One Wednesday evening in May 1997, al-Sayed Muhammad ibn ‘Alawi ibn ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz al-Hasani al-Maliki al-Makki had said to us (in Arabic) in York Road, Woodstock: “Allah will grant all of you the Haj.”
“Insha-Allah,” some chorused.
“Amen,” rang from other members of the Jamaa’ah.

Allah, The One Who Provides for His Slaves from sources he never could imagine, Had Brought the words of the Sayed to fruition.

The Day of Wuquf, 9th Dhul Hijjah 1422 AH, was on Thursday, 21 February 2002. I had another Haj in a million, Alhamdu-lillaah.

My sons, Suleiman and Dawood, and I, also took bay’ah. This pledge of allegiance took place at the blessed grave of al-Sayed ‘Abd al-Latif bin Muhammad Yusuf al-Habibi. Imam was nearing the end of his life.

A few days after Imam had connected us to the Qadiriyyah and Chistiyya salasil, I dreamt of myself sitting under the ground-floor balcony in the Masjid-al-Haram. I faced the Syrian Corner of the Bait-ullaah, engaging anyone who was available for a chat. He was nearly upon me, when, from the corner of my eye, I noticed Imam Babu approaching. Imam put his right hand into my right hand and led me onto the mataaf. There, about seven metres away from and facing the north-eastern wall of the Bait-ullaah, were six regal-looking men. They were arranged in two rows of three - those at the back stood and those in front sat on their shins. By their bulky turbans I could see that they were leaders of men. Some were younger-looking than others. So intent were they in gazing at the Holy Ka’aba, that they paid scant attention to us. Imam pointed me in the direction of the House of Allah and placed me directly to the right of those holy men who were standing.

Alhamdu-lillaah. I was in very good company and eager to draw from their barakah. That it was set in the Masjid-al-Haram confirmed the soundness of the dream. Imam taking my right hand into his right hand (as opposed to our left hands) lent credence to its authenticity. I took it that the dream signified our acceptance into the Qadiriyyah and Chistiyya Sufi orders. Allah, The One Who Shows the right way, Had Guided us. Did it serve as an indication that Allah The Most Giving would allow us to visit His Holy House once more?

About two weeks later, my friend Haji Achmat Lalkhen came to visit. He showed me a miniaturised replica of a painting of Indian origin. The original is called the ‘Meeting of the Saints’, the artist unknown. It is one of the most famous in Eastern art. At the top, centre of the picture, was depicted the Holy Qabr of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). On it also, were the awliya-Allah that I had seen in the dream. I was bowled over. The saints’ names and their places of burial were on the print. They were, clockwise from bottom left, Khwaja Baba Farid al-din Mas’ud Ganj-i Shakar al-Chisti of Pakpattan, Punjab (d. 664AH/1265CE), al-Sayed Qutb al-din Bakhtiyar Kaki al-Chisti of Mehrauli, New Delhi (d. 633AH/1236CE), al-Sayed Gharib Nawaz Mu’ain al-din Chisti of Ajmer, India (d. 1230CE), al-Sayed al-Sultan al-Awliya al-Ghawth al-’Adham ‘Abd al Qadir al-Jilani (d. 561AH/1166CE), Hadhrat Sharif al-din abu ‘Ali Shah Qalandar of Panipat, Haryana, India (d. 724AH/1324CE) and Sheikh Nizam al-din Awliya al-Chisti of Ghiyaspur, a village outside Delhi, India (d. 1324). May Allah, The One Who Brought us from darkness into the light, amply repay these dutiful men for their devotion. Their story has contributed much towards the wonder of Islam and the lustre of Sufism. I am as the dust beneath their feet.

The dream gave me some idea of the kindnesses that Allah, The One Who Allows without stint to whom He will, Provides to the righteous. This showed clearly that the approach of these friends of Allah was rock solid and that their salasil were watertight. It illustrated also, that Imam’s khilafah was beyond reproach. Imam had been granted khilafah of the Qadiriyyah and Chistiyya tasauwuf orders by Shah Pir Hafith Pasha al-Habibi (d. 1989), the head of the Habibiyyah branch of the Chistiyya Silsilah, in Hyderabad in 1988. The dream handed me an inkling of the stature that Imam Abdullatief “Babu” Parker of Habibia enjoyed in the next life.

I remembered that straight after we had linked into the chains of Islamic spirituality, Imam had held up to me the same caricatured portrait of only Sayed ‘Abd al Qadir al-Jilani (May Allah, The One Who Opens closed matters to His slaves, Excuse them of blame). I had wondered then why he did that.

A large copy of the ‘Meeting of the Saints’ painting hangs in our home. I had bought it from Mr. Feroz Parker of Cravenby Estate.

On the next Thursday evening, the Jama’ah collaborated with several other local dhikr groups, and in the presence of the Sayed, Sheikh Muhammad Salih ‘Abadi’ Solomons (d. 1999, and for many years the mainspring of Cape huffaath) and other ‘ulema, in the performance of adhkaar. This was done at Masjid al-Quds in Boulevard Balu Parker, Gatesville.

Sheikh Mogammad Riefaard bin Moegsien Manie al-Qadiri al-Chisti (d. 2004) had taken bay’ah at the hands of Sayed Muhammad ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki. This had connected Sheikh Riefaard into the ‘Alawiyun tariqah and also into the branch of the Qadiri silsilah that Sayed Muhammad ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki had earlier linked into via Maulana Muhammad Diya’uddin al-Qadiri (d. 1981).

I have the opportunity of attending the tahlil for Syed Muhammad Alawi Almaliki.

He is a great amn and I had the opportunity of meeting with him while he was here in Malaysia.

I am also happy to stumble upon your website. Hope we will be able to meet one of this day, InsyaAllah.

Salman