Quote:
At this moment, Shaykh MahmÅ«d Ä€fandÄ« Al-KhÄlidÄ« Al-MujaddidÄ« HafizahullÄh is the leading NaqshbandÄ« sage in the world after Khwajah KhÄn Muhammad. AllÄh Taala accepted this luminary of the Naqshbandiyyah in Turkey for the revival of DÄ«n, i.e., this country was on the lofty pedestal of KhilÄfat and was then pushed down into secularism. He was the KhalÄ«fah of the famous Turkish sage, Hadrat 'AlÄ« Haydar AkhsakhÅ«'Ä«, who was a senior KhalÄ«fah of Hadrat 'AlÄ« RidÄ Al-BazzÄr. This chain goes further up and meets Hadrat MaulÄnÄ KhÄlid NaqshbandÄ«, who came from ShÄm to the subcontinent and stayed in the company of ShÄh GhulÄm 'AlÄ« (1186 – 1240 AH), the KhalÄ«fah of Shaykh ul MashÄyikh Hadrat Mirza Mazhar JÄnÄ. After he got IjÄzat (permission to spread the teachings of his Shaykh) and KhilÄfat, he started to spread the teachings of this chain of Tasawwuf.
His Shaykh is from the eastern side of Turkey, from an area in the region of Georgia and ShÄm. With the counsel of his Shaykh, he left the bordering region and went to the capital city, Istanbul. There is an area in Istanbul called FÄtih, attributed to SultÄn Muhammad FÄtih. An area of FÄtih is IsmÄ'Ä«l Ä€ghÄ, counted among the elite areas. The Masjid of Shaykh ul IslÄm IsmÄ'Ä«l Ä€ghÄ Ä€fandÄ« is located here. He was the Shaykh ul IslÄm in the time of the 'UthmÄnÄ« KhilÄfat.
The KhulafÄ' of Shaykh MahmÅ«d say that he led the SalÄh in this Masjid for thirty years. For the first eighteen years, no one would come to the Masjid. Shaykh MahmÅ«d would go door to door and tell the people of the locality that he is always in the Masjid. If someone went to work, he would tell him, "Remember me." His attendant remained with him through every difficulty. After eighteen years, making the Dhikr of AllÄh, the ice melted, the rigidity gave in, the focus and Du'Ä' of the Shaykh started showing and SalÄh with JamÄ'ah in the Masjid began. The condition in that locality today is such that there is no household without SalÄh and no person that does not have the Sunnah appearance of the beard and turban. The women have all adopted the full Shar'Ä« HijÄb.
Some of the contemporaries of Shaykh MahmÅ«d are referred to as Mujaddid. The reason for this is that they filled the MasÄjid and KhÄnqahs in a number of localities. MasÄjid in which AdhÄn was abandoned, today, these MasÄjid are full even before Jumu’ah AdhÄn. After SalÄh, these MasÄjid resound with Dhikr. However, the work of Shaykh MahmÅ«d is even more than this. Description of it is a means of very interesting reading, InshÄ AllÄh.
His Shaykh is from the eastern side of Turkey, from an area in the region of Georgia and ShÄm. With the counsel of his Shaykh, he left the bordering region and went to the capital city, Istanbul. There is an area in Istanbul called FÄtih, attributed to SultÄn Muhammad FÄtih. An area of FÄtih is IsmÄ'Ä«l Ä€ghÄ, counted among the elite areas. The Masjid of Shaykh ul IslÄm IsmÄ'Ä«l Ä€ghÄ Ä€fandÄ« is located here. He was the Shaykh ul IslÄm in the time of the 'UthmÄnÄ« KhilÄfat.
The KhulafÄ' of Shaykh MahmÅ«d say that he led the SalÄh in this Masjid for thirty years. For the first eighteen years, no one would come to the Masjid. Shaykh MahmÅ«d would go door to door and tell the people of the locality that he is always in the Masjid. If someone went to work, he would tell him, "Remember me." His attendant remained with him through every difficulty. After eighteen years, making the Dhikr of AllÄh, the ice melted, the rigidity gave in, the focus and Du'Ä' of the Shaykh started showing and SalÄh with JamÄ'ah in the Masjid began. The condition in that locality today is such that there is no household without SalÄh and no person that does not have the Sunnah appearance of the beard and turban. The women have all adopted the full Shar'Ä« HijÄb.
Some of the contemporaries of Shaykh MahmÅ«d are referred to as Mujaddid. The reason for this is that they filled the MasÄjid and KhÄnqahs in a number of localities. MasÄjid in which AdhÄn was abandoned, today, these MasÄjid are full even before Jumu’ah AdhÄn. After SalÄh, these MasÄjid resound with Dhikr. However, the work of Shaykh MahmÅ«d is even more than this. Description of it is a means of very interesting reading, InshÄ AllÄh.
Excerpt taken from "The Turks, From Unenlightened to Enlightened," by Mufti Abu Lubaba HA.