AUTOBIOGRAPHY
This is the story of a school; a school that morphed raw knowledge, which previously could not be transferred into actions, to such energy and jihad, …
It had been 20 years since I joined the great Naqshbandi order led by our predecessor, Baha’ al-Din Naqshbandi Hodja (Rahimahullah) and started fighting in the cause of Allah, the Almighty…
So why had I become part of a tariqa, was this necessary?
Between the ages of 7 and 8, I started Islamic teachings with Qur’an courses through encouragement by my late father.
I learnt Qur’an, Tajweed and Ilm Al-Hâl from Sadık Hodja’s Islamic teachings. May Allah be pleased with him!
Through my passion for Ilm Al-Hâl, which summarises Qur’an and Sunnah, I started leaning towards the science of Fiqh; the understanding of the great Islamic law as revealed in Qur’an and Sunnah.
I kept reading books containing old fatwas from the Ottoman period.
The science of Fiqh pushed me to learn Hadith. I tried to read and memorise the sayings and behaviours of our Prophet Muhammad, Blessings and Peace be upon him, from the authentic collections of Hadith famously known as Kutub-i Tis.
I continued to feed my mind with Islamic knowledge, however, my heart was empty. I kept running away from jihad and helping others.
I had the knowledge, yet my lack of desire to live Islam and teach it to others was greater...
I had the spark, yet no matches to light the fire.
There were two reasons as to why I was distant from preaching:
- Slight stuttering and difficulties when speaking
- Lack of confidence in putting my knowledge and learnings into practice
As a basic example, I was performing my salah only once a day, that was the Fajr prayer, with the force of my precious father.
In essence, I knew the science; but I could not put it into practice. I had the flour and the sugar yet no energy to get my act together to make the halva!
My mind and my heart were not helping me in making a move to live Islam and be of benefit to others, in other words, they did not force me to jihad. I resembled a luxurious car parked outside the house with no fuel.
During this lazy period, even if I had no consistency in my salah, I had stability in reading the Qur’an. I would not go to bed without having read at least 5 or 10 pages.
One evening as I read the words of Allah, I was struck by the following verse:
“O believers! If you stand up for Allah, He will help you and make your steps firm.” (Surah Al‑Muhammad, Verse 7)
Having read this verse repeatedly many times before, I had not pondered upon it up until now.
This verse was telling me '…in tensurullâhe yensurkum”, in other words, “…If you stand up for Allah, He will help you…”
If you help Allah, Allah will help you…
But Allah, the Exalted, was not in need of anything or anyone, why would He want my help!?
I quickly started scanning through the tafsir; I understood that in this verse Allah wanted me to help Islam.
My creator did not need my hardship, though I was the one in need to be a better servant to Him, in the name of spreading Islam to the world.
Following this self-revelation, every time I read from the Qur’an and became emotional, I raised my hands to my Lord, O’ Allah, and made heart-felt prayers to lead me through doors of khayr which would bring me closer to Him.
It was not long after when I dreamt that I visited the grave of Mehmet Emin Tokadi, a great wali, an ally of Allah. I went to visit his resting place along the ramps of Zeyrek in Unkapani, Istanbul. I recited Qur’an for his soul. I prayed to my Lord, O’ Allah, putting this great wali before me, and asked Him to guide me through the path of one of his allies and allow me to serve Islam besides them.
“When My servants ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about Me: I am truly near. I respond to one’s prayer when they call upon Me. So let them respond ˹with obedience˺ to Me and believe in Me, perhaps they will be guided ˹to the Right Way˺.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 186)
Allah, Subhaahnahu wa Ta’alaa, accepted my prayers and crossed my path with the students of Ihramcızade Ismail Hakkı Efendi, a master from Sivas, in Türkiye. Thanks be to Allah.
This was the beginning of my journey in the Halid-i Hâki branch of the Naqshbandi order, where I started to practice dhikr and stepped into being a darwish.
Crawling steadily through this journey I started to resemble our noble Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) and His Companions (peace be upon them). The noor of my Iman (faith) amplified day by day. Putting my knowledge into practice became rather simple.
“Moses prayed, “My Lord! Uplift my heart for me, and make my task easy, and remove the impediment from my tongue so people may understand my speech.” (Surah Taha, Verses 25‑28)
My stutter was gone, and I was like a nightingale. My Lord, O’ Allah, gave me such ease to teach people Islam.
“He who comes closer to Me one span, I come closer to him a cubit; and he who comes closer to Me a cubit, I come closer to him a fathom; and if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running" (Al-Bukhari, Tawheed 50; Muslim, Dhikr 2, (2675); Al-Tirmidhi, Al‑Dawat 142, (3598)
I took a tiny little step, yet Allah, the Exalted, opened me a huge door.
Undoubtedly, these are due to the abundance of prayers I received from my Shaykh.
Had I not followed in the path of this wali, and taken steps towards change, perhaps Allah would not have rewarded me.
I had obeyed the words of my Lord, O’ Allah; "…vettebi’ sebîle men enâbe ileyye...” “…follow the way of those who turn to Me” (Surah Luqman, Verse 15) and found happiness in being with those who had turned to their Lord, O’ Allah, Almighty.
Following 5-6 years I spent with his students, my Shaykh, Ihramcızade Ismail Efendi visited me spiritually and said “You ought to serve the people of Allah, my dear son” (may Allah have mercy on him; oh how beautiful his gaze and smell were).
After this spiritual uplift, I had more enthusiasm giving advice during my waaz sessions. Those people who listen to my waaz and benefit from them both emotionally and scientifically continue to send me prayers of khayr everyday; thanks be to Allah.
These tariqas are considered schools of decency for those conscious Muslims who prioritise the ummah before themselves and share their pain.
For those Muslims who are lazy enough to sit at home, these tariqas teach them to take risks and learn jihad. They raise mujahids.
In the history of Islam, the greatest mujahids are those who are educated through the tariqas… Selahaddin-i Eyyûbi, Imam Rabbani, Imam Ghazali, Omar al-Mukhtar, Shaykh Shamil, Yavuz Selim, Fatih Sultan Mehmed… these are the main mujahids raised by schools of tasawwuf teachings. (May mercy of Allah be on all of them).
These kind pioneers did not hesitate to take risks, therefore, us as their darwishes will not abstain from taking risks just like them and continue to teach Islam to this rebellious nation, with the permission of Allah, the Almighty.
May Allah, Subhaahnahu wa Ta’alaa, grant us and our brothers with continuity in serving Islam on the steps of the Ahli Sunnah wal Jamaah until qiyamah. Amen!
“O believers! Be mindful of Allah and be with the truthful.” (Surah At-Tawbah, Verse 119)
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