al-Ishs

what’s been happening?

i’ve been busy working. since february this year, i’ve been working as an analyst programmer for linfox armaguard. in addition, i’ve revised my thesis (i know, i know, i already submitted it to the school, but i was required to buff it with more stuffs), and i’ve re-submitted it to the school about two weeks ago. but anyway, i went on with my life, partially…

earlier in 2008 (or was it the end of 2007?), i wrote a new song, “summer rain.” i haven’t got time to record it yet. while on the topic of music, i twisted my right thumb a few months ago. the pain was excruciating. recovering took a while… well, actually, it’s not back 100% yet. i still occasionally feel the pain, although it’s not bad and not hindering me from doing most things, and best of all, it doesn’t make me sad.

my second bro has also taken bay’a to the sultan of saints, through shaykh mustafa haqqani, shaykh nazim’s representative in indonesia. he has also enjoyed the presence of shaykh hisham during the shaykh’s recent visit to indonesia (bahasa indonesia).

my family and i had a nice trip to ruffy and euroa (and unexpectedly, shepparton. more on that later) to fulfill an invitation from shaykh abdul wahid to gather at his house for nisf sha’ban. we also met the sydneysiders there. daud had an accident while we were in euroa. he fell from the chair and it caused a little cut on his lower lip. we ran him to a clinic in shepparton with the help of motaki and amatullah. to our relief, it wasn’t a serious wound. it recovered pretty quickly.

recently, in front of my house, there’s been a white ford fairmont (built in the 90s) parked everyday. big thanks to the big chief and siraaj.

and just yesterday, my wife and son obtained their pr visa. so, the circle is now complete. we’re all permanent residents of australia.

alhamdulillah we had our third anniversary. it feels like yesterday that i’ve been married with my lovely sweetheart. alhamdulillah God…. we’re so happy. hopefully we live happily ever after with our children, dunya and akhirat.

yesterday my sister took bay’at through shaykh hisham… alhamdulillah… i hope my brothers and my parents will take bay’at as well next year amin….

it was celebrated at the melbourne naqshbandi haqqani zawiya on 21 apr. other than us, it was attended by the big chief’s and hisham’s families. habib hazem and nur did most of the hard work organising the celebration. my wife and i were (and still are) grateful to them.

it was a small party in size, yet brought us a fond memory. we have considered them to be part of our family. and we can tell that daud has been comfortable as well.

may our children always be servants of the truth. happy birthday, my son. we love you.

last friday up to monday, the naqshbandi haqqani murids of sydney and melbourne flocked together in the melbourne zawiya [map].

it was a great, long weekend with (almost) non-stop zikr parties, in various forms: the ultimate khatm khwajagan, hadrah, whirling, and so on, including fixing the zawiyah gate. the sydneysiders started coming on friday. there were some reading sessions. the first one was the biography imam bahauddin naqshband as written in as-safi’s “beads of dew from the source of life”. the second was the biography of imam ja’far as-saddiq as written in shaykh hisham’s “the naqshbandi sufi way: history and guidebook of the saints in the golden chain”. if my memory serves me correctly, that was followed by the biography of shaykh sharafuddin ad-daghestani from the same book. we had khatm khwajagan everyday (except monday, when most sydneysiders had flown back home). saturday evening was extraordinarily crowded, as many usual melbourne frequenters also came. on sunday, we had a barbie. my wife cooked some food for the first three days. and of course, everyday was filled with zikr, zikr, and zikr.

i felt rest in my heart throughout the activities. i didn’t actually want to occassionally leave the zawiya, but it wasn’t realistic to do so. even the atmosphere gave me such an extraordinary comfort that i kept attracted to it. in the past, when i still involved myself with some other islamic sects, sometimes i also joined get-togethers. but it was different. with fellow spiritual sunni muslims, i feel love, not politicised religion (you can guess which sect this is) nor finding faults in other people (you almost likely know which sect it is). and that was exactly what i felt. i saw noone at all with dark or gloomy aura. here, it was just working together fighting the ego and seeking the pleasure of god and his messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), asking blessings from god through his messenger through the saints, and particularly through our master, the king of saints.

support us, o, our truthful master…

tomorrow, a piano will arrive at my home. well, it won’t be technically mine. it belongs to the melbourne naqshbandi haqqani zawiya, but sort of being lent to me, as habib hazem ordered.

it will be a challenge for me, as i’ll have to play to accompany liturgies of remembrance of god. not that i mind. i’ll be delighted to do that. it’s just that i’ve never really done that. well, my songs typically have the spiritual dimension, albeit more personal. and this time, well… i don’t really know how it will turn out. i’m going to do an act of serving god, so i’m asking for divine inspiration for him through the guidance of his most perfect prophet muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, through the guidance of the masters of the golden chain, through the guidance of my living masters, mawlana shaykhs nazim, hisham, and adnan, may god sanctify their secrets.

last but not least, a big gratitude goes to sandra for the piano.