The media sensation around the Muslim cemetery in Upstate New York has been missing an important focus. The personal one.
While Bob McCartney’s been quoted as saying, “You can’t bury Grandma under the picnic table in the backyard…”, this national issue isn’t about elderly grandmas who lived full lives, but two individuals and families who experienced tragic loss of their young sons. These were young men who died at age 28 and 30.
In this article, I want to highlight a little information about Amir Celoski, who was the first to be buried at the Osmanli Naksibendi Dergahi.
Amir Celoski lived in Haledon, NJ running the family masonry business. He was a great talker, and he was so likable that people would trust his ability to do a job on sight.
I first met him at an event hosted by students of Sheikh Abdul Kerim at Columbia University, Amir attended because he was looking to learn about Islam. He was always looking to learn but never looking to teach, such people are by their very natures, the best teachers in life.
When he met Sheikh Abdul Kerim al-Kibrisi, he fell in love immediately. He dedicated his life from that point on to serving the community. The following is a video of his initiation into the Osmanli Naksibendi Sufi Way:
He went to the Dergah and to the Sheikh for spiritual satisfaction. And even in his New Jersey home, he put pictures and reminders all over to allow him to remember the place that he considered home, the Osmanli Naksibendi Dergahi in Sidney Center, NY.
At the Dergah, he was always light-hearted and knew how to keep everyone’s spirits up.
He loved weddings, breaking out into the traditional dances and even some not-so-traditional ones.
At the same time, he knew how to work hard. Not only the ultimate salesman, he was great at masonry itself, and he would volunteer hours upon hours upstate at the Dergah in Sidney Center to build stone walls, steps, stone floors, and make beautiful stream paths. We walk on his hard work every day.
At least once a week he would drive three hours to reach Sidney Center. His vehicle was often his heavy masonry truck which he used for his business. Every trip cost him a pretty penny just in gas.
He would focus, as the Sheikh taught, on his own mortality, and he worked hard to ensure that he considered every day his potential last. This focus helped him to remove evil characteristics such as pride, jealousy and anger. The topic of death, which some might find so odd for a healthy, energetic 28 year-old to discuss, was something he often brought up. This is also why he spoke often about his desire to be buried at the Osmanli Dergahi to his family and friends.
No matter his personal financial situation, he would never let anyone dining with him pick up the tab. Every time you sat with him, he shared his food.
And, although he had a very temperamental stomach, he ate whatever he was given at the dergah. He hated onions, but when Sheikh shared a few pieces of onion, his phobia fleeted away and he became an onion fan (at least, for that moment!).
Amir was the most generous with his time and his possessions. If someone saw something he was wearing and liked it, he literally took it off and gave it to you. Our brothers still wear his vests and shirts today.
He bought a 1997 Acura Integra a few weeks before he passed. He was very excited about being mobile without his work truck.
He died tragically at a stop light, when he was rear-ended by an out-of-control driver. He was on his way, as usual, to help someone in Sidney Center build a new masonry business.
When we saw him in the hospital he was tested for brain activity and soon pronounced brain dead. Investigations are still underway in that accident as to the state of mind of the driver and whether they were under the influence.
We will defend you Amir.
Setting the record straight.
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Dimitri Ehrlich: I know that your music is based on the Sufi tradition, but what is your personal religious affiliation, if any? Do you meditate or pray?
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: I am not Sufi, but I spent a lot of time since my childhood with the Sufis, and I deeply studied them. Sufi music, especially, is a kind of prayer. If you sing in this manner, you will become closer to God, very close. That’s basically what I do.
What is your inner, mental experience when you are singing? What do you think about, or don’t you direct your mind in any specific way?
When I sing traditional spiritual songs, I always concentrate on who it is that I’m singing about. For instance, if I am inspired by the Holy Prophet, I concentrate on the Prophet. In my mind, there are many things, but when I sing, I sing for God, and for Holy Prophets, for Sufi saints. When I sing, their personalities are in my mind. I feel like I am in front of them. I feel their personalities, and I pray. I feel like I am in another world when I sing. I am not in the material world while I am singing these traditional Holy messages. I’m totally in another world. I am withdrawn from my materialistic senses; I am totally in my spiritual senses. And I am intoxicated by the Holy Prophet, God, and other Sufi saints.
Is there a different sort of prayer or meditative mode associated with songs concerned with Allah, Mohammed, and the Sufi saints, respectively?
