Mind, Body, Soul

The Java Post is Indonesia’s biggest media news network which operates in all the 33 provinces of the republic. The following story was on the front page of the the Java Post, translated by Lukman Hoja:

The Java Post
Wed 19 September 2007

Following Zikr Activities in Sufi Mosque, New York

A place where thousands meet, where they descend from the mountains every Friday night.

In the center of skyscrapers and amidst the lights of Broadway and Times Square, a tarikat community finds a niche in New York.

Last Friday night, the Java post followed the activities of Masjid Sufi on 39th St, New York City.

Fuad Ariyanto and F Arnaz

It’s not easy to find this mosque. For those who are new and who do not have any inside contact, the masjid will be difficult to find. It differs from the other masjids in Manhattan that have signboards, this Nakshibendi Hakkani masjid does not even have a signboard. It is located in an apartment building. The masjid is on the 3rd floor. The front door is an iron gate and it locks electronically, like a prison. For anyone to access the masjid he has to press the buttons outside the building. Only when it is answered from the inside will the door be opened electronically. This masjid is only used on Friday nights. The daily activities however are conducted in the Catskill Mountains , New York where Sheykh Abdul Kerim el-Kibrisi the deputy of Sheykh Maulana Nazim al-Hakkani al-Kibrisi lives.

The Java post arrived in the masjid [at Sidney center - sic] with Ashari, an Indonesian undergraduate student studying in America. In a space that is not too large the jamaa sits on the floor in front of Sheykh Abdul Kerim who is giving a lecture. There is a triangular flag with a crescent without a star behind him – there are other flags with different symbols on them. That flag is also found in front of the kible. The men wear kufis with green turbans wrapped around them. In the middle of the speech the Sheykh managed to reprimand one of the women Jamaat when her cellphone rang. ” I have told you thousands of times please turn off your cellphone when you enter this masjid. This is a place of worship and the time here is only for Allah. Please leave your business for a while”.

After the speech that touched on democracy and the khilafat, the Sheykh led the zikr that was participated by the jamaat who were sitting on the floor. One of them was accompanying the rhythm of the zikr with a drum. The shaykh also has a drum with him but it was larger. He played it when the rhythm started to speed up. The zikr was long with the melody that went high. Hu hu hu, Haq Haq Haqq that was what was uttered among others. They did not seem influenced or disturbed by the chaos that was happening down in the streets. Their bodies moved from left to right or front to back. Once the jamaat clapped their hands together with the beat.

The only difference was this zikr was not accompanied by whirling which is often the case with the followers of sufism. ” Whether we whirl or not, that entirely depends on the Sheykh. If he gives us the order, if he orders us to, we will follow” says Saifuddin, 30, an undergraduate of New York University, who is one of the followers. The Zikr was closed by a dua by someone from the jamaat. The session continued with Salatul Isha and Salatul Tarawih of 20 rakats. Before the salat the Sheykh said “This is an intensive prayer and it will not take long as we will only read short surahs” The Tarawih was four rakats with salams, with the tahiyyat in the second rekat, like the Isha prayers. Although they perform 20 rakats the salat moved very quickly. It only lasted twenty five minutes because the Sheykh who led the prayer only read short surahs quickly. When he was reading Surah Yasin for example, he would only read the first two ayats. In the second and the fourth rekat in the course of the tarawih prayers he would always read Surah Ikhlas. It was the same with Salatul Witr. In the second rakat the Tahiyyat was read. At the end of the salat one of them recited the selawat once and Suratul Ihlas three times. The selawat was recited once more and the whole jamaat got up together to continue the next cycle. At the end of the Salat the jamaat kissed the Sheykh’s hand and they gave salams to each other, while standing in a circle . The Sheykh then gave a short speech after that was over. The jamaat did not leave immediately after the prayers but stayed to eat together with around 9 women jamaat that were present that night. Sheykh Abdul Kerim also joined in the meal. When the Java Post wanted to leave, the Sheykh who is around 49 years old, stopped us from leaving. “You are already here, come eat with us”, he said. The food that was served that night was a mixture of macaroni, bread, and a spicy dish. “I didn’t count how many Naksibnedid followers there are in New York, probably about 10,000 people” says the Sheykh who is from Cyprus when he was asked how many followers he has. The Sheykh who has been in America for 31 years expressed thanks to Allah because his effort to bring people to the way of Allah has been successful. “In the near future I will be in China; perhaps the mission there will be heavy for me, but I will try to carry it” he says. For the Jamaat the zikr had become a necessity. “Every Friday night I am always here”‘ continues Saifuddin, whose ancestry is from Mali, Africa but who was born in America. “Zikr and the spiritual washing done by Sheykh strengthens our faith”, he says.

The food that was eaten that night was prepared by the Osmanli Dergahi, Sidney Center, the center for the Naksibendi activities in New York. “Every Friday we descend from the mountains to give an opportunity to the city people to worship with us because they are not able to come to our center often”, says Ekrem Kethuda, who lives in Sidney Center. Besides worshiping, the activities there according to Ekrem who is 30 years old, is to prepare us to live life, to be self sufficient and not be dependent on the city. “For example, we make our own yogurt, we do not want to be dependent on the system of this country”, he continues. Until now no less than 15 men like himself live in Sidney Center. The number continues to grow because increasingly more New Yorkers feel that their hearts are empty although they have enough wealth. “This is the reality of life in the city wherever it may be, life that is only for this dunya, but the life that is everlasting is forgotten”, continues Ekrem who has since 5 years fallen in love with this tarikat.