gravy or rice. She even forbade herself from eating certain kinds of fruit, such as oranges or sugary fruit. She refrained from eating all the foods that her deceased son used to enjoy. Most of the time, she only ate thin bread with soup.
As was the case with the wives of the Messenger (PBUH), a Shaikh’s wife plays an important role in helping him fulfil his duties in service to Allah’s way. A Shaikh’s life has special demands that his wife is well suited to tend to, such as ensuring the conditions of cleanliness, purity, and permissibility of his drink, food, belongings, and places of sitting, worshipping, and sleeping; knowing what foods the Shaikh can and cannot eat; and preparing the Shaikh’s food while in a state of ablution. A Shaikh maintains a tremendous level of pious restraint, so his wife, as well as all who help in and manage his household, must care for that.
The Shaikh of Ṭarīqa’s wife bears part of his burden on her shoulders. His household is not an ordinary home. Rather, it is one of Allah’s homes, established in service to all who travel on the path to Allah. It is an open-doored takya that people from all over constantly flock to for different needs. Hence, the housework is managed around the clock. A Shaikh’s house is one of those that Allah (exalted and high is He) describes in His noble Book, “In homes that Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evenings [are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of charity” (al-Nūr 24:36-37). While the Shaikh is responsible for all affairs of Ṭarīqa and its dervishes, his wife helps manage the affairs of this house of dhikr. This includes supervising the preparation of food for guests, who come and go at any time, and ensuring the takya is well kept. Sayyida Ḥafṣa was an exemplary wife who spent her life helping Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm serve Ṭarīqa and its dervishes.
In the same way that there are male caliphs in the takya who are responsible for preaching to men, there are female caliphs in the women’s part of the takya who teach females. Sayyida Ḥafṣa often sat in there to receive visitors, give them the pledge, listen to their needs, and advise them, as she was very knowledgeable in religious matters. She would also bless water and give to those in need and/or would pray for them. She had a special room where she would receive those with private needs that could not be addressed in front of other women. The Shaikh of Ṭarīqa’s wife helps him in serving Ṭarīqa and its dervishes. Sayyida Ḥafṣa carried out this duty in the best possible way and was a real help to Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm. She continued to serve Ṭarīqa and its female disciples after Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm’s passing and the succession of her son, Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad, as Shaikh of Ṭarīqa. Our Shaikh’s wife, Kažāl, assumed those responsibilities after Sayyida Ḥafṣa’s death.
Sayyida Ḥafṣa was a walī whose karāmas were witnessed by many people. During her burial ceremony, attendees noticed that her foot was sticking out of her shroud. Before they could touch the foot to push it back inside, she pulled it in as if she were still alive.
She had a special standing with Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm, who listened to her opinions on things. The following is an incident that reveals her special status with the Master of Ṭarīqa. One night in 1973 or 1974, some dervishes went to preach in a remote area near ʿẒaym in the Diyālā governorate. They demonstrated some feats of darbāsha, which are performed to show the spiritual power of Ṭarīqa.[4] At one point, a caliph named Qāsim recklessly inserted a sword inside a dervish’s belly. This caused a bigger and deeper wound than usual, so much so that some of the dervish’s internal organs came out. The caliph tied the dervish’s belly with a large bandage, asking the Shaikhs for spiritual support to help the man recover. Contrary to what usually happens to those who practice feats of darbāsha, the preaching and dhikr ended and the wounded dervish did not recover. Disturbed and concerned by what had happened, the caliph decided to take the injured dervish to the Shaikh in Kirkuk.
At the time, in that remote area, there were no taxis, so they had to wait until dawn when a dump truck came to deliver building plaster material to a resident of the area. The driver agreed to transport the wounded dervish and placed him in the back of the truck. The truck was far from being as clean as it needed to be for someone with a wound, not to mention one as serious as that. Since most of the roads in that area were unpaved at the time, the injured dervish was constantly jostled by bumps on the road.
At about six in the morning, they arrived at the takya. The dervish was unconscious but breathing. Any doctor would have asserted that even though the dervish was still alive, he would not live much longer and that it would be useless to attempt to treat him given the seriousness of the injury. Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm sent for our Shaikh, who was resting at home. When he came, he found Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm very angry, pointing to the dervish lying on the ground with his internal organs out. The purpose of practising darbāsha is not to expose the body to the most serious danger but rather to provide sufficient proof to onlookers that since the dervish did not suffer what the body would naturally suffer in such feats, Ṭarīqa must have spiritual power. The more dangerous the act, the greater the spiritual energy needed to protect the dervish. Dervishes are not supposed to try the most daring feats.
In his anger at the caliph’s recklessness, Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm refused to intervene. He told those present to take the injured dervish to the hospital and to take the caliph to the police. At that moment, sayyida Ḥafṣa reproached Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm and reminded him that as the Master, he remained responsible for the welfare of the dervish, even if the caliph had made a mistake. Besides, the wounded dervish was now in his house, so he could not abandon him and send him to the hospital. Likewise, the caliph could not be sent to the police. Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm calmed down, listened to his wife’s request, and backed down from his decision.
