Dream:

I had a dream during the first 10 days of Muharram on a Thursday night. I was about 13 years old. I am now 23. Dream: I was in Iraq with my parents and brother. We were outside one of the holy mosques. It was sandy. When we looked in the sky, I saw 3 moons. One quarter moon was red and the other quarter was green. The full moon was red and in the middle of the sky. I then saw a silver cloud emerge from the right side of the sky and felt the presence of our beloved Muhammad (SAW). I woke up with a great feeling. Pls note I am very strong in believing in the Prophets and Awliya. It’s what I love the most in my life. And we observe the day of Ashurah very strongly. I am a follower of Shaykh Abdul Qaadir Jilani (RA)

Interpretation:

audhu billah mina ‘sh-shaytani ‘r-rajeem,

Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Raheem,

In your dream, the full red moon shows the advent of Sayyidina al-Mahdi (as) while the green quarter moon shows the Ghawth or Sultan al-Awliya, the living inheritor of the Prophet (s) in our time.  The red quarter moon represents a special saint, Mustashar al-Mahdi,  who is responsible for arranging events in the world in preparation for the appearance of Sayyidina al-Mahdi (as).

The baraka of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (q) and your respect for Muharram and `Ashura granted you to be their presence which took you to the heavenly presence of the Prophet (s).

The following is a story about Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s seclusion at the Maqam of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (q) in Baghdad.

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When he had only two children, one daughter and one son, he was called by our Grandshaikh, Shaykh `Abdullah ad-Daghestani. He told him, “I have received an order from the Prophet (s) for you to make seclusion in the mosque of `Abdul Qadir Jilani in Baghdad. Go there and make seclusion for six months.”

Describing that event, Shaykh Nazim says, “I didn’t ask the Shaykh any questions. I didn’t even go back to my house. I directed my steps immediately to Marja in the downtown. I didn’t think, ‘I need clothes, I need money, I need provisions.’ When he said, ‘Go!’ I went. I was drawn to do seclusion with Sayyidina `Abdul Qadir. I went directly to Marja. When I reached the downtown walking I saw a man looking at me. He looked at me and he recognized me. He said, ‘Shaykh Nazim, where are you going?’ I said, ‘To Baghdad.’ He was a murid of Grandshaykh. He said, ‘I am going to Baghdad myself!’ He had a truckload of goods to deliver in Baghdad. So he took me with him.”

“When I entered the mosque of Sayyidina `Abdul Qadir Jilani there was a giant man closing the door of the mosque holding it shut. He said, ‘Shaykh Nazim!’ ‘Yes,’ I answered. He said, ‘I am the one assigned to be your servant during your stay here. Come with me.’ I was surprised at this, but in my heart there was no surprise because we know in tariqat that everything is always arranged by the Divine Presence. I followed him as he approached the grave of the Arch-Intercessor (Ghawth al-`Azam) and I gave greetings to my great-great-grandfather, Sayyidina ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani. Then he took me to a room and told me, ‘Every day I will serve you one bowl of lentil soup with one piece of bread.'”

“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 could recite the whole Qur’an in nine hours. In addition I recited 124,000 Dhikr of the Kalima (la ilaha illallah) and 124,000  salawat (prayers on the Prophet (s) in addition to reading the entire Dala’il al-Khayrat. Added to that I was regularly reciting 313,000 ‘Allah Allah‘ every day, as well as all the prayers that were assigned to me. Vision after vision appeared to me every day. These visions took me from one state to another until I was Annihilated in the Divine Presence.”

“One day I had a vision that Sayyidina `Abdul Qadir Jilani was calling me to his grave and he was saying, ‘O my son I am waiting for you at my grave. Come!’ Immediately I took a shower, prayed two cycles of prayer and I walked to his grave which was only some few feet from my room. When I got there I began contemplating and I said, as-Salam `alayka ya jiddee (‘Peace be upon you O my grandfather’). Immediately I saw him come out of the grave and stand beside me. Behind him was a Great Throne decorated with rare stones. He said to me, ‘Come with me and sit with me on that throne.’

“We sat like a grandfather with his grandson. He was smiling and saying, ‘I am happy with you. The station of your Shaykh, `Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani is very high in the Naqshbandi Order. I am your grandfather and I am passing to you now, directly from me, the power that I carry as the Arch-Intercessor and I initiate you now directly into the Qadiri Order.'”

When Shaykh Nazim had finished his seclusion and was about to leave, he went to Sayyidina ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani’s grave to say goodbye. Sayyidina ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani appeared in the flesh to him and said, “O my son. I am very happy with the states you have reached in the Naqshbandi Order. I am renewing your initiation to me through the Qadiri Order.” Sayyidina `Abdul Qadir Jilani then said, “O my grandson, I am going to give you a token of your visit.” He hugged him and gave him ten coins. Those coins were from the time he was living in, not from our time. Up until today, Shaykh Nazim has kept those coins with him.

Before he left, Shaykh Nazim gave the Shaykh who had served him during the seclusion, his jubba (cloak) as a remembrance. He told him, “I used that cloak during all of my seclusion, either as a mat to sleep on, or as a dress when praying and making dhikr. Keep it and Allah will bless you and Sayyidina Muhammad (s) will bless you and all the Masters of this Order will bless you.” The Shaykh took the cloak, kissed it, and wore it. Shaykh Nazim left Baghdad and went back to Damascus, Syria.

In 1992, when Shaykh Nazim was visiting Lahore, Pakistan, he visited the tomb of Shaykh `Ali  Hujwiri. The Shaykh of the Qadiri Order invited him to his house, and Shaykh Nazim spent the night there. At Fajr time, the Shaykh said, “O my Shaykh, I kept you here tonight to show you a very precious cloak, that we have inherited 27 years ago. It was passed from one great Shaykh of the Qadiri Order to another from Baghdad, and finally it reached us. All our Shaykhs have kept it and preserved it, because it was the personal cloak (jubba) of the Ghawth of his time.

“A Turkish Shaykh of the Naqshbandi Order kept seclusion in the mosque and tomb of Sayyidina ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani. When that Shaykh finished his seclusion he gave the cloak as a present to a Qadiri Shaykh who had served him during his seclusion. That Qadiri Shaykh, before he passed away, ordered his successors to take great care of that cloak, because if anyone wears it, he will be healed of any illness. Any seeker wearing that cloak, in his path to the Divine Presence, will be lifted easily to high states of Vision.”

He opened the closet and revealed the cloak preserved in a glass case. He opened the case and took the jubba out. Shaykh Nazim was smiling. The Shaykh asked him, “What is it my Shaykh?” Shaykh Nazim said, “This brings me great happiness. This is the cloak I gave to the Qadiri Shaykh at the conclusion of my khalwat.” When the Shaykh heard this he kissed the hand of Shaykh Nazim, asked to renew his initiation in the Qadiri Order and to take initiation in the Naqshbandi Order. Allah takes good care of his saints, wherever they go, by means of his sincere and beloved servants.

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Dr. Karim Tourk