Mawlana first arrived in New York, accompanied by his wife and daughter of Shaykh Nazim, Hajji Naziha. Also accompanying Shaykh Hisham were six murids from California, including Dr. Munir Sperling, treasurer of the Haqqani Trust.
Welcomed at Newark Airport by almost eighty followers and well-wishers, the group was whisked by van caravan to the current temporary Naqshbandi Center in the City, the basement of sister Batul’s Sewing Shop. As the evening progressed the room filled and filled to capacity as murids and followers of other Sufi groups began to arrive. There the group was treated to a very powerful Dhikr and sohbet by Shaykh Hisham, followed by a meal. After that a number of people took shahada and bayah. Then everyone went to their homes to prepare for the following days’ road trip.
Many of the visitors from out-of-state stayed at the home of Dr. Gabriel Haddad, while others stayed in the homes of Yusuf Colombo and Abu Bakr. The next day Shaikh Hisham came over to Dr. Haddad’s home, where he enjoyed breakfast with the gathered murids. That afternoon, after some brief sightseeing, the group headed to Newark Airport. There Hajji Nazihe caught an evening flight to Istanbul Turkey, the first leg of her journey to Mecca and Madina for the Hajj and Ziyarat of the Prophet (ﷺ).
Then, just as she was leaving, our brother Hassan from California arrived at the same terminal. Having missed the previous day’s flight he somehow, with Mawlana’s baraka, managed to work out an arrangement with the airline to allow him to fly the next day, even though their policy prohibited the late use of the ticket.
Visit to the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (ق) Fellowship
From the airport, the group was divided between five vehicles, including three vans rented for the purpose of the trip. They all headed out in single file to Harrisonburg, Pennsylvania – to the home of Omar Messner and his wife. There the group was greeted by almost fifty people awaiting the shaykh’s arrival. By then it was nine o’clock. After a wonderful meal, prepared by the Messners, the shaykh gave a talk and a Dhikr. A number of people took Shahada.
With traditional Arab generosity, Shaykh al-Akili welcomed Shaykh Hisham with the familiar words “zaarna an-Nabee, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.” [meaning as a sign of respect for the guest, that ‘the Prophet (ﷺ) has visited us.’] No words can describe the wonderful hospitality of our host: he opened his home for over sixty guests to stay in. Day and night, food was flowing in seeming rivers from his tiny kitchen, so that every person was quite satisfied with the delicious Middle Eastern cuisine. Every time a guest would show up, tea and cakes were quickly presented and the guest was made to feel like the most important visitor who had ever crossed the threshold. Shaykh Hisham was so happy with this traditional Islamic hospitality, saying it reminded of how grandshaikh and Shaykh Nazim used to receive guests in Damascus.
The next day after an early breakfast, the caravan headed to Philadelphia. Arriving in midafternoon, they were made welcome guests in the home of Shaykh Mohammed al-Akili, a scholar from Damascus who has spent the last ten years in Philadelphia doing da’wah, writing and translating some of the classic of fiqh and Sufism and serving his shaykh, Shaykh Bawa Muhaiyadeen (ق).
This was the beginning of a Shaykh Hisham marathon! For three days, Mawlana was ensconced with the murids and with a continuous flow of visitors from the community of Shaikh Bawa Muhaiyadeen coming to welcome him and to hear from a saint about Sufism and Islam. That first day Shaykh Hisham visited the mosque of Shaykh Bawa, near Shaykh al-Akili’s home. Mawlana paused with visible pleasure on his face to look at the front of the mosque, decorated with the names of 29 prophets mentioned in the Qur’an. The shaykh was very pleased to see the mosque decorated in traditional Islamic style with lovely calligraphy lavishing the walls and a full sized minbar and mihrab (cupola for the leader of the prayers).
The following day, the shaikh, accompanied by the omnipresent murids and by the many local people, went out to the farm of the Qadiri community, located almost an hour west of the city. His main intention was to pay his respects to the Shaykh of the community, Bawa Muhaiyadeen (ق), who had worked so hard to establish and maintain a true Islamic community, based on Ahl as-Sunnah wal Jama’at beliefs and following Sufi ways. Shaykh Hisham was very pleased as he saw the lovely white tomb of Shaykh Bawa, well-maintained and surrounded by the graves of those of his followers who had passed on after him. Inside the tomb, Shaykh Hisham prayed at length for Shaykh Bawa, reading the Sura Ya Sin and presenting its ajr to the buried saint. He then walked through the graveyard, and then back to an open picnic area, where he gave an impromptu sohbet. The farm’s director Abdul Lateef and his group then served up a fine meal for the group.
After several more long sohbets, some lasting over 5 hours, the shaykh and his entourage bid farewell to the Bawa Muhaiyadeen community, and headed down the road to Washington, D.C. There they were welcomed at the home of Musa Abdul Wahid, whose small home served as a retreat center, lodge, restaurant and guest home for two days and nights. In a typical Naqshbandi karamah, it seemed as if the walls moved and the ceiling raised, as their small home enlarged to accomodate over 100 murids and interested visitors. There dhikr was held, grand meals of roast lamb and rice were served, and deep sohbets on the secrets of the Tariqat were delivered.
The next day, Shaykh Hisham took the whole group to visit the Capitol building. First spending almost two hours in the House of Representative chambers, observing the proceeding and letting the representatives see the crown of Islam above them in the gallery, the Shaykh and his group proceeded by another karamah, to visit the Senate, which normally requires a special pass, arranged in advance, but which, by cleverness and Allah’s blessing we were not forced to present. there as we watched, 99 senators showed up just in time to complete the vote on a Bill Clinton budget bill. They gaped in astonishment at the sight of the Shaykh and about 60 be-turbanned murids loking down on them fro the Senate gallery. Following this visit, we proceeded to make our Asr prayers on the Capitol lawn, to the interest of many spectators.
Following several visits and lectures at different universities, Shaykh Hisham paid a visit to the ex-president of Howard University, Dr. Cheek. The Shaykh and entourage were warmly greeted by him and by the current dean of the Religious Studies Department of Howard. Not much later they had both taken their Shahada, and were discussing establishing a mosque on campus to augment the current chapel and synagogue.
From Washington, the Shaykh headed to West Virginia and Claymont, the rural site of a Work-Farm, established by the folowers of John Bennett. There we attended a welcome lunch, made by the followers, who were theyre to attend a seminar on Sufism. Shaykh Hisham, in typical Naqshbandi karamah fashion, rounded out their seminar by giving them all shahadah and bayah into the Naqshbandi Order. This so pleased them, especially a lady elder of the community, who at the age of 90 cried tears of joy, as she experienced the warmth of the tariqat and the Tajalli manifested in her heart from the Shaykh.
From there the group continued on back to New York City. There, in a constant whirlwind of motion, the murids travelled from house to house, and mosque to mosque, listening to sohbets, eating meals, making Dhikr and experienceing the blessed feeling of ukhuwah (brotherhood) which such associations always arouse.
It was with little fanfare but slightly teary eyes that the many murids and observers parted ways the last day of the Shaykh’s visit. Shaykh Hisham returned to California, and the murids returned to their homes, jobs and families, none the worse for wear, but as always with such visits, feeling the enlightenment and blessings of the association and travel with the Shaykh and with their fellow-followers on the Way.