At the Shaikh’s request, a dervish opened the bandage. It had dried and was stuck to the wound as a result of the amount of blood and secretions that had leaked out, as well as the length of time the wound had remained untreated. The afflicted area was contaminated with plaster during transport. With the help of two other dervishes, a third forcefully pushed the stiff, swollen bowels back into the wounded dervish’s belly using a headwrap as a bandage that they wrapped around his belly. They did this with no medical knowledge, using their bare hands and without sterilisation. This would be extremely dangerous in normal circumstances because it would contaminate the body’s internal organs. This circumstance, however, was supernatural because it involved the spiritual intervention of the Shaikhs. Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm instructed the dervishes to put dust from Shāh al-Kasnazān’s shrine on the wounds and place the injured dervish in the middle of a circle of dhikr. The dhikr was performed by those who were in the takya at the time, around seven, including Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad.
During the dhikr, the injured dervish’s face began to gradually gain colour and he began to regain consciousness. After the dhikr ended, Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm asked that the dervish be left alone to sleep. Our Shaikh returned to his house and the rest of the dervishes went their separate ways. After about six hours, the dervish woke up feeling hungry. He asked for soup. After eating, he felt the need to use the facilities. Medically speaking, bowel movement indicates the proper functioning of the intestinal organs. The dervish made a complete recovery.
This incident of Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm complying with sayyida Ḥafṣa’s suggestion reminds us of situations where wives of the Messenger (PBUH) helped him by sharing their views on certain issues that he took on board. One example can be drawn from events that took place at the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyya. After the Messenger (PBUH) and the polytheists agreed to the treaty’s terms and wrote them down, he instructed his Companions to proceed with the necessary slaughtering of sacrifices and shaving of their heads to perform the lesser pilgrimage. Some Companions objected because they thought that the treaty’s terms were not in the Muslims’ best interest. They did not carry out the Prophet’s (PBUH) command even though he repeated it three times. When he went home, he told his wife, Umm Salamā, about what happened. She suggested, “O Prophet of Allah, do you like it [i.e. the treaty]? Go, and don’t say a word to any of them until you slaughter your goat and call your barber to shave your head”. He came out and did not speak to anyone. He slaughtered his goat and had his head shaved. This reminded the Companions that the actions of the Messenger (PBUH) are driven by divine decrees, there was wisdom behind them, even if that wisdom escaped them, and that he could not disobey Allah’s command, even if it was disapproved by those near and dear to him. One by one, the Companions began to slaughter their animals and shave their heads.[5]
Naturally, sayyida Ḥafṣa also had a special standing with her son, Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad. We see evidence of this in another karāma involving a dervish who was injured while performing a feat of darbāsha that took place on a winter day in the mid-1980s, during the Masterdom of Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad. The dervish was brought from Mosul to the central takya in Baghdad. He was wrapped in a blanket that was full of dried blood by the time they reached the central takya, as it takes more than five hours to get to Baghdad from Mosul. Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad was very angry with what this dervish had done and did not want to intervene to cure him. Sayyida Ḥafṣa reminded her son of the similar incident that had occurred during his father’s time and asked him to help the dervish. He instructed dervishes to recite a poem composed in the Iraqi dialect in praise of Sultan Ḥusayn al-Kasnazān, niʿmaen Abū Ṭāhir yā rāʿī al-shāra. The word “niʿmaen” is a word of praise; “Abū Ṭāhir” is a title of Sultan Ḥusayn, where “Abū” means father and “Ṭāhir” is the name of his eldest son; “rāʿī al-shāra” means “of the sign”, meaning the one who leaves a sign when he spiritually intervenes, such as answering a seeker’s request for aid. Lowering his head during the ode’s recitation, the Shaikh gently struck the dervish’s leg with his blessed foot, at which point the dervish moved. The dervish was then taken to the hospital where he was given a large amount of blood. The doctors in the hospital could not understand how this person was still alive!
In September 1992 in Baghdad, sayyida Ḥafṣa passed away and was buried near the Kirkuk takya in the Shaikh Muḥyī al-Dīn Karkūk cemetery, named after one of the Masters of Ṭarīqa Kasnazāniyya. Our Shaikh’s wife, sayyida Kažāl, assumed sayyida Ḥafṣa’s responsibilities in the takya.
Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad had the best upbringing, under the care of a father who was a Shaikh of Ṭarīqa and an excellent educator, and a devout mother who spent her life helping her husband serve Ṭarīqa and seekers of nearness to Allah. He was nurtured with an Islamic upbringing that gave him the best qualities and traits. When Allah wants to make someone a means of guidance, He chooses for him to be raised by those who will nurture and educate him to be brought up according to His plan.
[1] Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān, sermon, 11 August 2019.
[2] Shaikh Muḥammad al-Muḥammad al-Kasnazān, sermon, 1 May 2018.
[3] ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Shuyūkh al-azhar, 5, 15-16.
[4] For more on darbāsha, see Fatoohi, Shaikh Muhammad al-Muhammad, 122-125.
[5] Al-Bukhārī, Al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ, II, no. 2644, p. 119.
.Louay Fatoohi 2004-2024. All rights reserved
http://www.facebook.com/LouayFatoohiAuthor
http://twitter.com/louayfatoohi
http://www.instagram.com/Louayfatoohi