i was soo fortunate!

just last week, i had some remaining free time before my new posting and so went out to chill with my jc friends. one of them actually brought me a rare, precious and indelible piece of jewel. a VCD version of a VHS so old and rare and invaluable - a clear video recording of Sidi Abdul Rasyid himself giving a syarahan at masjid kassim sempana maulid Nabi SAW in the year 1985, 4 years before i saw the first sunlight.

i was like, OMG, so far i've only heard stories, seen pictures of him and now get to see him lecturing! i felt sooo fortunate! i immediately watched it back at home and then shared it with a pakcik who is an ikhwan and a student of Sidi Abdul Rasyid.
his first expression when he saw the vid - he teared out, air mata berlinangan, "Inilah dia Tuan Guru kite Sidi Abdul Rasyid, tak de orang lain lah macam dia " Such was the love, bond, attraction, camaraderie the pakcik had for his mursyid, murabbi, his Guide. one is encouraged to learn from as many scholars as possible, but one is only encouraged to follow one Shaykh of Tarbiyyah, the one mursyid who will guide your spirituality - and Sidi Rasyid was the one, there can be no similar replacement.

he then started telling me more about Sidi rasyid's charisma, idiosyncracies and simply his style. i was amazed and engrossed listening. he also asked " wan dapat jumpe sidi? salam tangan sidi?" i said no.

"tak pe lah wan, ini bukan ape, ini semua bahagian masing-masing"
i pondered deeply upon those words, " at least i do kiss the hand of his nephew, Sidi Faiz"

Sidi rasyid was truly respected not just in the entire Malay Peninsula, but also in Mecca and Cairo. he became his teacher's favourite student and top the cohort for his batch. Diakui kealimannya dan kesholihannya oleh semua guru-guru beliau. walaupun berkelulusan tinggi dalam bidang agama dan juga bidang kerohanian, sidi rasyid apabila kembali ke tanah air tetap memakai baju melayu telok blangah dan kain pelekat sehinggakan tariqah yang beliau pimpin digelar tarekat orang melayu. juga telah mengambil ba'iah daripada Sidi Rasyid ialah Shaykh abdul wahid Pallavicini and Shaykh yahya sergio Pallavicini from italy. really, i was just mesmerised and speechless throughout the entire video. Maqam sidi rasyid terletak di negeri sembilan.