Question:
Salamalaykum waRahmatulla waBarakatahu
Would you recommend wearing a turban out and about in a completely non-muslim area? Or is it showing off?
Also, I read (Ibn Ata`Allah) that it’s good to do so much tasbih that people think you’re showing-off. Do you know why this might be (the showing-off bit) and would it apply walking about in my non-muslim area?!
Finally, why do Naqshbandis distinguish themselves in terms of dress, as opposed to Shadhilis for example, who, so I’m told, dress to merge in with the Muslim majority?
Thankyou very much
Answer:
wa `alaykum salam,
No one asked you to dress in a turban, or to walk with a tasbih. No one asked you to dress in western dress. Many of Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani mureeds dress in western dress or they wear like in the middle east countries. They dress in western style dress and 10% might like to wear loose dress. Also, to identify that they are muslim they put a hat on their head and some like to put a turban following the sunnah of the Prophet (s) as the Prophet (s) has a turban and you can find these hadith about turban in Sahih al-Bukhari and other books. As for carrying beads, you can carry beads or count on your finger or do awrad without counting but by timing. everyone is free in what he likes to wear. And you can merge with the majority of muslims. In Turkey the majority of Mawlana’s mureeds wear western clothing and in Far East 99% are wearing normal clothes and rarely will you see other than that except in mosques or at dhikr that they wear Naqshbandi style. It is not written in any books that you have to dress Naqshbandi style, you like to you may or not.
In Grandshaykh `Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q) time Grandshaykh `Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q) didn’t wear the same style as Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani and he wore a turban on white fez, and the white turban cloth was made in Aleppo. The cap is not pointed nor was the turban pointed and the clothes were not loose pant and shirts but it was white thawb as in Hijazm Egypt, Morocco, or in Africa and a jubbah on top of it.
So Mawlana has his own style as it suits him. He used to travel a lot from country so wearing a thawb would be difficult with many issues. So that is a good question. And as for carrying beads, don’t carry and show off. If you are really pious then do your awrad before fajr and don’t carry beads. It’s better than being lazy and sleepy. Do your awrad from before Fajr Qiyam al-Layl up to Ishraq. The awrad is 1500 and 300 salawat and one juz Qur’an or 100 Surat al-Ikhlas and 300 salawat or one juz Dalail al-Khayrat. How long does that take? One hour? And then you don’t need to carry the beads to show you are someone special, that is showing off.
I don’t understand what you said about showing off, I never read Ibn Ata`ullah said that.
Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani
