What does it mean to truly know God in a world drowning in distractions, noise, and false guides? In this deeply inspiring conversation, writer and spiritual traveler Michael Sugich shares his extraordinary journey from the stages of America's theater to the timeless wisdom of Islam and Sufism. Michael Sugich is an acclaimed American writer and spiritual traveler who converted to Islam in his early twenties. He has authored several celebrated works, including Signs on the Horizons, Hearts Turn, and the nine-volume series The Exemplars for Our Time (co-authored with photographer Peter Sanders), which document stories of faith, repentance, and the lives of contemporary saints. Michael opens up about his youth in the 1960s, his spiritual awakening, and the transformative role of Sufi teachers and authentic spiritual guides. We dive into the purpose of religion, the dangers of self-guided spirituality in the “Shaykh Google” age, and how seekers today can discern truth from illusion. This episode is a treasure chest for anyone seeking authentic spirituality, the meaning of Islam, and the path of the heart.
Hearts Turn: Sinners, Seekers, Saints and the Road to Redemption: Michael Sugich
About The Book
’Hearts Turn’ is a singular and gripping exploration of the act of 'tawba', a Qur’anic term commonly translated as repentance. In English, repentance is a forbidding word that suggests a puritanical finality. But in Arabic the term 'tawba' is dynamic, meaning to ‘turn’ or ‘return’. 'At-Tawwab' is one of the Names of God, the Oft-Returning or Ever-Relenting. It is an active constant, an ongoing, compassionate reality that renews every moment we are alive. The process of purification is a process of continuous turning.
In ‘Hearts Turn’ Michael Sugich, author of ‘Signs on the Horizons’, tells stories that are harrowing and hilarious, heartrending and bizarre, profane and transcendent, and altogether full of hope, showing how men and women from many parts of the world and many walks of life have turned themselves around and taken a fork in the road toward a higher reality.
About The Author
Michael Sugich (Haroon Sugich) is a native of Santa Barbara, California and studied at UCLA and the California Institute of the Arts. He was initiated into a traditional Sufi order in 1972.
Since that time he has studied Sufi doctrine and practice with spiritual masters across the Arab and Islamic world. He lived for 23 years in the precincts of the sacred city of Makkah al-Mukarama where he kept company with many men of knowledge and illumination.
He has been a professional writer and communications advisor for forty years, and has written three books, including ‘Signs on the Horizon’. He was the co-founder of a successful public relations practice and has advised corporate leaders, senior religious figures and politicians.
He has lived in London, Bristol, Cairo and Dubai and currently resides in Istanbul.
Signs on the Horizons: Meeting With Men of Knowledge And Illumination: Michael Sugich
An enthralling contemporary memoir of one seeker’s interactions with men who have transcended the ordinary and achieved stations of spirituality and enlightenment that in the modern world we only attribute to the Biblical fathers of ancient times or to myth.
Michael Sugich, an American writer who was initiated into a traditional Sufi order over forty years ago and who lived for 23 years in the sacred city of Makkah Al Mukaramah, has kept company with some of the greatest Sufi saints of the age from many parts of the world.
His book is a unique eye-witness narrative of a mystical tradition that today hides in plain sight, veiled by the turbulence and materialism gripping the Muslim world. It is a spellbinding personal memoir told with eloquence, empathy, self-effacing humor, insight and love.
Exemplars for Our Time: Michael Sugich
This unique series profiles the lives of Sayyida Fatima Yashrutia, Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, Shaykh Murabit al-Hajj, Muzaffer Ozak Efendi, Sidi Muhammad ibn al-Habib, Sufi ‘Abd Allah Khan, Sayyid ‘Umar ‘Abd Allah Mwinyi Baraka, and Shaykh Salih al-Ja‘fari.
Volume One: The Luminous Virtues of the Sages of Islam
Series editor and author Michael Sugich takes a fascinating and richly detailed journey into the world of sainthood in Islam; a subject that is mystifying to many Muslims today. His penetrating exploration makes the case that the friends of God – the saints – are, and always have been, the true Muslim role models. And while they seem to have disappeared in modern times, they are in fact hiding in plain sight.
