Burdah and TAI Zikir at Malabar Mosque

MasyaAllah, on the 24th and 25th of December i was fortunate to be able to attend to two majlis held at Malabar Mosque. The majlis on the eve of christmas was a wonderful, energetic and very much revitalising burdah majlis led by South African Scholar Shyakh Fakhrudin Uwaisi At Tijany. The Shaykh is of the Uwaisi lineage, a descendant of Sayyidina Uwais al Qarani, a man who by technical terms cannot be called a Sahaba foralthough he lived in the time of the Propeht s.a.w he did not see him on account of a vast distance that seperates them. Even so, on deah bed, the Prophet s.a.w. entrusted his companions, Sayyidina Abu Bakar and Sayyidina Umar included, to pass a shawl to a man fron the south known as Uwais. This specific request made by the Prophet speaks all about the spiritual relationship between the Prophet s.a.w and Sayyidina Uwais al Qarani.

Shaykh Fakhrudin is also of the Tijany Tariqah of Sidi Ahmad At Tijany who lived around the time os Sidi Ahmad Ibn Idris and who also travelled and preached in Fez Morocco. There is, of course, inter-relation between these two famous Tariqahs in North Africa and the Maghrib. In his search for the best way to praise the Prophet s.a.w, Sidi Ahmad Tijany was given the Salawat Fatih Allahumma solli alaa sayyidina muhammadinil faatihilimaa awghliq, ...

And on the eve of chritmas I was fortunate to have beside me my own ustaz during the majlis. It was such a pleasant experience, no instruments were used but Shaykh Fakhrudin's capturing voice coupled with his mastery over the recitation of the burdah nonetheless made the majlis a spiritually uplifting one. The entire burdah was read as a congregation, led with such gusto by Shaykh Fakhrudin, in the packed prayer hall of Masjid Malabar; you can just imagine how fantastic the "acoustics" were.

Prior to the Burdah, Shaykh Fakhrudin made an introductory speech about the Prophet s.a.w., his virtue, the exaltedness of his maqam and how much we ought to love him. In his speech, he mentioned one point often overlooked by people; that about angels cleansing his heart with the zamzam while he was still 4 years old. He said the act was not meant to honour the Prophet's heart with the cleansing by zamzam, but rather to honour the zamzam with the heart of the Prophet s.a.w, so that the people of his ummah who are to drink from the zamzam as of then will be blessed with the barakah of Sayyidina Muhammad s.a.w! Allah!
Tingginya Maqammu Ya Rasulallah, tidak akan tercapai...

And on the next day, 25th December, Malabar Mosque hosted the Ikhwans of Tariqah Ahmadiah Idrisiah for a zikir majlis led by Ust Hasbi. Indeed, the atmosphere was perfect, and the longing to meet Sayyidina Muhammad was intense, because the Malabar Muslim community are virtually a people very inclined to Tasawwuf, and I dare put my money where my mouth is worth that the people at Malabar have a very hospitable and examplary akhlaq. The management people even helped to dispense drinks for the jamaah and he would friendly ask "hot drink or cold drink for you?'. Even the Chairman was involved in distributing the refreshments! He carried the tray of kuehs and diligently walked up to the jamaah, offering each one of us the food. MasyaAllah, in short, I was touched. Somehow i saw the Imam, he just finished taking his ablution and was about to walk up to the prayer hall when a child playfully crossed his path, what he did was just to smile at the boyand pat him on the back. At that instant I thought ii saw the akhlaq of the Prophet s.a.w. His face was still wet with wudhu', and it glistened under the light. MasyaAllah. I really love the masjid and the events they organise, the scholars they invite etc.

Like my ustaz said, " Itulah dia akhlaq orang-orang yang bertariqah."

On another note, i wish all a blessed 1430H