A wizened sage, from beyond Ashsharq, a far-off Eastern land, had arrived in the village. His philosophical expositions were so abtruse and yet so tantalizing that the usual company in the teahouse soon became convinced that he could perhaps unveil for them the mysteries of life.

Nasreddin Hoja listed to him for a while. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘I have had experiences something like yours on your travels. I, too, have been a wandering teacher.’

‘Tell me something about it, if you must,’ said the elder, somewhat ruffled at the interruption.

‘Oh, yes, I must,’ said Nasreddin Hoja. He continued:

‘For instance, there was the trip which I took through Kurdistan. I was welcomed everywhere I went. I stayed at one dergah (sufi lodge) after another, where the dervishes listened eargerly to me. I was given free lodging at caravan-serais (roadside inns), fee food at teahouses. Everywhere the people were impressed by me.’

The old sage was becoming impatient at all this personal publicity. ‘Did nobody ever oppose anything you said, at any time?’ he asked curiously.

‘Oh, yes,’ said Nasreddin Hoja. ‘Once I was beaten up and put in the stocks, then driven out of town.’

‘Why was that?’

‘Well, you see, the people there happened to understand Turkish, the language I was doing my teaching in.’

‘What about the people who had welcomed you?’

‘Oh, they were Kurds; they have a language of their own. I was safe as long as I was with them.’ (Shah, 1993)

Our Grand Shaykh, Sultan Awliya Shaykh Mehmet Nazim al-Hakkani is the Grand Shaykh of the Osmanli Naks-i’bendi Sufi Association. And it is difficult to put his life into words. The impact that his sohbet (association) and instruction has had on people across the world has served to renew the faith of so many Muslims as well as carefully leading an unthinkable number to witness that ‘there is only One God and that Muhammad is the Last in a successive line of Holy Messengers bringing the Divine Message’.

Just as Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s life is difficult to put into words it is likewise difficult to describe the effect that the authenticity and integrity of his unbroken spiritual tradition, coming directly from the Holy Prophet (may Peace and Blessings be upon him), has had on us here in America and even less-likely places around the world. By sitting in association with Shaykh Abdul Kerim Efendi, deputy to Grand Shaykh Nazim Efendi, I have witnessed something remarkable and it has enriched my spiritual life to something that I can actually differentiate from the mundane.

Recently, Shaykh Abdul Kerim and a group of murids traveled to Cyprus to visit the Grand Shaykh. Yursil will be posting videos, pictures and describing the time spent in the presence of Grand Shaykh Nazim Efendi at his dergah in Cyprus. Below you will find an excerpt from an interview with Shaykh Nazim published by the Turkish-Cypriot magazine, Denge, in September 2007.

clipped from www.nakshibendi.com The incarceration of Sheikh Nazim for making the call to prayer in the original Arabic� Around the end of World War II many restrictions were brought to the religion of Islam and prayers had to be performed in Turkish. After a difficult day journey by boat, Sheikh Nazim reached Cyprus from Damascus. The first thing he did was go to a mosque and make the call for prayer (adhan) in Arabic. He was immediately arrested for this and jailed for one week. After his release, he went to Selimiye Mosque in Nicosia and made the call to prayer in Arabic again. Sheikh Nazim went all over Cyprus to different mosques and continued to make the call in Arabic. As a result Sheikh Nazim attracted much attention from the government and was charged with 114 cases.

Go to ‘Osmanli Naks-i’bendi Hakkani Photos‘ to see more…

The screening of the Unity Production Foundation film will be held on January 30, 2008 and is located at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center: 3940 Broadway (165th St.) New York, NY 10032.

The advance tickets are going for $15.00 and the door price is $17.00 (Proceeds to benefit the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, Inc.). For more information contact Mika’il DeVeaux, Amir al-Islam or Halima Touré @ (212) 340-9489. There will also be a panel and opportunity for questions and discussion on the film, inshaAllah.

UPDATE: The Islamic Center at NYU will be showing an Advanced Screening Free of Charge on Tuesday January 29th, 2008. Click here for details.

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NASA, the national Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government. Its primary function is to control and administer the nation’s public space program, this replaced the previous administration of aeronautics, astronautics and space exploration which was generally a responsibility held by the U.S. military. In the end and currently what we have are both civilian and military based advisory panels that coordinate and report direction to the President, but operate separate space programs.

In 2006 NASA announced a mission statement to, “pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research”. But despite this mission statement NASA rejected an Associated Press request, under the Freedom of Information Act, and declined the release of pertinent research. NASA was criticised by Congress and news organization for concealing the research data. Although, NASA explained that its reluctance to release this information was because,

The pressure from Congress and the media forced NASA’s top administrator Dr. Michael Griffin, who has been criticized by space research organizations for shifting NASA’s budget from science to spaceflight, promised to release some of the data by the end of the year.

Rita Beamish of AP discusses the details of the research writing,

Pilots were asked how many times they encountered more than 100 safety events in flight and on the ground, such as near-collisions, equipment failure, runway interference, trouble communicating with the tower and unruly passengers.”

Beamish also reports that NASA is expected to release these results today, Monday December 31, 2007 on NASA’s website. (source)

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People of many traditions come to share in a Prayer Vigil at Washington DC. Shaykh Abdul Kerim leads the Osmanli Naksibendi Tariqat and others in remembering the Creator. Clyde Bellecourt, famous Native American activist, joins the prayer circle and participates. His Ojibwe name is Nee-gon-we-way-we-dun which means “Thunder Before the Storm”.

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You are cordially invited to break the Ramadan fast with us. Join us in these Holy Days for a sacred meal. Celebrate Divine Unity. Remember our humanity. In the manner of the Most Distinguished Ottoman Naksibendi Sufi Way.

Event: Sacred Supper: The Breaking of the Ramadan Fast
What: Festival
Host: Muslim Students Association
When: Saturday, September 15 at 7:00pm
Where: Earl Hall Auditorium, Columbia University