Volume Two: Shaykh Murabit al-Hajj, by Hamza Yusuf
Ascetic scholar-saint Shaykh Murabit al-Hajj would almost certainly have lived out his life in complete obscurity in the remote deserts of Mauritania had a young Hamza Yusuf not been guided in a dream to visit him, live in his tent, and learn at his feet. Sheykh Hamza authors this intimate and moving biography of one of the hidden treasures of our time, illustrated by the unique photography of Peter Sanders.
Volume Three: Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, by Mostafa al-Badawi
Considered in his lifetime as one of the greatest saints of Islam, Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad’s compassionate teaching of traditional Islam had a profound influence on generations of followers and students including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Dr Umar Faruq Abd-Allah and Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad. Another former student, Dr Mostafa Badawi, writes this beautiful account of the scholar-sage, having dedicated his life to translating and interpreting his teachings.
Volume Four: Sayyida Fatima Yashrutia: Daughter of Akka, by Dr. Karim Lahham
Dr. Karim Lahham brings to life the compelling story of Sayyida Fatima Yashrutia, which spans two tempestuous centuries marked by world wars, the fall of the Ottoman empire, the catastrophe of 1948, and the civil war in Lebanon. The spiritual heir of her father, Sayyid ‘Ali Nurad’din al-Yashruti, Sayydia Fatima devoted her life to knowledge, teaching, prayer and invocation, and remains a beloved spiritual guide whose wisdom and inspiration lives on.
Volume Five: Sayyid ‘Umar ‘Abd’Allah: The Blessed One, by Michael Sugich
Steeped in traditional studies from early childhood, as well as passing through the prestigious Oxford University, Sayyid ‘Umar ‘Abdullah Mwinyi Baraka was a highly influential East African educator and diplomat and a charismatic interpreter in multiple languages of the tolerance and beauty of Islam. Michael Sugich remembers the ‘ongoing adventure’ of being with his former teacher, and the profound influence he had on many leaders of post-independence East Africa.
Volume Six: Muzaffer Ozak Efendi: The Polisher of Hearts, by Shems Friedlander
A colourful and charismatic teacher, Muzaffer Ozak Effendi nurtured his students with lively conversation in his bookstore, in cafes across Turkey, on the streets, and in his dervish lodge. A Sufi master, he ventured to America to introduce young seekers to the beauty of Islamic spirituality, and left a vibrant legacy across North America, Europe and the Middle East. Close disciple Shems Friedlander remembers his life and teachings, accompanied by unique photographs by the author.
Volume Seven: Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari, by Dr. Samer Dajani
For 30 years, Shaykh Saleh al-Ja’fari lived in a small chamber within Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, where he was the Imam; rarely venturing out other than to make pilgrimage to Makkah, or visit the tombs of saints across Egypt. Dr. Samer Dajani remembers this gifted teacher who became a legend in his own lifetime due to his discourses held every Friday in the courtyard of Al-Azhar Mosque, attracting huge crowds of people from all walks of life.
Volume Eight: Sufi ‘Abdullah Khan, by Michael Sugich
Leaving his native Pakistan for Birmingham in the UK, Sufi ‘Abdullah Khan’s mission was to bring a spiritual path to the thousands of Pakistani immigrants who had left for England for material gain. Michael Sugich looks back at Sufi’s remarkable tale that took him from a peasant village to the battlefields of North Africa and a Nazi prison camp in Europe, before a daring cross-country escape led him to a living spiritual master, and the start of his real adventure.
Volume Nine: Sidi Muhammad ibn al-Habib, by Michael Sugich
Michael Sugich takes us on an emotional and mesmerising journey back 50 years to the Zawiya of Shaykh Sidi Muhammad Ibn al-Habib in the Moroccan city of Meknes, where he first became affiliated with the great Sufi sage – one of the most influential figures in the North African spiritual tradition in the twentieth century. The volume is illustrated with unique portraits of the Shaykh taken by Peter Sanders, including a previously unpublished photograph.
