Datuk Hj Ibrahim and the Isle of Lakei

An old friend dropped by for Raya.  After the usual pleasantries he disclosed his purpose: a side quest to Pulau Lakei, the final resting place of the fabled Datuk Hajji Ibrahim.  Of course I said yes.  Pulau Lakei!  The lone island at the far tip of Bako peninsula.  Reaching Bako National Park requires a boat […]

The Maqam of Sultan Tengah

Mount Santubong rises out of the South China Sea a lone mountain.  Two rivers meet the sea on either side, a narrow isthmus of land between them.  Mount Santubong has its own weather, with clouds cresting, writhing or settling around the peaks most days regardless of what the day brings the flat swamps beyond.  No wonder fairy […]

Habib Nuh Al-Habshi

By Abu Muhammad of Bahrus Shofa. Photography & English translation by Bin Gregory Productions It is related that Kiyai Agung Muhammad bin ‘Abdullah as-Suhaimi BaShaiban made a regular daily  practice of reading the mawlid of the Holy Prophet s.a.w., but now and again he would miss a day.  One night, he had a dream, and in […]

Temasek: saints past and present

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani swept through Southeast Asia this summer, traveling back and forth between Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, in the company of renowned nasheed singer Habib Syech Abdul Qodir Assegaf from Solo, Indonesia.  SimplyIslam was organizing a huge public event, and with more than six years having passed since I last sat in his blessed company, […]