Paradise One

Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem,

I recently stumbled upon a video which attempted to recreate the historic battle of Al-Yarmouk in which the great Sahaba, Khalid Bin Waleed (radhiAllahu anhu) lost his helmet, which always contained a few strands of the Prophet’s blessed hair (salAllahu alaihi wasalam).

Instead of continuing on with the fight and reclaiming the helmet after the battle had ended, he dropped everything and ran to secure his helmet and lift the noble hair off the ground, leaving himself completely defenseless to enemy attack.

Despite the fact that the battle took place over a thousand years ago, this love for the Prophet (salAllahu alaihi wasalam), and all those items attached to his blessed presence has not been completely lost. Although few and far apart, there are still great individuals among us whose hearts and minds are illuminated with love for the beloved of Allah, salAllahu alaihi wasalam.

I experienced this immense love first hand this past March while attending a Mawlid (a celebration of the Prophet’s birth. salAllahu alaihi wasalam) at the Osmanli Naksibendi Dergah in the Catskill Mountain, New York.

After we had finished the Khatm Khwajagan I went outside to get some air. While reflecting on my past few days at the Dergah and refreshing my wu’du I heard a faint voice reciting a beautiful salawat. The voice grew louder and as the seconds passed; all the while I just stood where I was trying to figure out what was about to happen.. Suddenly, I heard the voice reach the outside door so I rushed over to open it and saw one of the resident mureeds, Mustafa, walk in carrying a huge bundle of cloth over his head. I immediately understood that the wrappings contained the hair of the Noble Prophet (salAllahu alaihi wasalam) within them, so I quickly stepped aside to let him pass. I followed him into the prayer room where the dhikr was held and saw as he, with the help of a few more mureeds, carefully placed the bundle of cloth on an elevated platform.

From there everyone began to recite that same salawat in unison and, with the instruction of Shaykh Effindi, Mustafa and Sultan began the unraveling of the cloth.

The unraveling process itself took well over 20 minutes as there were countless, beautifully decorated clothes protecting the mubarak hair, and the mureeds removed each cloth in a slow, respectful manner.

Finally, we reached the last cloth and the box containing the blessed hair was carefully opened by Shaykh Effindi.

Inside the box was a small, glass casing, which he lifted up with both hands, kissed, and held close to his heart.

The guests and mureeds then formed a circle along the walls of the dergah and continued with their recitation of prayers upon the Prophet (salAllahu alaihi wasalam).

We were then each individually blessed with the opportunity to walk up and kiss the mubarak hair and fill out hearts with its light and barakah.

After the last person kissed the hair it was placed back in the box, and the wrapping procession began.

When all the clothes were placed back around the box, two more were added, increasing the overall size of the bundle, which was then lifted up over the head of another mureed and carried back to the house of Shaykh Effindi.

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It was truly a remarkable night, and I have yet to come across a gathering similar to the one that was present there, or meet an individual with more love and respect for our beloved Prophet (salAllahu alaihi wasalam) than the beautiful Shaykh Abdul Kerim al-Kibrisi.

It was this immense display of love and respect for our master Muhammad (salAllahu alaihi wasalam) that helped me finally reach my decision to take initiation into the Naksibendi Hakkani tarikat and take Shaykh Abdul Kerim as my spiritual guide through this life.

Elhamdulilah, I thank Allah (swt) every day for blessing me with such an Incredible guide.

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