When I sing for God, I feel myself in accord with God, and the house of God, Mecca, is right in front of me. And I worship. When I sing for Mohammed, peace be upon him, our Prophet, I feel like I am sitting right next to his tomb, Medina, and paying him respect and admitting to myself that I accept his message. When I sing about the Sufi saints, I feel like the saints are in front of me, and as a student, I am accepting their teachings. And I repeat again and again that I accept it, that I am really their follower.
I know that Sufism is essentially a mystical sect of Islam, but are there also strains of other religious thought involved with the liturgy or philosophy of Sufism?
Every religion has its own way of describing God. For instance, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhs-they all have their own way of following God. Sufism basically describes God and teaches how to come closer to God. So basically, I follow the Islamic form of Sufism to find my way to God.
I know that when you were sixteen you had a visionary dream in which your father, a great qawwali singer who had recently died, came to you and told you that you had been given his musical gift and should devote your life to qawwali. Since that dream, how has your understanding of your music changed?
Since the age of sixteen, when I started singing, I have had the same message to deliver to people about Sufism. But some changes have come accordingly as I grew and my experiences grew. Of course you really go to greater depths as time passes, more and more and more, and you grow and grow with the songs.
So how would you define your message?
My message is the message of humanity, love and peace. The goal of this message that I bring to people is to bring them toward brotherhood, to bring them closer to each other, without hatred, without any concern for race, religion or color. I try to bring people, through spirituality, to a position in which they’ll be more honest with each other, and live a truer life, less concerned with the materialistic world where they cannot find themselves. I try to bring them to a place where they can at least recognize themselves.
Other than your musical practice, which clearly has a very powerful spiritual dimension, do you have any formal religious practice?
I pray five times a day. And I pray before I eat, giving thanks to my God for the opportunity to eat this food. And after eating, I pray and give thanks again. And after all of my practices of my music, I always pray and give thanks to my God and say, God, I am your slave, and thanks to you I have this opportunity to give my message to the world.
For many performers, the gulf between the ecstatic experience of being in the spotlight and the “coming down” that inevitably accompanies going offstage draws them into drug addiction and other self-destructive behavior. Obviously you’ve avoided that pitfall, but do you ever feel any kind of emotional depression from coming down from the high of being on stage?
During the time I am singing traditional qawwali songs, I feel that I am in a prayer position in front of God. When I finish my prayers, whether is it my singing or the formal prayers I do, I feel deeply peaceful. I feel that I have had some success in accomplishing the mission that God has given to me. I have no difficulty making a transition from that frame of mind to my normal daily activities because prayer is a routine part of my life and I do it all the time.
In Buddhist psychology, there is a vast pharmacopia of different meditative antidotes that can be applied to various mental afflictions. So, for example, there are certain practices you can do if you are very angry, and different meditations if you are greedy, or jealous, or hateful or whatever. Do you have any kinds of specific prayers that are designed to deal with specific problems, such as anger, jealousy and greed?
Because of this music and because of this message which we have in our hearts and our minds all the time, it is extremely rare to feel anger toward anybody. This is the basic medication that controls us, preventing us from getting angry and keeps us happy.
What did you learn from your father, other than the specific musical training that you got as a singer of qawwali?
From my parents I learned my religion, how to live and follow Islamic rules. When I was young I went to the mosque and read the Koran and learned all the Islamic rules. From my teachers I got a basic education in science, mathematics, geography, English, Urdu, all the common subjects. And from Sufis I learned about Sufism. I try to learn and integrate the teachings from these three sources-from the saints, from school, and from my father. Of course when I was a child, before I turned sixteen, I was just a regular young person. I got angry, I argued, I lived like a boy. But since I saw the dream and became a follower of Sufism, and began singing the traditional qawwali, it really gave me peace in my heart. Since then my life has been totally changed. Since then I control everything that comes to my brain and to my heart.
Let’s talk a little about motivation. For some pop musicians, there is a desire for success that is equal to or even greater than the desire for excellence. Your music is so transcendentally spiritual, I wonder whether you ever think about making money and being a star as a motive behind what you do.
When I started singing, of course, I had in my mind the desire for success. I was always thinking that the people should listen to me, that the crowd should pay me respect as the artist. Of course, I wanted applause and felt that the singer should get some reward in the shape of appreciation from the public. But as time went by, I found myself in a situation where all I wanted was to give a lesson, the purpose of which was to give more happiness to people. My sleeping, my waking, my talking, my eating, everything in my life, the music is always with me in my mind. I’m always thinking about new tunes, new discoveries, and new music.
Dimitri Ehrlich writes for Interview, The New York Times, and other publications. His band, Dimitri and the Supreme 5000, released its debut album last year. He is currently writing a book about music and spirituality.
Suburban Capitalist girls love to shop at fancy malls with designer labels, don’t exclude Muslims from that!
For them, and the discerning Suburban Capitalist Muslim man, there are new designer fashions and catwalks to watch. Give them press, coverage, and a spot on the Today Show. American as apple pie.
““Sexy Rediscovered”: Meet the team behind Muslim fashion line, Eva Khurshid”
Tackling yet another field in which Muslims have not – yet – dominated are Nyla Hashmi and Fatima Monkush, the creative forces behind the most buzzed-about fashion line for Muslims, Eva Khurshid…Q: How did your backgrounds prepare you for your career and hands-on involvement (with both the Muslim and American communities)?
A: Because of our mixed heritages, we grew up in non-traditional yet conservative homes. Having American mothers has definitely shaped both of us and helped us take ownership in our American identity. Our Muslim upbringing is a huge part of our lives where it has served us with a strong foundation on how we live our day-to-day lives and conduct our business.Q: Do you think fashion is an area Muslims need to explore and work in?
A: We really encourage Muslims going into the arts; there are not enough of us in this field. If we don’t represent ourselves, who will? It’s so important for Muslims to branch out into non-traditional fields like fashion, even working with other Muslim artists in collaboration to help one another and giving support.”
Soon to appear on your Shop Rite checkout counter
For Muslim fashion designers, the market potential is enormous
Ausma Khan, chief editor for Muslim Girl, a young women’s lifestyle magazine that was started last year in the United States, believes that dedicated brands would have added appeal for many Muslim consumers. “The potential to design Muslim fashion for women and girls and to market to this audience is enormous,” Khan said. “Imagine the clothes you see in most contemporary and popular fashion outlets – Muslim girls and women are buying them and then creatively filling in the gaps. But they would absolutely buy the same clothes with higher necklines, longer hemlines, a more voluminous fit and so on,” she said.
Even in fashion sportswear and activewear, start-up companies like Hasema from Turkey and Ahiida from Australia have tickled market observers with the advent of functional Islamic swimwear. Aheda Zanetti, Ahiida’s founder, trademarked her designs as the “Burqini,” playing off the words bikini and burqa to describe her two-piece loose-fitting tracksuit.
“I think the Islamic fashion market is going to explode in the coming years. There are signs of it already,” said Gulsen Aydemir, editor of Modest Flair, a U.S.-based Web site that sources style trends and news for its Muslim readers.
America.gov shares this video about “American Islam” – Brooke Samad – . A graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, Brooke and her business, Marabo Fashion, were featured in Muslim Girl Magazine in April 2008.
While fashion shows etc are all Western inventions, they aren’t limited to the Americas. Cultural Hegemony predicts we’d find them all across the globe:
Spiked hair or long hair, dramatic camera stares, lots of spinning around, pointing, music videos, lip synching, concerts and ticketmaster assimilation. Suburban Capitalist Islam brought us the Muslim boy bands and pop stars.
SEVEN8SIX (786) – The group performed as SEVEN8SIX for the first time at the 2002 ISNA convention in Washington, DC. Most of the group’s subsequent public appearances have been at large concert events organized by Muslim groups, including major events co-sponsored in part by the Islamic Society of North America and other community organizations around the United States… This group is working far and wide to please Allah (SWT). As Shahaab says, “We are using SEVEN8SIX as a tool for propagating Allah’s message. (from their website)
Native Deen – Native Deen came about through M.Y.N.A. or Muslim Youth of North America. The project was a gathering of amateur recording artists who’ve written their own work and MYNA featured these artists on the MYNA RAPs’ album.
Dawud Wharnsby – From his FAQ “What Is Dawud’s Reigion? Islam? Christianity? Buddhism? Bahai? Sufism?…. In 1993 Dawud was impacted by the words of Al Qur’an (The Recitation) and has made the best effort, since that time, to privately study and act upon their teachings. Dawud does not however, accept all of what has become connected to Al Qur’an through cultural and traditional interpretations of it. Though Dawud respects the efforts, lives and opinions of religious scholars (those who have studied the Torah, Talmud, Bible, Qur’an, Hadith, etc) he is not devoted to any specific institution of learning, religious school of thought, group, religious movement, teacher, guru, sheikh or saint — nor does Dawud accept a universal system of man-governed religious law derived from any one scripture.”
Outlandish – Outlandish did their first U.S. tour in Summer 2008 with the “Voices for Change” tour hosted by the Muslim American Society – Youth
Sami Yusuf
Girls can get into it also, heartbreak song – Liza Garza and Gritz & JellyButter “Swift’s Song”, featured at the IMAN concert at the Apollo (ISNA’s Mattson and Imam Zaid Shakir’s family were in attendance):
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Original post/comments here:
Br Naeems Blog: Useless Discussions on Jihad
“@Yursil, appreciate the references, but surely you can’t be presenting an argument based on exceptional cases, right?”
Sure I am, I think that is exactly what I am doing.
Why is it not expected that the people performing this holistic effort would be ‘exceptional’ in an age of (foretold and increasing) fitnah and decadence?
I already expect the good to exist as pockets of righteousness, when I’m surrounded in a world of evil and confusion.
And the Holy Prophet (AS) has been related as answering the question:
“Will there be any evil after that good?”
And our Beloved Nabi (AS) replied, “Yes, there will be some people calling at the gates of the Fire, and whoever will respond to their call, will be thrown by them into the Fire.”
And Hudhayfa bin AlYaman said, “O Allah s Apostle! Will you describe them to us?” He said, “They will be from our own people and will speak our language.” I said, “What do you order me to do if such a state should take place in my life?” He said, “Stick to the group of Muslims and their Imam.”
I said, “If there is neither a group of Muslims nor an Imam?”
He said, “Then turn away from all those sects even if you were to bite (eat) the roots of a tree till death overtakes you while you are in that state.” -Sahih Bukhari
So our alternatives are to either stick to a group which does implement goodness, or, if you believe there exists none at all, then leave them all and die alone. That is *your* choice, the last state (in my opinion), has not arrived yet.
And it hasn’t arrived thanks to those who, while calling to zikr, have called the Azan in its pure Arabic when government tortured them for it to be in a different tongue.. Thanks to those who led a righteous fight until it turned sour in Chechenistan.. In Bosnia.. In so many places, there are so many lessons to learn. Thanks to those who have suffered imprisonment, banished from their countries, for simply speaking the truth. MashAllah to them, without them where would we be? Yes, they are exceptional people. If we are looking for a warrior, bard, mystic, saint, realist, politician, general, peacemaker, lover and fighter in one package, wouldn’t that be an exceptional person in today’s age?
Do we really think we can do any jihad without such a leader? Inner, outer, intermediate or whatever slice we like? Certainly, the one that transformed Arabia and subsequently the world, had a leader.
Let us be real.. We live in an age where ‘Muslims’ are at each others throats, or in courts, or at gunpoint, over administering Masjids in some of the most posh areas of the world. With wealth or health or in the lands most without it, Muslims are destroying themselves. This is because everyone is leading their own ‘intermediate’ jihad. Get a little power in their hands, and half of them turn into sell outs in the first place. Ask anyone working within ‘the system’.
With all this in mind, it seems to be a very slippery slope in today’s age to think that one is required to change the general direction of the world, much less independently through private efforts, or that one has been given the authority to participate or even lead in that. Some things need to be guided by holy inspiration, in intimate connection with our Lord.
So maybe when people have such ambitions without such a connection, learning to keep to themselves is the best thing to do.
You must admit that the vast majority of ‘traditional’ ulema nowadays have betrayed the spirit of true Jihad (that balance I wrote about).
I don’t think they are perfect, but I don’t care really. It’s not my place to waste time criticizing rather than offering the alternative. What accomplishes something is to do something.
Or if we’re really fortunate enough, we may be able with a few words to enlighten someone.. Writing like this is really rare for me in these days, but then, most of it is not from me (luckily).
I say luckily, since when I meet someone who thinks their own opinions are enlightenment, with a chip on their shoulder and an urgent desire to denounce everyone who doesnt share it, then I’m pretty sure I know its poison. I pray not to be like them.
The best ones I’ve met live a life of quiet confidence, inspired not from within but from their connection to others. I pray to be like them.
When we rely on those better than us, we’re better off.
A read through Sahih Bukhari’s chapter on the afflictions towards the end of days is relevant.
There was a time when the Prophet (S) predicted it would be better to sit than stand, standing would be better than walking, walking better than running…
A time was predicted when the best thing a man could do would be to escape with his faith into the places of rainfall.
When do we know to apply the above? And when will we study which category we fall into here?
http://bit.ly/92w7jU
Long post, but its better to recognize it as really just rote repetition from others better than me.. a reminder to myself.. most of us will ignore it, inshaAllah I won’t.
the truth on 
m.a.kidwai,CME/IND.RLY.(retd.) on 
